CanadaquaBetween Pond and Tanks

I’ve been busy setting up the 10 G river tank

Posted by on November 9, 2008 at 19:47 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 19:49

… for the WCMM in the basement. It has a bit of wood and some medium sized rocks, but mostly pebbles of three different sizes. I scrounged some parrot feather and salvinia out of the pond and one of the little water hyacinth plantlets, added some java fern and African fern from the big tank and dumped in a Japanese moss ball and a few physa and MTS. Here’s a shot while I was planting:

In early October I started to scoop the minnows out of the pond. I found nine out of ten. One of them had had a spine deformity – he looked like a Z from above, and we were always amazed that he was still swimming along with everyone else. But in the end, I guess he didn’t make it.
The nine seem happy enough in their smaller quarters. I put a little powerhead in for them, and they love swimming right in it’s stream.

Two days ago I added Cthulhu, the Bristlenose from the blackwater tank. I’ve carefully acclimated him to the cooler and somewhat harder water over the past 10 days. And while he seems a little shell-shocked by having been moved twice in two weeks, he’s slowly regaining his colour and starting to explore his new home.

I took him out of the big tank, because he’d been harassing the Ranger Pleco, who’s a bit of an emo kid. Rory, the Ranger kept showing up in the mornings with torn and ragged fins and grew more and more shy. Now, the fact that his nemesis is gone slowly dawning on him, he’s finding back to his happy scamp self, and, ye gods, is he ever beautiful, proudly displaying tail and sail and with all his fins fully healed.

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Keepers?

Posted by on October 6, 2008 at 19:45 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 19:46

Added three sky blue tetras that had been in the QT for the past weeks, but I find them quite nippy. Could be that there’s not enough of them to make them feel secure, but I don’t know when or whether I’ll up their number. They’re a bit hard to find around here. We’ll see. First, I should get the neons up to group strength again.

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They sure love their canned green beans

Posted by on September 5, 2008 at 19:43 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 19:44

(the ‘no salt, no preservatives’ kind)

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New look

Posted by on August 19, 2008 at 19:42 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 19:43

Changed the background today to something more in keeping with the wood and plant look of the tank.

Now that the water is not so brown anymore from the tannins, the rock background was starting to look very gray. Note to self: more plants!

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Over now?

Posted by on August 4, 2008 at 19:40 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 19:41

Added the last dose of medication on Saturday. Yesterday I did a 50% water change, added carbon to the filter and set the temp two degrees lower. So far things are looking good, but I won’t breathe relief until I’ve had my first two weeks without a relapse. Incredibly, the cory baby (lower right corner) never missed a beat.

 

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Update

Posted by on July 28, 2008 at 19:39 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 19:40

While I’m still medicating and doing daily water changes, everyone looks a lot happier and healthier. The fins on the cories, which had been a bit ragged looking are hale and smooth again, and everyone’s active and eating like they got paid for it.

For some weird reason the diamonds refuse to recognize the NLS pellets as food. They’re always the first waiting when I open the lid and gobble up flakes and chase after bloodworms like lightening, but the pellets sail by them like so many grains of sand. Well, the catfish sure appreciate them.

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It’s not over

Posted by on July 20, 2008 at 19:37 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 19:39

Well, seems like the diamond’s lost for good. I never found him. The glowlight was dead yesterday morning, and the day before I had discovered a new spot on one of the cories. So Friday I took a trip to my trusty LFS and cried them a river. The guy listened, asked some informed questions and recommended a different dechlorinator with my ich medication, but said otherwise to keep doing what I was doing, sometimes ich just took a second swipe. So yesterday I started treating again, this time without salt and with the temperature not as high as I had it the first time.

Also, cudgeling my brain for what else was going on (if the water didn’t test pristine every time, I would almost have suspected the dead tetras to have had ammonia poisoning from the descriptions I read).

I removed the pothos that was hanging in the tank and growing merrily in there. I had read up on it before allowing it in there and been told that lots of people grow it in their tanks without adverse effects, which is probably true as long as none of the sap is released. It seems that that can be an irritant to cats and dogs, and it might have been an additional stresser every time a leaf broke off or the fish nibbled on it. Anyway, I took it out yesterday and did a 50% WC, and the fish seem a lot happier this morning, eagerly going after their food. Even the neon that still keeps mostly to himself joined the fray.

So, I’m only guessing here as to reasons, but as far as I’m concerned, the only non-aquarium plants that go in my tank from now on are the ones I’m ready to eat.

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Convalescent

Posted by on July 16, 2008 at 19:34 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 19:36

Now that temps are back to normal and meds and salt levels decreasing due to daily water changes, all the catfish are their perky selves again.

The tetras are taking a little longer to get back on their fins, so to speak. Though most of them are acting normal, they’re still not eating as greedily as I was used to before the outbreak.

And I have three that are not well. One of the neons hangs perfectly still and by himself in the shadow by the heater, one diamond keeps coming to the surface for air and one glowlight is bloated and not eating. For the moment I’m keeping up the daily water changes, and hope that it’ll bring relief. Without any recognizable symptoms and all three seemingly with different difficulties, I don’t really know what else to do.

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Ich

Posted by on July 14, 2008 at 19:32 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 19:34

Been battling a nasty strain of ich these past weeks, lost a glowlight and three neon tetras and quite a bit of courage. I can only hope it’s over now. What brought it on I don’t know. The diamond tetras I bought last never seemed to have gotten it.

I can only guess that the stress of varying temperatures, summer heatwave vs. cooler days and nights brought it out. I’ll try keeping the temperature a little higher than I had it in the spring so the temp’s more constant. Maybe that’ll help. We’ll see. Meanwhile I closely supervise the survivors and count them even more obsessively every morning than I used to. Miraculously the cory baby took it all in stride.

The shrimp and snails seem fine in their exile bowl with daily water changes.

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Assassins

Posted by on June 29, 2008 at 19:31 | Last modified: July 9, 2012 19:32

Came home with four assassin snails today. We’ll see if they can make a dent in the pond snail population. They’re quite pretty with brown and yellow bands.

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