Pitafish

I have two large co-op sponge filters, fluval C4 and top fin with pot scrubbers and bio balls. it’s a 55 gallon planted with six (likely soon to be five) tetras, 2 neons, 5 Cory’s, six large amanos and three platys (with one tiny baby). Been going since April-ish. I noted an ammonia spike after adding amanos or maybe all the fish eating all the fry I thought she was pregnant but never saw any fry so thought she was fat until I finally saw a baby recently. Plus saw a tetra eat a fry that had been hiding. here’s a pic

The ONLY reason I started doing this was the fish were dying so I thought maybe unclean. Honestly the sponges in the tank maybe get the siphon stuck on them but have not been out and squeezed. The fluval got changed as the impeller got clogged. So now I’m wondering if changing the sponges is necessary as my plan wasn’t to change them as my tank is clear. I don’t know why the neons are dying—maybe just neons but they were all doing great and then just bam….

So the round sponge filters you have put in your external filters? I do rinse fairly frequently as I’m use to with my turtle tank as it gets cloudy. I suppose my question stems from all my neons recently dying and I can’t figure out why. I’m worried they have that neon tetra disease and as I’ve only found two worried other fish are eating them and my entire tank will die. amyway. Guess I won’t toss my sponge filters as they appear to be functional

I have A LOT of filtration. I rinse my pot scrubbers until they seem to be falling apart or just can’t seem to look clean. I’ve noted recently to replace the sponge filters at 6-9 months. does everyone do this or just keep rinsing? just curious. thanks!

No ammonia today after a 50% water change and cleaned one of my three filters. The tetras are all eating and doing well. Everyone is very active. but tonight I noticed a cory not active at the bottom. Feed and everyone eating but this Cory. Use pelafix yesterday maybe 30 minutes before my water change. Just reading it can hurt their lungs. I have two other tanks I can move them to. (I have five Cory’s) not sure what is happening. Everything was great until I added some amano shrimp and nerite snails from aqua huna. my Cory’s are my favorite and if I’ve killed them …..I’m throwing in the towel. looking at him, he does seem a bit smaller than the others but he’s been fairly stationary for past hr. ammonia 0 nitrate 20 nitrite 0 pH low 7.6 pH high kit maybe 8.2 my water is soft from a softener. Chlorine is 0 but I still add prime I was hoping it would fix issues without having to move any fish. I usually look up things before I use them but just checked if it was okay for my shrimp and snails. any help appreciated. H

Ammonia zero, nitrite zero and nitrate 40 (I use the co-cop fertilizer. Everyone is eating well except the well crap. Ammonia is high. Doing water change. I’ve been feeding too much likely.

I recently added some amano shrimp to the tank for algae clean up. A week passed and now multiple neons are missing and one did get pulled by filter intake. Could not see evidence of disease until today. my fancy tetra as a white lesion (doesn’t look like ich). I was going to treat with kanaplex but would it harm my plants or invertebrates? I can do a hospital but not quickly. I don’t want to loose anymore! thank you Parameters good. I can do hardness if needed.

FYI! She’s doing great!! We did treat with antibiotics and anti fungals. just wanted to let everyone know! thanks again!

Thank you so much for your thoughtful reply. ha ha ha. You are absolutely right, the V is right by the outflow. I actually have two HOB filters and the one it’s near only has potscrubbers in it with some bioballs. I could just remove all together. My tanks 20 years ago used HOB, I have some canisters (Penn Plax) I could use but cleaning them from my turtle….just needed a break. I had no idea of YouTube aquascape channels. But might have to jump down that rabbit hole! thank you again. I think I will focus on keeping them happy (plants) and make sure all my fish flourish!

This is amazing!! Please post when you get some fish!! I have a 20 gallon I’m about to break down and start up a 30 gallon and my wallet is screaming knowing what’s coming! I love this! thank you @Brandon p

I have anubas, buce, Java ferns, swords the vallisnera is spreading but is getting black tuffs on its tips the ludwigia melts if I plant immediately so I let it float (assumed it needed better light) and it does well, I will then plant. They do best in my 15 gal flex. I love the look of a planted aquarium. I would like them to fill in more. Below is when I started the tank (March) above is the tank now

One at far right. lumens 2550 59 w i can control blue, purple, pink, white, cyan

I want my plants to thrive a bit more. I have a fluval marine light (model 14517) that came with my 100 gallon I bought on marketplace. I am going to get the Bluetooth running as it is preset at this time. my question—will this light work for freshwater if I change to a brighter setting. I have the LED lights that came with the topfin kit. I was hoping the topfin would penetrate deeper and I’d getting better growth. I use the coop fertilizer. (It’s cleaning day so ignore dirty glass) thanks so much!.

I keep trying I have written two updates and couldn’t get them to post. started kanaplex. Doing a water change today. Got an aquarium medicine book to help guide me a bit more. I have a 30 gallon I might try to get her to move him in to make the hospitalization easier. I dropped the ball on the cytology and got caught up at work and never got it done. can try Monday morning so it’s as fresh as possible. But fish is still swimming

Thank you for the replies. We are at day five I believe. The plan was to through all the anti fungal and antibiotics. Doing cytology today.