New Gbrs

[mancin]

Got another pair of GBRs. They are settling in quite nicely. Hopefully I have better luck with these than the ones that died.

Here's the male:

The female:

The female is a bit harder to photograph. She is a bit unsure of me at this point and is less than pleased to have her picture taken.

 

[tenohfive]

They look pretty nice mate, although I've got a soft spot for GBR's.

Do you know why the last ones died? And how much and often do you do water changes out of interest? I take it these are in one of your 55G's?

 

[mancin]

Yep, they are in my 55 Gallon.

No idea why the last ones died. I assume something went wrong with the last water change before they passed as they were both dead within 24 hours of that. All of the other fish have been completely normal. I've gone over and over in my head the steps I took to do the water change. It was the first time I used the Python, and I'm 99% sure I added the correct amount of dechlor and dosed ferts as I always do. I know some have mentioned that their water companies will up the amount of chlorine in the water if they suspect a water quality issue, so that's the only thing that kind of makes sense. Since then I've been doubling the dechlor just to be sure. The tank temp had been at 80F, which I thought would work for the GBRs. I don't know if I did my C to F conversion wrong, but I've been reading it should be 81F - 82F instead, so the tank is sitting right around there now.

I normally do 30% water changes once a week.

 

[tenohfive]

Don't know about F, I work in C but I kept mine at 24-25 degrees celcius (when they should be kept warmer, 28 ideally) with no major issues.

Did you put enough dechlor in for the whole tank or just for the amount you were changing?

And have you tested since then? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH tests (liquid drop based kit, strips are unreliable) etc?
Worth checking to avoid a repeat. They are very sensitive to water quality. If you have the time consider doing more regular water changes - you'll probably notice improved colouration. I did when I did more than 30% weekly.

 

[mancin]

Did you put enough dechlor in for the whole tank or just for the amount you were changing?

I had enough dechlor for the amount of water I was changing.

And have you tested since then? Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH tests (liquid drop based kit, strips are unreliable) etc?
Worth checking to avoid a repeat. They are very sensitive to water quality. If you have the time consider doing more regular water changes - you'll probably notice improved colouration. I did when I did more than 30% weekly.

Yep, I have an API Water Test kit. I tested the water every single day after they died and didn't see any spikes. Ammonia and NitrItes were 0, and NitrAtes were 5. I've heard they are very sensitive to NitrAtes, so if I ever see them climb above 10 I'll do an additional water change (in combination with my weekly).

I could certainly do more water changes if I need to. I have a Python, so that makes water changes a snap. That's why I was so baffled when they died is I felt I was doing everything right.

 

[tenohfive]

With pythons I've been told its best to add enough dechlor to treat the entire tank after you've drained the old tank water but before you add the new water.

As opposed to adding enough to just treat the new water. I think its a way of being absolutely sure the tap water will be dechlorinated before the chlorine can do any harm to the filter bacteria.

 

[mancin]

Oh, gotcha! I can do that going forward.