critter_crazy Posted August 23, 2011 Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 Have you tried adding nothing but water ager and doing 20% water changes every second day? Adding different things all the time will send your PH etc out of wack. The best thing you can do for your fish is give them consistancy in water quality to recover. Give them a week or two doing that and I bet they'll be looking much better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted August 23, 2011 Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 Have you tried adding nothing but water ager........ Give them a week or two doing that and I bet they'll be looking much better I agree. The fish don't need all that other stuff most of the time, all they need is clean water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted August 23, 2011 Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 You shouldnt need ph up, ph down, ammo lock or even stress coat/stress zyme. All my tanks including breeding tanks get water changes straight from the hose, the trouble with the shops is it's their job to sell you things whether you need them or not. The water changes ( i'd be doing 15 ltrs twice weekly until sorted/cycled) will take care of ammonia, nitrite & nitrate levels without any help from chemicals, remember when the fish are in the wild there are no extra chemicals and they will survive and breed readily without them. I would also loose the carbon in the filter as that can also cause problems. Ive got an internal eheim filter here you can have if you like, i can set it up in one of my tanks to get some bacteria going in the sponge to help with the bio filtration in your tank. Do you have any bottom feeders to help keep the substrate clean? I'd have a spare GBA that would help with that if you'd like. Let me know about the filter/GBA if you want them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ichthus Posted August 23, 2011 Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 Yep - as I said in a previous post/thread I think you are over-doing it. Most people in these posts agree. You should be able to follow the advice offered here and save yourself both time and money, and save the fish from extra chemicals. I think you will enjoy fishkeeping more that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b16a2 Posted August 23, 2011 Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 You shouldnt need ph up, ph down, ammo lock or even stress coat/stress zyme. All my tanks including breeding tanks get water changes straight from the hose, the trouble with the shops is it's their job to sell you things whether you need them or not. The water changes ( i'd be doing 15 ltrs twice weekly until sorted/cycled) will take care of ammonia, nitrite & nitrate levels without any help from chemicals, remember when the fish are in the wild there are no extra chemicals and they will survive and breed readily without them. I would also loose the carbon in the filter as that can also cause problems. Ive got an internal eheim filter here you can have if you like, i can set it up in one of my tanks to get some bacteria going in the sponge to help with the bio filtration in your tank. Do you have any bottom feeders to help keep the substrate clean? I'd have a spare GBA that would help with that if you'd like. Let me know about the filter/GBA if you want them. not sure if id completely agree with that, ph up/down is a complete waste of money as every water change will affect the ph as the chemical used, far better off using peat driftwood oyster shell etc, but water conditioner is useful if your not letting the water sit before adding to the tank so it removes the chlorine and you also dont know exactly what metals are in the tap water and for the sake of a cheapy bottle of stresscoat could be worth it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted August 23, 2011 Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 They should be on the same water as me as they aren't far from me, for the last 5 years all 6 of my tanks (including breeding tanks with fry) have only ever had hose water changes, syphon water out and stick the hose in to fill with no problems, the kuhli loaches get a bit fidgety if i do a 30+% water change but at 20% the fish behave normally, NZ is lucky in that we generally have some great water straight from the tap. Maybe in some areas with bad water or other water sources you may need an additive. It can also depend on how many tanks and how many litres, when i had 11 tanks running it would have proved rather pricey to treat when several were getting daily water changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted August 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 Have you tried adding nothing but water ager and doing 20% water changes every second day? Adding different things all the time will send your PH etc out of wack. The best thing you can do for your fish is give them consistancy in water quality to recover. Give them a week or two doing that and I bet they'll be looking much better Ok I will stop adding salt. As for the Stress Coat/Stress Zyme... only reason I was using it was because Animates didn't have normal Water Ager. Can you get Water Ager in larger bottles? The ones they sell at the supermarket are tiny and when you're meant to add 2 drops per litre and you have a 64 litre tank it isn't going to last very long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted August 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 You shouldnt need ph up, ph down, ammo lock or even stress coat/stress zyme. All my tanks including breeding tanks get water changes straight from the hose, the trouble with the shops is it's their job to sell you things whether you need them or not. The water changes ( i'd be doing 15 ltrs twice weekly until sorted/cycled) will take care of ammonia, nitrite & nitrate levels without any help from chemicals, remember when the fish are in the wild there are no extra chemicals and they will survive and breed readily without them. I would also loose the carbon in the filter as that can also cause problems. Ive got an internal eheim filter here you can have if you like, i can set it up in one of my tanks to get some bacteria going in the sponge to help with the bio filtration in your tank. Do you have any bottom feeders to help keep the substrate clean? I'd have a spare GBA that would help with that if you'd like. Let me know about the filter/GBA if you want them. What kind of filter is that Snowman? Does it use noodles and filter wool? Would it work for my 64L tank? If so, I would definitely be interested. I don't think my husband would agree to me buying a new filter ... as I've already spent heaps on these fish already! :lol: What's a GBA? I have white cloud mountain minnows, wild guppies and the one goldfish in there. The goldfish is going to be moved into the bathtub pond outside as soon as the water is right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted August 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 23, 2011 They should be on the same water as me as they aren't far from me, for the last 5 years all 6 of my tanks (including breeding tanks with fry) have only ever had hose water changes, syphon water out and stick the hose in to fill with no problems, the kuhli loaches get a bit fidgety if i do a 30+% water change but at 20% the fish behave normally, NZ is lucky in that we generally have some great water straight from the tap. Maybe in some areas with bad water or other water sources you may need an additive. It can also depend on how many tanks and how many litres, when i had 11 tanks running it would have proved rather pricey to treat when several were getting daily water changes. Our water is from United Water. Papakura is on a contract for so many years with them. So even though there is no Papakura Council anymore, we still have our water provided from United Water. I emailed them a long time ago and asked them if they could email me something about their water supply so I could see what the PH level etc was. I don't think I have it anymore though. The PH was fine. I don't remember if they test the chlorine level though, as they add it to the water. :dunno: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted August 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 Just one thing... most of my fish seem to have fin/tail rot. Can just doing water changes get rid of it? I thought you needed antibiotics to treat it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 If it was caused by poor water conditions then you can hopefully get rid of it as the water quality improves. Try just water changes for a while and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueether Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 I would keep up the salt that you were/are using for ich. as well. It will help the healing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 The filter is a fairly basic one that just has a sponge but good enough to hold bacteria for biological filtration. A GBA is a Golden Blackeyed Ancistrus, a small pleco type bottom dwelling fish good for cleaning up uneaten food and helping keep the tank clean by eating some forms of algae. When you use your water conditioner do you add it for the amount of water your changing or the whole 64ltrs? If it is 2 drops per ltr and you do a 20ltr water change you will need to add 40 drops. Ill put the filter in to start cycling tommorow night. It will work out cheaper to buy your conditioner from Hollywood Fishfarm online. Animates is about the most expensive fish shop i have found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted August 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 If it was caused by poor water conditions then you can hopefully get rid of it as the water quality improves. Try just water changes for a while and see what happens. Ok thanks So should I do a 15-25% water change daily, or just every second day? And what about salt? Stop using it or not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted August 24, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 The filter is a fairly basic one that just has a sponge but good enough to hold bacteria for biological filtration. A GBA is a Golden Blackeyed Ancistrus, a small pleco type bottom dwelling fish good for cleaning up uneaten food and helping keep the tank clean by eating some forms of algae. When you use your water conditioner do you add it for the amount of water your changing or the whole 64ltrs? If it is 2 drops per ltr and you do a 20ltr water change you will need to add 40 drops. Ill put the filter in to start cycling tommorow night. It will work out cheaper to buy your conditioner from Hollywood Fishfarm online. Animates is about the most expensive fish shop i have found. Sounds like my one. Could I use both? Yep I had a look online lol A bristlenose right? From the catfish family? It says online that they like low PH... about 6.5 from memory. Whereas the guppies like a higher PH. ? What can I feed the GBA? At the moment I have goldfish flakes, pellets, tropical fish flakes and bloodworms. No I only add what I need for the water I'm putting in. So yeah, 20L would be 40 drops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 The GBA will eat practically anything, ph wise they seem to be pretty happy in just about any water, ive never adjusted my ph and they breed happily in water straight from the hose. You can run as many filters as you like the more the merrier but you want to match up water movement with the fish that you keep, guppies dont like it flowing to fast so the 2 filters will be fine. Its this filter ....http://www.hollywoodfishfarm.co.nz/detail/view/eheim-pick-up-2008/m/1141/ Whilst the fish are recovering i would do 10% change daily or every second day until the symptoms dissappear. A small amount of salt is good for guppies and is a good cheap remedy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted August 24, 2011 Report Share Posted August 24, 2011 Neither guppies nor bristlenoses are that fussy about pH. When books talk about pH they generally mean what the fish lived in in the wild, or what is required for optimum breeding results. As the majority of fish are captive bred in artificial conditions, and can't read, they have no idea what pH they prefer. I would be doing the water changes daily until the readings are what they are supposed to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 This thread is in "Coldwater". Is it a cold water tank? I thought guppies might survive in coldwater if the room temperature was warm enough but that they preferred warm water. Would bristlenoses be ok in coldwater? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted August 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 The GBA will eat practically anything, ph wise they seem to be pretty happy in just about any water, ive never adjusted my ph and they breed happily in water straight from the hose. You can run as many filters as you like the more the merrier but you want to match up water movement with the fish that you keep, guppies dont like it flowing to fast so the 2 filters will be fine. Its this filter ....http://www.hollywoodfishfarm.co.nz/detail/view/eheim-pick-up-2008/m/1141/ Whilst the fish are recovering i would do 10% change daily or every second day until the symptoms dissappear. A small amount of salt is good for guppies and is a good cheap remedy. Thanks Snowman. Thank you for the offer of the filter and GBA. It's much appreciated. Let me know when the filter is ready and we can arrange a day & time for pickup. Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted August 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 Neither guppies nor bristlenoses are that fussy about pH. When books talk about pH they generally mean what the fish lived in in the wild, or what is required for optimum breeding results. As the majority of fish are captive bred in artificial conditions, and can't read, they have no idea what pH they prefer. :lol: Thanks Caryl. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted August 25, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 This thread is in "Coldwater". Is it a cold water tank? I thought guppies might survive in coldwater if the room temperature was warm enough but that they preferred warm water. Would bristlenoses be ok in coldwater? It is a coldwater tank, however I have a heater now and was told that the 'coldwater guppies' are not really coldwater and prefer warmer temps and the goldfish is being moved into an outside pond. If I have to I have a 15L tank I can move the WCMMs to if 25C is too much for them, however it's already been higher than that and they seemed to be fine. And I want to get fancy guppies so it will be a tropical tank As soon as I can move the goldfish! :thup: (and after I get my water conditions right!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted August 25, 2011 Report Share Posted August 25, 2011 WCMMs seem to thrive in warm or cold water so they should be fine. I'm sure you will get on top of the water problems soon and be able to relax and enjoy your fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted August 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2011 WCMMs seem to thrive in warm or cold water so they should be fine. I'm sure you will get on top of the water problems soon and be able to relax and enjoy your fish Thanks Jude. My goldfish is looking a lot better now and swimming around happily and eating again... I think I should have called him/her Hoover LOL I put a whole bloodworms cube into the tank the last two days because on Friday night the goldfish ate most of the cube by itself. And there are only 3 guppies and 5 minnows and the goldfish. Before I put the goldfish in there I was only using about 1/4-1/3 of a cube a day. All the blood streaking is gone. :thup: And it's slime coat is perfect again. And I didn't lose the other guppy that was swimming funny. He is 100 percent now :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jude Posted August 28, 2011 Report Share Posted August 28, 2011 Great news. Sounds like you can now enjoy your fish again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aquariumbeginner32 Posted August 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2011 Yeah I am not sure that the water is perfect yet, but when I do a water change on Tuesday I'm going to do all the different tests. Once the water is good (including the bathtub pond water) then I can move the goldfish back outside, get some friends for him and then I can get a few fancy guppies. :thup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.