First of all heres the info the sticky thread said I should post
Tank size 142 litres
Inhabitants 8 tiger barbs, 3 mollies, 1plec (about 1/2 grown) 1 clown loach (about 4 inches) 3 zebra loaches, 2 dwarf gourami, 1 golden gourami (about 1/2 grown) 4 serpa tetras, 4 buenos aeries tetras, 5 danios, 2 rainbow sharks (i know i should only have one, desperately trying to find a home for the other, but at the moment they dont fight anyway) 2 glass catfish and 2 dwarf african frogs. most recently added about 2 weeks ago were the glass catfish, they were a present (which i wasnt completely happy with as im sure its best to keep them in shoals of 6ish?) but they seemed healthy in appearance, although they've not been feeding well (i read they are fussy feeders though)
My tank is planted, has about 8 plants, varying species, couple of ornaments, 2 rocks and a piece of bogwood (all of these have been in place for about 6 months so i dont think they are to blame for the current problems) Substrate is gravel. I have an ornamental air pump which is on for around 8 hours a day, along with a tube light (on for same period) and an internal filter positioned close to the surface to create gental surface disturbance.
My usual maintenance routine is around a 20% water change, filtering the gravel at the same time and removing plant debris and scarping the algae off the sides. I do this about every 10 days to 2 weeks depending on levels of nitrate. I test for ammonia nitrite, nitrate and ph once a week. These are usually stable at 0, 0, 10-20ish and 7 respectively. I naturally cycled my tank when i set it up around 6 months ago and have had no problems with the water level or inhabitants until now.
Ammonia level 1ppm
PH 7
Nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 10ppm
Temp 26 degrees
Yesterday I did a 50% water change, filtered the gravel, removed plant debris and dosed the tank with Interpet Anti fungus and Finrot (no 8). I also used Interpet Sludge Buster.
ok heres the story from the beginning
About 6 weeks ago, during a regular maintenance check i noticed the filter was stuttering, so I cleaned it out in case it was blocked. I hadnt done this before, so i read up on it. I removed the sponges insideand put them immediately into a bucket of old tank waterand squeezed them out. I took the rest of the filter apart in another bucket of tank water and cleaned it out using a toothbrush (not been used before and washed with hot water beforehand) Then i put it all back together, it seemed much better.
2 weeks later on the next maintenance check i noticed the same thing and followed the same procedure.
About 2 weeks after that (2 weeks ago today) I noticed my fish gulping at the surface which concerned me, I checked the ammonia level immediately and it was at 1ppm, which was unusual. thinking this may be due to the glass catfish just added, I did a 50% water change to reduce levels. I checkd the levels daily but they kept going back up, so i kept doing water changes but to no avail. (think thats the point it should have come here and asked for help) Instead I spoke to someone at the local fish store (should have known better) who convinced me to use Interpet ammonia remover and Nutrafin 'cycle', as he said i'd probably damaged the bacteria colony when I cleaned the filter out. I used these products and the ammonia levels dropped and held for about a week. I thought this had solved the problem until yesterday when i noticed a cotton wool type growth on my largest Mollie's gill and some erosion of the tail fin on one of my green tiger barbs. I tested the water but ammonia was till at zero and the other levels were fine too. I went and got some anti fungus and finrot solution, and also added some sludge buster (it said its ok to use the 2 together) as i read the fungus is caused by a bacteria that can build up from plant and fish waste not being boken down by the filter. this morning (after having very fishy dreams!) i leapt out of bed and check on them. The barb and the mollie looked much the same but still active as usual. However, i just noticed some white patches on one of my rainbow sharks about an inch from his tail. I cant see anything on any of the other fish but noticed they were guling at the surface. I've just tested the ammonia and its back to 1ppm. I dont know if this is due to the medication (it says it shouldnt afect water levels), whether my filter is just not working properly and i need a new one. Usually I would do a water change to reduce levels in the immediate instance but im worried if i do that i'll remove the medication i just put in and the disease will spread further. I also dont know how quickly to expect the disease to subside, it gives no indication on the packaging, but it says not to change any water for 7 days and then do a 30% change and repeat if necessary.
please please give me any help and advice you can, even if it is to tell me that i'm doing stuff wrong, i need to know so i can put it right. I'm most concerned about the disease and the ammonia levels immediately but I also need to understand what the underlying cause of all this is, otherwise it'll just happen again. Am i doing maintenance wrong? do i need a new filter, or media? Am i overstocked ?( did the caulculations and got various advice, my tank doesnt look crowded but please tell me if im wrong) I just want to get back to having a healthy tank and fish. I do have anoter filter (slightly smaller than my current one) which i could put in if this would help things, but obviously it doesnt have a bacterialcolony as its not currently in use so i dont know if that would help. Thanks in advance anyway and let me know if i need to give any other info.
Tank size 142 litres
Inhabitants 8 tiger barbs, 3 mollies, 1plec (about 1/2 grown) 1 clown loach (about 4 inches) 3 zebra loaches, 2 dwarf gourami, 1 golden gourami (about 1/2 grown) 4 serpa tetras, 4 buenos aeries tetras, 5 danios, 2 rainbow sharks (i know i should only have one, desperately trying to find a home for the other, but at the moment they dont fight anyway) 2 glass catfish and 2 dwarf african frogs. most recently added about 2 weeks ago were the glass catfish, they were a present (which i wasnt completely happy with as im sure its best to keep them in shoals of 6ish?) but they seemed healthy in appearance, although they've not been feeding well (i read they are fussy feeders though)
My tank is planted, has about 8 plants, varying species, couple of ornaments, 2 rocks and a piece of bogwood (all of these have been in place for about 6 months so i dont think they are to blame for the current problems) Substrate is gravel. I have an ornamental air pump which is on for around 8 hours a day, along with a tube light (on for same period) and an internal filter positioned close to the surface to create gental surface disturbance.
My usual maintenance routine is around a 20% water change, filtering the gravel at the same time and removing plant debris and scarping the algae off the sides. I do this about every 10 days to 2 weeks depending on levels of nitrate. I test for ammonia nitrite, nitrate and ph once a week. These are usually stable at 0, 0, 10-20ish and 7 respectively. I naturally cycled my tank when i set it up around 6 months ago and have had no problems with the water level or inhabitants until now.
Ammonia level 1ppm
PH 7
Nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 10ppm
Temp 26 degrees
Yesterday I did a 50% water change, filtered the gravel, removed plant debris and dosed the tank with Interpet Anti fungus and Finrot (no 8). I also used Interpet Sludge Buster.
ok heres the story from the beginning
About 6 weeks ago, during a regular maintenance check i noticed the filter was stuttering, so I cleaned it out in case it was blocked. I hadnt done this before, so i read up on it. I removed the sponges insideand put them immediately into a bucket of old tank waterand squeezed them out. I took the rest of the filter apart in another bucket of tank water and cleaned it out using a toothbrush (not been used before and washed with hot water beforehand) Then i put it all back together, it seemed much better.
2 weeks later on the next maintenance check i noticed the same thing and followed the same procedure.
About 2 weeks after that (2 weeks ago today) I noticed my fish gulping at the surface which concerned me, I checked the ammonia level immediately and it was at 1ppm, which was unusual. thinking this may be due to the glass catfish just added, I did a 50% water change to reduce levels. I checkd the levels daily but they kept going back up, so i kept doing water changes but to no avail. (think thats the point it should have come here and asked for help) Instead I spoke to someone at the local fish store (should have known better) who convinced me to use Interpet ammonia remover and Nutrafin 'cycle', as he said i'd probably damaged the bacteria colony when I cleaned the filter out. I used these products and the ammonia levels dropped and held for about a week. I thought this had solved the problem until yesterday when i noticed a cotton wool type growth on my largest Mollie's gill and some erosion of the tail fin on one of my green tiger barbs. I tested the water but ammonia was till at zero and the other levels were fine too. I went and got some anti fungus and finrot solution, and also added some sludge buster (it said its ok to use the 2 together) as i read the fungus is caused by a bacteria that can build up from plant and fish waste not being boken down by the filter. this morning (after having very fishy dreams!) i leapt out of bed and check on them. The barb and the mollie looked much the same but still active as usual. However, i just noticed some white patches on one of my rainbow sharks about an inch from his tail. I cant see anything on any of the other fish but noticed they were guling at the surface. I've just tested the ammonia and its back to 1ppm. I dont know if this is due to the medication (it says it shouldnt afect water levels), whether my filter is just not working properly and i need a new one. Usually I would do a water change to reduce levels in the immediate instance but im worried if i do that i'll remove the medication i just put in and the disease will spread further. I also dont know how quickly to expect the disease to subside, it gives no indication on the packaging, but it says not to change any water for 7 days and then do a 30% change and repeat if necessary.
please please give me any help and advice you can, even if it is to tell me that i'm doing stuff wrong, i need to know so i can put it right. I'm most concerned about the disease and the ammonia levels immediately but I also need to understand what the underlying cause of all this is, otherwise it'll just happen again. Am i doing maintenance wrong? do i need a new filter, or media? Am i overstocked ?( did the caulculations and got various advice, my tank doesnt look crowded but please tell me if im wrong) I just want to get back to having a healthy tank and fish. I do have anoter filter (slightly smaller than my current one) which i could put in if this would help things, but obviously it doesnt have a bacterialcolony as its not currently in use so i dont know if that would help. Thanks in advance anyway and let me know if i need to give any other info.
/www.flippersandfins.net/flexibacter.htm
