Jennifer

+1 This is what I would do. Also, what sort of compost did you add to the water? The amount of nutrients in a common potting soil type compost might be significantly more than an aquatic environment will thrive in.

As I said, I recommend using the dose on the bottle. Using anything else is at your own risk. :thup:

I recommend using the dose on the bottle. That said, the dose I use for all of my tanks where I use excel is 5mls per 40L twice a week. I would dose daily but it is too much work for me and this dose is perfectly tolerated by all plants and all fish...but, I don't have twisted val.

I am getting the marine bug again after this thread... :facepalm:

It sounds like you are on the right track. There isn't an exact recipe for success. There are so many biological processes going on that there are a myriad of reasons why you might be seeing an ammonia spike. One likely thing that happened is that you had cycled the tank but the bacteria load was not all that high so it may have died off and then gone through another ammonia spike. Or it could have been contaminated by a pathogenic bacteria, or your test kit may not be all that accurate. All are equally possible and it is very hard to know for sure what was causing the problem. If it were me, I would get a big clump of mature filter media from an experienced fish keeper in your area. You would be amazed at how much that can solve. Once you get it, put it in your filter as soon as possible, then feed it by adding some fish (the number of fish depends on how much media you get and how many fish were in the tank that the media was taken from). Once the fish are added, feed them lightly and only just once a day and do a 25% water change every couple of days with dechlorinated water. After a week or so, leave the tank for a few days and test it again to check ammonia levels. I would bet that you don't have any at that point! :thup: Btw, I see you are relatively local so you are welcome to have some of my mature filter media if you want!

Some species of plant can melt when exposed to Flourish Excel. The commonly called 'twisted val' is one such plant that melts in this way. You can make your own fertilisers by contacting the hydroponics place listed previously in this thread.

Once the mature plant flowers, it will die off. If you just leave it, it will come back again in a few months (at about the same time that the seed begin to sprout).

Hehe. 8)

+1 I find them nice for loaches though.

I saw them, I can't definitively identify them, but they are immature but the large dorsal fin and striped caudal fin is obvious. They look like this:

I got some fancy longfin red jewel ancistrus and they have made me really happy. :happy2: I must be getting my fishy interest back. Last night I was up until 11pm cleaning, rearranging and faffing about with tanks. Had to trim off all my fingernails as they were so soft from being wet for hours. :roll:

That black on the pelvic fins is so the female can signal her fry. When all else fails, I tend to go with that as one of the stronger sex indicators (if the fins get really black) and there are no other features which contradict the suspicion! :roll: Gorgeous fish btw. !drool:

That liquid dosing regime was a duplicate of Flourish Iron (w/v concentration). To dose with EI you'd need to use a lot more. I use it dry, 1/4 tsp/400L every other day in addition to the trace mix which already contains iron... I think I got that dose rate from Tom Barr, but I can't recall. I have red plants and live healthy fish so I am happy.

Hi northland chic, it sounds like you have been very careful. It situations like these, we try to come back to the golden principle which is to 'keep the water' rather than keeping the fish. If your water is top notch, fish are much more likely to stay healthy and, if they should get a disease, they are more likely to heal quickly if they aren't stressed. If you don't know what the problem is, dosing with random medications isn't really going to help, and can actually hurt, or at the very least, cause unnecessary stress to the fish, which could further impede healing. Most experienced fishkeepers don't add much of anything to their water unless they absolutely have to. As such, I wouldn't personally suggest using Melafix. It is a topical antiseptic so it will kill some surface bacteria and possibly some fungi, but it is also very irritating (think about how it would feel to get a peppermint in your eye). The redness you describe sounds more like systemic problems (possibly something like bacterial septicaemia). Surface antiseptics will not help when a disease goes throughout the body. One medication you could try for this would be Furan, this is a fish antibiotic that you can get from your local fish shop. Firstly though, I would address the flashing and discomfort the fish are currently in. I would do some frequent water changes of about 30% every day for 3 days and each time replace the water with de-chlorinated tap water. If you have some Seachem Prime, that is useful for dechlorinating, as well as detoxifying any ammonia or nitrites and adding some beneficial bacteria if your tank is having a mini cycle. While you are at it, cut right back on feeding the fish. They can go quite a long time without food and it is much safer than making the water more toxic from additional waste from rotting food or excess fish poo. Try to angle the filter outlet so that there is a good amount of surface agitation - this will oxygenate the water and make it easier for them to breathe (an air bubbler works well for this also). Let us know how it turns out.

Your tanks are lovely Holly. You have nothing to worry about. Wish I could come! Pit it isn't on Wednesday when I will be down there for work.

+1 to what dbden said although I get nutrient deficiencies with the stocker micronutrient mix so I supplement it with Flourish Comprehensive. Most people don't add enough micronutrients so try dosing daily with micronutrients and cut back to every other day if you can still get the same results.

She hasn't replied yet! :nilly:

Just that things can only wiggle so much before they give way. I hope there is still a lot of wiggle room left and the braces aren't all just ready to pop out of the wall now! Just an update, everyone I have heard from so far is doing ok, mostly just water everywhere. Lots of offers for help so if anyone needs anything, just let me know.

Not to much I hope! :tears:

Joe, the Willisii I sent him was a bit from those that you sent me.

We've been on Facebook and text messaging and most other locals seem ok, just some water on the floor, no other casualties. I was standing by the fish racks for one of the aftershocks and it was very creepy listening to the sound of the wall bracings working to hold the shelves up... Glad everyone is ok. Going to put the star back on the tree now...

The research is not conclusive about whether fish feel pain. They certainly do respond to negative stimuli. As with most animals, veterinary experts recommend assuming that they can feel pain and we must also remember that animals in New Zealand have legislative rights for the 'Five Freedoms' so they have a right to the following (summarised): 1. have appropriate shelter 2. be free from distress 3. have appropriate nutrition and water 4. have rapid treatment of disease and prevention of illness 5. be free to exhibit normal behaviour http://www.biosecurity.govt.nz/legislation/animal-welfare-act/index.htm The American Veterinary Medical Association also has published guidelines for euthanasia. I couldn't share a public link for the most recent version but for the 2007 version the section on fishes remains essentially the same. http://www.avma.org/issues/animal_welfare/euthanasia.pdf When recommending euthanasia methods, I usually am mindful of what people have access to and what they are capable of doing. Some aren't capable of violence so clove oil is an effective and fast alternative that is readily available, even if it lacks scientific data to prove as much. Find the quickest and easiest method that will minimise pain and suffering.

You're the master! !drool:

Merry Christmas everyone, and ditto Adrienne. It has been one heck of a hard year but this community has been so helpful and supportive through it all. Bring on 2012!! :slfg:

I made this one. It turned out beautifully. (sample pic from the website, not mine!)