First Aquarium: 20 G Tank Diary// Update: Aspen Is Dead...

[orange shark]

if you can do only one thing...please get him to leave the filter on! It's the only way your tank is going to cycle

 

[MollyFresh]

Hello, I just read all of the posts. It took me about 30 minutes or so, haha Well I think that if I had parents like that, I would get an attitude ( even if I got beat) and tell them that they were WRONG If I need to scream at the top of my lungs ( normally) to get the point across, I will, period. Thats just me, I know that disobeying ( not sure how to spell) is wrong and you should listen to your parents but geez, risking the life of your fish because your parents won't listen. ( even though when everything hits them in the face it will feel pretty good) It takes me about 30 minutes to change my water. I use a siphon and a bucket to suck the water out, takes about 5-10 minutes. Than I poor the water in the sink. Than I fill the sink up (filling the sink up with a similar temp- to my tank) Than I use the siphon to fill the bucket with the clean water that is in the sink. Put Water conditioner in the water, than put it in the tank. Thats it! Takes about 30 minutes. I am in LOVE with your Fishtank Aleydis! Its just like myn, but myn is a 10 gallon and is only a couple days old. I enjoy reading your entrees ( not sure of spelling) I like the fact that you name your fish, it really gives a live, enjoyable feeling to keeping fish. I think you have a big vocabulary too. If it were me, I wouldnt just let my dad take my fishtank away. Over my dead body!! I am the type of person who thinks they know all and can do all and thinks they are invincible LOL ( not sure how to spell) don't mind my brat like attitude xD

 

[orange shark]

^^^
its the way to go

 

[MollyFresh]

lol I vote for more posts! I vant to read more <3

 

[Aleydis]

xDDD Sorry y'all. I was sick for a few days because my teacher gave us bad milk... But it was a sick party ;D

Okay- here's the lowdown- (I could only write in the days I was feeling better... So...)

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

The fish with the furry eye (I've decided to call her Marian) kept getting better and worse, better and worse... I snuck into my mom's medicine drawer and dissolved a bit of antibiotic, and Marian got better- as in PERMANENTLY! =) But then she died this morning... Why?

THERE WERE 7 FRY IN HER BOWL! OMIGOSH! =O
(I didn't even realize she was pregnant)
We were lucky she wasn't too stressed out to give birth, but sadly she died after. Marian. You would've been a great mom. I put the fry with my other fry. They seem to get along well together.

As dad had said, we did a 25% water change... And vacuumed the gravel a bit... Still can't find testing kit. I had an argument with him over dinner, and ended with tears...

Late that night, Jacques died. He'd been hiding behind plants for around two days now, not eating at all. I was expecting his death...
Now the only male guppy in the tank is Tyler... By the way, in the morning I noticed his color was extremely pale, but in the afternoon, he was vibrant and bursting with color... Hmmm...

Thursday, June 26, 2008

While I was feeding the fish today, I saw a dead female guppy floating upwards! It was mother Theresa. (No pun intended. Her name is due to the fact that she gets preggos alot) There was white furry stuff almost all over her... I hadn't noticed... Which means she'd been dead for probably a while... That just ruined my day... In a way this is good- the ammonia low would be lower with less fish... But her decomposing body might have given off a huge amount of ammonia...

Haven't found testing kit yet. Searched on the first floor. Nothing. Getting pretty scared now...

Friday, June 27, 2008

FOUND TESTING KIT! (It was behind some Peoples magazines)
THE RESULTS:
OMIGOSH.

Ammonia: (You won't believe this!) 0!
Nitrite: 1.0
Nitrate: 20
(Okay, I might have gotten the Nitrate and Nitrite switched up... So if the results sound weird to you, just switch it around so it'll make sense)
...Obviously this was better than:
Ammonia: 2.0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0

Anyone care to explain why my father's 'neglect' worked out better for my fish? Although I do think I helped in the process, since I got the ammonia level really low for a few days- this probably helped the beneficial bacteria to form? I could just jump for joy... If my dad wasn't rubbing it in my face... He's been doing it for the whole day.
Meanwhile, we've decided to continue changing water once every three days for around 2 weeks, then change the water once every week. Although there were fatalities with his way of doing things too, the end result was positive. I see no more new bacterial infections in my fish right now.

...Honestly- I was waiting to rub it in HIS face... D<

Fishy Info:
A female red platy has been hiding everywhere... Behind plants, in the cave... She's been doing it for a week now. She doesn't eat and I barely see her. I think she might be pregnant... But should I be concerned?

Currently Wondering:
What's the right way to feed plecos? (I've been sneaking them wafers)
Some people tell me to feed each one a piece every three days... But poor them- when I don't feed them every night they always stay in the center of the tank, waiting for food...
Platy problem above.
How come dad's way worked but mine didn't?

Notes:
MollyFresh- Yes, I love my dad too much! Thanks for your compliment on my fish tank. I love it too- I even have a pic of it on my desktop =O... And no, you don't have a brat like attitude... I act like I'm a know-it-all all the time... =O
Corleone- Thanks for your suggestions, but I don't think I'll be needing them. My dad's already taken over the role of saying 'I TOLD YOU SO!'

 

[orange shark]

Milk at a party???

Im no expert but i would have thought putting antibiotics in a fish tank is not good...

I dont think your dads neglect had anything to do with it, just the fact that the bacteria was growing anyway!

i fed my plecos every other day

 

[Corleone]

Ammonia: (You won't believe this!) 0!
Nitrite: 1.0
Nitrate: 20
(Okay, I might have gotten the Nitrate and Nitrite switched up... So if the results sound weird to you, just switch it around so it'll make sense)

Sounds like you got it right - the cycle is progressing well, given the conditions - nitrIte of 20 would be deadly in a matter of minutes, nitrite of 1 is bad, but won't cause permanent damage provided it's cleared up in time.

The reason your dads way appears to have worked better is probably that you had managed to get through a good chunk of the cycle - ammonia of 0 means you're in the second half, and nitrite of 1 with so few water changes sounds like you're reasonably well through that, as well. Ammonia is a lot worse than nitrite. Nitrite reduces the blood's ability to carry oxygen, but doesn't cause as much permanent damage that ammonia can. Enough of it is still fatal, and the stress from poor water quality can contribute to other causes of death, but all in all, the second half of a cycle is much less deadly to fish than the first.

Your platy doesn't sound good. I don't know what it could be, but it doesn't sound good.

As for plecos, I feed an algae tablet every day and a leaf of lettuce every other night, but I have trumpet, nerite, and apple snails in the tank that eat what the bristlenose doesn't. I generally see him go for the algae tablet every day, but he rarely finishes it, so without snails around to clean up, daily may be a bit much. You can try breaking a tablet up and putting smaller pieces in daily, with a full one every few days, or step up to every other day.

Edit: Antibiotics are hit and miss in tanks - established tanks usually can take them just fine, but newly cycled ones may go into a minicycle, it probably won't entirely wipe out your biofilter.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

it's purley a time thing aleydis, the process of cycling takes several weeks it starts off bad and eventually gets better. you went through a whole lot of the bad stuff then just as it was starting to get better your Dad took over and things started to get better. if you'd have kept on things would have got better around the same time but you could have possibly saved the few fish you lost in the time your dad took over.

 

[Aleydis]

Omigosh. I haven't updated this since... FOREVER.

Sunday, September 7, 2008

The community tank is doing really well! All water parameters are normal, and we've just changed the filter cartridge. My tank is now mature and thriving thanks to all you awesome people here! No fish have died... Well.. Well no, some fish have died.

I had a couple of guppy fry who passed away due to malnutrition... I hadn't exactly realized that there was such a thing as 'fry food', so I was feeding them ground up flakes, but it turns out they were too big for them anyways, and they died of hunger/malnutrition. But now I have a whole bunch of fry food, which I used to feed the surviving fry. Now they're nice and big and almost ready to release into the tank. They're big enough so that they won't be eaten, but I've decided to let them remain in the breeding tank inside the community tank so they can grow a bit more and have more of a chance of getting food before I put them in with the biggies.

Sam and Emily have grown a lot! Now, however, Sam isn't bullying Emily... Emily is bullying Sam! This is an interesting thing, to watch the hunters be hunted... Anyways, Emily is now larger than Sam, and I've separated Sam from Emily so they wouldn't fight, and I put him in my mom's 10gallon tank. He's doing fine there, although he hasn't been eating, but I suppose that's just because he needs to get used to this new environment first. He's only been there for a day.

The community tank is mainly my mom's responsibility now, since I have school and such. She doesn't have anything to do at home, so she took over the water changes, etc. She's a clean freak, and has general knowledge of the do's and dont's, so I trust her with the water changes. Although after every water change the aquarium setup looks different, and I'm afraid this will stress out the fish...

--

BETTA UPDATE!

Yes, little n00by Aleydis is proud owner of BETTAS now!

My lovable Bettas:

Leviathan Drake- An energetic lil' guy, always eager to eat, leaping out of the water to grab food from my fingers. He loves Topfin and Hikari pellets, Mysis shrimp, bloodworms and peas. Sometimes he can get a bit moody though, when I starve him once a week. Levi is the cutest Blue Crowntail EVER. ((According to me, of course! )) His gills flare out brilliantly, and he looks every bit like the king of the... Rice paddies? xD

Aspen Dawn- A beautiful red Crowntail. He's big and pretty, and I've only had him for a day. I rescued him from Wal Mart when I went there to get a new bike. He just stared at me through the dirty water with such an adorable expression that I HAD to get him. I don't know much about him yet, but I do know he must be constipated. He's not eating, his fins/tail are clamped, he usually hangs out at the bottom of the keeper or at the top, and his poop is a stringy white thing that takes forever to come free. ((It hasn't yet... And it's been HOURS. )) So I'm starving him for now and feeding him peas for the next 2 or 3 days until he gets better.

Both Levi and Aspen will flare at each other, and they're both so pretty!

I was scared for Levi's health a day ago, because his poop has always been this clumpy, dusty consistency, yet he acts so healthy, his tail is always spread and such... So I won't worry about that yet. But a few days ago his color has started to fade, and I couldn't find any reason why other than some kind of internal problem, hence his poop consistency.

But before I went and bought medicine, I got Aspen. And once Levi saw him, he couldn't stop flaring, and now his color is as dark as ever! Thanks, Aspen!

Now, some of you may be wondering about how I'm housing these Bettas...

I'm NOT proud to say that I'm housing them in 24 OZ containers. Levi is in one, and Aspen is in a larger one with a divider, but I took it away so he could have some extra space to swim for the first few days of his life at my house.

I'm a clean freak when it comes to Levi and Aspen. I change my water once every 3 days, and any uneaten food is immediately fished out. I feed Levi 3 times a day, 2 pellets each meal, or sometimes a bloodworm or two will replace the pellets.

Levi and Aspen are housed in such conditions because I don't have the space, money or outlets to plug in filters or heaters. But I think heat isn't a problem, since my house is always at 25 degrees Celsius.

Here are pics of Levi and Aspen flaring at each other: Levi is on the right and Aspen is on the right. Note: Levi's head isn't a different color from his body. The camera made the body look much lighter, and the head much darker due to his angle. Levi NEVER stays still!

Here's a vid! 8D

<a href="http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8oy_1uIodE" target="_blank">http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8oy_1uIodE</a>


Fishy Info:

Levi acts all mopy when I pay attention to Aspen! And when I look at him he starts doing a little dance thing... He does this little dance when he flares at his own reflection and I take the mirror away, and he things he's won. The dance consists of flips and shooting up and down. xD Maybe I'll tape this someday.

Currently Wondering:

What are some MUST HAVE medicines for Bettas and generally all fish? =/

Notes:

Please don't go off on me telling me how horrible I am for putting Levi and Aspen in these Keepers. I understand the importance of a larger tank, but I just can't have one right now. So these will have to do. Anyways, Levi is happy to be here, I tell you! D< And Aspen, he'll get better, and then he'll be happy to be here too! xD

 

[madpiano]

Our way of keeping fish is just one of many ways of doing things. I know someone whom, like Cassandra, has a tank with no filter that is over 30 years old. He hasn't got any ammonia or nitrite in his water, or nitrate for that matter, and hasn't waterchanged since the week after starting the tank... Though I wouldn't advise this method, it can be done.

Just goes to show, fish are hardier than we give them cradit for, and there is also more than one way to do things

All the best
Rabbut

Funny that you mention this. I did a 6 month de-tour to marine fish and the use of filters in marine set-ups is not recommended as it causes Nitrate problems. Ok, Marine Tanks are comparatively understocked, but all the filtering is done by the rocks and the sand in there. This did make me wonder if it would be feasible in a fresh water tank as well. I mean bacteria are bacteria and the marine ones have exactly the same function. Live Rock is needed, and the rock is very porous, which might be a bit of an issue as most of those in fresh water would raise hardness, unless there is an inert porous rock ? This would mean stealing some rocks from a friend with an established tank to start the tank off with and adding fish much more slowly than usual (the way the marine keepers do), but in a fresh water tank we also have the possibility to add plants.

People kept fish before Eheim existed. Maybe one day I feel brave enough to try it....

 

[rabbut]

Our way of keeping fish is just one of many ways of doing things. I know someone whom, like Cassandra, has a tank with no filter that is over 30 years old. He hasn't got any ammonia or nitrite in his water, or nitrate for that matter, and hasn't waterchanged since the week after starting the tank... Though I wouldn't advise this method, it can be done.

Just goes to show, fish are hardier than we give them cradit for, and there is also more than one way to do things

All the best
Rabbut

Funny that you mention this. I did a 6 month de-tour to marine fish and the use of filters in marine set-ups is not recommended as it causes Nitrate problems. Ok, Marine Tanks are comparatively understocked, but all the filtering is done by the rocks and the sand in there. This did make me wonder if it would be feasible in a fresh water tank as well. I mean bacteria are bacteria and the marine ones have exactly the same function. Live Rock is needed, and the rock is very porous, which might be a bit of an issue as most of those in fresh water would raise hardness, unless there is an inert porous rock ? This would mean stealing some rocks from a friend with an established tank to start the tank off with and adding fish much more slowly than usual (the way the marine keepers do), but in a fresh water tank we also have the possibility to add plants.

People kept fish before Eheim existed. Maybe one day I feel brave enough to try it....

I suppose it would be possible in theory, as porus rocks would make biological media, as they are sometimes used as a cheap bio-media in canister filters As with marine tanks, you would need lots of flow in the tank for it to work, and finding an inert porus rock may be difficult, but I suppose some Tanganikan cichlids may be OK to try, not needing a heavy stocking and liking hard alkaline water... Interesting idea. Live rock in marine tanks contain anairobic pockets to remove nitrate also, thus they complete the nitrogen cycle. Anairobic pockets are usualy avoided in freshwater, as they are associcated with tank crashes when disturbed, but if they are left alone, they should be fine and possibly even disireable

That said, any none-porus rock would stop disoling once bacteria coated it, as the bacteria would put a laver over the rack that water won't be able to penetrate as well, so the rocks will act as a long-term buffer to the pH rather than cranking it up once the rock matures

Aleydis, those containers can be made to work with the kind of regular work you are putting in, but they aren't ideal as you know. It's important to keep up with your waterchanges on them for their long-term health Also, is there any way you can block their vision of each other? The fighters flaring at each other is stressful for them, and may lead to stress-related issues. Swapping the divider for a coloured, none-see through one to block their view of each oher will fix that though

HTH
Rabbut

 

[AngelOfDeath]

just relax, you're making your life hard with all these excessive water changes, 1-10ppm ammonia will do nothing to your fish...it sucks when fish die at first, but you'll begin to care little as i do when it happens..(i feed dead fish to my crayfish for a laugh)

 

[Aleydis]

just relax, you're making your life hard with all these excessive water changes, 1-10ppm ammonia will do nothing to your fish...it sucks when fish die at first, but you'll begin to care little as i do when it happens..(i feed dead fish to my crayfish for a laugh)

First of all, the ammonia is at 0 now and fine...

Second...

1-10 PPM ammonia will do NOTHING? Even as a somewhat noobish fishkeeper, I know that 10ppm ammonia is BAD.

 

[ally86ozzy]

congrats on ur happy tank! im glad to see it finished cycling. my dad sometimes threatens to FLUSH MY FISH if i watch them alot or things like that. Parents.......... gotta liv w/ em! my tank has 2 mosquito fish and 3 ottos, all happy! good job

 

[Aleydis]

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Aspen has passed away.

I was playing my flute today when I had the random urge to look over at him, and saw that he was at the surface again. I ignored him and continued playing, but after seeing that he wasn't moving at ALL (Not even fins or gills)... I rushed over... And by gently tipping the tank, realized that he was DEAD.

The white stringy poop was still hanging off of him, not even after 2 days trying to poop it out. I believe he had died of constipation, since he didn't eat a thing since he got here, so I stopped feeding him and waited for his digestive tract to clean out. D:

Levi is doing absolutely brilliant, and seems to have gotten a confidence boost with Aspen out of the picture....

I'm NEVER buying fish from Walmart or Petsmart again. Instead I'll continue to buy Bettas and other fish from where I got Levi. All the Bettas there are kept in a LARGE divided tank with continuous filtering and are fed a variety of food. I think this is why Levi's so awesomely healthy. My mom knows, but I've decided to not tell my Dad. He'd freak out.

We're going to put the tank outside to bask in the sun so any bacteria is killed, and then Levi will get a bigger tank, so he'll have more space to swim. D:

...

I'm really sad right now...

I flushed Aspen down the toilet (I'M SORRY, but he was DEAD) and I've been feeling sad ever since, even though I'm POSITIVE that it wasn't my fault he died. I gave him more room to swim in, better water conditions with water conditioner, and an awesome friend to flare with... Too bad...

Aspen Dawn.

You will forever be in my heart.

...I hope Levi doesn't cave in on me anytime soon. I don't think I'll feel the same if he died... I knew him for so long, and I love much so much. I would be 100 times sadder if he died.