Any fishkeepers out there?

strumstrum said:
how mature was the tank? did you treat water with chlorine and ammonia remover tap safe? flow pump and filter all good? overfeeding? when you found the first dead fish was still in fish state or did it look decomposed/picked at?
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The tank (70L) has been going for years.

Lemon Tetra have been in there quite happy for about 6 months.

Stock is well within limit.

2 X Peppered Cory
3 X Glass Catfish
4 X Neon Tetra
4 x Red Wag Platy
3 X Lemon Tetra (now zero Lemon Tetra)

Filter / pump is good although I've now changed the carbon pads.

I keep on top of the water with:

Fluval Cycle Biological Enhancer (Eliminates Ammonia & Nitrite)
Fluval Aqua Plus (Removes Chlorine & Chloramines)
API Prevent Algae (Removes Phoshpate nutrients for Algae)

Temperature is 27c

Feeding is normal - flake and sinking pellets.

First dead lemon tetra had been pulled against the filter - no sign of nibbling and looked ok
Second lemon tetra was upside down but alive (swim bladder) put in it's own bowl but died.
Third was just dead and floating.

I think I'll hoover the gravel and see if things improve with the new carbon pads.
 
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I had a tropical tank a few years back, managed to keep 3 clown loaches alive for 3 years+ but just couldn't keep guramis alive for some reason.

The guy in my local fish shop said that sometimes there's no rhyme or reason to it and certain fish will die in one tank but thrive in another.
 
Just done 25% water change as part of the gravel hoover.

There was a fair old s*** storm afterwards which was unusual.

Hopefully the new filters will clear it soon.
 
dinners said:
It has foam pads then the carbon pads and then a cage with the white biomax stone things in the middle.

Fluval U2
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Do you/how often do you, clean/replace the other foam pads and biomax stuff?

The foam pads and biomax wont need replacing for aaages, the biomax never probably. For cleaning, use water that you've syphoned out of the tank (e.g. for a water change), not tap water, to rinse the sludge etc off the pads and agitate off the biomax and replace. (Use this water on any houseplants then or tomato plants etc)

Is this what you do already?
 
dinners said:
There was a fair old s*** storm afterwards which was unusual.
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The longer you have the tank, more s*** will build up in the gravel. Hoovering never gets it all. It'll soon settle back or get filtered. As long as clean water is going in fairly regularly, should be ok.
 
DorsetDude said:
The longer you have the tank, more s*** will build up in the gravel. Hoovering never gets it all. It'll soon settle back or get filtered. As long as clean water is going in fairly regularly, should be ok.
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Cheers Keith

I'm wondering if the filters were just overdue.

The green I'm thinking was due to the new brighter light which I'll have to work out the best timings for.
 
DorsetDude said:
Do you/how often do you, clean/replace the other foam pads and biomax stuff?

The foam pads and biomax wont need replacing for aaages, the biomax never probably. For cleaning, use water that you've syphoned out of the tank (e.g. for a water change), not tap water, to rinse the sludge etc off the pads and agitate off the biomax and replace. (Use this water on any houseplants then or tomato plants etc)

Is this what you do already?
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The biomax is really old - I'm always reluctant to change it although it's had the odd rinse.

The foam pads I tend to just squeeze in emptied tank water.

The carbon pads were shot. Well overdue so I'm hoping that makes a difference.

As for the fish tank water - I have a greenhouse and that's where it goes. If I pour it in the garden I end up with a very muddy Springer Spaniel lol
 
Sounds like you are on top of it all. Maybe the fish you got sold weren't as young as the shop made out. Unusual for them all to die so quickly together though even if they were old.
 
DorsetDude said:
Sounds like you are on top of it all. Maybe the fish you got sold weren't as young as the shop made out. Unusual for them all to die so quickly together though even if they were old.
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Fingers crossed

The 4 Red Platy are newer than the Lemon Tetra and they seem OK

Perhaps the Tetra were just more prone to whatever saw them off.
 
dinners said:
Fingers crossed

The 4 Red Platy are newer than the Lemon Tetra and they seem OK

Perhaps the Tetra were just more prone to whatever saw them off.
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sounds like it, neon ts are pretty hardy as are cardinal ts, not sure about lemons though... if you have problems with the Platys then you have a problem, they can manage to get by in well beyond the boundaries of normal living conditions.

might have been the ammonia level that did it, maybe the lemons gills are more sensitive than the other fish...:(
 
strumstrum said:
sounds like it, neon ts are pretty hardy as are cardinal ts, not sure about lemons though... if you have problems with the Platys then you have a problem, they can manage to get by in well beyond the boundaries of normal living conditions.

might have been the ammonia level that did it, maybe the lemons gills are more sensitive than the other fish...:(
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Shame really as the Lemon Tetra were lovely looking fish.
 
I always understood that cardinals preferred slightly acidic water, i.e. less than 7 whereas neons could cope with higher than 7. My water down here is almost always over 7.5 so I've never bothered with cardinals. Having a look round on tinternet, seems the same is true for lemons. So it could be possible your fish succumbed because of too alkali a water ph? Have you ever measured it?
 
dinners said:
...
I keep on top of the water with:

Fluval Cycle Biological Enhancer (Eliminates Ammonia & Nitrite)
Fluval Aqua Plus (Removes Chlorine & Chloramines)
API Prevent Algae (Removes Phoshpate nutrients for Algae)
...
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Phil, I'd ditch the API prevent algae and the fluval cycle stuff - imo/e they are snake oil. The best way to maintain good water quality is to have a properly functioning bio filter (which your should be given it's age) and do regular water changes. Only use the Aqua Plus when you do a water change too. Weekly water changes of around 25% to 33% would be good btw.

Most fishkeepers I know in Scotland have soft water so it should be ideal for tetras (cardinals, neons, lemons, greens etc)
 
Yesterday I thought they were just little bubbles but today 3 of the 4 red wag platy have white spots now. Whether it's 'white Spot' I'm not sure.

Should I take them out ?

The one worst affected seems to be a bit drunk and drifty.

One of them looks absolutely fine.

Also my large peppered cory has spawned over night and there's eggs all over the glass.
 
Its all happening. Take a water sample down to your local shop and get them to check the parameters, see if anything is obviously wrong.

white spot, no idea sorry. Try researching it a bit on the internet and having a closer look at yours to try and tell. If they have got it you'll probably end up having to treat the whole tank Id have thought.

Methylene blue in the good old days I think was used.
 
White spot looks like grains of salt or sugar (but rounded) on the side of the fish, small white pimples. If it is white spot you will have to treat the whole tank as the theronts (the infective stage) may well be present in the water column, and most likely the tomonts will be in/on the gravel by now (they become theronts). Any of the commercially available white spot treatments will work. Remove carbon too when treating.
 
Phil, a pic may help in diagnosing btw ... I know that's odd asking for a pic on a photography forum ;)
 
The white bits look more like soft stuff.

Anyway - been back through and the platy that looked bad has now died.

Of the remaining 3 - one looks fine and two seem quiet.

I'll try for a pic...
 
That's why I was asking about white spot / Ick as I'll have to arrange a trip to somewhere I can get treatment.

It doesn't look exactly like that - it appears more fluffy.

I've taken a few pictures but the two platy that I'm trying to photo are giving me the run a round.
 
fluffy could be some form of fungus (technically not a fungus as such, usually Saprolegnia, but ...) - if you have salt to hand that is still a useful treatment and can buy enough time to properly diagnose. https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=f...MVeiLOMz2UvPUgYAB&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&dpr=1 for images on fungus

Let me know about the salt and I'll advise how I use it (btw ANY salt will do as long as it is 99% NaCl).
 
Thanks folks

Should I quarantine those two platy then ?

I can get along to Perth after I've finished working to get a water test.

This all seems to stem back to when I replaced my lighting.
 
It's not the lights as such. Fish are susceptible to stress (just like us) - when you changed the lighting a few other things changed too which sounds like it has stressed the fish. Their immune system will have lowered and they become prone to disease, be it parasite, fungal, bacterial or viral. For now I'd add some salt to the aquarium, any salt (I use Tesco cooking salt 'cos it's cheap) - I'd add around 50 - 60 grams, this will aid in their osmo regulation and ease the stress on them.
 
Thanks Paul

I'll have salt 50-60g OK for 70L tank ?

Should I still go and get the water tested in Perth ?
 
Also a bit concerned that adding salt isn't recommended for some fish such as my Peppered Cory
 
Yep, that amount will be fine, add half now and half in an hour or two. The only thing I'd test for would be ammonia and nitrite so no harm either getting a test kit for those or getting the water tested. Be warned though that the shop may well try and sell you stuff, forgive me if I sound cynical but most of them know just enough to be dangerous. My cynicism has been brought about by years of trying to counter poor advice offered by lfs's ...

The reason to add half the salt is to guage the response of the cory's and glass cats - they can be sensitive to salt, though ime and at the levels suggested they are usually fine (99% of the time).
 
I did a water test a couple of days ago. Think it just tested for ammonia (NH3/NH4 test). It was showing 0.25 mg/l
 
dinners said:
I did a water test a couple of days ago. Think it just tested for ammonia (NH3/NH4 test). It was showing 0.25 mg/l
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Any ammonia present isn't good, a lot depends on the pH (below 7 it becomes NH4 which is less toxic) but ammonia gets broken down to nitrite which is also toxic and more so at low pH - salt helps to mitigate NO2 toxicity (brown blood disease).

strumstrum said:
you still need a treatment, it is my understanding salt will only help the fish not cure the tank..?? and remember salt does not evaporate so some ruthless water changes will be need to rid the tank of salt.
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You are right, he will need a treatment, but given his bio filter looks to have taken a hit (ammonia @ 0.25) he needs to be careful too. Most of the meds for either fungus or white spot will adversely affect the bio filter.
 
Thanks

So what else would they check my water for if I take a sample in ?
 
The two "killers" are ammonia and nitrite (NH3/4 & NO2) - it is likely they will test for nitrates (NO3) and phosphates as well as maybe hardness. They should test for pH too as that has implications. Being honest most of the hobbyist test kits, and that will almost certainly be what they use, are pretty dire so I'd only use them as an indication rather than trust the numbers. Any indication of ammonia or nitrite is cause for concern though, it means something has damaged your bio filter. Generally just good husbandry is all that is needed to get it to recover but no doubt they'll try and sell some magic elixir to restart the filter ;)

Honestly I'd just about ignore any numbers for NO3 & PO4, unlikely in Scotland that your water is going to be concrete hard either (jammy sod) - pH is always useful to know though. btw salt doesn't affect pH, or carbonate hardness, but it does affect general hardness, it will also affect the readings from a TDS meter too.

Do the white lumps look more like fungus or spots btw?
 
PaulButler said:
The two "killers" are ammonia and nitrite (NH3/4 & NO2) - it is likely they will test for nitrates (NO3) and phosphates as well as maybe hardness. They should test for pH too as that has implications. Being honest most of the hobbyist test kits, and that will almost certainly be what they use, are pretty dire so I'd only use them as an indication rather than trust the numbers. Any indication of ammonia or nitrite is cause for concern though, it means something has damaged your bio filter. Generally just good husbandry is all that is needed to get it to recover but no doubt they'll try and sell some magic elixir to restart the filter ;)

Honestly I'd just about ignore any numbers for NO3 & PO4, unlikely in Scotland that your water is going to be concrete hard either (jammy sod) - pH is always useful to know though. btw salt doesn't affect pH, or carbonate hardness, but it does affect general hardness, it will also affect the readings from a TDS meter too.

Do the white lumps look more like fungus or spots btw?
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Thanks

They're hardly visible on the 2 remaining platy (which are huddled in the corner) and there's nothing showing on the third platy (swimming about as normal) or any of the other fish. On the one that died it wasn't really spots, more a fine fluff. Once it was removed from the water I couldn't see the white stuff.

I'll take water along in a little while and see what the tests show and then take it from there.
 
Just got back from having the tests done.

Ammonia has gone up to 'unsafe' 0.8 which is past their 'safe' 0-0.25 but not in the 'deadly' 4.0-8.0

Nitrite is zero ppm

Nitrate is 60 ppm which he said showed my filter system was working.

PH 7.2

Recommendations were on the ammonia- 30% water change tonight followed by 30% same again tomorrow. Then I've to go back for another test on Monday.

He said the anti fungal stuff I have is OK but that would require removal of carbon filter so see what Monday's results are after the water changes first.
 
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