nabokovfan87

Awesome. Thank you!

I just rewatched the "sick fish treatment" video because I was helping answer a question in another thread and wanted to make sure the details I was mentioning were in the video linked to. Towards the end of the video Cory goes on a bit of a detailed dive into the "treats X gallons" statements that is often used as marketing and logically makes absolutely no sense. Let's do a quick analysis. API Erythromycin comes in a 10 pack and requires 4 doses per treatment. This means you would get 2.5 treatments out of a 10G tank if you actually had issues. A 12 pack might make a bit more sense when you have a product designed for "one packet per 10 gallons" and your dosage instructions are in multiples of 4. Fritz directions are: For the sake of ease here we have 5 treatments, 1 packet per 10 G for 5 days. So they offer a 10 pack and a 24 pack. Call me confused but why isn't it 25? Then we dive into something like general cure / paracleanse.... In summary, 2 packets per week, but you're doing 2 treatments per issue. So let's call it 4 packets per treatment. The meds however come in a pack of 10 or 20 packets. I just don't understand it...... Is there any way this can be fixed in the future? Does it make sense to design these things for a 10G aquarium (or a 20G aquarium)? I cannot tell you how much easier it was to dose meds and not worry about having a shortage of meds when I had the big tubs to just add a scoop when need be.

For pretty much anything my bare bottom size for a tank is a 20L. I would think that gives you room for caves and stuff compared to a 10G.

Maybe it's nothing, but isn't that temp slightly high for rice fish? I would hold back food to rule out diet, and the go ahead with the above directions. When treating for internal I think you do want to feed to help clean out the system, but I would confirm those directions. Maybe @Colu can clarify for us! I would typically hold food for ~3 days, then feed small amounts as long as bloating doesn't increase. At this current point in time, my suggestion would be to stick to brine shrimp and repashy Soilent green until you have a clear reason as to what's going on internally. I would continue treatment as mentioned above for 2-3 more weeks. Have you seen any parasites, weird poop, or other things that would lead to internal parasite issues where you might need to additionally treat for other kinds of worms?

Welcome to the forums. I just read the title and wanted to mention that in my experience it won't harm your filtration cycle. That being said, if you have a filter that is having issues, or if you have something that uses cartridges and you replace them (and there is no other media) then that might point to a reason for some of the issues your experiencing. Whenever you run into a sick fish there's a few things you always want to do. A. If possible add aquarium salt if applicable (there are some diseases where you don't want to add salt) B. Test everything, if need be daily of 2x a day. C. Add an airstone D. Add applicable meds or ask what would be best. That being said, photos and everything would help as well as those test parameters for the tank in question. Understanding the setup would help so we can pin point any potential items to review on your side 🙂 . I think it's safe to say you probably should run an antibacterial med but at this point I don't recommend erythromycin. As Colu mentioned above this is usually from a gram negative bacteria and the common meds for treatment will be neoplex or kanaplex. Because of everything going on I would also suggest adding Ich-X just to counter any fungal issues. If you haven't seen it, please be sure to check out this video to understand a bit about methodology for treating fish. There is also a blog article specific to fin rot as well as a variety of videos on youtube from many channels that are trusted. The confusion between directions is because of preventative (one treatment) vs. an active illness (follow the directions on the package itself) for quarantine use. You don't want to simply treat preventative, right now you have an active disease and would follow the directions on whatever med you are using. As far as directions for Maracyn: To your question on tank size. I would just treat it as a 40G tank. If you're concerned at all just reserve a small amount of the 4th packet. Understandably, this is a ton of meds for one treatment. Hopefully that helps!

For me.... if I ever ran into the stuff, I'm going to swallow the price and treat the tank. That's just me though. It's a tough call, I've seen it handled and mentioned both ways. I tend to land in the 1/2 cup per 10G range (closer to level 2). I don't know if you have something sensitive in the tank, but you should be safe to increase it slowly if you wish over the next couple of days. Especially showing external issues, it shouldn't hurt at all. It looks like the blog is recommending to stick with it for 4-5 days and then increase as need be. Is this the new tank you just setup? Just for clarity sake if you can repeat what the substrate is in the tank. Risk of injury on the hardscape or something that happened during transit to this tank? You might be looking at 2 separate issues. One of them being whatever is on the head and secondarily what is on the fins and gills being fungal. Was there any drastic change from this tank compared to the previous one? Lastly, you probably already did it, but add an airstone just for the sake of it if need be. Especially on that size of a tank, it wouldn't hurt to have 2+ going.

Not a joke, it's like there's just something in the water sometimes. I removed a filter, got a bottle of stability and am finally getting rid of the haze in the tank from the added bioload. IDK what it is, but it took over 3 months for the sponge filters (2x large) to adapt to the panda horde. If you're seeing stuff pop up, I would donate my bottle if I could, but it's 30% off or whatever on the site right now which means you can have them price match if need be and it might help out with everything you have going on.

It's an oldie, but a goodie 🙂

Always happy to help, best of luck with your new amanos!

I was on a live stream and was given some advice for rectifying a few issues with my CO2 system. Thankfully with streams and fish hobbyists there is almost always someone who can help you out with specific questions even if the content creator is busy! I was advised to replace my tubing in case there is a leak. I went ahead and checked my bins, then checked again, and again, and again until I realized after an hour of searching that I had already replaced it and that I don't have anymore to use. 😞 I pulled the boxes for my diffuser in the case I need to replace it with a different shape, cleaned out the algae, and added back in my check valve at the waterline. The thinking being that whatever is going on and the reason for my CO2 not diffusing efficiently could be water somewhere it shouldn't be. Got everything back together and we'll see how things go tomorrow. Using bleach around an aquarium is always pretty intimidating so I ended up smelling some when I was working over the tank and added some prime to the tank just for safety. I hope there wasn't any issues and will check on things here shortly.

Good to hear. I think there's a few pinholes and there's ultimately not a great way to resolve some of them. I was able to repeat it, which could point to an issue. (Because I also hogged the crap out of the bottom of my intake, but with the wrong size holes) I am tempted to modify a few things on that tube, but I want to test this out first. I went ahead and pulled the sponge stuff today. Hopefully I can get to cutting out some parts for my filter and yours for your testing purposes. I'll let you know when I have some ready.

Congratulations!

Still going. I did find another issue with one of the previous mods, but that's for a future update. I am still running my tests and still trying to get things sorted out. This is the current tweak I have to the final design. I need to figure out why this cutout / opening was here. It might be something specific to cable routing, but.... We'll figure it out. There is a little lip all around the slot on the side where I added the silicone. For anyone following along at home and wants to try it as well in future, that's the mark I would recommend (currently) as safe to fill. Again, because so much of the input is now closed off the sponge itself is going to be necessary and the actual intake actually works now. This is a much different flow pattern for this filter compared to when it was unboxed. All of these little cuts and openings, that could just be there specific to injection molding needs, are now the focus as we try to dissect issues like what could be channeling air into the pump chamber and other issues that have surfaced.

Yeah, this is something I've experienced. I run air pretty strong. I notice it mostly after feeding, or when walking into the room. For me, it usually means it's time to air out the room, make sure things are ventilated properly (stagnant air) as well as checking to clean things if need be. I imagine the analogy would be a boiling pot of soup vs. a pot that just on warm. Yeah they both "smell" but one fills the room a lot more.

This is my method.

It's often been explained that you don't need to. Essentially, most of the things you would treat shrimp for wouldn't cross over to fish. That being said, the best thing you can do is drop the shrimp into a specimen container or QT tank and then slowly (longer than you think you should) acclimate them to your water. During that process you monitor them, check them out for parasites and other issues. If you have a QT tank, yeah you should use it. If you don't a bucket works with a sponge or air stone with daily water changes, but yes.... you can put them into the tank if you really don't have a choice and typically you will be ok. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/a-solution-to-algae-amano-shrimp https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/freshwater-dwarf-shrimp

Very good stuff! I'm excited to see more from the hivemind we have here. There is a plethora of excellent hobbyists here and we can all benefit from your experiences! 🙂 Here's another short one from me: 5 little tricks to help your filter maintenance: 1. More often, check your pump and impeller. It is always worth the extra 3-5 minutes to check it. If you run air only, check your airstones and clean them more. 2. When you're cleaning sponges, it's slightly easier to clean them submerged and let them fill with water and squeeze that water (and muck) out. You can also have success under very high pressure, like a hose. -There might be a need here to clarify that you shouldn't clean sponges that are used for specifically biological media on tap water due to risk of the loss of bacteria. I have, some do, but the best practice is to only clean sponges in tank water during a WC (water change). 3. Use a fish only toothbrush on your plastics, baskets, and grates to help get mulm off when you need to. -Depending what your setup it, you might have some muck in places that aren't sponge and you want to remove that stuff when you're doing a deep clean. Especially if you're having issues with the pump being dirty! 4. Sponges (not the filtration ones) used for dishes work very well to clean algae off surfaces, especially equipment. The key being, sometimes this is the only way to stop algae issues! -If you do run into a stubborn diatom, or a stubborn black algae, hair algae, sometimes the manual removal is a critical aspect to success long term and can help your plants bounce back. 5. If you're using a cartridge that you replace, you will have a more stable tank and biological filtration by adding sponge and/or ceramic filter media to your filtration.

What all do you have in terms of animals in QT from that box? I would try to keep that panda and the snails seperate if you can. Especially so you can dose salt for the fish.

I have this happen every time I try to get Scarlet Temple. I would think it's a PH thing? I have generally "good" water for plants, dosing CO2 and without dosing CO2, both times I have had that happen. The stalks turn to mush on that plant for me. No idea why. @Mmiller2001 @Seattle_Aquarist Have you ever heard stories like this or do you have any knowledge as to what on earth would cause this reaction with this plant in particular? I looked at the list of the other plants you mentioned. I did have success with PSO and Bacopa as well as Jungle Val. Those usually do fine for me. (GH = high, KH = 40-80, PH = 6.8 or below)

Use a bucket if you can with a sponge filter. If you don't have a tank I mean. Make sure to run meds, salt, etc. I would start with salt + food + air. Thankfully, there is an answer to the mystery now. Very unfortunate what those little fish went through. I believe you had already mentioned you have a door cam now. Hopefully that helps track future issues.

Makes sense. The fry are getting more comfortable now, which is good because they are almost impossible to see against the dark wood.

I wanted to post a list and get some opinions, but after mulling the list over for a few days I wanted to attempt to create a place where people can just create and post a list! Here's mine, but please feel free to hop on and post a "5 things" or "10 things" list related to fish stuff! 10 beginner tips I understand a lot better now (...and wish someone explained to me before starting out) 1. If you're interested in setting up a tank, know that you should always take the time to enjoy it! -Essentially, you want to avoid things becoming a chore and mentally find ways to associate the tank with enjoyment, not work! 2. You're going to struggle and eventually fail. This is part of the hobby and life. To quote Coach McDaniel, "Adversity is opportunity." 3. Have a place to get advice. -Whether it's the forums, a book, a research paper, a youtube channel (or a few), or some random discord, email, social groups, or a friend next door. Heck, for me it was the guy at the pet shop who clearly knew his stuff and cared at times. All I mean to say is that you're going to have questions and part of the hobby is enjoying those conversations, connecting with other hobbyists.... and learning. 4. Get a decent light. -When I first started out, I had a strip of 4 LEDs under a plastic cover on a 38G tank. Sometimes you just don't know and the light on that "tank kit" might not actually be designed for something like plants. Find a light that makes the tank look the way you light and get it. It'll last you for a very long time and it's one of the most important things you buy besides the tank itself! I do not mean go and buy an expensive light, but just make sure you have a light that you're happy with. An actual light so you can see things. This really helps. I think I ended up with 3-4 "sale" lights and carried them from one tank to the next until I realized I just wanted a decent one that works and fit the tank. 5. Learn the one secret to being successful with this hobby! (One of my favorite videos by Cory) 6. Take more time than you think you need, often, when making critical choices. -Don't rush to fill a tank just because you can! Let is cycle, fill it slowly. When you're struggling with algae, have patience and adjust slowly. When your filter isn't quite modded right, take your time to figure out exactly what might be going on. Ask questions. focus on analysis and learning, not just reacting! 7. Know the value of a 5G bucket and always have one extra around. -Needless to say they stack, they hold things, they are an extra tank, a table, they keep wet things wet when you need them to, and you always will find a way to use it, even if you're literally just moving water around. 8. Admire other hobbyists efforts -You're going to see other hobbyists with breathtaking tanks and you're going to literally not have the words come to mind about how that makes you feel. Just be happy for them, ask them questions, and explain how you admire the efforts. You'll never know who is looking at your tank and in awe, but you can always make someone's day by simply being happy for them and appreciating their hard work. Don't get envious, just take a breath and literally enjoy moments like that. 9. Find your "one thing" and focus on that. -I think everyone can relate to having one plant, fish, or piece of their tank that they genuinely cherish. Finding what that one thing is can be a great experience, but I also think that discovering what you enjoy and learning as much as possible about that aspect of your tank is extremely powerful. For me, it's corydoras. I never knew how much I would enjoy them. To the extent that I cannot imagine a tank without them inside of it. I have watched talks on their anatomy, looked into books, read articles, and there's so much enjoyment because I am inspired to learn more about them. All I mean, is take that time to dive a bit deeper when you find what you really enjoy. 10. If something works and you're happy with it, don't change it. -I mentioned it above with regards to chasing a better light or "enough light" and at one point in time I had a 20L tank with 2-3 different kinds of lights on it. The tank was next to a window and probably didn't need any of them. I've replaced a few too many filters and I've purchased things I didn't need to because I thought it was something I needed. Honestly, if you're doing well focus on learning, enjoyment, and maintaining that success. There are many, many different ways to be successful and define success. Find what yours is, and then move on to the next task. Hopefully this was a beneficial read for someone! I'm excited to see what others have in store.

LOL, I don't think that's dangerous at all! Very beautiful and unique fish. Eh, just get a nice net and they all will follow one another right into it!

What were you thinking? Cooler water tank with white clouds or tetras or?

I definitely encourage you to do that! @EVoyager31 very sorry for your struggles and losses. That's devastating. I am a lover of the barb tank myself and I miss my pack of little eating machines. I have my CO2 setup on one of the kasa wifi timers. I definitely recommend it if you don't have one. Whatever happened, that's just crazy unfortunate and hopefully you recover gracefully from the issues. I literally couldn't explain it... I can't seem to dump enough CO2 in my tank. Who knows.... Maybe my reg is broken. I definitely encourage you to try it out though. Even if you just do the sodastream method or something. Pressurized CO2 is so easy! Just an expense up front. I keep the tank outside the tank. I have seen stands with room for it, but yeah... I am always eyeballing the pressure dials and stuff to check things. For the sake of it, about an hour after you do any maintenance... go back and check the tank and make sure you didn't leave anything open that shouldn't be, lids, double check equipment. IDK how many times I set it and forget it so to speak and walk back into a screaming aquaclear. .... or a filter I forgot to turn the flow back up on.