BlueWolf's Howl

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October 28, 2018

Freshwater Tank Updates

This is the betta tank - originally started to grow hornwort for the goldfish. Hornwort grows rather quickly - and I had to trim it back (it was double what you see here) so the betta had room to swim.
Ammonia: 0 ; pH 7.0 ; Nitrites 0.5 ppm ; Nitrite 0.25 ppm ; Nitrate 0 ppm
Looks like this is still cycling. Did a PWC and changed the tiny filter cartridge. I've had a few green algae issues, but the algae was floating on top (blotted up with a paper towel) and on the front of the tank (got that with a sponge on a stick algae remover).

The two angels and their cory cat are still living it up in the 20 gal tall. I removed the small spikey plant in the back that wasn't doing anything but rotting. Did a PWC and replaced the "hood with light" - so now I have a hinged glass top with LED light. I'm really liking the LED lights with their lower profile because it allows me to see the hang on back filters and skimmers. All 3 fish made it through the ich treatment and seem to be fine. I expected that the little salt-looking things would fall off, but they haven't yet. No new white spots and the fish are eating and do not appear stressed. Looks like this is ready for some new angels when I run across some I like.

Oh - and we had a little "incident" in this tank last week. All of a sudden, the two angels were swimming back and forth in the front of the tank. It was like they were trying to get my attention. Normally, I only see them slowly floating by every now and then. This was frantic pacing - almost like a cartoon. I went over to check on the tank - and there was the cory catfish _head down_ stuck in the tube of the sponge filter. What a doofus! I disassembled the sponge filter and he scooted out of there fast. Hopefully he learned his lesson on that one.
Ammonia: 0 ppm ; pH 7.0 ; Nitrite: 0 ppm ; Nitrate: 0 ppm

The tank with the two kissing gourami, pleco and little crayfish looks fine. When I went from filter cartridges to my own filters, I cut up the old fliters for a transition. Today I finally replaced that with filter pad and filter floss - since the rest of the media (with beneficial bacteria) is still in the filter box. This tank also got a PWC (partial water change).

I quit looking for the crayfish. He's inside the decoration. He's always inside the decoration. And he's always still alive. The plants are doing fine - and started growing out the top of the tank and along the top of the water. I noticed that these plants grow roots along the stem, so I cut them where I could have both root and leaves on both pieces and shoved the cut pieces back into the substrate. It looks fuller, cleaner, more organized and the light can now penetrate the tank better. I tried to plant some dwarf baby tears in the front, but they didn't take, so I removed what was left of them.
Ammonia: 0 ppm ; pH 7.0 ; Nitrite: 0.5 ppm ; Nitrate: 10 ppm

The tiny tank is a favorite of Wishes (my cat). Since it's on a desk, she can lay on the desk and watch these two little chinese algae eaters for a very long time. It's a 5 stall betta tank with all the partitions removed. I originally set up the tank to grow plants only - but soon found the tank overrun with green algae. I manually removed what I could and put these in the tank to clean up the rest. One of the two looked pregnant, but now does not. I never saw any fry and I'm not really sure I'm going to keep this tank in its current configuration. I have a tiny heater in there, but it's still a little too warm for most fish. I am growing some Staurogyne Repens, but it doesn't seem to be growing very fast. The fish seem to be doing fine in there and the more I read about them, the less likely I am to put them in one of the other tanks. Today is the first time I am seeing them chase each other. I don't normally test this tank and just top it off every now and then. Sometimes I add a bit of an algae wafer or a few bottom feeder pellets. This was supposed to be temporary for them, but now seems like they are going to need a longer term solution.

The more I watch this chase, the less I like it. Since it IS a five stall betta tank, I DO have little panes of glass to separate them. So I slid in a pane of glass and separated the two for a while. I also turned off the light. Let's see what happens next.

The danio tank is a mess! Granted, there's a lot of tish in there - all of which survived the tank cycling, and a lot of fish make a lot of fish poop. I'm doing a double water change in that tank today. The plants are fine and the danios and plecos (3) are all doing well. So it's just a few shots at cleaning the gravel for this tank. The pH seems a little low too - so the multiple water changes should fix that a bit. These are hearty fish, they can take it. Oh and I like the way the decoration has become a two seated pleco holder.

So I did a double water change and it's still messy. However, I need to give this tank some time for the debris to settle before I try for another water change. Once you stir up the mess with your first gravel vacuum and then adding water, the subsequent water changes will only affect the water composition and not so much the debris. Fish poop and uneaten (decaying) food both float. The first shot and you're taking up a lot of stuff. On the second try, you're mostly chasing debris around the tank. So I'll give it a rest until tomorrow.
Ammonia: 0 ppm ; pH 6.6 ; Nitrite 0.25 ppm ; Nitrate 40 ppm.

If the danio tank is a mess, the goldfish tank is a hot mess. The hornwort is all over the tank like a fishnet and the water is cloudy. And _then_ I tossed the extra hornwort from the betta tank in here. This is going to take a little bit of TLC to get it back in place. Then a few water changes and hopefully it will clear up.

The hornwort was easier to tame than I thought. I bundled it in two bunches and placed one on each side of the tank. Then there were a bunch of little pieces floating around - which I had to snatch out by hand. It didn't take too long, but I can see that the tank is going to need multiple water changes to clear the cloudy water. I also need to move the decoration and vacuum the gravel under it. A lot of stuff gets under there and that may be clouding the water. It really doesn't take long for a goldfish tank to get cloudy. This is why they are known as "dirty" fish.

I moved the decoration and of course, it was dirty under there. I cleaned it up and while I was pulling the water out, some of the hornwort got stuck in the tube and slowed the pull of water to a crawl. It took a little while, but I fixed it and started to pull water out again. Either the big guy didn't like the ornament moved or didn't like having to wait for another water change (I normally feed them after a water change) - but he really wasn't happy and kept jumping and splashing and making quite the commotion. So I guess I'm done with that tank for tonight. Since I have to do another water change tomorrow on the danio tank beneath it, I might as well call it quits for now and just fill and feed them. I'm not going to test the water yet since I know I need to do another water change.

I'm looking at the goldfish tank and I have a decision to make. The big guy is getting too big for that tank. I've had him for a very long time. He's now 7 inches from nose to toes. I've had him since he was smaller than the other two goldfish next to him. So something needs to be done. Even if I took out all the other fish and had just that one guy in the tank - it would still be too small. And he would be lonely (goldfish are social). I know I don't have to make the decision tonight - but I have to either get a bigger tank for the goldfish or see if the LFS will take the big guy (or sell/give him away).

Of course the "good" option would be to get a bigger tank. I would absolutely love that. But right now I have no idea where I would put it. I had a heck of a time finding a place for the 30 gallon reef tank. [But I did find a place for it, didn't I?] There's always the option of putting it in the bedroom and sleeping on the floor. We'll see...

Posted by BlueWolf on October 28, 2018 04:15 PM