nabokovfan87

Just as a heads up for anyone who was reading the lid stuff and trying to "make it really easy" They do have "plastic cutters" similar in form / function to glass cutters. It's a sharp edge that you can use with a straight edge and cut sheets of plastic pretty easily. You'd end up snapping it after you're halfway through the plastic and it would function basically the same as if you were using a glass cutter and glass. It is a great way to cut lexan by hand and avoid the issue of warping that you get with plexi. ON to the repashy though, I finally made a batch of community blend and fed it to the corys. The black corys still don't seem too interested but eventually made their way. The pandas did enjoy it. I don't know that they've ever seen this variety before. Looking forward to tomorrow and hopefully they understand what it is this time!

That's awesome, I'm glad you are making progress! As a bit of a thing, if you can. Try to find some nano moss balls for the cory fry tank. They have cover they need and it helps to trap some mulm for them to graze on. Worked really well for my pandas. Sera O nip spirulina tabs are great for that too and they turn into really fine powder if you drop just a little chunk or something and let it dissolve. Vibra bites would be my second food for them.

Please go ahead and rerun the test using the towel method.

First time using it for me. My plan is to change it every 30-90 days. I test often. Depending what I run into with results I'll have an idea and be able to tell during weekly cleanouts of the Media bags. It varies based on what your PH is on average.

airstone in the water for 24 hours (not in a tank, but just a cup or something). Correct. The co-op recommends crushed coral for KH issues because it's a bit more stable long term. The issue with buffers like what we're discussing is that you might have success for 1-2 weeks and then the buffer drops off. It's been reported with things like PH up and PH down and how this can actually emphasize swings. There's been people who use baking soda and other common items to change water parameters as well. There is definitely options! I will run some stability tests, but the seachem directions specifically point to a situation like yours where you use the acid buffer to drop PH, then alkaline buffer to boost the KH+PH back to normal at certain ratios.

Welcome, As mentioned it could just be the stress of going from the store to your house. It does happen. If you see more die off, I would check all of your parameters and your temperature. If they are eating and doing ok, you should be ok to start the QT process with meds (if you haven't).

Is this after aeration? Interesting. I was able to get just over 1/2 lb in my filter box (obvious issues with this), but it's slowly raised the KH by about 1 degree in that time. I need it to go up 2 more to be consistent when I change water. I just ordered some of the alkaline buffer, I'll report back when it gets here and after a few weeks of use.

I would push you towards dutch style aquascapes. They give you a lot of open water and it gives you something where the fish have places to hide if they wish without big rocks taking up space. If you want to have hardscape, I would encourage you to look into something like manzanita branches. They are very small and can be very aesthetically pleasing. Other types of wood will take up a lot of space, but will give the fish more room vertically if they are mid / bottom dwelling fish. As an example: Using slightly larger pieces you can achieve something like this.

What is the dimension on the diagonal? Kind of a pain, but I've had some tanks where I get the light for what dimension and then run it that way. It's interesting that you're running into issues with the light, it looks like everything I've seen should state that the spread is "wide enough", but obviously that's different than some users' experiences. Lid on that tank looks awesome. Just gonna point that out. Very likely.

What is the results of your water out of the tap, after 24 hours of aeration? Your best bet for something like this is going to be to have a place to "condition" water for water changes. 55G or something trashcan with wheels is pretty common way to do it with a pumphead inside. I think Zenzo (Tazawa Tanks) has a video on his channel of how he ran his business and it was a very common tool he used to move water around when working on business tanks. 1 lb per 10G, slightly less if you are using it in a high flow situation. This is for KH specifically (ignoring GH). What is your setup for how the coral is in your tank? I am running it in my HoB in a media bag right now and was considering this: Water changes of higher volume might give the PH a better chance to stabilize while the KH is slowly being buffered. Someone else, please comment on this one. This is something where I think a lot of us are struggling with buffer/KH issues. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/ph-gh-kh There is an Alkaline / Acid buffer. One of those was my next step for my tank if the ziss idea didn't work out. I'll have to order it and then let you know. Directions are "fun" but might give you an idea of how to use the two to balance out your issues.

Perfect. I'm right there with you. I was watching Corys vlog when he was setting up the living room tank, very similar issue. Trying to chase water changes keeping PH up while the tank is trying to buffer up some KH. I will probably have to have some acid buffer on hand, seems like a good thing to have for this transition or when I need to have major water changes due to meds or something. I am trying to get the tidal going, flow improved through the media box will *really* help (my thread for that is under experiments) but I don't know if adding it to the ziss will help. It's pretty fine chunks or media for the bags I have but I can stuff a lot more in that filter. Probably close to another pound.

What is your starting PH on the tap and water change schedule?

That's the #1 reason to move the fish right now. You can move the betta, you have reduced flow, easier to observe and control, and you can get in the new meds / filter (if that's what you need). Then you can treat the betta, treat the tank, and have the filter for QT tank for any future use where you need to have that again. So there is less meds used. It's different in this case because you're actively treating a disease / issue. Running all 3 meds at once is how you get ahead of this thing, if you can. (plus salt) Yes you can, but just keep in mind what equipment is used and try to clean it (at the very least air dry it thoroughly). Part of the biggest reason to move the betta is to reduce stress and flow.

I would highly recommend having some test strips on hand to test your water. Here is some resources for you. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/fin-rot https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/aquarium-salt-for-sick-fish https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/quarantine-tank

I don't know the situation you're in, but I'd order a nano/small sponge filter from the co-op, the meds just in case you NEED it. It's a different anti-bacterial med (erythromycin). API sells it as well, locally. But all I am trying to say, I would get the nano sponge thing, whatever you need to setup the QT longer term. It'll end up being at least 30 days in QT I would estimate. The fish in your tank may also be sick, this is where you kind of have to treat the tank as well, large water changes to get the parameters up, and then cleaning it well was what I say. It's hard to do all that with snails. so whenever the fish shows signs of improvement you can let them recover a bit and then run the med trio on the tank and the fish, especially on a 55G, then put the betta back whenever you're ready to do that. It would likely be several weeks out. Dosing these other meds is going to be *very different* than using those tabs that dissolve over time. You might see improved results from that as well. generally speaking. The other thing too, from what we were discussing was that you had temp / flow issues with the betta? The fish in the tank wanted one temp, the betta another, right? (I might be mixing up threads, so I apologize)

You can run the QT tank itself, 100% water changes daily, if you're worried about something like that, try to find a larger size 10G or so (black sterilite from home depot or something

From what I'm reading, you might need to treat with bacterial and fungal, and treat the tank itself as well. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/fin-rot https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/aquarium-salt-for-sick-fish Your best bet is to setup a QT tank for the betta specifically with an airstone or something. This way you can use the meds you need to, without risk of the snails having issues. You can use a small plastic sterilite container if you need to in a pinch for a QT tank. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/quarantine-tank I know it's a ton of information, but I think there's a lot of good people here willing to help walk you through or answer any questions you may have.

What is your KH, GH, PH? Do you gravel vac normally or are you leaving stuff for the snails to digest a bit longer?

Do you have any aquarium salt on hand as well? I am really hoping the food helps, that you start to see some improvement. I'm sorry for all you and the fish are going through.

Could be a thing where it was already removed. It should be a thin layer of clear something over the surface. If you need something else, any hardware store will have double sided tape from 3m that would also work well for the use.

That decor with the Anubias is probably my favorite use I've seen. I will have to replicate this!

I really appreciate the opportunity to use this in future. Even to give fish away. Thank you Co-op Team!

😂 nooooo! They are in a temp QT setup. It's got two pretty decent size pieces of mopani in it and I mess with them every so often just to give them a change of scene. I have a 29G tank "setup" but it has to move and then I'll have some nice decor for them to run around in. I will have to keep an eye out for that though. LOL. There is most definitely a Sheriff and her Deputies in the cluster though. For the record. I vote these. I like the little design on the tail.

because of the crayfish, you're probably going to want to have something that stays up top. WCMM would be my bet and even then, I don't think I'd add much of anything else you don't mind losing.

You absolutely can. Based on the tank itself, you might have more success adding otos though. If you want a pleco, perhaps look into clown plecos as well. They are a bit different in their "style" and usually prefer a piece of wood in the tank. I have two clown (3-4" long) in my 29G tank. They tend to make a lot less mess than the bristlenose, but it's up to whatever you prefer. Plecos in general can all create a lot of mulm, which is a good / bad thing depending on what you want out of the tank. Also, welcome! Edit: A Rubbernose Pleco might work too, they will stick to the glass and clean that for the most part. Love that tank! How do you enjoy those corys? I think they will be the next ones I end up with.