tzqng8

This might be a long post, but I'll try to break it up to make it a bit easier to read.

07/04/2008 - Day 22

Finally! I get to test my water parameters and clean the tank! That should also mean that I can find out what has happened to the missing Peppered Cory. Had some things to do with the family early in the day, but as early afternoon approached, I began working.

First, I tested the water parameters. I had waited a week due to using Tetra SafeStart starter bacteria (the American re-formulation of BIO-Spira). I made sure to bang the reagents around real good and shake the bottles really well. After testing, I saw that Ammonia was at 1ppm, Nitrites were at 0ppm and Nitrates were at 5ppm... Hmm... Odd. I figured that the readings must still be off because of the SafeStart. No problem! I tested Mori's tank, too. 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrites, and 0 Nitrates! That's odd, but has been testing that way for the last week... Almost like there is no bio-load at all. Not sure how that is possible, so I will keep testing.

I began taking out all of the decorations of the tank and laying them on some towels. After the decorations and still not seeing any missing Cory, I removed all of the fake plants, one by one. Still no missing Cory.

I set up the Python to do the water change and clean half the gravel, hoping beyond hope that this would stir up the missing Cory. As I began sucking up the water and cleaning some of the gravel, the one little Peppered Cory that is left got sucked up! I had read that this could happen and released the pressure from the hose and he went back about his business, probably not so happy that he had been Python'ed.

Finished taking about half the water out, but still no Cory... Strange. At this point I figured that the Fish Aliens must have stolen him, so I began re-aquascaping the tank and getting all the stuff back in. After all of the decorations and plants were back in the tank, I looked down at the towel to make sure I hadn't missed anything and there he was... Looking much worse for wear, there was the missing Cory.

He must have been stuck at the bottom of one of the plants or something and I didn't notice when I pulled it out. I finished with the tank and put the little guy in a plastic bag with some tank water. I got my receipt out from PetSmart and called to see if they were open on Independence day. They were until 6, so I figured I would go ahead and get this poor guy exchanged.

I took the receipt and the perished Cory to the store and replaced him with two more Emerald Green "Cory's" (Brochis splendens) as I thought maybe Delores needed a little more company. At the time, I thought about moving the one remaining Peppered Cory over to the Betta tank with Mori, but wasn't sure.

I brought the new fish home, acclimated them for over an hour and put them in the tank. They got along very well right from the get go. Everyone seemed to be happy and I was very pleased to have found the missing fish.

07/05/2008 - Day 23

Nothing real special today. All the fish seem to be getting along just fine. I counted all of the fish and everyone was present and accounted for. I didn't want to test the water again so soon after a water change, so I figured I'd check it out tomorrow.

I did notice that one of my Tiger Barb's is looking a little odd. Very fat and being chased by the rest of the Barbs. Seems playful as there is no nipping or anything. I thought MAYBE it was a pregnant female? Or, perhaps constipated. I figured I'd buy some peas and feed them this.


I left the house and went to a Pet Store at the mall. They didn't have much, but they did have some very pretty Swordtails. I also went to the store and bought the peas. When I got home I boiled some up, skinned them, and fed the 30g tank and Mori. They all loved the peas! I even got Mori to eat from my fingers for the first time! That was cool. I'll feed them only peas for a few days and see what's up.


07/06/2008 - Day 24

I woke to find a dead Emerald Green "Cory" floating on the bottom of the tank near the front... Bummer. What the heck? I fished it out (no pun intended) and disposed of it. I counted up everyone else, and all was well. The chubette Barb was still a chubette but seemed okay otherwise.

After testing the water, I got the following results: 1ppm Ammonia, 0ppm Nitrite, 5ppm Nitrate. Now I knew there was a problem... That SafeStart stuff didn't work! My fish were dying because of Ammonia poisoning! Now I was freaking out!

I quickly did a 30% water change to clear the Ammonia and used some extra AmQuel as that should detoxify the Ammonia.

I disposed of the latest causality because there is no way I was going to take it back to PetSmart for another fish if I wasn't cycled! I'll just take whatever losses happen while trying to minimize them as best as I can and replace them after everything is stable.

I was feeling really bad as I was killing roughly 23% of the fish I was putting into the tank... Maybe this wasn't a hobby I could do? I don't know, but I was bummed. Gabby tried to be supportive, but she was sad, too.

07/07/2008 - Day 25 - This morning

I woke up to another dead Emerald Green Cory this morning... I disposed of him as well. Really bummed now... I added a capful of AmQuel before leaving for work and will do a water change tonight when I get home. The good news is that the Chubette Tiger Barb is thinner now. Hopefully all is well there, but I'm not holding my breath.

Lucy

The tiger barbs are cool, They look good swimming together.

You solved the mystery of the missing cory! Although, I wish it had a better outcome.

Sorry about the loss of your two newest fish. You should really quarantine any new inhabitants before adding them to your tank.
It's a good possibility they were sick or weakened when you bought them.

jdhef

Sorry about the loss of your fish. I know how it feels to be losing fish early on. I lost two Boseman's Rainbows. The first one after 6 days, then his replacement after 8 days. It can really make you question if you have chosen the right hobby. But then I look at the fish that I have that are doing well, and I know I'm doing everything correctly, so maybe it was just bad luck with a couple of fish.

It's alarming that your Safe Start didn't work! Can you try re-dosing with it?

Good luck and hang in there!

tzqng8

Since the plan was to stock the tank all at once and get all of the fish from one location, a QT tank was not high on my list of priorities. Space is also an issue. It is something that I will now look into.

Thanks for the kind words. It just bums me out as these are living creatures, not toys! It isn't that I am trying to treat them as such, but it just makes me feel bad. I need to be more responsible than that.

I could re-dose with more SafeStart, but then it is a week before I can accurately check water parameters or change the water, the cost of buying more, and waiting for it to arrive by mail since it is not carried locally. Meh. I am getting some filter media from a friend's established tank that will hopefully hurry things along.

In the future, I will be using and recommending doing fishless cycles with pure Ammonia. It is tried and true and surprises, especially when new to a hobby, should be kept to a minimum.

Lessons learned....

Lucy

Great idea, that'll really push you in the right direction. Once your tank fully cycles, you can buy extra filter sponges and add them to your tank. You'll be all ready to seed your next tank.

tzqng8

Extra filter sponges (the one's recommended by COBettaCouple) are already on their way from DFS. I'll be replacing the AC filter media from both the 30g community and Mori's 5g Hex plus some extra's for future seeding. No plans for additional tanks right now, but you just never know when MTS will hit...

pepetj

Ok...
thanks for showing me this thread. I guess the old method still holds (I happen to like it).
Nice Aquascaping you have there.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

tzqng8

I'll have seeded filter media soon, but yes, if I ever have to start over from scratch again, I'll do it the "hard" way. The only time I will personally use starter bacteria is if there is an emergency and I have lost the bacteria colony for some reason.

Thanks for the compliments as well. There are some more/better shots of the tank in my albums. My wife is responsible. I did move things around when I was looking for the missing Cory, though. The fish still seem to like it, so I guess I'm good.

Thanks for reading.

Lucy

Thank you Thomas's wife for the new pics, I enjoyed them.
The tank looks good!