Stan's freshwater 240 gallon extravaganza. Trials and tribulations of a sunlit aquarium

[Retired Viking]

Hikari sinking wafers, they take longer to break down then wardley, but I assume they are a lot heigher nutrition, they also don’t dirty the tank as fast

They had Hikari micro pellets so I picked up some , more expensive per volume but my tetra seemed to really like it. Will wait on their waffers since the snails like them and the cory likes the Wardley pellets.

 

[Stan510]

Here's another food tip. If you don't feed live food then cooked shrimps are next best..but I found if I take the frozen at say three at a time to last me three days,I microwave them until they lose all gooeyness and become crumbly. That ways when you feed a tank of fish that has some with small mouths..the crumbly shrimp reaches them. Might take a little time for them to get used to the texture.
Of course i also feed Tetra color flakes,Wardley shrimps,sometimes I feed them prepared beefheart..but they do like the shrimp better. Some like the Rainbows are fine with everything..take down mouthfuls of the beefheart with some gelatin.
Green Wafers,again,a waste of money.

 

[Stan510]

Ah for cryin out loud..my Typhoid Petco fish not only caused ich,I think it brought it gill parasites. Some of the other fish are are rubbing gills. First sign of disease in 2 years.
So I bought Kordon's Rid Ich+ Its 240 gallons and tablet cures are out at 1 per ten gallons, only10 per package and I might need more.... So I turned to Kordon after watching the Fish Doc on Youtube treat those illnesses with formaldehyde. Kordon has that with malachite green also. A $12 Bottle is plenty for me to use three days in a row and have plenty for "next time".
It turned the water blue,not green,for an hour of so..then cleared up. They say,not harmful to plants. It's a three day treatment partial water changes..vacuuming the substrate for ich eggs. Water changes and vacuuming I had already started doing.

 

[Retired Viking]

Ah for cryin out loud..my Typhoid Petco fish not only caused ich,I think it brought it gill parasites. Some of the other fish are are rubbing gills. First sign of disease in 2 years.
So I bought Kordon's Rid Ich+ Its 240 gallons and tablet cures are out at 1 per ten gallons, only10 per package and I might need more.... So I turned to Kordon after watching the Fish Doc on Youtube treat those illnesses with formaldehyde. Kordon has that with malachite green also. A $12 Bottle is plenty for me to use three days in a row and have plenty for "next time".
It turned the water blue,not green,for an hour of so..then cleared up. They say,not harmful to plants. It's a three day treatment partial water changes..vacuuming the substrate for ich eggs. Water changes and vacuuming I had already started doing.

Sorry to hear that hope the treatment goes well, Let me know how well Kordon rid ich is, does it have copper in it?

 

[Stan510]

Thanks Viking. No copper..just everything else that kills slime,ich and gill flukes and internal parasites. You tube said it worked with an aquarium that had lots of plants.
I remember when Joe Kapp was QB of the Vikings..then Fran Tarkenton..good old days.

 

[Colin_T]

Ah for cryin out loud..my Typhoid Petco fish not only caused ich,I think it brought it gill parasites. Some of the other fish are are rubbing gills.

White spot (Ichthyophthirius) affects the gills as well as the body and fins. Infected fish will rub on objects in the tank.

The safest treatment for whitespot is to raise the water temperature to 30C (86F) and keep it there for 2 weeks. Then reduce the temperature.

Do a 90% water change and gravel clean the substrate before raising the temperature.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it's added to the tank.

Clean the filter to help remove any parasites in it. Wash filter media in a bucket of tank water and re-use them.

Increase aeration/ surface turbulence to maximise the oxygen level in the water.

The following link has information about white spot and various ways to treat it. The first post on page 1 and second post on page 2 are worth a read when you have spare time.

What is ICH?

This is a common question that is often asked, what is ich and how is it recognisable and what causes it? The real term is ICHTHYOPHTHIRIASIS. OR commonly known as white spot. It is an extremely comon parasite that affects aquarium fish. It is highly infectious and potentially lethal and...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Stan510]

I have it up to 82f now. I noticed one large Blue rainbow ,M.lacustris. was breathing heavy..with no visible ich or fungus. The Kordon does have formalin..something the much more expensive powders didn't. Today.more substrate cleaning,water change and a second dose of Kordon rid ich.
Coronafish from petco did a number on what has been the nicest looking aquarium I've ever set up. One fish..a green line Rasbora quickly fell. Almost 2 years old that little fish.
Most youtube guys are telling people,"net out the sick fish and treat in a small tank,not the main" and that does not make sense since you dont know for sure whats not treated is healthy and pre infectious right? If its parasites..the eggs are all over the main tank also.
The Kordon seems safe. One hour of blue water..then clears again. Not as bad as the old days when Methylene blue stained EVERYTHING,forever just about.

 

[Colin_T]

I have it up to 82f now. I noticed one large Blue rainbow ,M.lacustris. was breathing heavy..with no visible ich or fungus.

Rainbowfish are sensitive to chemicals so don't overdose or you will kill them. I generally used a half dose for rainbows, the same sort of dose you use for scaleless fishes like loaches and catfish.

Make sure you increase aeration/ surface turbulence when using chemicals or raising the temperature because they both reduce the oxygen levels in the water.

 

[Stan510]

Just did a water change while gravel siphoning; When I refilled it? It looked like drinking water with three water changes,one large two smaller this week. THEN I added another dose of meds. I think they are looking better..will wait until Sunday to see if a third treatment is needed.
One thing about this tank? I bought a Apistogramma cacatuoides 3 months ago. LFS had no females..so for later. BUT!..I never saw that fish for days at a time. He hid under the Syngonium roots and rocks and driftwood. To make a long story short,since I filled the middle of the tank with plants and not open like in November?..he's just started to explore the whole tank in the day and even eats while I observe. Beautiful fish. IF I can find the poor guy a female companion..I will.

 

[Stan510]

Is that pronounced KA-KA -TWO- OY- DEEZ? wondering.

 

[Retired Viking]

Just did a water change while gravel siphoning; When I refilled it? It looked like drinking water with three water changes,one large two smaller this week. THEN I added another dose of meds. I think they are looking better..will wait until Sunday to see if a third treatment is needed.
One thing about this tank? I bought a Apistogramma cacatuoides 3 months ago. LHS had no females..so for later. BUT!..I never saw that fish for days at a time. He hid under the Syngonium roots and rocks and driftwood. To make a long story short,since I filled the middle of the tank with plants and not open like in November?..he's just started to explore the whole tank in the day and even eats while I observe. Beautiful fish. IF I can find the poor guy a female companion..I will.

I would like to see a picture of him when you get the time, I know your busy, I am doing my weekly water changes on 3 tanks, did a 100% water change on my turtle tank.

 

[Stan510]

Since you twisted my arm..here's some photos from today. Its not easy to get a good photo (forget great or DSL quality) with my point and shoot Canon. It does though as the old photographer saying goes "Outdoors it takes photos as good as DSL"..How true.
Typhoid Larry is the Mollie you see looking thin. The culprit. Bolbitis looking very good w

Newly

submersed.

 

[Stan510]

Messed up on the titling..not easy on this platform.
You see the Electric Blue Ram fronting Bolbitis heudelotii,Alternanthera rosanervig..a patch of Star Grass,Heteranthera zosterifolia.
The Syngonium is righteous!..brother. Roots with driftwood look like submerged tree.. I think,but room for improvement . A real more twisty branch would make it even more realistic.
Ok the last photo is Typhoid Larry..male Mollie. IF he recovers? More power to him.
If you expand the photos to full page you will see things like Purple/metallic Lotus and Red close to it. Ammania gracilis fronts the Crypt,balansae..things like that.

 

[Stan510]

Vike,i'm a semi retired landlord and Uber for friends and relatives...for dirt cheap!..only gas money.

 

[Munroco]

Is that pronounced KA-KA -TWO- OY- DEEZ? wondering.

kaka-toy-dees IMO