maaltan
09-11-2004, 3:25 PM
FIRST OFF. why do forums have to clear the entire form if the web browser accedently changes pages (as in a stray link at the top)
arrrrg ..but anyway here it is AGAIN
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I have just started up a new 10g tank. It contains 2 aponogeton, 3 dwarf lillys, neons and a pregnant female swordtail. It has been about 4-5 weeks.
Current test readings:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 3ppm
nitrate: 20ppm
Tot. Hardness: 50ppm (jumped from 0 when I used one of those autofeeder shells?)
Alkalinity: 0
PH: 6.8 morning(prelight). 7.2 evening(after day of light)
Ok, First of my problems started when the lfs lied to me and told me "there is no need to cycle if you use this junk called stress-zyme as directed". So i got 1 male and 2 female swordtails. 2 days later one female died. Probably moving stress because the guy was really brutal getting it out of the tank.
3 days after that i was getting trace nitrAte reading. I figured wow this stuff is good. I skipped the ammo and rite spike and went to straight cycled tank. So i got 6 small neons.
well shortly after that i noticed that the other female was getting fuzzy. So I waited a day. Getting more fuzzy and fins were clamped. So i got a malachte green and formadlhyde mixture and used it at the tetra rate. Next day the fuzzy was gone. day after that the female was hyper again.
The tests at this time started showing an ammonia spike approching. so I checked the internet and found that this product called "cycle" was useless. but I couldnt find anything about stress zyme. I figured i was in for a ride and I was right.
at the 2 week mark the male died unexpectadly. one night He was chasing the female and the neon school and next morning he was stuck to the filter intake. I think he pissed the neons off and they assassinated him. :)
Shortly after the male died the female started getting a fuzzy lip. I used the green stuff again. after 3 days there was no improvement and it was no worse. I got some fizzy anti-bacterial tablets that i tried. before I used it I took the filter out and a scoop of the gravel and put it in a bad in a warm place so i wouldnt lose what little bit of cycle progress i had. When i used it It was so green that I could not even see the fish for 48 hours. after 4 days as the instruction said i did a 50% water change replaced the gravel and restarted the filter.
The female was still fuzzy so i just forgot the medicines and focused on getting the cycle completed. At this point the readings were showing reduced ammonia and the approching nitrite spike.
about a week later the fuzz looks like its cleaned itself up and the female is again the dominant fish in the tank. Up till now the neons were all like "give me what you got we are not going to die". I have noticed recently that one of the neons (herein named bloaty) has some sort of eating disorder. If i place the flakes on the top of the tank, it will swallow so much air it floats on the top of the tank upside down for up to an hour. it takes a day to fully "digest" the air where it starts swimming and looking almost normal. Bloaty is always a little bloated looking. It was occuring when I performed the bacterial holocaust above so i dont think it was caused/fixed by this treatment.
I went on a business trip for a couple of days so i got one of those 3 day feeder shells and put in the tank. When i got back the neons looked odd they were really think and the bottom front of the fish looked lumpy. Not all of them looked this way. Is this NTD? or did the shell food not agree with them and they fasted? I have been slightly overfeeding them to compensate. it appears to be making an effect but some of them still look faded and lumpy. I went to several LFSs here and looked at thier neons they all look a bit bumpy in the front end. not the tail like what everyone describes with NTD.
This brings me to now .. 3ppm nitrites that dont seem to be moving down. One bloated neon and several bumpy ones, and a female that took a licking and kept on shi..er kicking.
Am I on the right track? Will the end come soon? Which end will happen? Did i just waste my money on the stresszyme? Which is better for an exotic ground cleaning fish, Ghost shrimp or triops? who will the neon assassins go after next?
.
.
.
Oh yeah I started the plants from bulbs and they are currently about 50% of the size i want them to be. They are having some affect on the chemisty of the tank even though they are still small. I hope they get big enough before t
the swordtail gives birth.
Thanks for listening and any help you may have.
Until next time... keep on changing the waterrrrr....
arrrrg ..but anyway here it is AGAIN
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have just started up a new 10g tank. It contains 2 aponogeton, 3 dwarf lillys, neons and a pregnant female swordtail. It has been about 4-5 weeks.
Current test readings:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 3ppm
nitrate: 20ppm
Tot. Hardness: 50ppm (jumped from 0 when I used one of those autofeeder shells?)
Alkalinity: 0
PH: 6.8 morning(prelight). 7.2 evening(after day of light)
Ok, First of my problems started when the lfs lied to me and told me "there is no need to cycle if you use this junk called stress-zyme as directed". So i got 1 male and 2 female swordtails. 2 days later one female died. Probably moving stress because the guy was really brutal getting it out of the tank.
3 days after that i was getting trace nitrAte reading. I figured wow this stuff is good. I skipped the ammo and rite spike and went to straight cycled tank. So i got 6 small neons.
well shortly after that i noticed that the other female was getting fuzzy. So I waited a day. Getting more fuzzy and fins were clamped. So i got a malachte green and formadlhyde mixture and used it at the tetra rate. Next day the fuzzy was gone. day after that the female was hyper again.
The tests at this time started showing an ammonia spike approching. so I checked the internet and found that this product called "cycle" was useless. but I couldnt find anything about stress zyme. I figured i was in for a ride and I was right.
at the 2 week mark the male died unexpectadly. one night He was chasing the female and the neon school and next morning he was stuck to the filter intake. I think he pissed the neons off and they assassinated him. :)
Shortly after the male died the female started getting a fuzzy lip. I used the green stuff again. after 3 days there was no improvement and it was no worse. I got some fizzy anti-bacterial tablets that i tried. before I used it I took the filter out and a scoop of the gravel and put it in a bad in a warm place so i wouldnt lose what little bit of cycle progress i had. When i used it It was so green that I could not even see the fish for 48 hours. after 4 days as the instruction said i did a 50% water change replaced the gravel and restarted the filter.
The female was still fuzzy so i just forgot the medicines and focused on getting the cycle completed. At this point the readings were showing reduced ammonia and the approching nitrite spike.
about a week later the fuzz looks like its cleaned itself up and the female is again the dominant fish in the tank. Up till now the neons were all like "give me what you got we are not going to die". I have noticed recently that one of the neons (herein named bloaty) has some sort of eating disorder. If i place the flakes on the top of the tank, it will swallow so much air it floats on the top of the tank upside down for up to an hour. it takes a day to fully "digest" the air where it starts swimming and looking almost normal. Bloaty is always a little bloated looking. It was occuring when I performed the bacterial holocaust above so i dont think it was caused/fixed by this treatment.
I went on a business trip for a couple of days so i got one of those 3 day feeder shells and put in the tank. When i got back the neons looked odd they were really think and the bottom front of the fish looked lumpy. Not all of them looked this way. Is this NTD? or did the shell food not agree with them and they fasted? I have been slightly overfeeding them to compensate. it appears to be making an effect but some of them still look faded and lumpy. I went to several LFSs here and looked at thier neons they all look a bit bumpy in the front end. not the tail like what everyone describes with NTD.
This brings me to now .. 3ppm nitrites that dont seem to be moving down. One bloated neon and several bumpy ones, and a female that took a licking and kept on shi..er kicking.
Am I on the right track? Will the end come soon? Which end will happen? Did i just waste my money on the stresszyme? Which is better for an exotic ground cleaning fish, Ghost shrimp or triops? who will the neon assassins go after next?
.
.
.
Oh yeah I started the plants from bulbs and they are currently about 50% of the size i want them to be. They are having some affect on the chemisty of the tank even though they are still small. I hope they get big enough before t
the swordtail gives birth.
Thanks for listening and any help you may have.
Until next time... keep on changing the waterrrrr....