Planted tank questions

[Barry Tetra]

hello! I just started a new low-budget planted aquarium.

My friend gave me 20 gal tank, light and thermometer 2 years ago when I just started fishkeeping.

Egeria densa are from he wild

Questions:
1. I use fertilizer and liquid CO2 everyday, is this dangerous for the fishes?
2. Are filter necessary considering it’s an Anacharis jungle and don’t wanna spend any money on this tank.
3. Is there any fish that can be kept alone in this tank?
4. How do I decrease the temp of the tank, I already have my Diy fan on and it doesn’t help!
@Colin_T

 

[Colin_T]

Liquid carbon dioxide (CO2) is bad for fish and other aquatic organisms.

Aquarium plant fertilisers are safe for fish as long as you don't overdose.

It's always a good idea to have a filter in any aquarium. An air operated sponge filter would be sufficient.

27C is fine for most tropical fish. Bettas, gouramis, killifish, dwarf cichlids, small rainbowfish would all be fine assuming the water chemistry is suitable for them.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Liquid carbon dioxide (CO2) is bad for fish and other aquatic organisms

Does Yeast CO2 bad for fishes aswell?

 

[Colin_T]

Yeast CO2 units are hard to control. They start out slow and then suddenly produce a lot of CO2 before slowing down again. If the amount of CO2 is not regulated, you can overdose the tank and kill everything in it.

Unless you have lots of light and lots of nutrients, there is no point adding CO2. There is plenty of CO2 in the aquarium from the fish, bacteria and from the air.

 

[Barry Tetra]

How can I disinfected the plants?

Yesterday I collected a bunch of Anacharis from the river and put it in the bucket, I walk down the street to get to my home and there was this guy on the street drinking water and as I walk past him, he pour the water that he drank in the bucket of anacharis!

Now I dont know if my anacharis are infected by Covid or not

 

[StevenF]

The liquid CO2 you find in the stores is an organic chemical that some plants can use instead of CO2. This organic chemical is often used as a disinfectant and will harm animal tissue if the concentration is too high in the water. Anacharis is also one plant that can be damaged by this organic chemical.

CO2 gas is what is in ithe air. IT can be generated by yeast, chemical reactions, or it can be purchased as a compressed gas in a metal canister. For your anacharis simple aeration of the water should be all you need to get enough CO2 for it. However like all plants it need minerals such as iron, potassium, zinc, and copper to grow. So a good fertilizer should be all you need to get it to do well. However not if you are missing just of the the 14 minerals needed it will not grow and may die.

Now I dont know if my anacharis are infected by Covid or not

from everything I have read covid is not transmitted through water and will not infect plants. However untreated pond or stream water may contian bacteria which can cause other diseases. The plant may also has some pest insects, snails, or other unwanted things.

 

[Colin_T]

Covid19 does not affect plants and is unlikely to affect fish. It can be transmitted through water and most countries are now testing sewerage water for the virus to track it. They are having very good success tracking the different strains of covid19 in sewer water.

If you wash the plants under tap water (outside on the garden) it should get rid of most of the things on them. Then keep the plants in a separate tank for a month before adding them to a display tank. Change the water in the holding tank each week and wash the plants each week too.

If you need to disinfect aquarium plants, you can soak them in straight bleach for a few (2 to 5) minutes. It will kill any algae and disease organisms on the plants. Use cold bleach, not hot bleach. Hot or warm bleach will do a lot of damage to the plants. Cold (room temperature) bleach won't do as much damage to the plants. After bleaching, rinse the plants under tap water and put in a clean container of water.

Make sure you wash your hands and arms with soapy water after collecting things from the river or working in a fish tank.

 

[Barry Tetra]

If I move my chinese algae eater to the tank will there be enough space for him?
the tank is 20 gal (24x14x13.6)

 

[Colin_T]

Chinese Algae Eaters grow to 10-12 inches long. While it is small it will probably be fine in a tank that is 2 foot long, but eventually it will need a much larger tank. They also become quite aggressive and territorial as they mature so it will need to be housed with fish that can defend themselves.

 

[Barry Tetra]

Chinese Algae Eaters grow to 10-12 inches long. While it is small it will probably be fine in a tank that is 2 foot long, but eventually it will need a much larger tank. They also become quite aggressive and territorial as they mature so it will need to be housed with fish that can defend themselves.

I’m trying to move the fish from the overstocked tank to new tank so there will be more space for them to swim.

There is a bunch of fishes in the quarantine tank that including
10 cherry barbs, 6 lemon tetra and 3 swordtails and 1 glofish (that seems to be schooling with cherry barbs)

I was ordering mollies for my new saltwater tank
3 swordtails and the glofish are from the “ordering mix up” problem and they don’t want it back, instead they shipped me
10 mollies to apologize.

 

[Barry Tetra]

@Colin_T

And I thought I can escape the failure by buying fish online

they started to go “hunchback”, poop white and red gills in the saltwater qt tank (yes, it is saltwater now)

I tried treating them with Flubendazole but doesn’t seems to get better

 

[Colin_T]

What is the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in the saltwater tank?
Any ammonia produced in a marine tank becomes very toxic due to the high pH of seawater (around 8.5). Even a low level of ammonia can kill fish in water with a pH that high.

-------------------
Are the mollies eating well?

The white poop is either intestinal worms or an internal protozoan infection. In livebearers, it's usually intestinal worms. If flubendazole didn't make any difference, try Metronidazole if you can get it.

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Has the fish in the picture got a red belly?

 

[Barry Tetra]

flubendazole didn't make any difference, try Metronidazole if you can get it.

I always have Levamisole, flubendazole and metronidazole in my med box.

Has the fish in the picture got a red belly?

Yes.
Eat normally but from my experience, every livebearer who have this symptoms will die in about a week.

What is the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in the saltwater tank?

0, 0, 10
60% daily water changes

 

[Colin_T]

Normally I would suggest salt but since they are in salt water, that won't help. Try Metronidazole and see if it helps.

 

[Barry Tetra]

How do you stop cherry barbs from picking on elodea?

They keep picking on the same spot over and over again.