discolored white cloud minnow...

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riffless

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May 10, 2003
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portland oregon
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geez I seem to have a lot of trouble with my fish (suicide, disease, fighting)... anyways, I have 5 white cloud minnows (20 galllon tank), three of which were used to prepare my new 30 gallon tank... they've been reunited with one another, but one of the minnows (which I don't believe to be one of the tank transferees) has become extremely dark in color... all my other fish are healthy, but I wonder about this one... any ideas? thanks
 

OrionGirl

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Aug 14, 2001
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White clouds will change color for a variety of reasons, including water conditions, territory/aggression issues, and fetility. If there are no behavior issues, the fish is still feeding, and no physical signs of illness, I wouldn't worry much. When happiest and healthiest, white clouds in my tank tended to be almost a chocolatey brown, with bright red striping.
 

riffless

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May 10, 2003
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thanks...

I noticed that one of my two glo-lights was also discolored, but i just did a 25% water change, and it does seem that this particular minnow is fighting a little more with the others, but they've been a fairly active fish since I got them (1 1/2 years ago, and they were my tank starters for my first)... I'll see if the water change helps (they usually get this once every two weeks), then keep all posted... I use 7.0 ph tabs and have never had a problem with amonia as I change the filters on a very regualr basis...
 

TKOS

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Feb 6, 2003
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Actually changing your filter a whole lot might lead to a spike in ammonia as this is where a lot of the good bacteria live. Unless you are using one of those filter packs that contains something to remove ammonia.
 

ewok

Senile Member
Jun 11, 2002
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this threads getting scary.....

7.0 ph tabs?

no ammonia because you change the filters alot?

first off, the fish produce the ammonia. the filter should produce nitrAtes actually. it might not ba a bad idea to test ammonia and nitrItes.

and why do you use the ph tabs? what is your water ph to begin with? what about gh and kh?

chemically altering any part of your fish tank is generally a bad thing and can cause it to be unstable. i would say as a guess, if you have high kh and you hit it with a ph tab you might drop the ph for a bit just to have it rebound in a few hours. not to mention whatever other junk is left behind because of the tab.

ph swings can kill your fish. post back some readings and maybe we can give you some suggestions as to what you can do better. as strange as it may sound, your fish will do much better with a high stable ph than one that jumps around alot or even just has a wild swing or two occasionally at water changes.
 

riffless

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May 10, 2003
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portland oregon
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I checked the ph... guess what?

6.4 ph... I changed 25% of my water two days ago, and thought that my ph would be good... it wasn't... I rely too much on the ph tabs to keep the ph stable, and I don't think they're such a hot idea anymore... my ammonia levels are at zero, and seem to stay at that level consistantly... I normally keep the ph right around 7.0...
 
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