What a day in fishkeeping

[corykitty516]

Oh where do I start

well first off one of my new otos died last night for "no apparent reason" I got them from a chain so I went to see if I could have a replacement. They tested my water and wouldnt give me a new one because my ph is 7.4 and "that is probly what did it" (my ammonia, nitrite and nitrate are fine) So they will replace him when I bring my pH down I just hate the idea of messing with my pH

secondly ... my new beautiful betta wont eat pellets ... he took some frozen bloodworm but no pellets ... he spits them back out. And he just sits around staring all day. I think life in those baraks must do something to their minds. My poor neglected Mars wiggles back and forth saying "hey ... look at me!! I'm a good eater ... give those to ME" (I feed hikari gold ..supposedly the good stuff!)

and my cat has just realized (after MONTHS) "hey there are swimmy things in those big glass boxes ... maybe I could CATCH one" He has now been banned from the fishroom.

OH and last but not least I finally changed my cory tank over to sand today (big tank has sand already) after being inspired by a post by Fishsticks. They LOVE it!! when it clears and I get it planted maybe I'll finlly post all my tanks in the pics forum.

what a day

 

[astroboy]

Yeah, otos are pretty sensitive fish, but don't mess with your ph. 7.4 is perfect. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

 

[corykitty516]

yeah ... maybe I can "fake" a sample so they'll give me another &@#* fish. I mean it was dead in 48 hours ... and let me tell you the kid who fished them out about chased them to death in the first place. The other 5 are doing fine though.

 

[xXMrBonesXx]

ask them to test the water in their otto tank, i bet their pH is the exact same or very close to yours

 

[isu_guy]

not that I support falsifying anything, but for about a dollar you can get a gallon of distilled water. That should have a pH of 7 and 0 for all other levels.

The only reason I say that you could do that is because I also belive that there is nothing wrong with a 7.4 pH

 

[gwlee7]

well first off one of my new otos died last night for "no apparent reason"

Unfortunately ottos suffer from MFD (Mysterious Fish Death) more than most fish.

I am sorry about your fish. I had 7 to start with and now have 5. If they will start eating (mine love cucumber, brocolli and of all things brussel sprouts ), then you will be most of the way home. The poor guys have a rough time making it to the LFS.

AND, a pH of 7.4 is just fine..... You haven't done anything wrong.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi corykitty516

Please do not tamper with your pH if your other fish are doing well. The replacement of a single fish is nowhere near worth the trouble you will have to go through if you do.

What kind of fish do you have in your cory tank? I keep bettas in a few of my cory tanks and find that they get along with them just wonderfully. The corys ignore them and, since they are in no way in competition with the bettas, the bettas are comfortable there. They seem to find the corys fascinating too, and spend a lot of time watching them and sometimes even imitating them. Living with corys seems to cheer them up greatly.

 

[FrAnK3333]

i love sand, its well worth the change. Hope you can get another otto, 2 of mine died for the same reason, an unknowen death.

 

[wvleo]

Hi, My otos are doing fine in 8.0ph ( city water, same water used by LFS). I think once they get eating and settled down they seem more stable. They do die off suddenly tho in the first few days/week for no apparent reason, probally stress . They do like the cukes and brusell sprouts I put in the tank for them . ........WVleo

 

[corykitty516]

yeah ... I'm not gonna mess with it. It seems that fishkeeping just inspires defensiveness ... the LFS is defensive because they dont want to lose money and get faced with a lot of people every day making noobie mistakes that do kill their fish.. I'm defensive because I dont believe I did any thing to kill this fish (esp after it being her less than 48 hours) ... as for falsifying ... I'm not gonna do it really ... its not worth the 2 bucks. I'll just wait until the other store gets them back into stock. I just dont believe that pH that close to neutral can kill a fish ... if that were the case my 20somthing other fish would not have lived this long.

anyhow...the remaining 5 are currently munching away on a blanched zucchini

I keep my corys with a few pristella tetras they love each other
A betta with corys would be cool though .... I'll have to keep that in mind.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Come on, corykitty. It's a Lfs! They will ususally do anything to get some cash, and they will try to exploit you if they think you know nil about fish. I think it would be good to ask if you could test the Ph of their water.

 

[gwlee7]

I'll just wait until the other store gets them back into stock.

I would also wait until the LFS has had them in for at least 2 - 3 weeks to make sure that you get the more "hardy" ones. The LFS will experience MFD with ottos too. This may sound cold but, let them take the loss. There is no need for you to.

 

[bunjiweb]

Sounds like you are buying from the wrong fish shop if they refuse to sell you an Otto with a pH of 7.4, that is perfectly fine for them, and that would no way be a factor of the death, unless it is fluctuating largely.

Ben

 

[corykitty516]

yeah ... I'm not going back there ... they had just gotten a shipment of painted glass fish when I went to do the exchange. I'm just going to avoid them. I'll wait until the good LFS has them in... I still have the 5 so I'm not in huge hurry here. Actually the good lfs tested my water when I lost some cories from there after less than a week. He tested my water ... said it was perfect, about the same as his ... and gave me 3 more from a different batch. The corys that died had some stringy white poo before they died ... I think it was parasites. They are all doing very well now.

New betta will finally eat pellets ... yay ... he still looks listless though.

 

[ferrikins]

thats it the funniest and stupiedest thing I have ever herd. I glad ya not going to go back, feel sorry of people that don't have a place like this forum, who can't ask about things and mess there hole tank up.

shops that have a return policy, should stand by it. If they don't, moan loudly. I do.