Chick-in-of-TheSea journal

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/5/2024 at 9:28 PM, redcherrychrimp2 said:

Sorry I can't see the video can you send me a photo

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/5/2024 at 9:33 PM, redcherrychrimp2 said:

Ahhhhhhh

Woww

Are those tubifex worms

These are white worms. The betta loves them!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/5/2024 at 9:46 PM, redcherrychrimp2 said:

Drum roll please this is little Alex

I recently feed him bloodworms

I had him when he was small look

But I gave him too much bloodworms 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Very cute. If you ever overfeed you can remove the food with a turkey baster.

[Meep556]

Ah every one here is into other animals other than fish. Same here, I’ve got 3 axolotls, box turtle, red foot tortoise and two tree frogs. Oh also 10 chickens… lol. 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Hello from Quetsie

 

Edited June 9 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

How cute is this snoot?

[EricksonAquatics]

BOOP THE SNOOT😛

What variety of bristlenose is that? Very handsome little man!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/12/2024 at 12:10 PM, EricksonAquatics said:

BOOP THE SNOOT😛

What variety of bristlenose is that? Very handsome little man!

He was bred by a friend that was, er, not trying to breed? I’m not 100% sure but I believe the type is “cute longfin bristlenose pleco”. 🙂 Fins have white edges. You can kind of tell in this action shot.

 

Edited June 12 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

The 29g has ich. (Expletive.) 2 fish present symptoms. Slowly upping temp to 86 and prepping garlic infused food, as well as the garlic infusion that I had used about 2 years ago with success.

Not sure what brought this on. Nothing new was added. Tank gets weekly water changes. Temp is stable. No other tank has ich.

Edited June 13 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

It was a looong night. I was up every 30-60 minutes to check the tank temp, to make sure the rainbird is doing what it’s supposed to, and to make sure everyone is not stressed. I did give them extra air yesterday. I had to go to 87 degrees because of the 1 degree differential on the Rainbird, which I don’t think I can zero out, so it wouldn’t stop below 86. 

Then I was obsessively searching the forum for the ol’ ich vs. epistylis debates. The photos people shared of epistylis do not look like what my fishies presented. One pristella tetra had 3 dots around, not on, the eye. It is like the parasite specifically avoided the eye, making a half circle, or C-shape. The other side of that same fish had one dot above the eye. And a black neon had a fuzz or maybe it was even a grayish slime (?) on its nose, but inconsistent with columnaris. Also during my “doom scrolling” I found a post where @Colu said rubberlip plecos don’t do well above 80 degrees, so I was freaking out about Flint the BNP. Flicked on the room light in the middle of the night, and that just made him mad that his thorough front glass cleaning routine was interrupted, and he dashed back to hide under his driftwood, the shy fella. Sorry, bud.

Today I busted out the magnifying glass and.. I can’t find anything except the spot/slime thing on the black neon’s nose, which is half the size now?  So, hooray! And no pics I can really show…

The only other remedy I used yesterday was feeding the fish some crushed garlic clove. They passed it around; everybody picked up and spat out the same pieces. I don’t think they actually ate it? So I laced some micro pellets with garlic guard and Focus and let that sit for a bit. Fed it to them and they went into a mad FRENZY over it. I fed that to the other tanks as well and they loved it and acted like they couldn’t get enough.

To err on the side of caution, I will keep the temp up for 3 days, then gradually lower it. Then I will do a really good siphoning. I may actually do that today since there are no meds in there to dilute, and the water now comes out of the tap pretty warm because my pipes run through the attic (I’m in FL). I don’t want a water change to decrease my temp now that I finally reached the goal temp which took about 10 hours.

Given Flint’s rapid growth, I believe it’s his bioload that is upsetting the tank balance. There are large piles of waste that lay at the back of the tank where the HOB pushed them, and weekly siphoning does not seem to be enough to keep up with it. Because I am working full time, I am considering some options (other than more maintenance) such as a larger tank or adopting some fish out. Hard to think about, as I consider these fish my family. Many I’ve had for 11 or 12 years. Upgrading would take some logistics, as I’d have to move the other tanks around and may not have enough electrical outlets in the fish room. However, if I did upgrade, all my fish could be together and I could decommission two 5gal tanks, after a larger tank cycles.

Edited June 14 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Colu]

On 6/14/2024 at 12:23 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

It was a looong night. I was up every 30-60 minutes to check the tank temp, to make sure the rainbird is doing what it’s supposed to, and to make sure everyone is not stressed. I did give them extra air yesterday. I had to go to 87 degrees because of the 1 degree differential on the Rainbird, which I don’t think I can zero out, so it wouldn’t stop below 86. 

Then I was obsessively searching the forum for the ol’ ich vs. epistylis debates. The photos people shared of epistylis do not look like what my fishies presented. One pristella tetra had 3 dots around, not on, the eye. It is like the parasite specifically avoided the eye, making a half circle, or C-shape. The other side of that same fish had one dot above the eye. And a black neon had a fuzz or maybe it was even a grayish slime (?) on its nose, but inconsistent with columnaris. Also during my “doom scrolling” I found a post where @Colu said rubberlip plecos don’t do well above 80 degrees, so I was freaking out about Flint the BNP. Flicked on the room light in the middle of the night, and that just made him mad that his thorough front glass cleaning routine was interrupted, and he dashed back to hide under his driftwood, the shy fella. Sorry, bud.

Today I busted out the magnifying glass and.. I can’t find anything except the spot/slime thing on the black neon’s nose, which is half the size now?  So, hooray! And no pics I can really show…

The only other remedy I used yesterday was feeding the fish some crushed garlic clove. They passed it around; everybody picked up and spat out the same pieces. I don’t think they actually ate it? So I laced some micro pellets with garlic guard and Focus and let that sit for a bit. Fed it to them and they went into a mad FRENZY over it. I fed that to the other tanks as well and they loved it and acted like they couldn’t get enough.

To err on the side of caution, I will keep the temp up for 3 days, then gradually lower it. Then I will do a really good siphoning. I may actually do that today since there are no meds in there to dilute, and the water now comes out of the tap pretty warm because my pipes run through the attic (I’m in FL). I don’t want a water change to decrease my temp now that I finally reached the goal temp which took about 10 hours.

Given Flint’s rapid growth, I believe it’s his bioload that is upsetting the tank balance. There are large piles of waste that lay at the back of the tank where the HOB pushed them, and weekly siphoning does not seem to be enough to keep up with it. Because I am working full time, I am considering some options (other than more maintenance) such as a larger tank or adopting some fish out. Hard to think about, as I consider these fish my family. Many I’ve had for 11 or 12 years. Upgrading would take some logistics, as I’d have to move the other tanks around and may not have enough electrical outlets in the fish room. However, if I did upgrade, all my fish could be together and I could decommission two 5gal tanks, after a larger tank cycles.

It's difficult say what caused the symptoms you have seen if it were ich or epistylis it wouldn't have disappeared in 24hr I would just monitor to see if it returns rubber lipped pleco can be ok at higher temperatures for short periods of time as long as you increase levels of dissolved oxygen you could add a small power head to prevent dead spots and prevent waste buildup 

[Chris]

FWIW, I had a hard time telling epistylis apart from Ich until I had seen both in person. Once you know what epistylis looks like through your own eyes, its much easier to tell the difference. Epistylis looks a bit more 3D to my eyes, where ich could almost be misconstrued for white dots painted on the fish. In my case, Epistylis also caused far more damage in just a few days than I've ever seen ich do. 

Good luck with everything!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/14/2024 at 7:23 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I had to go to 87 degrees because of the 1 degree differential on the Rainbird, which I don’t think I can zero out, so it wouldn’t stop below 86. 

I suppose I got my payback today, as the A/C went out and now the house is about the same temp as the tank. 🥵

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/14/2024 at 8:03 AM, Colu said:

It's difficult say what caused the symptoms

So last night temp was raised. This evening I see what I believe to be a neurological issue? Not sure if this was the fish that had the spots yesterday. Could have been. Also I see the fish starting to swim in such a way that it could be developing curved spine (swim in circles disease - is it called tb?). Never had a fish recover from that one, so hopefully this is not going to progress the way I suspect . @Colu @Odd Duck any thoughts? 
 

 

Edited June 15 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Colu]

On 6/15/2024 at 1:54 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

So last night temp was raised. This evening I see what I believe to be a neurological issue? Not sure if this was the fish that had the spots yesterday. Could have been. Also I see the fish starting to swim in such a way that it could be developing curved spine (swim in circles disease). Never had a fish recover from that one, so hopefully this is not going to progress the way I suspect . @Colu @Odd Duck any thoughts? 
 

 

  the curve and odd swimming behaviour it's possible it's swim into something in the tank that cause neurological issues the symptoms can also be caused by a parasitic  or  bacterial infection with the white spots your fish had I don't think it's a coincidence did you take any pictures of the white spots before they disappeared 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/14/2024 at 9:12 PM, Colu said:

  the curve and odd swimming behaviour it's possible it's swim into something in the tank that cause neurological issues the symptoms can also be caused by a parasitic  or  bacterial infection with the white spots your fish had I don't think it's a coincidence did you take any pictures of the white spots before they disappeared 

No, I went to take photos the next day and the spots were not there.

Water tests today

ammonia 0

nitrite 0

nitrate 30

temp decreased to 85

Edited June 15 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Colu]

On 6/15/2024 at 2:35 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

No, I went to take photos the next day and the spots were not there.

Water tests today

ammonia 0

nitrite 0

nitrate 30

temp decreased to 85

Do you have a quarantine tank you could use for this fish a think it would be worthwhile doing a course of maracyn2 just in case there's a bacterial component given how quickly the onset of symptoms were 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/15/2024 at 5:57 AM, Colu said:

Do you have a quarantine tank you could use for this fish a think it would be worthwhile doing a course of maracyn2 just in case there's a bacterial component given how quickly the onset of symptoms were 

I could bucket quarantine this fish.

[Colu]

On 6/15/2024 at 11:11 AM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

I could bucket quarantine this fish.

I would do that if you don't have a quarantine tank spare 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Because there are several weird things that have happened, I added some carbon to the HOB. Maybe there are impurities that I’m unaware of.

[Colu]

On 6/15/2024 at 12:13 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Because there are several weird things that have happened, I added some carbon to the HOB. Maybe there are impurities that I’m unaware of.

It's possible have you added new fish or plants to this tank recently that could have bought in disease 

[nabokovfan87]

I'm hoping for rapid improvement for you and the fish. Hopefully the AC is working amongst other things! I had the little surface temp things I use on the lid of the tank one day when I was cleaning the side and it read 80+ and I just instantly sank inside a bit. "shoot, has this been the issue all along!? Oh wait, it's on the lid and it's just the light."

You're doing a lot, trying to do the best things you can. Ich for me was about 30-45 days and a lot of bottles of ich-x and salt. I ended up losing a lot of fish, but thankfully Grace and most of her friends were ok. It's a really tough thing to experience and you've been there before. I feel like having that unfortunate experience is a great mentor for the next occurrence.

On 6/14/2024 at 5:54 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

This evening I see what I believe to be a neurological issue? Not sure if this was the fish that had the spots yesterday. Could have been.

Almost reminds me of a very upset fish doing the "I'm not happy" dance. The quick bolt at the end reminds me of flashing. The shape is weird though. Get better soon fish. You're in good hands.

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 6/15/2024 at 8:44 AM, Colu said:

It's possible have you added new fish or plants to this tank recently that could have bought in disease 

The only thing was a nerite I added May 11. It didn’t live long, maybe 2 weeks. I bag acclimated it and then I put it through the “snail car wash”. That is where I just clean it gently in a cup of tank water after the acclimation. I do this for all new snails.
 

I dump out the water from the bag, I do not add it to the tank. The other nerite that I have had for awhile now is still in the tank and doing great.

On 6/15/2024 at 9:38 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Ich for me was about 30-45 days and a lot of bottles of ich-x and salt. I ended up losing a lot of fish, but thankfully Grace and most of her friends were ok

That’s a long time for ich!  Last I had it was a few years ago. I kicked up the temp to 86 and did the garlic infusion. It cured everyone but I did have a couple losses. Ich is a nasty one to deal with. I’d say maybe a week and a half was my duration of treatment and recovery.

On 6/15/2024 at 9:38 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

Hopefully the AC is working amongst other things

Well no. 3rd tech just came out. Hopefully it’s fixed now “for realsies”. Waiting to see.

On 6/15/2024 at 9:38 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

The quick bolt at the end reminds me of flashing

Yeah, I think it was. It looked like he was trying to flash on a plant this morning too, just mildly.

Edited June 15 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

I set up the most beautiful quarantine.

Also set up a powerhead to keep the debris moving toward the hob intake. LFS helped me select the appropriate output for my tank and I have it directed to blow over the sand at the back of the tank (Flint’s hangout) where the mulm collects. The powerhead flow rate is adjustable by dialing the tube.

This is what it looks like. It lays on its side and I have a stone keeping it in place. The fish don’t seem to notice but I see that it is doing its job. It was trenching my sand though, so I added a handful of gravel back there.

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Wow, loving the powerhead/pump. It did push sand a bit again, so I may add more gravel along the back. This little plant is now in a sand dune. lol!  
 

The device looks large in the photo, I think? It’s really not. Smaller than the 60 tabs root tabs container. I’m sure there are  nicer looking/black powerheads but I think I needed that guidance of LFS and the ability to dial down the flow if needed. Actually, maybe I will do that vs more gravel. I know ACO has a powerhead but I thought the flow was too high for this tank? Idk. New to the powerheads game.

Also I saw a video where the OP turned off the powerhead at night so the fish can rest more easily. I unplugged it last night but will snag a Kasa wifi timer for this purpose. I love love love these timers!

Also I told my husband about the powerhead and Flint’s bioload and he said, quote! “You need a much bigger tank.” (!!!). However I will properly budget for all the things and not rack up the credit card. I can at least snag the tank now since it’s 50% off sale. 40B or 55? Hmm… 40B less water to change, also only wet arm to elbow …55 more water for livestock. that is the internal debate right now.

Edited June 16 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea