Recent content by Rocksie

One of my Platys is "missing." I cannot find the fish but I do see a very large cluster of snails. Do snails eat dead fish?

Hmm. Yes the Azoo 20 gallon filter is pretty huge. I was going to try to hide it with plants and a nice piece of driftwood.

Should I treat the whole tank, including fry? Or scoop out the ailing Mickey Mouse and treat her separately? I have that Kordon Ich Attack which says it treats Ich, protozoans, and dinoflagellates. Should I use that?

I already bought Azoo Oxygen Plus Bio-filters. One for 10 gallon and 1 for my 20 gallon fish tank. I was going to put the one in the 20 gallon as a back-up for the Marineland Penguin 150.

I don't seem to have an algae problem in the fish tank though in the plant-nursery tank there is more -- which seems counter-intuitive given the ever-burgeoning snail population. I am relieved that neither my tap water's KH of 180, nor the mysterious drop in the fish tank to a KH of 40 ought to...

The Red Mickey Mouse hid extremely well for a few hours after I did a 25% water change. She seemed to have disappeared completely until I turned the light back on to search for her. Her dorsal fin was normal and not clamped but I did see her "flash" several times and she was trailing white...

My tap water comes from a well and has no chlorine. It is VERY hard. GH tests at 300ppm. KH tests at 180ppm out of the tap. But the KH in the tank has dropped to a reading of 40ppm!! My tank is only 20 gallons. I know a larger tank is better but that is what I have (long story). There are no...

Ah! That's what I felt to be true. Glad to hear it! I will now happily bring the snails along with the new plants into the fish tank! Thank you SO much for all your help and advice!!

Shall I a) start a new thread about my unstable KH?; or b) search for a thread about unstable KH that already exists? Perhaps both? My new plants have been in a holding tank and there is a snailpocalypse. I guess I should have used a bleach bath. Are snails really that bad to have in a tank?

Hi Byron! Argh! I mixed up GH and KH! I meant to say that the KH in my tank dropped over time from the tap water reading of 180 ppm all the way down to 40 ppm! GH is 300ppm. What would knock the KH so out of whack and how can I stabilize it? I guess I'll just store the foam filter I was going...

I have been having trouble with my KH. It has been unstable. My tap water, which comes from a well, is very hard and has a high KH but in the tank it was dropping. I'm not knowledgeable enough about biochemistry to understand why my buffer was dropping. I was advised to add baking soda, which I...

Here are my water parameters according to my Freshwater Master Test Kit: Regular pH solution indicated pH 7.6; confusingly, the High pH solution gave me a reading of 7.4 Ammonia solution looked closer to the 0ppm color than the 0.25ppm color Nitrite tests at 0ppm Nitrate looks like 80ppm I few...

How does one go about trying to get a photo of a fish? All I have to work with is the camera in my phone. I've been using 6-in-1 test strips. I can get out the Freshwater Master Test Kit tomorrow and do a more accurate test of the water parameters. I can TRY to take a photo of the Mickey if...

Hi. I believe my Red Mickey Mouse Platy has Velvet. She has a pale sort of circular area on her right side behind her eye. It's very subtle and I just noticed it today. I read that stress can cause fish to come down with Velvet and one of the issues I saw listed was bullying. She is definitely...

I have some old rocks and small stones I'd like to add to my 20 planted tank. Besides vinegar and boiling, how do I tell if they're safe?