Something Wrong With The Fins On My Fish....

[Gr44]

Do'h,

I'm actually at work but will do it when I get back and leave for a few hours... or could do the W/C tomorrow morning I suppose. Good idea on the glasses though, didn't think about that

 

[Tortea]

I pick rocks up from beaches and just biol them and add them into the tank, ive had no issues?.........

 

[KittyKat]

I pick rocks up from beaches and just biol them and add them into the tank, ive had no issues?.........

Whether one has issues or not depends on a number of factors, mainly..
Do they come from a poluted area?
What type of rock are they?
What is your type of tank water and what are you trying to acheive?
What fish do you keep?

In this case, we are starting with alkaline water and trying to make it more acidic.. so if the rocks (which are alkaline) are soluable in water, they will counteract what we're trying to do. There is always the possibility that they are not soluable in water and are fine to use, but as there are currently problems with the tank, it is probably better not to take the chance.

 

[Tortea]

Do they come from a poluted area? They Come From all over the world, North of Scotland, Australia, USA, Finland, Iceland.So i don't know.
What type of rock are they? Lots of different types- Stong Sandstone, Non-acidic Volcanic Rock, quartz, caithness slate -lots of different types. Also Shells from all over the world.
What is your type of tank water and what are you trying to acheive? To make it look natural, and its cheaper than buying rocks, and it holds something for me.
What fish do you keep? Community Tank, Betta, neons, corys, danios, platys and others.

But Ive had no issues , but i boiled them and used an ultra-sonic cleaner.

T

 

[KittyKat]

But Ive had no issues , but i boiled them and used an ultra-sonic cleaner.

I was not talking about your rocks in particular, just providing a *few* examples of considerations one has to make when using rocks *in general* and why I said that it might not be a good idea to use them in this particular case. Also boiling soluble rocks does not make them insoluble

 

[Tortea]

Oh, I Always check that the wouldn't be soluble, but boiling gets rid of germs, now a get what you mean, I thought some times of rock fish just don't like.

 

[Gr44]

Been reading this thread today thanks for the replies... still at work so haven't actually dont anything yet or checked on the lil' fellas!

 

[KittyKat]

Oh, I Always check that the wouldn't be soluble, but boiling gets rid of germs, now a get what you mean, I thought some times of rock fish just don't like.

Cool, glad we agree!

Been reading this thread today thanks for the replies... still at work so haven't actually dont anything yet or checked on the lil' fellas!

Let us know how they are doing

 

[Gr44]

Morning all!

Didn't get home till late so I didn't do much last night, I left 2 cups out, one with tap and one with filtered water.

I tested the tank last night and they were;

Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 40-80ppm

Water change on the cards today!

I've just tested the 2 cups and the results are some what surprising to myself.... they were left out for about 10-11 hours and they are as follows;

	Tap Water		Filtered Water

pH =	7.6			6.4
GH =	21*dGH / 375.9ppm	13*dGH / 232ppm
KH =	14*dKH / 250.6ppm	6*dKH / 107.4ppm

I checked the pH levels twice on the filtered water because they seemed low.

Anyway, two questions arise from that...

1) Why is the tap water lower than the aquruim water? What is raising the pH in my tank? (It does come out of the tap at 8-8.2)

2) What should I do now... I want to do 2 large water changes today to bring my Nitrate down (2x 50-60%) - how should I mix it?

Thanks,

Sean

 

[KittyKat]

There are all sorts of gasses dissolved in the water when it first comes out of the tap, for example Chlorine will make the water more alkaline. So with time, most of these will go from the water and the water will become more acidic (although it can theoretically work in the other direction too). The readings of the filtered water are lower because the filter removes some minerals etc. This water should not be used on its own all the time and for the future, you can use it in a mix with tap water.. say 50/50.

What is the nitrate content of your tap water and filtered water?

My advice would be do only one 50% w/c with filtered (and treated with dechlorinator) water only. Lowering the pH too fast could have a negative effect on the fish.

What is your substrate? How was it labelled when you bought it?

Can I suggest you invest in a *small* bag of Nitra-zorb? Even I keep a few around for emergencies or when I go on holiday etc, and they would reduce your nitrate by a little bit. For the moment, aiming at around 50ppm nitrate should be good enough.

 

[Gr44]

Just pruned the plants... the vallis isn't too hot now, couldnt get rid of it all but most of the nasty looking stands are gone now.

Did a 50% water change after, I used as much filter water as I could but it's very slow to filter... it's just one of those brita jug type things lol - I might pick some RO water up and see how they like that.

The substrate is sand, it was bought from a MaidenHead Aquatics so designed for fish etc.

Will look out for Nitra Zorb... think I'll end up going to a FS later today anyway

Thanks,

Sean

 

[KittyKat]

As I said, Vallis. torta is not the easiest to look after..

Yeah, they are small, but one can get quite a lot of water over a day! I've actually used mine before in a similar way when I needed RO water, but couldn't get any.

Can you remember what particular brand and type it was? Coral sand, for example, will make water hard which is why it is used for Rift Lake cichlids and marine fish.

 

[Gr44]

Just had a look - still got some of it left!

It's 'Unipac Silica Sand'

Did a W/C change earlier and the Nitrate now reads 20-40ppm, I'll try pick some RO up tomorrow and that Nitrate-Zorb you said about.

Last Q, the Anubias plant I bought has a yellow/brown 'hole' in one of the leaves, I'm guessing it isn't getting enough of something - any thoughts on what?

Many Thanks,

Sean

 

[KittyKat]

Well, I haven't been able to find anything about the sand to indicate that it could be raising the pH... especially if the description is correct. In fact, if anything at all, it should be doing the opposite of what we are seeing.

Going by that, your tap/filtered water mix has almost no nitrate at all in it, so everything is coming from the fish.. which means that at least from that point of view the RO won't make much difference. If you do use it, be sure to mix it 50/50 with tap water. How much do you feed and what do you feed the fish?

How long are the lights on for? Did it have the hole when you bought it or not?

 

[Gr44]

I'm 100% sure the sand is as I said, still have the bag it came in etc... sat in my bathroom at the moment!!

I tested my Nitrate from the tap some time ago and it was 0ppm, assume this is un-changed, RO would still be worth while to lower pH and hardness though I imagine?

I've been feeding the fish a flake food, I forget the make (at work now) but will check late, also gave them some Brine Shrimp last Friday which they enjoyed! I've been feeding a pinch of flake food normally every other day, sometimes every day if they seem hungry.

I gave them the Brine Shrimp on Friday and haven't feed them since as there was more in that frozen cube than I expected!! they ate the whole lot though, greedy fish! Will give them a little food tonight.

Now they're settled down the lights are typically on from 6-7am when I get up through to midnightish. One of the leaves had a little brown patch on it which has grown to a transparent middle and brown/yellow outter 'ring' - I'll try and take some pictures tonight. The ends of the other leaves are going a little brown too.