Regenerating A Old, Dying Fish Tank.

[dbanbery]

10mm Gravel from a landscape gardening place should do the trick - 20kg for about 3-4 quid. i bought some from a pet shop the other day and they told me themselves it was just ypical stuff. to be fair i didnt need a lot so i just got it from there.

with regard to sand, i am thinking of putting a small amount in my tank as i want to vary the substrate [i already have two different sizes of gravel] my advice above is probably the only thing i have a clue about! and i have only had my tank for 2 months at most and am learning as quick as i can!

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

Ah interesting about how to test it, i shall visit B&Q soon and take a look.

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

Ok tank is 50%, no gravel/fully cleaned. Time to treat the pleco (Guppies look absolutely fine now, tails improved and top fins are only slightly injured an probably repairing). I guess these big water changes i did worked well!



Sadly pleco still has the white patches, So hopefully it isnt just his normal colouring (Certainly doesnt look like it) and this Anti fungus & finrot interpret 8 will do the trick.

48" wide x 15" depth x 7.5" height(water level currently) - Calculates to ~90litres.
4.5ml capfull treats 23litres so ill use 4Capfulls = 92litres.

Says to add it to tap water, i assume it means dechlorinated tap water and not just TAP water?
Thanks

 

[Curiosity101]

It'll just mean it needs dissolving and not just pouring in. Imagine that the medication treats 90l...it must be pretty concentrated. Now imagine pouring it straight onto the fish...
It'd be terrible!
So you can either dissolve it in dechlorinated tap water or in some tank water.
Then distribute evenly over the tank.

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

Yeah assumed so, but they didnt write "Dechlorinated" which led me to think "maybe dechlorinator will hinder treatment, surely not". They should reword that really.

Ok i shall treat tomorrow when i can be home to monitor the fish rather than going to bed/out to work tomorrow.
Hopefully got my calculations right (volume of tank above, water up to 19cm.

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

4 capfulls into fish tank water, stired. DONE!

Guppies swam around like mad at first, unsure if its because they can see me (they get more active when they think its dinner time) or if the treatment affected them. They were also at the top of the tank breathing so i've turned the filter jets into the water which is making alot of noise but creating bubbles too.

Will see how things develop, 7 days i think its effective for? Then what? Water replacement? How much?
Temperature is around 23degrees, should i increase it?

 

[Curiosity101]

Honestly don't know. I've never used those meds. Basically just follow the instructions on the bottle.
Though I would prob up the temp to 24C anyways, they may be a bit chilly at 23.

You did correct on aerating the water more. Some good quick thinking. I'm sure they will appreciate it

 

[OldMan47]

The guppies will be fine at 23C. I am not sure of the best temperature for your plec.

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

Ok i crept into the room this morning, guppys we're swimming about ok about 1" from surface and plec was eating all the dirt on the floor (Its amazing how much mess 3 fish make). So i think they we're just happy to see me, lol probably think i'm their saviour considering the conditions they had been in before

Hopefully they heal fast!
I think ill get a water test soon, will the medication affect the results though?? Want to rule out high ammonia/nitirite after my filter clean etc.

Nice thank curiosity, thats the style i had in mine (wood as centre piece, plants surrounding it etc).

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

WATER TEST RESULTS
Nitrite 0PPM @ PetsAtHome
Nitrite <0.3mg/l Yellow @ Other pet shop - Tetra kit.

PH 7-8 Blue/dark blue - Tetra Kit.

Ammonia: 0ppm @ PetsAtHome
NitrAte: 40/80 ppm - A red/dark red colour.


Water change needed? Im medicating with Anti fungus/Finrot Interpret #8 - Dont want to water it down really if i can help it?
Tank is at 50%, suppose i could top it up and add more med's as per instructions on bottle.

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

#####! Today i noticed the Plec has white poop (Internal infection?).

Currently treating for finrot (See above)...Hmmm what to do?

 

[Sofia]

white poo can mean he has an internal parasitic infection. What food do you feed your fish?

TBH the best thing to do would be to put up a new post about your plecs illness on the emergency forum as Wilder -who is the queen of all fish emergencies will know what it most probably is and will help you. maybe keep this thread as a thread about your tank re do.

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

Ok will do.
I feed them just standard tropical dry fish food? Will provide details of that in the new thread then.

Thanks

 

[KingOfTheSea]

If you really want gravel you could get some of this. Great if you are on a budget and its basically the same stuff they sell in you LFS for 5x the price.

http/www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav.jsp?acti...p;isSearch=true

Great for a cheap option to fill a large tank.

Good luck and hope the pleco gets better

 

[ChrisChrisChris]

King, has that been tested in fish tanks (Did i raise PH? Affect water quality?). Also what size tank would 1 bag cover/how many would i need? see sig for my tank measurements.

I was planning to visit B&Q today to see if they had stuff like this Thank you