Any fish experts in the house?
Discussion
13m said:
Okay, good news, the nitrates and nitrites have dropped to "ideal".
Plan is to drop a heater in and replace the lost platy, so the remaining one has a friend.
How often for water testing and changes going forwards chaps? 24L tank as I mentioned.
Good news, very pleased for you, and of course your kids and scaly friends Plan is to drop a heater in and replace the lost platy, so the remaining one has a friend.
How often for water testing and changes going forwards chaps? 24L tank as I mentioned.
Did the platy liven up a bit?With any luck, the tank will be more stable going forward and you should not see ammonia or nitrite return given you keep to your feeding routines on the three minute rule once a day and don't add loads of fish in one go. Yup, I would get another platy in there now, plus the heater of course. Try to bring the temperature up slowly, the fish have acclimatised to the cold somewhat, so maybe increase it a degree a day until you hit your target.
24l tank, less substrate space, you probably have about 22 litres in there. The 10 litres recommended is a sizeable weekly change, approaching 50%. Personally, my regular water changes do not exceed 25%, but the advice is OK.
My guess is your nitrites will stay very low changing 10 litres weekly, which of course is good. As advised, just try to temperature match as well as you can (stick the bucket in a sink of hot water to warm up or add boiled water) as that is a big percentage of water - and of course then follow the advice given to make the water safe for fish before putting it in the tank.
Best of luck, good recovery so far.
PS, don't forget to acclimate your new fish to your tank water. I am assuming that you won't be going down the quarantine route . There is advice on the Internet, but this is how I do it.
If possible, introduce new fish to your tank close to when you have done a water change and your conditions are as good as they get.
If the transport bag is quite full, carefully tip some water away to make room for the next steps. You are going to double the volume of water in the bag. My approach is to clip the bag onto the top of the tank with a clothes peg or two.
Then add about 10% volume of the total bag water from your tank to the bag slowly. Wait 10 minutes, the add another 10%. Wait 10 mins and add 15%, wait 10 mins, 15% again... Etc. You may need to reposition the pegs as the bag fills..
Do this over the course of an hour and you will have brought the water closer to your spec, but importantly, slowly minimising shock to the new fish
Best advice then is to remove the fish from the bag of water with a net and put it in your tank, avoiding adding the fish shop water to your tank which can introduce all sorts of nasties.
. There is advice on the Internet, but this is how I do it.If possible, introduce new fish to your tank close to when you have done a water change and your conditions are as good as they get.
If the transport bag is quite full, carefully tip some water away to make room for the next steps. You are going to double the volume of water in the bag. My approach is to clip the bag onto the top of the tank with a clothes peg or two.
Then add about 10% volume of the total bag water from your tank to the bag slowly. Wait 10 minutes, the add another 10%. Wait 10 mins and add 15%, wait 10 mins, 15% again... Etc. You may need to reposition the pegs as the bag fills..
Do this over the course of an hour and you will have brought the water closer to your spec, but importantly, slowly minimising shock to the new fish
Best advice then is to remove the fish from the bag of water with a net and put it in your tank, avoiding adding the fish shop water to your tank which can introduce all sorts of nasties.
Okay, with water now right we've installed another platy.
The heater arrived and I've installed that too at 24 degrees. It seems to have been made in China and the instructions translated via Chinese-Afrikaans and Afrikaans-English dictionaries. What I assume they mean is, "set the temperature knob to the temperature you want, the light will come on and then go off when the heater reaches temperature. Keep it submerged" Does that sound right?
The heater arrived and I've installed that too at 24 degrees. It seems to have been made in China and the instructions translated via Chinese-Afrikaans and Afrikaans-English dictionaries. What I assume they mean is, "set the temperature knob to the temperature you want, the light will come on and then go off when the heater reaches temperature. Keep it submerged" Does that sound right?
13m said:
Okay, with water now right we've installed another platy.
The heater arrived and I've installed that too at 24 degrees. It seems to have been made in China and the instructions translated via Chinese-Afrikaans and Afrikaans-English dictionaries. What I assume they mean is, "set the temperature knob to the temperature you want, the light will come on and then go off when the heater reaches temperature. Keep it submerged" Does that sound right?
Yep.The heater arrived and I've installed that too at 24 degrees. It seems to have been made in China and the instructions translated via Chinese-Afrikaans and Afrikaans-English dictionaries. What I assume they mean is, "set the temperature knob to the temperature you want, the light will come on and then go off when the heater reaches temperature. Keep it submerged" Does that sound right?
Light shows its heating. Dont let it heat un submerged.
13m said:
Turn7 said:
Yep.
Light shows its heating. Dont let it heat un submerged.
The light goes out after a minute or so of setting a new temperature.Light shows its heating. Dont let it heat un submerged.
Turn7 said:
13m said:
Turn7 said:
Yep.
Light shows its heating. Dont let it heat un submerged.
The light goes out after a minute or so of setting a new temperature.Light shows its heating. Dont let it heat un submerged.
Well, even with a stable tank, we can all still have problems.
I was just about to do a massive plant trim / cull and new plants addition with a water change on Sunday and spotted a dead cardinal tetra. All was OK in the morning, counted them as usual first thing MO and all were present and correct. No previous signs of illness in any fish / shrimps, water fine, it just died at about a year old. And no, these fish were not used to cycle the tank and weakened, they were added when it was stable.
It happens in humans so I guess with a few fish around, one should expect a little mortality. Still makes me grumpy though as I have to go through the "what am I doing wrong" process - I hate fish dying unexpectedly, or in fact dying at all.
I was just about to do a massive plant trim / cull and new plants addition with a water change on Sunday and spotted a dead cardinal tetra. All was OK in the morning, counted them as usual first thing MO and all were present and correct. No previous signs of illness in any fish / shrimps, water fine, it just died at about a year old. And no, these fish were not used to cycle the tank and weakened, they were added when it was stable.
It happens in humans so I guess with a few fish around, one should expect a little mortality. Still makes me grumpy though as I have to go through the "what am I doing wrong" process - I hate fish dying unexpectedly, or in fact dying at all.
Turn7 said:
I believe the genetic state of "bread & butter" trops to be very low. Also, the quality of the fish generally available was/is quite poor around me.
One of the reasons I moved onto African Cichlids and buying from hobby breeders.
My local shops I use seem to be all tiny places with hobby people just selling excess stockOne of the reasons I moved onto African Cichlids and buying from hobby breeders.
Poisson96 said:
Turn7 said:
I believe the genetic state of "bread & butter" trops to be very low. Also, the quality of the fish generally available was/is quite poor around me.
One of the reasons I moved onto African Cichlids and buying from hobby breeders.
My local shops I use seem to be all tiny places with hobby people just selling excess stockOne of the reasons I moved onto African Cichlids and buying from hobby breeders.
My current set up probably owes me over £1600 - not one cent of that went to a chain.
Turn7 said:
Lucky for you.All the local indies have gone and Im surrounded by the useless and expensive MA or World of water - Lower than PAH in my eyes.
You're within striking distance of the rather excellent (IMHO) Sweet Knowle Aquatics. I think the quality of their fish is better than any others I have seen. Pity they're a bit of a trek for me from Woking.Sweet Knowle is slightly tricky to find, being on a farm in the middle of nowhere. But well worth seeking out. Oh, and slightly oddly they're closed on Saturdays.
SeeFive said:
Well, even with a stable tank, we can all still have problems.
I was just about to do a massive plant trim / cull and new plants addition with a water change on Sunday and spotted a dead cardinal tetra. All was OK in the morning, counted them as usual first thing MO and all were present and correct. No previous signs of illness in any fish / shrimps, water fine, it just died at about a year old. And no, these fish were not used to cycle the tank and weakened, they were added when it was stable.
It happens in humans so I guess with a few fish around, one should expect a little mortality. Still makes me grumpy though as I have to go through the "what am I doing wrong" process - I hate fish dying unexpectedly, or in fact dying at all.
Tell me about it.I was just about to do a massive plant trim / cull and new plants addition with a water change on Sunday and spotted a dead cardinal tetra. All was OK in the morning, counted them as usual first thing MO and all were present and correct. No previous signs of illness in any fish / shrimps, water fine, it just died at about a year old. And no, these fish were not used to cycle the tank and weakened, they were added when it was stable.
It happens in humans so I guess with a few fish around, one should expect a little mortality. Still makes me grumpy though as I have to go through the "what am I doing wrong" process - I hate fish dying unexpectedly, or in fact dying at all.
I've just lost 8 of my Malawi Cichlids and it looks like another couple might not make it, due to my 4 way extension lead somehow falling from the side of the cabinet and knocking the heater switch off. I hadn't noticed due to the dining room where the tank is being sealed off due to re-wiring the kitchen. The water temp had dropped to 16 degrees.
To say I'm upset about it is an understatement. Even more so as I had just successfully treated a bout of Malawi Bloat without losing a fish.
48Valves said:
SeeFive said:
Well, even with a stable tank, we can all still have problems.
I was just about to do a massive plant trim / cull and new plants addition with a water change on Sunday and spotted a dead cardinal tetra. All was OK in the morning, counted them as usual first thing MO and all were present and correct. No previous signs of illness in any fish / shrimps, water fine, it just died at about a year old. And no, these fish were not used to cycle the tank and weakened, they were added when it was stable.
It happens in humans so I guess with a few fish around, one should expect a little mortality. Still makes me grumpy though as I have to go through the "what am I doing wrong" process - I hate fish dying unexpectedly, or in fact dying at all.
Tell me about it.I was just about to do a massive plant trim / cull and new plants addition with a water change on Sunday and spotted a dead cardinal tetra. All was OK in the morning, counted them as usual first thing MO and all were present and correct. No previous signs of illness in any fish / shrimps, water fine, it just died at about a year old. And no, these fish were not used to cycle the tank and weakened, they were added when it was stable.
It happens in humans so I guess with a few fish around, one should expect a little mortality. Still makes me grumpy though as I have to go through the "what am I doing wrong" process - I hate fish dying unexpectedly, or in fact dying at all.
I've just lost 8 of my Malawi Cichlids and it looks like another couple might not make it, due to my 4 way extension lead somehow falling from the side of the cabinet and knocking the heater switch off. I hadn't noticed due to the dining room where the tank is being sealed off due to re-wiring the kitchen. The water temp had dropped to 16 degrees.
To say I'm upset about it is an understatement. Even more so as I had just successfully treated a bout of Malawi Bloat without losing a fish.
Poisson96 said:
48Valves said:
SeeFive said:
Well, even with a stable tank, we can all still have problems.
I was just about to do a massive plant trim / cull and new plants addition with a water change on Sunday and spotted a dead cardinal tetra. All was OK in the morning, counted them as usual first thing MO and all were present and correct. No previous signs of illness in any fish / shrimps, water fine, it just died at about a year old. And no, these fish were not used to cycle the tank and weakened, they were added when it was stable.
It happens in humans so I guess with a few fish around, one should expect a little mortality. Still makes me grumpy though as I have to go through the "what am I doing wrong" process - I hate fish dying unexpectedly, or in fact dying at all.
Tell me about it.I was just about to do a massive plant trim / cull and new plants addition with a water change on Sunday and spotted a dead cardinal tetra. All was OK in the morning, counted them as usual first thing MO and all were present and correct. No previous signs of illness in any fish / shrimps, water fine, it just died at about a year old. And no, these fish were not used to cycle the tank and weakened, they were added when it was stable.
It happens in humans so I guess with a few fish around, one should expect a little mortality. Still makes me grumpy though as I have to go through the "what am I doing wrong" process - I hate fish dying unexpectedly, or in fact dying at all.
I've just lost 8 of my Malawi Cichlids and it looks like another couple might not make it, due to my 4 way extension lead somehow falling from the side of the cabinet and knocking the heater switch off. I hadn't noticed due to the dining room where the tank is being sealed off due to re-wiring the kitchen. The water temp had dropped to 16 degrees.
To say I'm upset about it is an understatement. Even more so as I had just successfully treated a bout of Malawi Bloat without losing a fish.
https://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/eti-digital-aquar...
Alarms on temps, backed up by
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Digital-STC-1000-Thermos...
which kills the heaters if they exceed set temps....
Alarms on temps, backed up by
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Digital-STC-1000-Thermos...
which kills the heaters if they exceed set temps....
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