My 55g <UPDATE 4/17/10 on pg 5>

[jeremyh81]

Specs:
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Old-style 55g aquarium (used)
Flourite substrate
DIY canopy w/ 2x55-watt PCF lighting, 6700K bulbs
Fluval 305 canister filter w/ only carbon and biomedia
DIY yeast CO2 system (no longer bubbling).

Long story short...

This tank started its cycle w/ a couple plants 1 month ago today. Bacteria was seeded from another tank's gravel (2 handfuls). The week after Christmas, I added a plant package from PetSolutions, driftwood from Critter, and acclimated 2 juvenile albino bushynose plecos from the other tank. The second weekend of January, I bought 6 Diamond tetras and introduced them to the aquarium.

Around 1/6/10, work asked me at the last minute to take a trip to Huntsville to assist the IS deployment team with transition preparations. Vacation feeders were put into all 3 of my tanks, and I hit the road. I returned home on 1/10 to get more clothes (trip was going to be longer than expected) and check on the fish. During this brief stay, I neglected to do a water change in the 55 and only topped it off with fresh dechlor.

So the tank went a week and a half without a water change. When I finally got home, I found 2 of the tetras were dead, and one looks bloated like it may have dropsy, one pleco seemed to have pop-eye, and an overwhelming amount of hair and other algae. Without testing the water, I immediately did a 40% change.

I know that the problem is most likely due to poor water conditions and not changing water for a week and a half. Since the water change, basic tests are showing no problems for the fish. The pleco doesn't have pop-eye - their eyes just stick out more now that they're growing.

Tonight I did notice decreased flow from the filter and have corrected it. So now we sit and wait. I'll be testing the water parameters every other day to stay on top of any problems that may arise.
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1/27/10: To pique everyone's interest, below is a pic of the tank after planting, but before the "Algae Invasion of January 2010". Read this thread further for more info.



More pics here:

s648.photobucket.com/albums/uu201/jhenson81/Aquariums/55%20gallon/

[jeremyh81]

Forgot to mention that lighting period is now 8 hours - used to be 12. The 14-hour period was only lasted a day.

[jon carman]

while you are cycling, you don't need to do water changes. A week and a half should not cause that type of an issue. I would hold off adding anything else for a month or so. Good Luck, I need you guys to succeed where I can try my green thumb again someday.

[sirknight]

I agree with Jon, Don't add anything to the tank for a month or so.

You may have introduce disease with either the plants or the fish or caused a mini cycle with the fish additions.

If you can quarantine new arrivals for a few weeks before adding them to your show tank

Joe

[jeremyh81]

I have 3 books that cover basic aquarium setup and care but don't have one handy at the moment. Should a quarantine tank be setup with new, dechlorinated water and only as needed? Would a sponge filter be sufficient in such a setup?

Another thing I forgot to mention is that the stem plants and Amazon swords were showing new growth before the water change. One Amazon even had a long stem growing out of it like it was trying to reach the surface and possibly form a flower, but now the stem is broken so that needs to be cut and replanted.

While I was working on the flow problem in my filter last night, I found the remains of the second dead tetra and removed it. Hopefully things will start looking better in a week or so.

[sirknight]

Jeremy,
quarantine tanks serve two main purposes.

1) for new arrivals - the tank should be cleaned as well as the filter and all equipment(chlorine works good for this) after each use. A 20 gallon long is a good tank size, but this will depend on what you are putting in it. water should be clean matching the water chemistry of the fish, etc. A sponge filter that has been in the main tank a couple of weeks(mature filter), before being placed in the quarantine tank and a heater so temperature can remain stable

2) for treating sick - The tank should be cleaned as well as the filter and all equipment (chlorine works good for this) after each use. The water should be water from the tank the fish came from, with a sponge filter (Mature filter) that has been in the main tank a couple of weeks, before being placed in the quarantine tank and a heater so temperature can remain stable

As you read you will see this is a very basic setup but could save you a lot of time and money treating you main tank if anything goes wrong.

One last thing, keep this tank for this purpose, don't get the idea to use it for another show tank which is always a temptation ;D

[angel]

Generally, a hospital tank is done with water from the existing tank, and try to keep it at the same temperature or slowly elevate depending on the situation you're trying to treat. Stressing fish further with water differences can do them in in some cases. From there, you can treat if you're treating or do water changes until you feel you have improvement in both the hospital tank and the main tank, then indroduce the fish back in preferably by acclimation. As little stress as possible. Also, when dealing with fish that aren't well, lights off except to check on them or feed them if they're eating at all. If you feel they're healthy, and there's plenty of oxygen in your tank, and they're already living in the conditions, my opinion would be to leave them there and let them ride it out. But new fish or plants should be on hold. Hope it helps.

[jeremyh81]

Thanks for the offers and info. I'm going to wait and see what happens over the next few days and go from there. I need to buy a spare 10g anyway, and they're only about $12 @ WalMart for just the tank. A sponge filter and small heater are probably just as inexpensive.

The least expensive route would be just to buy a 1-2 gallon bowl for my betta. I'm going to ask if it would be ok to keep him @ work and find out if they turn out the lights every night. Then that would free up a complete 10g setup for emergencies.

[jeremyh81]

Jan 20, 2010 19:34:22 GMT -6 bunnie1978 said:

In fact, I think I saw something with like 5 10g tanks for $25 or something.

Now I really need my reimbursement check! ;D

When I got home tonight, there was still food at the water's surface, for some reason, my fish don't like Omega One flakes. But when I give them Omega One's freeze-dried brine shrimp, they go nuts! Figures. I also put an air pump on the CO2 "system's" airstone. About an hour after adding the airstone, all of the fish in the 55 have become more active.

BTW, I was looking at some of earlier pics of the danios and tetras, and it seems that the ones that look bloated now, were kinda round in the belly before I went on the trip. Maybe the 2 deaths were just from stress. Again, we can only speculate since I don't know what the water parameters were like while I was gone.

[sirknight]

Jeremy,

You added O2 to your tank, which sounds like your O2 level in your tank is depleted. What are your other readings looking like, (Nitrites, ammonia, nitrates) ?

Just something least to think about.

Joe

[jeremyh81]

Same with mine. I think most tetras are middle-swimmers, but diamonds aren't afraid to go to the surface for food. They'll dart up and back down as quick as corys do when going for air.

I guess since I'm up early (darn cold), I can do a quick water test for any spikes. Joe's comment has me worried about nitrites spiking with the extra O2.

[jeremyh81]

Well, all levels are still 0 (ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate) and pH is still 7.4. So far so good, unless the plants/algae are feasting on these chemicals, which is still good for the fish, right? Maybe the increased dissolved O2 will help beneficial bacteria growth.

Time for feeding and getting ready for work!

[jeremyh81]

Lol! I'm still waiting for the ferts to arrive. If a double dose of Flourish Comp didn't raise the N compounds, then I'm thinking there may be an excess of phosphates from uneaten food (it's hard to remove soaked flakes!). Maybe I shouldn't feed for a day or two?

The wisterias and ludwigias are still growing, so something is feeding them. BTW, you should see the wisterias in my other tanks. They've almost reached the surface. In the 26, that's about 4-5 inches since 1/6! The main stems are starting to look like small tree roots even! ;D

[jeremyh81]

Being no chemist here, isn't there a chance that the nitrogen in Flourish could combine w/ oxygen ions in the right circumstances to create nitrate (NO3)? Well, now that I think about it, nitrogen would more readily combine with O2 to create NO2 (nitrite). I need to stop before I dig my fish a deeper grave. :/

The 26 probably has about 15ppm of nitrates by now - the last water test was Monday night and NO3 was @ 10ppm. Personally, I'm not too keen on taking water from one tank to another. Especially with the pH being 6.6 in the 26 and 7.4 in the 55.

[jeremyh81]

Oh, I also use my "dirty" water from changes to water my 2 houseplants. They absolutely love it!