brett2003

Thanks! I did wonder. There's only one coral in there anyway (which I can't seem to keep alive despite my best efforts), so if that's the case, he's gonna starve

Hello all, I've just found the below crawling around in my nano reef - any thoughts as to what it is?

The carbon is a new addition (maybe 10 days). The bed was about.... 1.5cm thick in the old tank, and about 2cm thick in the new (due to differences in base size).

There is indeed carbon in the filter. Substrate is crushed coral sand. I assumed it was a bloom, but I have no idea what they'd be feeding off in such a low-nutrient, low-bioload system.

Good morning all, I posted here a while back about setting up a nano to replace my repurposed AR620T. (viewtopic.php?f=5&t=60547). Anyway. I ended up not getting either of the tanks I was looking at, and instead got a custom set up, and just transplanted everything to the new tank (inc live rock etc) a week ago. The problem is that the water is faintly cloudy. This was always a problem with the AR620T, but I just put that down to the substandard filter and lack of skimmer. Now it has a better filter (previous was 550L/hr for a 130L tank with minimal mechanical media, now it's 750L/hr for a 110L tank with a proper sponge), and a skimmer (a crappy little Dymax, but still yielding cloudy yellowish skimmate, so I assume it's at least partially working) The water is RO/DI, the phosphates do not register on my test kit (so less than 0.25ppm), and nitrates are only 5ppm. There *does* seem to be a silicate issue, based on the brown dust algae growth (going to get some Astraea to deal with that, I hope) Any thoughts as to what's causing it? By contrast, my freshwater is crystal, crystal clear.

Good point, but it seems to be! Nice and stable at 26 - 27°C, two therms Re: water changes, I do cold but it doesn't seem to have a huge impact on the overall temp (I guess water *in* is a small proportion to water still in the tank, if you see what I mean)

Very true - mine come from three diff stores, and the other two tanks (with fish from the same three stores) are absolutely fine. I think we were (well, I was?) just raising it as a possibility - I don't want to malign any particular store since most of the stock seems fine - it's just this one d***ed tank

I certainly can't comment about individual FNZAS members, since I've never bought a fish from any of them but without being too specific, I have twice bought fish from a particular store either for a brand new tank or one that had been disease free for years and then had subsequent disease outbreaks (white spot), so it wouldn't be unknown for me to experience issues with a given retailer.

I'd hope that's unlikely in my case - the affected tank has the same filtration, same food, same water source, very similar stock (from the same three shops, too, actually) same type of substrate, same types of plants etc etc as the other (healthy) tank in our house - if anything, the affected tank has better water chemistry, in fact (lower nitrates and phosphates, more stable pH, due to more regular water changes and testing) I don't follow? Whose fish are we talking about? lol

HFF Albany, I believe, but then, that's where I get 80% of my stock so that might not mean anything(!)

Up to seventeen deaths since June, spanning five different species, all different families... What I do notice, looking back at my records, is that June was when I added three Peppered Corys.. I wonder if they were carrying something :-/

A few of my deaths I'd owned for six to twelve months before they died Although I suppose it could still be the result of something that happened to them pre-purchase.

For what's it's worth, I feel better knowing that it's not just me with this sort of issue, though

We're in the city centre (well, very near to it) so goodness knows what the water is like for us... I had a look at a Watercare report - the TDS ranges from about 70 - 170 depending on specifically which water source you draw from.

The aeration is pretty good *but* I have in recent days reconfigured the filter and tank layout to substantially improve it just in case. I figured it would kill all of them off if it was an O2/CO2 issue, though :-/

Hmm. Most of my stock are from Hollywood Albany, with smaller numbers from Hollywood Mt. Roskill and one or two from PetStop Dominion Road.

Often by the time I find them, they're already covered in a film of whatever it is fish get coated with when they die The smaller ones often just vanish - I never find them at all. I'll try if/when it happens again to inspect more closely. In terms of species - pretty similar - Rasboras, Tetras, Gouramis, Loricariidae and Loaches - not precisely the same species, though.

I suppose it could be a toxin, but I just don't know where it would be coming from - same water supply as the other tank, same food, same general layout and decoration (driftwood and stones from the same shop etc) - I do regular, large water changes too (48L weekly).

Hmmm. It doesn't sound like any of those - it's generally just a loss of balance/orientation, followed by sinking to the bottom and then death about a day later - absolutely no outward signs (in terms of lumps, lesions or swelling)

Gah, I really hope not Would that be associated with swim bladder issues? All of the affected fish so far have had that. The one thing I haven't tried yet is a broad spectrum antibiotic, so I suppose I should do that first before I do anything *really* drastic like (as that article suggests) stripping down and disinfecting :-/

The tank is 150L The flow is reasonably good - it's a 1200 L/hr canister, but it's actually a little overpowered, so I've got the spray bar turned towards the back of the tank (if it's facing forward, it creates a pretty serious current) - there's not really ever any visible detritus *but* there are large numbers of small snails that seem to deal with anything that arises pretty quickly. I should have also said it's been through a Melafix treatment recently (some of the Neons had fin rot - not sure if it's related or not, since none of the other affected species showed any signs of skin, scale or fin damage)

Hello all, I'm having an ongoing (and thus far inexplicable) problem with one of my freshwater tanks - there's no 'outbreak' per se (in the sense that only one fish is ever ill at a time), but I'm losing approximately one animal per fortnight, all with the same symptoms - lethargy, difficulty staying afloat (sinking to the bottom, floating on odd angles). Generally, there are few to no outward symptoms, although the Rasboras that died did have some discolouration - posted about here: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=60847. This has so far affected at least some Peppered Corys, Harlequin Rasboras and a Dwarf Gourami - so far, my Emerald Eye Rasboras are totally unaffected, as are my Clown and Dwarf loaches, and all four of my loricariidae (two Otos, one fantail Bristlenose, one 'regular' bristlenose). Water chemistry is fine, so far as I can see - no ammonia, no nitrite, pH is around neutral and doesn't fluctuate by more than about 0.1 - 0.2 over a 24 hour period, temperature is steady around 25 - 27°C, nitrates are generally around 10ppm at the outside. We have two other aquariums that are being filled from the same water supply, and neither of them are experiencing similar problems. All the tanks get the same food as well, so I don't think it's that. The only water additives used are small doses of Nutrafin kH Booster (5-10mL with each 48L water change) and Flourish Excel (4-5mL per day). Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? It's getting a little expensive (and of course it's not cool to watch your tank population halve over a three month period).

No further deaths that I can see, no sign of 'pepper' like marks, so to speak... He's still quite sickly looking, though

Hmm, good idea. I'll check this evening. No new fish have been added for a month or so at least, so I'm not sure why a pathogen would just flare up now

Nothing too obvious - almost no detectable nitrate, no nitrites, pH of 6.8 :-/