Stocking advice for a planted 92 corner tank

fishorama said:
fissidens grows slowly for me & is all tangled up with java moss :(

Could your neons have columnaris? It can look like fungus but is bacterial. There's both a chronic & fast killing versions.

Do the fin spots look like tiny cauliflower shapes? It could be lymphocystis, a virus, not treatable but often not fatal.
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Wouldn't the melafix have treated columnaris?
 
Well, I'm not sure melafix & pimafix actually work very well. I've only seen anecdotal "evidence" in mild cases of "suspected" diseases & have never used them. If I think I need meds I want to use something that is most effective against whatever I decide my fish have.

You're a man of science. If the "natural" product hasn't helped it might be time for something else. Or let them take their chances, I admit to choosing that option too, sometimes. 92g can be expensive to treat.

What is your tank temp? My chronic columnaris seemed worse in summer as I recall. & neons prefer cool-ish temps, low 70Fs. Only 2 species (praecox rainbows & some red tailed rasboras) were affected for me & gradually died off over a couple years but loaches, SAE & denisonii barbs were not.

It's 1 of those judgement calls. My first course of action is always BIG water changes as often as possible, daily or several times/week. Then drugs IF I have a good idea what may be wrong.
 
fishorama said:
Well, I'm not sure melafix & pimafix actually work very well. I've only seen anecdotal "evidence" in mild cases of "suspected" diseases & have never used them. If I think I need meds I want to use something that is most effective against whatever I decide my fish have.

You're a man of science. If the "natural" product hasn't helped it might be time for something else. Or let them take their chances, I admit to choosing that option too, sometimes. 92g can be expensive to treat.

What is your tank temp? My chronic columnaris seemed worse in summer as I recall. & neons prefer cool-ish temps, low 70Fs. Only 2 species (praecox rainbows & some red tailed rasboras) were affected for me & gradually died off over a couple years but loaches, SAE & denisonii barbs were not.

It's 1 of those judgement calls. My first course of action is always BIG water changes as often as possible, daily or several times/week. Then drugs IF I have a good idea what may be wrong.
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(Worded very carefully to avoid possible trouble from work)

I know, my eyes roll at the presumption that natural remedies hold any virtue because of how they are sourced. That being said, melaleuca oil is well represented in the literature as having antimicrobial properties, and I have sources that I can't cite that say that it is ok in that case I. Not good, but ok. I have also been dosing glutaraldehyde everyday as well, since I know a bit of it's efficacy as an antimicrobial.

Water changes have been constant (overflow of sump plumbed to a floor drain and a water feed).

What other medications would you suggest that are shrimp and Cory safe? Based on the fact that only the neons are affected, and hearing similar accounts from others, I had resigned myself to it being a species specific disease.

Also, how likely is it that my albino Cory's bred in a community tank? Does seem likely to me, but I have a 1/2" Cory in my tank, and all of the ones that I bought were over 3/4" at a minimum.
 
No, I don't doubt that some natural products can "help" but I don't know how well...same with glut (& I use it in some tanks as a co2 substitute/algacide)...Right dosage for disease or safe for fish & shrimp? I dunno..."properties" are not an actual tx for fish diseases you might be dealing with. If your child had a "skin thing" & you tried a natural product...how long would you continue that tx before going "full pharma" & a doctor's care? Not that kids & fish are equal in any way. (disclaimer, we're a "pharma family", not actual people breeders, lol)

Your corys may well breed in a community tank. The smaller are either male or young...you have lots of plant cover...I wouldn't expect more than a few fry to survive at any 1 time...but to me, that's just right...
 
fishorama said:
No, I don't doubt that some natural products can "help" but I don't know how well...same with glut (& I use it in some tanks as a co2 substitute/algacide)...Right dosage for disease or safe for fish & shrimp? I dunno..."properties" are not an actual tx for fish diseases you might be dealing with. If your child had a "skin thing" & you tried a natural product...how long would you continue that tx before going "full pharma" & a doctor's care? Not that kids & fish are equal in any way. (disclaimer, we're a "pharma family", not actual people breeders, lol)

Your corys may well breed in a community tank. The smaller are either male or young...you have lots of plant cover...I wouldn't expect more than a few fry to survive at any 1 time...but to me, that's just right...
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I hear you. The glutaraldehyde was because I wanted the plant benefit and saw any antimicrobial properties as ancillary. The second course with Pimafix was to see if the supposed synergistic effect with it and melafix would help. Not so much. I am probably at the wait and observe stage since it doesn't seem to be spreading and I haven't lost any more neons. I have only lost 2 that I know of, and they may be unrelated give that most were pretty big (for neons) when I got them and there were 80 of them.
 
You might want to do a few vacuumings & big water changes outside you continuous WC system. Especially if the lympho (?) spots falls off, I have seen corys with it. It can damage gills or fins permanently.

Did you say what temp is? Corys & neons like lower 70Fs but I don't know about hatchets...Lympho & columnaris are worse at higher temps. from what I've seen & read.

Good to hear your neons are doing well in spite of their issues. 80 is an awesome number!
 
fishorama said:
You might want to do a few vacuumings & big water changes outside you continuous WC system. Especially if the lympho (?) spots falls off, I have seen corys with it. It can damage gills or fins permanently.

Did you say what temp is? Corys & neons like lower 70Fs but I don't know about hatchets...Lympho & columnaris are worse at higher temps. from what I've seen & read.

Good to hear your neons are doing well in spite of their issues. 80 is an awesome number!
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I will do a hybrid of a big water change. With 80 gallons of sump, I can empty quite a bit of water and let it refill slowly. I think that is easier on the fish that way, plus my only water supply that isn't softened is cold. I haven't setup anything to age water yet. Probably won't since it takes extra room.

Temps are around 76 normally. It can wander up or down a degree depending on various issues. I am looking for a more robust treatment now.
 
Plants look very happy! Hope you get your fish situation under control.
 
Well, time for an update. I treated the system with 2 doses of kanaplex and they looked a little better for a few days, then things started getting worse again. I bit the bullet and set up a hospital tank. Catching fish with all of that wood and large plants was nearly impossible, so I took the opportunity to rescape some. I have caught all of the neons but 7 now. I pulled out the late wood on the left, leaving only 2 pieces now. I have trimmed the large piece and have been able to get it to stay tight against the back, minimizing dead space. I have also trimmed most of the moss and crystalwort out of the tank and put that in the hospital tank. The hospital tank is being treated with API fungus cure (Victoria green B and acriflavine) and General cure (metronidazole and praziquantel) right now. The neons in the hospital tank (about 40-50 left) are seemingly doing great. They are very active and eating well.

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