Sunbird73

Adodge, spoke to DH about the water supply and he said we are on totally different water treatment schedules to you (he is a bioprocess engineer). Agree with asking the council, it is a good idea. Good luck with sorting out your water issues, sounds vy frustrating! I did have an ammonia reading of 1.0 a week ago or so, the next day it was 0.5 and then zero since then. I will keep testing and will change water and keep an eye on that fish. He is still with us but mostly the same at the top of the tank. I don't have a nitrite test, and have to take water into the LFS for nitrites - should I only bother testing nitrites if I get an ammonia reading? My fry are in a separate tank downstairs, have just bought another little AR126 off TM to put them in as the 75L downstairs is a PITB to change water daily, and my filter wires broke for that tank (gave my 9yo a small electric shock ), so no filter downstairs. Have had my DIY brine shrimp hatchery going overnight (gotta love you tube!!) so hopefully the fishies might get some tasty dinner tonight Also have got some microworms growing in the garage, but *eeyew* they are grossing me out!! Have not had the stomach to harvest yet, will get hard and do that in a few days I think.

I am on the north shore. When I first read about tank cycling (y'know the night *after* I bought all the fish :roll: ) I read that natural plants can help absorb toxins, and I thought there might be an added bonus of some bacteria if it came from an established tank - so bought some java moss of TM. He didn't seem keen to give me a handful of his gravel, and told me nz tap water was fine without water conditioners (ie. completely missed my meaning!) I will phase out the salt slowly. Makes sense about the slime coat, that must be what is going on. He is still with us tonight, will see how he goes overnight. So, I am not out of the woods yet with the tank cycling? I had hoped that with them both being zero (and were zero a couple of days ago) that it had finished cycling? (and if so, was pretty pleased with the Stability even tho I read on the internet that some don't like it at all) How often should I be testing for ammonia/nitrites now? And should I still do 10-20% changes daily given that one fish is struggling? I have explained to 7yo that we will not be saving any more fry, and it won't be school holidays then oh - also to answer the question about feeding, when the tank was getting ammonia readings I didn't feed for 2-3 days. Now I am feeding once daily. Any recommendations?

hiya I (well technically my 7yo daughter ) has just got an aquaone 380. After a rocky start where we seemed to have missed the vital bit of info at the fish shop about not fully stocking the tank immediately, we are at 2 wks with 2 fish down (one from Ich, then other possibly ammonia burns etc when my tank spiked). I removed the ich GBA to a quarantine tank as soon as I noticed (he had been in the tank for 2days with the other fish), but he died after 9-10 days (he was teeny tiny tho and covered in cysts). In the main tank I ran it at a bit warmer (29c) and added some salt, approx 1 tbspn per 15L. There are 2 platys, 1 guppy, 5 glowlights, 3 neons. (ah ... and also 15 x 1 week old guppy fry in my old tank in the garage *sigh* the mum very wisely gave birth in front of the kids and I was forced to save them rather than letting them be food for the tank as I had planned ) I have been changing water daily (20-40%) to get through the ammonia spike, using prime, and seachem stability for the first 7days. Today (2 wks in) my ammonia was 0 and nitrite was 0. However today, I noticed that one of the glowlights is hovering near the surface and seems to have increased respiration/respiratory distress. Was worried it was the salt that did it, so did a 20% water change with unsalted water. What can I do for him (and what have I done wrong, other than almost everything!!)? He also seems to be fatter than the others, and has lost a bit of his transparency (maybe has cloudy skin??? but not fluffy). Has no lesions that I can see. He quite possibly could have ich lesions on his gills? He did not show any interest in feeding. I don't want to use any harsh chemicals on these fish tho, do not want to knock out the good bacteria and start over! The rest of the fish look very happy, feeding frenzy at dinner time etc. Is he up poo creek? When do you decide to euthanase, or can he be saved?