# Help! My tank keeps mini cycling :(



## lee739 (Oct 12, 2014)

Seems a lightly stocked tank to be having problems at 3 months....

What are you using for filtration? You mention readings - what are NH3 and NO2 getting to?? Do you know other water chemistry parameters? (KH/GH/pH)

What dechlorination product do you use?


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## Alyssum (Feb 23, 2015)

The ammonia is 0, but the nitrite keeps hovering between .25 and .50. I don't know the KH/GH/PH at this second, but it's usually 12GH, 8KH, and 7.5 PH. I've been going between stresscoat and prime. I'm using a fluval 70 HOB. I have a power head to help with circulation and I've had aeration going for weeks now.

Bump: My poor guppy female is gasping and her gills are red.  I've lost 3 already. I know the load is light, so I don't understand what's going on. I've been vacuuming every 1-2 days, it's crazy. For a while I thought it was gill flukes (flashing) because I assumed my tank was cycled. I lost my ram a few days ago, which is not surprising because of their sensitivity. So sad right now.


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

The product that I use to de-chlor has no name on it except instant de-chlor.
It has nothing in it to remove ammonia etc. Just de-chlor.
Try using something that doesn't have all the "extra" in it.
Or just get Tetra Safe Start. I have successfully used it twice.
I use the small bottle and pour half into the filter while it's stopped for 1 hr.
Then the next day I do the same/w the rest.
An established cycle/tank probably can use Prime.
I don't think it's good while doing a cycle though.


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## Alyssum (Feb 23, 2015)

I'll keep that in mind. I just did a large water change and used the prime, so I'll have to wait a day or two to do another one. It's so frustrating because it's supposed to be an "easily avoidable" problem. I keep getting lulled into a sense of security and it's killing my fish. I'm going to be extremely diligent for weeks now so my fish can actually heal, if they do at all. Sigh.


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## benealing (Jan 9, 2015)

When you do your water changes, do you clean the filter as well? If so, what do you clean it with?

If you do clean it weekly, I would stop until your tank is stable.


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## Maryland Guppy (Dec 6, 2014)

Alyssum said:


> I try to keep the filter media wet.


Can you explain this?

I use a canister and change the particulate media monthly.
It is on top and I leave the canister almost filled to the top.
Every 4 months or so I remove everything in the canister.
I place all items in a freshly syphoned bucket of tank water, carefully.
If I rinse any item prior to use it is with Prime treated water.

When changing water do you treat the water prior to it going in the tank?

Is you water flow adequate at all times?

This is the only time I have ever seen NO2 in my tank.
CO2 reactor became clogged with alien type goo.
This prompted an entire plumbing cleanout.
Still did not damage bacteria colonies.


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## lee739 (Oct 12, 2014)

Have you medicated the tank with anything in the last couple of months?


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

If you suspect NO2, then add 1 teaspoon of salt (sodium chloride) per 20 gallons of tank volume. 
The chloride will greatly reduce the amount of NO2 crossing the fish gills. 
This is a low level of salt, easily tolerated by the fish you have, and should not bother the plants. Can also be treated with calcium chloride, but I am not sure of the dose. 
When you top off the tank do not add more salt. When you do a water change add only enough for the new water. 

Have you seen signs of Methemoglobinemia?

https://www.addl.purdue.edu/newsletters/1998/spring/nitrate.shtml
(species of bacteria are wrong, but otherwise good info)

Does the rising NO2 follow any other pattern? Like X days after a water change... or only after feeding a certain food? 

Ditto the comments above: That is a very light stocking to have such a problem.


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## Alyssum (Feb 23, 2015)

I don't have the filter running as I'm adding water into the tank. I will pour tank water into the filter, but it's usually filled up before I turn it off. As for the brown blood disease, I found out about it around a week ago. I think that's what they have. I thought I had finished the mini cycle but apparently I didn't, so now my fish are dying. I have aquarium salt, will that do? I didn't want to add it to the whole tank in fear of hurting my plants. I fear my guppy will die soon and I was considering isolating her and treating her with a low amount of salt. If i can do the whole tank that would make things easier. As for pattern, I'm not quite sure. It's happening weekly as far as I know, but I regrettably didn't take many notes.

Bump: Also, does it matter that I used to prime? Is it going to interact and impede with the benefits of the salt? Probably a stupid question, but I want to make sure. How do I ease my guppy's discomfort? Is there anything I can do to reduce her gill swelling?


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## keymastr (May 25, 2015)

When you clean your filter media you should only use tank water to clean it. If you run it under the tap you will kill any bacteria that have colonized it and will be starting the cycle all over again. The bacteria mainly live in the filter media and a smaller amount live on the surfaces of the tank but very little are in the water itself so if you are cleaning the filter quite often then you may be doing more harm than good. I would stop cleaning anything other than doing the necessary water changes until your tank gets some age. I also would suggest just using Prime to make your water changes safe. 

If you are changing water using a hose attached to the sink you might consider using a water bottle so that you can de-chlor before the water goes into the tank. You can probably go at least a month before your filter needs maintenance, especially with as few fish as you have.


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## vvDO (Oct 18, 2010)

Are you finding nitrites after a fish dies or are you randomly testing every few days and find nitrites? Reason I ask is I'm trying to figure out if your dead fish is causing the mini-cycle vs thinking the mini-cycle is killing your fish.


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## Alyssum (Feb 23, 2015)

I don't clean the filter media with chlorinated water and I only clean when the HOB gets jammed with plant stuff. As for testing, I test when I see symptoms. My guppy looked really bad when I got up today so I tested the water. I changed the water 5 days ago because my ram looked bad (70%) and there must've been a huge spike during that time. Perhaps the large water changes with a hose are killing bacteria on the surfaces in the tank? I've never seen a definitive answer on when to add dechlorinator, some say before, during, or after. I've tried pretty much all of them.


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## vvDO (Oct 18, 2010)

Did you test your tap?


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## keymastr (May 25, 2015)

Maybe cut back on the ferts for awhile until you get a handle on this. Sometimes if water is very soft and acidic it can stunt the bacteria. Almost like they go to sleep.


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## Alyssum (Feb 23, 2015)

Is there anything I can do to help the guppy's swollen gills or should I resign to the fact that she's a goner? An excellent guppy breeder gave some of his last show guppy spawns of this particular strain to me and now I'm not going to have any girls left  All of the males will be single...(they're in a different tank) I've added the salt. I was using prazipro for almost 3 weeks because I thought it was gill flukes, which I know probably made it much worse by sapping more oxygen out of the water. I haven't been using it for about a week. My tap is good, reads zeros on everything, though I don't know if they increased the amount of chlorine they use recently. I have 3 other smaller tanks that are cycled with no issues.


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Use the Aquarium Salt. 
It is OK to dose the whole tank with the very low dose: 
1 teaspoon per 20 gallons (so barely 1 tablespoon for a 55 gallon tank). 
Less is OK. 

There is no problem at all with Prime, or any other dechlor and this dose of salt. 

Optimum time to use dechlor is when you prepare water ahead of time. Then you need just the labeled dose for the volume of water you are treating. They act pretty much instantly, so I put a little in the container, then fill it with water. The swirling as the water is running in is enough mixing. 

Also works just fine to add the dechlor to the stream of water entering the tank when you are doing a direct fill. If you do it this way then the dose is for the whole tank volume. 

I am concerned that the symptoms you are reporting are not the right ones for NO2. 
Gasping. yes. But not red gills. Because the blood is not carrying oxygen well, then any area of the fish that would look pink from blood being close to the surface looks brown. This can include some tinting in the fins, and the gills do not look their normal healthy pink.


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## Alyssum (Feb 23, 2015)

I added the salt. Unfortunately my guppy died. Sigh. I only have one girl left...It was hard to see, but her gills did look more on the reddish side. She was swimming erratically. I decided to isolate her in the tank just in case she died. I took some pictures and video before death, but I am too tired to post them now. The sickness was rather acute and that's the first time I've seen a guppy doing that out of the 4 that have died. The others just hovered at the surface then died soon after. I asked a renowned cory expert what was wrong with my sterbai. There was brown stuff coming out of their gills and redness all over their bodies. Their fins are slightly tattered. I told him I thought it was septicemia and he said it sounded more like brown blood disease. I went to check my water and there were nitrites. This was on the 23rd. I was hoping I could get to a certain pet store that does necropsy on fish, but I don't know if the body will be fresh enough by then. I put it in the refrigerator. I'm desperate to figure out what's wrong so I can stop these fish deaths. It's a bit disheartening to learn it may not be nitrite poisoning, since at least I would know what to do if it was. If it isn't, I'm at a total loss here.


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## lee739 (Oct 12, 2014)

Alyssum said:


> ..... I was using prazipro for almost 3 weeks .....


Often seems to be the case - unexplained nitrite elevations in tanks that _should_ be cycled - medications. The nitrite oxidisers seem sensitive to a lot of things.
I would be using activated carbon and increasing water changes....


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## Freemananana (Jan 2, 2015)

Raymond S. said:


> An established cycle/tank probably can use Prime.
> I don't think it's good while doing a cycle though.


While I don't have much advice on the topic, but I just went through a mini cycle after moving my established filter media and plants to a new larger tank. I use prime the whole time. I did a 5x dosage (per instructions) for nitrites and then proceeded to do daily water changes until the mini cycle was over. I would say Prime's ability to lock ammonia was helpful in my case. 

Prime does not eliminate ammonia or nitrite, it just alters their composition to be less harmful (some chemical junk you can research :hihi for 24-48 hours. Then it breaks back down into ammonia and nitrite. The bacteria, from what I read, can still feed on the locked ammonia and nitrite and grow. Within a week my bacteria colony was able to keep up in my new filter.

I don't have much advice on the actual cause of your mini cycle, but I do think prime is a good idea and plentiful water changes during a mini cycle. I was doing 30% daily (40g+).


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## Alyssum (Feb 23, 2015)

I don't have any carbon right now, but I might pick some up. I've just checked the parameters...the nitrite is reading 0 and nitrates is 5 ppm. I've arranged to get the necropsy done on the guppy tomorrow (tuesday), so hopefully I'm able to get some information to steer me in the right direction. As for prime, I thought one of its main draws was it's usefulness during a cycle to at least protect the fish somewhat. I forgot to mention that I have assassin snails in there, so I'm hoping the salt doesn't kill them. Should I keep doing small water changes, like 20%, even when the reading is 0 or should I wait and keep adding prime? 

As for my guppy, I have some pictures and video from about an hour before her death. When I collected her body I couldn't see anything visually wrong, even her gills were back to their normal shape, but it could be because she is you know, dead. Her body was a bit tan, but I honestly can't say if that was her "normal" color because she was starting to mature.



















Video:

http://v8.tinypic.com/player.swf?file=2vaf3vd&s=8


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## Kubla (Jan 5, 2014)

> My tap is good, reads zeros on everything, though I don't know if they increased the amount of chlorine they use recently


Are you sure they haven't changed to chloramine? I know the de-chlor I use requires a lot larger dose for chloramine.


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## Italionstallion888 (Jun 29, 2013)

hold on hold on hold on, 

you said you are vaccuming daily or w/water changes? You are messing with the bio in your substrate way to much. Do you water changes but leave the substrate alone. At most lightly stuck up mulm/poop from the top, but do not distrub beyond that. You are just kicking up gunk that's breaking down by your bio and restarting the cycle each time you vac.


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## Alyssum (Feb 23, 2015)

I was vacuuming a lot for a short time (about a week or less), there was no way I could keep it up. I tried to just stick to vacuuming the waste and not disturb unless I had to. I only started the everyday thing because my cories were getting super red and I thought the substrate wasn't clean enough for them. As for chloramine/chlorine, I'd have to call the people in charge because I honestly have no idea...


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## Italionstallion888 (Jun 29, 2013)

If you are truly planted heavy. Pic would be helpful. And you have poop sitting on the substrate you need more filtration. Especially with how tall a 55g is. With an established tank, the poop should break down rather quickly if it's pushed to the filter. 1 filter is not enough on a 55g. I fought mine for a long time with just one hob filter.


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## lksdrinker (Feb 12, 2014)

Are you running any kind of CO2 in this setup? What kind of substrate are you using and can you describe how exactly you're dosing the EI method?


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## Alyssum (Feb 23, 2015)

No I don't have CO2 injection. I do a water change on sunday and add the macros, then micros the next day, then wednesday the macros, and thursday micros. I have sand. Maybe it'd be considered more medium planted, since it's not completely carpeted with plants yet. I'm a little nervous to show a picture now xD I wholeheartedly agree about the filtration, I'd like to buy another. I was hoping for a sale to come up soon as money is a bit tight. I regret not buying another one when they were on sale. But if it's what I have to do...

Edit: I haven't really been dosing well lately since I've been doing all of these water changes and medicines, nothing is even in the tank at this moment.


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Nice layout! Medium or more planted.


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## Alyssum (Feb 23, 2015)

Thanks. This is my first planted tank and I'm really happy that I was able to grow some plants, I just wish it wasn't overshadowed by all of these fish deaths.  I want my babies to get better so I can get back to enjoying it!


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Wish we could figure out where the nitrogen is coming from. 

Pretty much the only source of NO2 is from the nitrogen cycle bacteria. 
The first group turns ammonia into NO2.
The second group (Nitrospira species) removes the NO2, replacing it with NO3. These are the somewhat more delicate ones. If the first population is thriving, but the second group is not really doing well, then there can be rising NO2.

They need to start with ammonia. Ammonia can come from certain other microorgansms decomposing protein from fish food, fish waste, dead fish, fallen leaves and anything else with protein. Fertilizers with ammonia and tap water with ammonia (perhaps from chloramine) are other sources of ammonia in the tank. 

The other major source (and it is not much of a source) is sort of the reverse of what we think of as the nitrogen cycle. There are organisms that can make this run backwards. They produce NO2, and eventually N2 gas, which leaves the tank. 
These organisms live in low oxygen parts of the tank- under substrate, especially under decor that is large enough to slow the flow of water through the substrate.
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I would suggest a 2-part attack on this problem. 
1) Reduce incoming nitrogen. 
a) Minimize food for the fish. If they will eat plant based foods, these are lower in protein. Read the label. You want good nutrition, but lower protein, for a while. And feed less. 
b) Confirm if the water company is using chloramine (a source of ammonia). Use Prime or other dechlor to lock it up. Read the label on the dechlor. Do not use any sort of combination product with all sorts of added benefits. JUST DECHLOR. No slime coat enhancer. No aloe vera. No electrolytes. 

2) Encourage the removal of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. 
a) Keep the plants thriving with other fertilizers, but no nitrogen. Make them use ammonia, nitrite and nitrate for their nitrogen. 
b) Keep the low-flow areas of the system cleaned out so the oxygen levels are higher. Lift and clean under driftwood and rocks. Clean the filter. Check the rest of the tank has no stagnant spots. 
c) Enhance the conditions for the nitrifying bacteria. 
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I am including the fishless cycle here. Not for you to do the fishless cycle, but because there is a lot of info about how to keep these bacteria thriving. 
Test your aquarium for all the things suggested in this, and see if you can find any reason for the bacteria to not be recovering. 

Cycle: To grow the beneficial bacteria that remove ammonia and nitrite from the aquarium.

Fish-In Cycle: To expose fish to toxins while using them as the source of ammonia to grow nitrogen cycle bacteria. Exposure to ammonia burns the gills and other soft tissue, stresses the fish and lowers their immunity. Exposure to nitrite makes the blood unable to carry oxygen. Research methemglobinemia for details. 

Fishless Cycle: The safe way to grow more bacteria, faster, in an aquarium, pond or riparium. 

The method I give here was developed by 2 scientists who wanted to quickly grow enough bacteria to fully stock a tank all at one time, with no plants helping, and overstock it as is common with Rift Lake Cichlid tanks. 

1a) Set up the tank and all the equipment. You can plant if you want. Include the proper dose of dechlorinator with the water. 
Optimum water chemistry:
GH and KH above 3 German degrees of hardness. A lot harder is just fine. 
pH above 7, and into the mid 8s is just fine. 
Temperature in the upper 70s F (mid 20s C) is good. Higher is OK if the water is well aerated. 
A trace of other minerals may help. Usually this comes in with the water, but if you have a pinch of KH2PO4, that may be helpful. 
High oxygen level. Make sure the filter and power heads are running well. Plenty of water circulation. 
No toxins in the tank. If you washed the tank, or any part of the system with any sort of cleanser, soap, detergent, bleach or anything else make sure it is well rinsed. Do not put your hands in the tank when you are wearing any sort of cosmetics, perfume or hand lotion. No fish medicines of any sort. 
A trace of salt (sodium chloride) is OK, but not required. 
This method of growing bacteria will work in a marine system, too. The species of bacteria are different. 

1b) Optional: Add any source of the bacteria that you are growing to seed the tank. Cycled media from a healthy tank is good. Decor or some gravel from a cycled tank is OK. Live plants or plastic are OK. I have even heard of the right bacteria growing in the bio film found on driftwood. (So if you have been soaking some driftwood in preparation to adding it to the tank, go ahead and put it into the tank) Bottled bacteria is great, but only if it contains Nitrospira species of bacteria. Read the label and do not waste your money on anything else. 
At the time this was written the right species could be found in: 
Dr. Tims One and Only
Tetra Safe Start
Microbe Lift Nite Out II
...and perhaps others. 
You do not have to jump start the cycle. The right species of bacteria are all around, and will find the tank pretty fast. 

2) Add ammonia until the test reads 5 ppm. This ammonia is the cheapest you can find. No surfactants, no perfumes. Read the fine print. This is often found at discount stores like Dollar Tree, or hardware stores like Ace. You could also use a dead shrimp form the grocery store, or fish food. Protein breaks down to become ammonia. You do not have good control over the ammonia level, though. 
Some substrates release ammonia when they are submerged for the first time. Monitor the level and do enough water changes to keep the ammonia at the levels detailed below. 

3) Test daily. For the first few days not much will happen, but the bacteria that remove ammonia are getting started. Finally the ammonia starts to drop. Add a little more, once a day, to test 5 ppm. 

4) Test for nitrite. A day or so after the ammonia starts to drop the nitrite will show up. When it does allow the ammonia to drop to 3 ppm. 

5) Test daily. Add ammonia to 3 ppm once a day. If the nitrite or ammonia go to 5 ppm do a water change to get these lower. The ammonia removing species and the nitrite removing species (Nitrospira) do not do well when the ammonia or nitrite are over 5 ppm. 

6) When the ammonia and nitrite both hit zero 24 hours after you have added the ammonia the cycle is done. You can challenge the bacteria by adding a bit more than 3 ppm ammonia, and it should be able to handle that, too, within 24 hours. 

7) Now test the nitrate. Probably sky high! 
Do as big a water change as needed to lower the nitrate until it is safe for fish. Certainly well under 20, and a lot lower is better. This may call for more than one water change, and up to 100% water change is not a problem. Remember the dechlor!
If you will be stocking right away (within 24 hours) no need to add more ammonia. If stocking will be delayed keep feeding the bacteria by adding ammonia to 3 ppm once a day. You will need to do another water change right before adding the fish.
__________________________

Helpful hints:

A) You can run a fishless cycle in a bucket to grow bacteria on almost any filter media like bio balls, sponges, ceramic bio noodles, lava rock or Matala mats. Simply set up any sort of water circulation such as a fountain pump or air bubbler and add the media to the bucket. Follow the directions for the fishless cycle. When the cycle is done add the media to the filter. I have run a canister filter in a bucket and done the fishless cycle.

B) The nitrogen cycle bacteria will live under a wide range of conditions and bounce back from minor set backs. By following the set up suggestions in part 1a) you are setting up optimum conditions for fastest reproduction and growth.
GH and KH can be as low as 1 degree, but watch it! These bacteria use the carbon in carbonates, and if it is all used up (KH = 0) the bacteria may die off. 
pH as low as 6.5 is OK, but by 6.0 the bacteria are not going to be doing very well. They are still there, and will recover pretty well when conditions get better. 
Temperature almost to freezing is OK, but they must not freeze, and they are not very active at all. They do survive in a pond, but they are slow to warm up and get going in the spring. This is where you might need to grow some in a bucket in a warm place and supplement the pond population. Too warm is not good, either. Tropical or room temperature tank temperatures are best. (68 to 85*F or 20 to 28*C)
Moderate oxygen can be tolerated for a while. However, to remove lots of ammonia and nitrite these bacteria must have oxygen. They turn one into the other by adding oxygen. If you must stop running the filter for an hour or so, no problem. If longer, remove the media and keep it where it will get more oxygen. 
Once the bacteria are established they can tolerate some fish medicines. This is because they live in a complex film called Bio film on all the surfaces in the filter and the tank. Medicines do not enter the bio film well. 
These bacteria do not need to live under water. They do just fine in a humid location. They live in healthy garden soil, as well as wet locations. 

C) Planted tanks may not tolerate 3 ppm or 5 ppm ammonia. It is possible to cycle the tank at lower levels of ammonia so the plants do not get ammonia burn. Add ammonia to only 1 ppm, but test twice a day, and add ammonia as needed to keep it at 1 ppm. The plants are also part of the bio filter, and you may be able to add the fish sooner, if the plants are thriving.


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## keymastr (May 25, 2015)

With that many plants in a 55 you need a strong filter or at least a powerhead to move some water around. All those plants block the flow and that is already a pretty long and tall tank which makes flow of water a problem.

Bump: Your tank is very nice by the way, you just need more filter.


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## lee739 (Oct 12, 2014)

Alyssum said:


> ..... I'm a little nervous to show a picture now .....


You shouldn't be nervous - its a great looking tank.....


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## lksdrinker (Feb 12, 2014)

Alyssum said:


> and add the macros, then micros the next day, then wednesday the macros, and thursday micros.




I wouldnt be nervous to show the tank....it looks great!

Can you describe in more detail your fertilization routine? What are you adding each day and what quantity?


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## Alyssum (Feb 23, 2015)

Thanks everyone  I basically follow these instructions I found on aquaticplantcentral.com, only 2x instead of 3. I use measuring spoons (leveled). 

*40-60 Gallon Aquariums*
+/- 1/2 tsp KN03 3x a week
+/- 1/8 tsp KH2P04 3x a week
+/- 1/8 (10ml) Trace Elements 3x a week
50% weekly water change

I also do 1/8 tsp of iron on the macro days.

So I've spent like a bajillion dollars today on fish stuff. I've ordered another filter and I bought some medicines (so expensive :eek5 I took an hour drive to get to a petstore called Preuss Pets that is highly regarded by many aquarists in the area and beyond. I brought some samples of my tank water and some fish to be examined. There is a very knowledgeable man there (Antonio was his name I think?). I don't know if he has any formal college training, but he runs the whole breeding and disease management side of things (It's a big store). 

He examined my fish and did necropsies with a microscope (he had to euthanize a fry that had developed dropsy) He says he didn't see gill flukes, but there were a type of skin fluke on them which could explain the scratching. He thinks they are being hit by several things, a bacterial infection as well as these flukes. This could have been brought on by the poor water quality or at least compounded the problem. He shook his head when I told him I used prazipro. xD "Who told you to use that?" I felt a bit dumb, but I learned a lot. He asked about my PH and I said I don't check it very often. I got shamed for that too  "It's one the most important things!" 

I've been having a separate problem with one of my smaller tanks (not cycle related) and he was able to give me some insight on that with another necropsy. He recommended medications to me and I wasn't in a position to challenge his expertise. I have faith in his experience in treating thousands of fish and keeping them alive. The question is, should I remove the salt before starting treatment? He recommended paraguard and neomycin with a 25% WC each day for 10 days, so that's what I'm gonna do.

Edit: I called them up and they said it would be okay to leave the salt in. I'm hoping this all works. I'll keep you all updated!


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## keymastr (May 25, 2015)

Sounds like you are on the right track.

The salt is not a problem and will be gone in a week or so if you are doing water changes. It really helps them with respiration.

Don't feel bad, we have all suffered similar setbacks. It is how we learn sometimes.


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## Alyssum (Feb 23, 2015)

Thank you. Just to update everyone. It has been very tiring for me to do all of these daily water changes for at least a month on various tanks for various reasons. I started the treatment on my 55g and I didn't see much of a change. Two of my cories were flashing on the first two days. Perhaps the medicine is irritating them or it's a parasite. I haven't seen flashing since then, but I can't see much because I have the lights off all the time. Two of the cories still have brown stuff hanging off of one of their gills (looks like it's breaking off) and one lost a long barbel. It turned red (before treatment) then fell off (after treatment). I haven't lost my last guppy yet. Most of the fish seem "fine", but yesterday, to my dismay I noticed a rummy nose tetra had a disgusting growth coming out of her anus. It's white and cottony, almost feather like. I asked a local fish group what it could be and they say it's callamus worms. I know what they are talking about, I've seen some on a different fish in a store and online. While at first glance that's what one might glean from a photo, looking at it in person makes me think it's something else. The coloring isn't right, size, nor is the texture. Whatever these hairlike things are, they do not move or wriggle like worms seem to do. Upon closer inspection they even "branch out", which a worm does not do. Obviously, she cannot defecate in this state. It looks really bad, swollen, almost like a cotton plug. It reminds me more of a fungus... Perhaps Saprolegnia. Or it could be columnaris which isn't a fungus, but is sorta fuzzy. I've never seen anything like this before in my tank, even on all of the fish that have died. I'm planning on bringing this tetra, the two cories, and another fish to the same store tomorrow so he can look at it under a microscope. This is so frustrating and expensive  Here's a pic of anyone is curious.










My plants are also yellowing and dying because I haven't been able to add any fertilizer or light. I bought another filter so there are now two running.


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## Alyssum (Feb 23, 2015)

Well, we got up super early this morning to bring the fish in...We looked around the tank over and over and could not find the tetra. We assumed she must've died from whatever that thing was, but we finally counted 10 tetras...It seems she has "passed" whatever it was, which was worrying. I'm happy she isn't dead, but now I cannot get answers. The only way would be to kill her and do a necropsy. It's pretty amazing she was able to push that thing out, as it was very large proportionate to her body (the picture doesn't really do it justice). We gave her a salt bath when we first saw it, so I don't know if that helped. We have decided to wait a few more days and see what happens. The cories still look in crappy shape, but the other fish are relatively fine. This is a pretty harsh treatment for them and the tetras, but I want to see the treatment to its end (3 more days) Really stumped here.

In person, it looked just like this:


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