This post is atrociously long. If anyone manages to muddle through it, I still need help! Or better yet, in summary, I finally added the parasite clear last night, and have a green tank this AM…I’m not sure when to do WC after the meds, or if I should/could add an algae clear, and so on. I have attempted to list out the situation chronologically below. I don’t know that all my posts were clear, and I fogot about a buffer change early on…so…
Trying to go back over everything I did through the last several weeks looking at the calendar (as best as I can recall):
1. 29 Mar: Moved RTS, 2 Cons, 2 GTs, 1 CAE, 1 pict cat to new tank. Did water change here. Added 2 new Africans to thist tank.
2. 4 Apr: Moved FH and 2 Barbs (the latter not in original plan, but 1 swam into the net, and I thought wth? I really want this (the 150) to be all Afr. Cs anyway).
3. 13 Apr: Mum n Da visiting for the week, pointed out how “ratty” 1 of the Ahli’s look.
4. 18 Apr: Noticed 2nd Ahli looking a bit ragged too. Drew a few gallons to a bucket to try and catch 2nd pictus and two SAs—gave up after several hours and added same water.
5. 19 Apr: Tried again—nearly lost beautiful male Kenyi whom holed himself up in one of the deco-rocks I removed to make the catch. Squared him away and Gave up!
6. 20 Apr: Tried again, succeeded finally! in catching the cat.
7. 25 Apr: Noticed both Ahlis looked a bit “sunken-bellied” but wasn’t really certain. I didn’t feed from 20-22 (fed on 19th, fed only about ½ on 23rd) b/c of extra feedings on 18,19 and 20 (all flake as it’s they prefer it) trying catch the others. I thought maybe they were just hungry—they aren’t the most dominant in the tank…so, I fed them half and half flake and spirulina (flake).
8. 26Apr: Tried again to catch last two—could not. Removed/added same water during each above attempt since 29 Mar).
9. 27 Apr: Noticed bellies looked much worse, fins even raggier, and saw white “string” on Ahli 1. Bought and added Melafix. Tank params (strips) good: pH was 7.0-7.5 (closer to 7.0 though), NH3 0, NO3 20 ppm or less, temp b/t 78 and 80 deg F. Water still fairly clear (until Melafix).
10. 03 May: (a bit more than a couple of days I know—didn’t seem so long) I did 30 g water change. And I DID buffer here. I hadn’t intended to b/c the 2 SAs were still in tank, but I forgot about them, and did it anyhow. I also removed all the deco and scrubbed w/chlorine bleach solution, vacuumed gravel, and scrubbed sides. I rinsed bio-wheels w/tap water, and changed filters, also removed remaining plants.
11. 03 May: Also added the Rid Ich+ after change, b/c of the white patch. I thought maybe the Melafix took care of the “worm” but the damage led to Ich or some other infection/infestation it didn’t handle.
12. 10 May: Params were still okay here. NO3 was close to 20 ppm (not even quite that ‘pink’), and pH was just about 8.0 with sticks (probably a tad less—it’s hard to read those with perfect accuracy). Purchased Parasite Clear first, then started searching about to see if it was recommended, found this site et. al.
13. 11 May: Decided to post here for help b/4 adding any more meds etc. NOW params are way out off. Drew out 30g, to do water change (I think that’s about 20% no?) I had the water ‘conditioning’ in the other tank from the previous weekend about to transfer w/o bothering w/ the last two, but neighbour called in to borrow hedgers, and recruited him to make the final catches—successfully! Added Ammo-lock, then added new water.
14. 12 May: Things a bit better. pH read ~8.5 here. All else down a bit—pretty much one level less than day b/4. One ahli looked (looks) considerably better, the other still horrible.) Did another smaller change here (~20 gals)…didn’t do anything but add “AquaSafe” to water. Usually, I use the StressCoat and StressZyme, but PS was out of the bigger bottles of StressCoat, so tried this instead).
15. 13 May: Another roughly 20 gal change same as above.
16. 14 May: Another 20 gal same. Params all good by yesterday afternoon. (Had to actually start charting to keep all the tanks straight w/my other dilema!) I went ahead and put the Parasite Clear in last night b/c I really didn’t know what else to do for this poor guy). I added tabs directly (OOPS) as I hadn’t read the notation full-through. I assume the mineral levels aren’t the problem as the GH and KH are both high—maybe even higher than they should be).
17. 15 May (today): Water is cloudy and green, NO3 back up a bit, more than 0.0 but not quite 0.2 (with kit) and a bit more green than 0.0 w/strips (sorry no API liquid kit yet—haven’t ordered, but checked PS again when I got new tank for SA’s). I have to say though, the ahli who wasn’t in quite as bad looks rather prime again. His colour has returned vire nicely, and he belly etc. all look healthy. The other…well…he’s still hanging in there, but he looks just as terrible as in the pics. He’s swimming about a bit today…but he’s spending more time just hanging about near the top.
Trying to go back over everything I did through the last several weeks looking at the calendar (as best as I can recall):
1. 29 Mar: Moved RTS, 2 Cons, 2 GTs, 1 CAE, 1 pict cat to new tank. Did water change here. Added 2 new Africans to thist tank.
2. 4 Apr: Moved FH and 2 Barbs (the latter not in original plan, but 1 swam into the net, and I thought wth? I really want this (the 150) to be all Afr. Cs anyway).
3. 13 Apr: Mum n Da visiting for the week, pointed out how “ratty” 1 of the Ahli’s look.
4. 18 Apr: Noticed 2nd Ahli looking a bit ragged too. Drew a few gallons to a bucket to try and catch 2nd pictus and two SAs—gave up after several hours and added same water.
5. 19 Apr: Tried again—nearly lost beautiful male Kenyi whom holed himself up in one of the deco-rocks I removed to make the catch. Squared him away and Gave up!
6. 20 Apr: Tried again, succeeded finally! in catching the cat.
7. 25 Apr: Noticed both Ahlis looked a bit “sunken-bellied” but wasn’t really certain. I didn’t feed from 20-22 (fed on 19th, fed only about ½ on 23rd) b/c of extra feedings on 18,19 and 20 (all flake as it’s they prefer it) trying catch the others. I thought maybe they were just hungry—they aren’t the most dominant in the tank…so, I fed them half and half flake and spirulina (flake).
8. 26Apr: Tried again to catch last two—could not. Removed/added same water during each above attempt since 29 Mar).
9. 27 Apr: Noticed bellies looked much worse, fins even raggier, and saw white “string” on Ahli 1. Bought and added Melafix. Tank params (strips) good: pH was 7.0-7.5 (closer to 7.0 though), NH3 0, NO3 20 ppm or less, temp b/t 78 and 80 deg F. Water still fairly clear (until Melafix).
10. 03 May: (a bit more than a couple of days I know—didn’t seem so long) I did 30 g water change. And I DID buffer here. I hadn’t intended to b/c the 2 SAs were still in tank, but I forgot about them, and did it anyhow. I also removed all the deco and scrubbed w/chlorine bleach solution, vacuumed gravel, and scrubbed sides. I rinsed bio-wheels w/tap water, and changed filters, also removed remaining plants.
11. 03 May: Also added the Rid Ich+ after change, b/c of the white patch. I thought maybe the Melafix took care of the “worm” but the damage led to Ich or some other infection/infestation it didn’t handle.
12. 10 May: Params were still okay here. NO3 was close to 20 ppm (not even quite that ‘pink’), and pH was just about 8.0 with sticks (probably a tad less—it’s hard to read those with perfect accuracy). Purchased Parasite Clear first, then started searching about to see if it was recommended, found this site et. al.
13. 11 May: Decided to post here for help b/4 adding any more meds etc. NOW params are way out off. Drew out 30g, to do water change (I think that’s about 20% no?) I had the water ‘conditioning’ in the other tank from the previous weekend about to transfer w/o bothering w/ the last two, but neighbour called in to borrow hedgers, and recruited him to make the final catches—successfully! Added Ammo-lock, then added new water.
14. 12 May: Things a bit better. pH read ~8.5 here. All else down a bit—pretty much one level less than day b/4. One ahli looked (looks) considerably better, the other still horrible.) Did another smaller change here (~20 gals)…didn’t do anything but add “AquaSafe” to water. Usually, I use the StressCoat and StressZyme, but PS was out of the bigger bottles of StressCoat, so tried this instead).
15. 13 May: Another roughly 20 gal change same as above.
16. 14 May: Another 20 gal same. Params all good by yesterday afternoon. (Had to actually start charting to keep all the tanks straight w/my other dilema!) I went ahead and put the Parasite Clear in last night b/c I really didn’t know what else to do for this poor guy). I added tabs directly (OOPS) as I hadn’t read the notation full-through. I assume the mineral levels aren’t the problem as the GH and KH are both high—maybe even higher than they should be).
17. 15 May (today): Water is cloudy and green, NO3 back up a bit, more than 0.0 but not quite 0.2 (with kit) and a bit more green than 0.0 w/strips (sorry no API liquid kit yet—haven’t ordered, but checked PS again when I got new tank for SA’s). I have to say though, the ahli who wasn’t in quite as bad looks rather prime again. His colour has returned vire nicely, and he belly etc. all look healthy. The other…well…he’s still hanging in there, but he looks just as terrible as in the pics. He’s swimming about a bit today…but he’s spending more time just hanging about near the top.
