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Post by kagome on Nov 16, 2008 14:31:19 GMT -5
For the most part I have my 38g set up. It's been up and running for about a month now. Currently in it I have three small clown loaches that are doing very well and seem very happy.
The ammonia reading has been holding steady at 0.5 for the last two weeks. I'm trying to be patient as I wait for the bio-filter to kick in and drop the ammonia. Nitrate and Nitrite are both at zero.
I have the tank fully decorated except for a piece of driftwood that I need to order from Carl. I have tall medium and short plants all along the back glass to provide hiding places for the loaches and rams. I also almost completely concealed the sponge filter from view if you are looking through the front glass. You can just barely see the powerhead sticking up but pretty much you have to know it was there and be looking for it to see it. I fiddled with it extensively to make sure that the flow in and out of the sponge was not impaired. I also have a very large sitting Buddha that has a great big hiding cave with three entrances that will be great for bigger fish later or a whole school of little fish right now. I also have a 13" pagoda that also has swim through caves. The doors are very small though and so I think most of my fish will outgrow going inside it. However, the tiered rooftops and balconies will provide shelter for quite a while. Right now the loaches are more than small enough to fit in there and have claimed it as thier own little house. Along the front of the tank is a wide open swimming area for the angels if they want to cruise back and forth. I bought a background that technically is supposed to be for a terrarium, it's a rainforest scene, but it goes perfectly with the southeast Asian theme of the tank. It depicts broad leaved plants and flowers. I'm not sure what kind of plants are in the picture, but they look a lot like lotus plants and so I thought they went rather well.
As for filtration I have a Whisper 20-40 with biocartridge and a sponge filter with a Via Aqua 480 powerhead. When money permits I would like to replace the Whisper with a Via Aqua but other stuff is currently more of a priority.
Now it's all a testing and waiting game. Come on nitrifying bacteria! Mama wants some new fish!
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Post by kagome on Nov 16, 2008 20:13:08 GMT -5
My 10g tank has finally settled down after a few weeks of craziness. In that tank all I have is a male blue gourami, a 3" clown loach, and a 3" common pleco. When we had to make our super quick move out here to my parents' farm and had to sell my big tanks, I had to reduce down to only this 10g and only those three fish. It was hard and broke my heart, but at least I still had the one. Everything had been going great until about a month or so ago when it became clear that my clown loach had some sort of protozoan infestation. It didn't look like Ich really, more like velvet. I treated it with Quick Cure, but as Carl pointed out, the directions on Quick Cure do not have you treat it nearly long enough, especially if you have to treat at half strength with scaleless fish. So everybody looked great and then two weeks later the gourami showed signs of fin rot. He started looking very depressed, lost his appetite and his fins looked AWFUL! So I put a medicated wondershell in there and now everybody looks great. I really thought I might lose my gourami, but now he looks really great and is back to his old self.
Another problem cropped up because I noticed that my gourami, Spot, was acting kind of stressed out. I realized that he wasn't hiding in his cave inside a castle decoration. I wondered why until I saw him try to get in there and the pleco swam at him very quickly and chased him back out again. Apparently, that is now the pleco's castle and no one else should even try to go in there. So I had to try and find something with a cave big enough for Spot to get into, but small enough to fit in there with the castle, hollow tree decoration, and the plants. Luckily, Petsmart had a hidey cave that looks like a small mountain range with a waterfall. Not only is it actually the perfect size to go in the tank, but it even matches the base of the castle and so matches the decor.
I plan to eventually make changes in this tank. I want to replace the filter with a via aqua. Depending on the flow I get from the via aqua, I may or may not add a powerhead. I'm also considering adding an airpump with a bubble wand. Once the protozoan infestation is completely cleared up I want to move the clown loach from that tank to the new big tank. He's getting too big for that tank and he's the only clown loach in there. If I put him into the big tank he'll have three little buddies and shouldn't outgrow that tank for several years. I think once I make that switch I'll get two little cory cats because they don't get very big.
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Post by kagome on Nov 17, 2008 13:59:46 GMT -5
So I get up this morning and the filter in my 10g seems to be dying on me. I fiddled with, swore at it, tinkered some more, shook my fist at it, but all to no avail. I wanted to get a new filter, but now I'm afraid that I'll order the new one and the old one will completely crap out on me before the new one gets here.
I have just been struggling and struggling with this tank lately. It's funny how a tank can sometimes go on for years needing nothing more that routine maintenance and then all of a sudden something goes wrong and then you have to tinker with it and drive yourself crazy for several months.
I'm really hoping I will get better flow out of the Via Aqua and that the surface skimmer will permanently solve the oil slick problem. Of course my husband is dubious about having to order filter cartridges but since I'm sure I'll be making other orders to Carl for other stuff I'll just get stuff all at once and try to space out the shipping costs.
I wonder if I should go ahead and order a powerhead now or if I should wait to see if I really need it with the new filter. I mean you can't really have have too much flow in a tank, just the extra money right now is the issue. We seem to be just bleeding money right now.
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Post by goldenpuon on Nov 17, 2008 20:46:37 GMT -5
I'm pretty sure a common pleco will grow to 12 inches or more (if we're talking the same species) In that case, it would need a bigger tank pretty soon. Good luck on your tank. I wish I could sent you one of my filters. I have like a million 10 gallon Whsiper filters in storage just laying around. lol Hope everything goes better!
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Post by bikeguy33 on Nov 17, 2008 20:51:26 GMT -5
usually in a filter like that a good cleaning does the trick. can you borrow a filter from someone?
if you can....use an ice cream bucket or something and use a vinegar or bleach solution and run the filter over night....then at least a day of clean water. this always did the trick for me. often a filter will stopp working well because of a calcium build up from water and this will eat right through it
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Post by murdock6701 on Nov 17, 2008 22:32:17 GMT -5
common plecos can get up to 2' long in the right tank and poop a lot when they're happy!
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Post by kagome on Nov 18, 2008 0:51:43 GMT -5
Thanks guys. The tap water where I used to live had loads of calcium init and so I'm used to getting that sort of build up out of the filters. I usually try to break down the filters once a month and clean out any build up. I took the stupid filter apart and cleaned it thoroughly with vinegar and water. And actually I've been hearing this funny noise for a few days that I thought was coming from the fan in our room but since it was chilly the fan wasn't on and I realized it was the filter motor. I have fiddled and cleaned and adjusted and brushed out and disassembled and reassembled that thing for so long today to no avail! I wish I did have a filter I could borrow but none of my friends has a spare. Frankly, I have never been happy with that filter and so I went ahead and ordered a new one from Carl today. My current filter is not worth the hassle of tracking down a replacement motor and impeller, it wasn't that great from the day it came out of the box brand new.
Renee--Thanks for the offer, honey, that's really sweet. (imagine that said with outrageous southern accent)
For right now the pleco is still very small and when he gets bigger I will put him in the 38g and get another smaller one for the 10. The guys at the LFS where I shop said I could trade for smaller ones if I needed to.
The big tank is still holding at 0.5 ammonia so another water change and another dose of Prime. But man are those clown loaches growing! It's crazy! They're so cute!
Hopefully pictures will be coming soon!
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Post by kagome on Nov 20, 2008 15:03:53 GMT -5
So, the filter in my 10g is really dying at this point. I cleaned it again with basically no improvement. I've never done more to filter and had it work so badly. My new filter should get here on Monday. I can't wait to tinker with it since I have had a Via Aqua HOB before. My clown loach that is that tank suddenly seems very unhappy and I am thinking about isolating him. He looks OK but he is doing an uncharacteristic amount of hiding which concerns me. Usually he is visible most of the day, and not only is he hiding now but he is hiding in a completely new part of the tank, in the castle with the pleco. I haven't seen him at all today and haven't seen him eat in three days, normally he is a little piggy fish and always begging for food. If this continues I will isolate him. I really hope he is not sick. I was hoping to just get through the next few weeks and then put him in with the other clown loaches in the new big tank. The gourami is doing much better and his fins have almost completely grown back at this point.
As for the 38g, it seemed to be doing very well except that last night the ammonia suddenly spiked from 0.5 to 1.0. I immediately did a 25% water change and added extra prime. I will test and change out water again today.
Also, my Kh seems to be rather high in both tanks, around 300 since I added the wondershells. Before wondershells the Kh read as being very low, almost dangerously so. I think next time I will break up a wondershell when I see the Kh lowering down again. Perhaps that will help balance things out.
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Post by goldenpuon on Nov 20, 2008 15:37:08 GMT -5
Kagome, for the filter dying in your 10 gallon, have you tried setting up a bubbler? I ahve managed to keep guppies healthy and my levels good with only a powerful bubbler to agitate the water. No to imply that you shopuld take your filter out and repalce it with a bubbler. It would be a good idea to ekpp your filter in there until a new one comes and add a bubbler. Hope that helps!
Renee
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Post by kagome on Nov 20, 2008 20:01:41 GMT -5
Renee--What do you mean by a bubbler? Like an airstone or bubble wand?
38g current numbers: Nitrite= 0 Nitrate= 20 Ph= 7.2 Kh= 80 Gh= 300
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Post by bikeguy33 on Nov 20, 2008 21:15:31 GMT -5
those levels are getting way better kagome....keep it up....
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Post by bikeguy33 on Nov 20, 2008 21:16:43 GMT -5
didnt mean way better...meant good levels. thought i was reading a different post....lol
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Post by kagome on Nov 20, 2008 23:47:52 GMT -5
no worries, of course my little brain forgot to put down the most important number right now, the damn ammonia is at 1.0 which is actually up. It has been hovering between 0.5 and 0.25 so I'm a little confused because I've been doing everything the exact same. I've made sure to put in adequate Prime to keep it from hurting the fish. I'm doing small water changes almost every day using Prime as the water conditioner. And since I'm feeding the loaches the sinking bottom feeder wafers so I know I'm feeding the exact same amount. They're not leaving any food either, I see them eat it every time, they're little piggy fish and they're bigger now so I know they can easily eat that amount of food. I'm really hoping that this (insert harsh expletive here) ammonia cycle is getting ready to be done already. I really wish the 10g hadn't gotten sick so I could have seeded the new tank, but I guess we can't always get what we want.
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Post by kagome on Nov 21, 2008 14:08:31 GMT -5
So I was reading Carl's article about ammonia cycling and in it Carl mentions that a small amount of ammonia is evaporated surface agitation. So I pointed the outtake of my powerhead up a bit so that it causes much more swirling at the surface. I figured it really couldn't hurt anything and would probably better oxygenate the water. Now that the outtake is pointed that way the clown loaches are swimming into the current and letting themselves be swept away and then they swim right back and do it again. It the cutest thing, they are such goofy fish but that's why I like them so much.
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Post by goldenpuon on Nov 21, 2008 19:59:12 GMT -5
Sorry I didn't reply sooner. I was at the movies with a friend. XD When I said a bubbler, I did mean an airstone/bubble wand. Fish like surface agitation as long as they are not "swept away*. If it's just one area where the current is strong though, that is fine, hence your clown loaches that want more of it. XD
Sometimes I feel like good surface agitation does a better job keeping fish destressed filter as long as there is a way ofr bacteria to keep the levels down. Of course, I'm not saying a filter is not needed, just personal preference.
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Post by kagome on Nov 25, 2008 12:36:19 GMT -5
I'm really wondering at this point if I am going to attempt doing rams at all. It seems like they are very difficult to keep and that the conditions of my tank just aren't right for them. I think the water is a bit too hard, I don't have any sort of live plants in the tank, and I'm worried about the Ph. I know I can add driftwood to the tank and help keep it soft and at a lower Ph, but I'm just not sure that will be enough to make up for the other things. Plus rams are pretty expensive just to have them all die on me. My husband had rams before in a community tank and so I'm going to have to have some long discussions with him about costs and other factors. It's kind of funny that everyone talks about how rams need soft water when my husband had them up in West Virginia where the water is very hard and he did nothing to soften the water and his rams did great until his crayfish ate them one day. Anyway, I know I'm going to do some sort of SA cichlid, I'm just not sure what kind yet.
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Post by murdock6701 on Nov 25, 2008 13:24:02 GMT -5
this may be a smart decision on your part, however discouraging it may seem - I know I had my heart set on it and really tried to create everything perfect just as you have - $100 later I have a beautifully established SA tank w/ no rams or SA cichlids - sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't - if you're determined to keep SA cichlids, dwarfs in particular due to the size of your tank, there are dozens of types of apistogrammas out there that are hardy and beautiful and are not so "finicky" for lack of a better word regarding pH and hardness - I would continue your endeavor as there are limitless possibilities what you can do now that you have it established, particularly in your area where the fish are actually available! am sorry if Eve's and my own experiences have scared you off....good luck and don't give up the whole idea!
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Post by Carl on Nov 25, 2008 14:10:27 GMT -5
I have had both successes and failures with Rams (German and Bolivian). I can also state (not to be modest or brag) is that I have multiple Ram tanks, mostly during the 90s to early 2000s. I have to agree with the hardness, part of your husbands experience as some of my successful tanks have had GH over 200 and a pH over 7. GH is an area where very much misinformation about what fish/plants need is thrown around and in fact without some mineralization your fish would have poor osmoregulation. Here are a few things in common with ALL my successful Ram Tanks (this is not to say Rams did not die, often due to poor quality new arrivals as I believe John experienced): *UV Sterilization *Peat/Almond Leaves ( Bio Lif) *First Rate Filtratiion Carl
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Post by kagome on Nov 26, 2008 0:00:08 GMT -5
My new filter for my ten gallon that I ordered from Carl arrived yesterday. I had to cut out the plastic lid with a pair of tin snips. The precut snap out parts only made the hole six inches wide and the filter was eight inches wide. I was nervous at first about making the cut, if I messed up there was no way to fix it. But I have to admit that I did a really good job and I'm pretty proud of myself for it. I got the filter to fit perfectly. I tinkered with the surface skimmer to get it set properly and attached the sponge prefilter. It started right up with no problems and it really works great. I'm really glad that I went with the bigger filter because now I have more flow in the tank and the fish seem to really like it. After an hour of the new filter running they seemed much happier and more active, especially the clown loach. I'm so glad to have that off the list of things to do, especially since family is coming in tonight and mom and I will start cooking for Thanksgiving tomorrow.
I did water changes in both tanks tonight and vacuumed the gravel really well. The ammonia in the big tank is suddenly reading as 1.0. I've been using Prime and so I'm not worried that I will lose fish, I just really wish this cycle would decide to end. It seems like it is taking forever. But I guess in the meantime it is giving me plenty of time to figure out just what kind of fish I want to add to the tank. I think I've pretty much decided against rams at this point. I think when we eventually have room for more tanks that I will set up a 20g that is solely dedicated to a pair of rams. But I want something that is a bit easier to maintain and hardier for this 38g. I'm really leaning towards some green severums.
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Post by Carl on Nov 27, 2008 12:36:16 GMT -5
Glad this went well for you! ;D I am sure your nitrogen cycle will stabilize, I have seen before and until there is at least some bio load this can be unstable as the "food supply" and bacterial colonies need to strike a balance. I think your decision to wait on German Rams is good for now, you can always go with them later when you feel confident with the tank and environment. I think Green Severums are an excellent choice as these have always been a popular fish among my clients in both personality and ease of care. I have more information about them here: SOUTH AMERICAN CICHLIDS; Ram, Angelfish, SeverumsCarl
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