BitterCowgal
New Member
Hi all...
While I've been around fish of and on all my life (I'm 24 now..heh), this is my first fishtank and I'm struggling a bit. I've done a LOT of reading here online and am continuing to do so. I've heard a lot of conflicting information however and well...I'm confused.
My tank is a 20g. Long. I use a Penguin 150 Biowheel for filtration at one end and have one medium sized airstone at the opposite end of tank. My ammonia and Nitrite is at 0. I'm uncertain what my Nitrate is at as I don't have a test for it. I have a automatic ammonia monitor in the tank at all times. PH is at approx. 7.6 . I say approx. 7.6 as the only PH test I have at the moment is a low level test. My tap water is naturally hard. When tested with the low level PH test, my tap water turns a color far darker than the color shown for 7.6 (the max. shown on the table). I added salt to my tank after it finished cycling...1 TBSP per Gallon however I haven't added anymore salt since then. I cycled for only two weeks. My tank has had fish in for nearly 2 months now. This tank is for swordtails only so I wasn't sure they needed the salt. I use only artifical plants as I don't have a green thumb and am afraid of messin with live plants...lol. I do a 25% water change EVERY week and declor the replacement water with 2 drops per gallon of instant Declor. I also use Cycle in my filter once a week. Water temperature is right at approx. 78 degrees Farenheit . I feed a combination of food at the moment.
I feed the following:
*Pro-Balance Tropical Color Flakes
*Tetra Color Flakes
*Tetra Min Flakes
*Tetra Spirulina Flakes
*Bio Blend Color Enhancing sinking pellets
After my existing food supply is diminished I will be feeding only the three Tetra products. I do have questions about a new food my lps just got in stock however.
My first fish in this tank were three red velvet females and a red velvet male. They were doing great for the first couple weeks and then trouble struck. Well I can't really say they were doing great as they flicked off the heater from Day 1. The male also flicked against a pot I have in the tank for them to hide in. There were no signs of ick however...no white specks. One of the females became became somewhat bloated. She was pregnant so it made her look very very pregnant. She did not have any pineconing so I doubt it was dropsy. Her eyes were a bit bugged out and towards the end she began whirling. By whirling I mean she swam in circles aimlessly..bumping into everything. Up until the time she began whirling she ate great. She never clamped her fins at all either, at all. She had her fins up even while I was putting her down. Shortly after she died I noticed that both other females and the male had thin white stringy feces. One of the other females died before I could treat the tank for parasites (which I assumed them had). I just found her dead one morning. The last female died during treatment and the male died shortly after treatment ended. The last female had spent her last couple days with clamped fins, refusing to eat and laying at the bottom of the tank. The male was a suprise as he had been acting okay other than continuing to flick off of the pot. I had used Jungle Brand Parasite Clear Tank Buddies. I also noticed a growth of brownish alage on some of my plants and on the pot.
After all of my first fish passed away I got a new trio. A brick red female, a red velvet female and a red wag male. These three came from a different lps then my first first did. I've had them for approx. 3 weeks or so now. All three of these fish exhibited the same thin, white, stringy feces as my first fish did so I made the decision to treat the tank again. I used the tank buddies again. I did two doses over the course of four days with a 25% water change in between and a 25% water change afterwards. The brick red female went off feed during the second dose and continued refusing to eat afterwards. She did a lot of sulking at the bottom of the tank or up at the corner of the tank with her fins clamped. Her last day she was covered in a thick white film of what I assume was mucus...this film lasted a couple hours and then disappeared. Later on that evening I found her dead near one of the plants in the tank. This was approx. 1 week ago. Today I noticed my red velvet female is doing a lot of hiding at the bottom of her tank. The area between her eyes is slightly raised up...she looks like she's trying to become a rhino.....kinda. She also has some strange 'growth' or 'flakiness' to her left side of her face. It's almost like the scales are kinda lifted or something...it's hard to explain. I have seen her scrape herself on the pot and gravel a couple times over the past two weeks but its so infrequent that I attributed it to her pregnancy. Both male and female still have thin, white, stringy feces. Both are still eating extremely well. The male is still swimming around very active with fins up. The female also puts her fins up but only on occasion which is out of character for her. The last week or so the male has been heavily harassing her trying to breed with her. Soon as payday comes I intend to get a few more females so he'll knock it off. I also plan on getting some more plants for the girls and inevitable fry to hide in.
Anyhow..my questions...
1)Whats up with my fish? Whats causing the white, stringy feces?
2)Do you know anything about New Life fish foods? I thought of using their Tropical Fish pellets and Thera-A flakes
3)Is my PH too high for my swords? Could that be the problem?
4)Should my swordtails have salt in the tank? How much?
5)Are my fish getting an inadequate diet? Could that be causing my problems?
6)Is it possible the my tanks still cycling and this is new tank syndrome even despite my lack of ammonia?
7)Any suggestions, comments or concerns please...I want to do good by my remaining fish.
Edited to add...I also have a three to four inch female electric catfish. She's currently eating frozen beefheart produced by AquaYums. She also eats Ghost Shrimp. I know a 10g. is not adequate for her...she'll be upgrading soon. Is her diet adequate? She's been getting fed every other day. Should she be fed more frequently? Less frequently? Information on Electric cats here on the net is pretty vauge thus far. Oh btw...she has a Sponge Filter capable of filtering up to a 20g.
While I've been around fish of and on all my life (I'm 24 now..heh), this is my first fishtank and I'm struggling a bit. I've done a LOT of reading here online and am continuing to do so. I've heard a lot of conflicting information however and well...I'm confused.
My tank is a 20g. Long. I use a Penguin 150 Biowheel for filtration at one end and have one medium sized airstone at the opposite end of tank. My ammonia and Nitrite is at 0. I'm uncertain what my Nitrate is at as I don't have a test for it. I have a automatic ammonia monitor in the tank at all times. PH is at approx. 7.6 . I say approx. 7.6 as the only PH test I have at the moment is a low level test. My tap water is naturally hard. When tested with the low level PH test, my tap water turns a color far darker than the color shown for 7.6 (the max. shown on the table). I added salt to my tank after it finished cycling...1 TBSP per Gallon however I haven't added anymore salt since then. I cycled for only two weeks. My tank has had fish in for nearly 2 months now. This tank is for swordtails only so I wasn't sure they needed the salt. I use only artifical plants as I don't have a green thumb and am afraid of messin with live plants...lol. I do a 25% water change EVERY week and declor the replacement water with 2 drops per gallon of instant Declor. I also use Cycle in my filter once a week. Water temperature is right at approx. 78 degrees Farenheit . I feed a combination of food at the moment.
I feed the following:
*Pro-Balance Tropical Color Flakes
*Tetra Color Flakes
*Tetra Min Flakes
*Tetra Spirulina Flakes
*Bio Blend Color Enhancing sinking pellets
After my existing food supply is diminished I will be feeding only the three Tetra products. I do have questions about a new food my lps just got in stock however.
My first fish in this tank were three red velvet females and a red velvet male. They were doing great for the first couple weeks and then trouble struck. Well I can't really say they were doing great as they flicked off the heater from Day 1. The male also flicked against a pot I have in the tank for them to hide in. There were no signs of ick however...no white specks. One of the females became became somewhat bloated. She was pregnant so it made her look very very pregnant. She did not have any pineconing so I doubt it was dropsy. Her eyes were a bit bugged out and towards the end she began whirling. By whirling I mean she swam in circles aimlessly..bumping into everything. Up until the time she began whirling she ate great. She never clamped her fins at all either, at all. She had her fins up even while I was putting her down. Shortly after she died I noticed that both other females and the male had thin white stringy feces. One of the other females died before I could treat the tank for parasites (which I assumed them had). I just found her dead one morning. The last female died during treatment and the male died shortly after treatment ended. The last female had spent her last couple days with clamped fins, refusing to eat and laying at the bottom of the tank. The male was a suprise as he had been acting okay other than continuing to flick off of the pot. I had used Jungle Brand Parasite Clear Tank Buddies. I also noticed a growth of brownish alage on some of my plants and on the pot.
After all of my first fish passed away I got a new trio. A brick red female, a red velvet female and a red wag male. These three came from a different lps then my first first did. I've had them for approx. 3 weeks or so now. All three of these fish exhibited the same thin, white, stringy feces as my first fish did so I made the decision to treat the tank again. I used the tank buddies again. I did two doses over the course of four days with a 25% water change in between and a 25% water change afterwards. The brick red female went off feed during the second dose and continued refusing to eat afterwards. She did a lot of sulking at the bottom of the tank or up at the corner of the tank with her fins clamped. Her last day she was covered in a thick white film of what I assume was mucus...this film lasted a couple hours and then disappeared. Later on that evening I found her dead near one of the plants in the tank. This was approx. 1 week ago. Today I noticed my red velvet female is doing a lot of hiding at the bottom of her tank. The area between her eyes is slightly raised up...she looks like she's trying to become a rhino.....kinda. She also has some strange 'growth' or 'flakiness' to her left side of her face. It's almost like the scales are kinda lifted or something...it's hard to explain. I have seen her scrape herself on the pot and gravel a couple times over the past two weeks but its so infrequent that I attributed it to her pregnancy. Both male and female still have thin, white, stringy feces. Both are still eating extremely well. The male is still swimming around very active with fins up. The female also puts her fins up but only on occasion which is out of character for her. The last week or so the male has been heavily harassing her trying to breed with her. Soon as payday comes I intend to get a few more females so he'll knock it off. I also plan on getting some more plants for the girls and inevitable fry to hide in.
Anyhow..my questions...
1)Whats up with my fish? Whats causing the white, stringy feces?
2)Do you know anything about New Life fish foods? I thought of using their Tropical Fish pellets and Thera-A flakes
3)Is my PH too high for my swords? Could that be the problem?
4)Should my swordtails have salt in the tank? How much?
5)Are my fish getting an inadequate diet? Could that be causing my problems?
6)Is it possible the my tanks still cycling and this is new tank syndrome even despite my lack of ammonia?
7)Any suggestions, comments or concerns please...I want to do good by my remaining fish.
Edited to add...I also have a three to four inch female electric catfish. She's currently eating frozen beefheart produced by AquaYums. She also eats Ghost Shrimp. I know a 10g. is not adequate for her...she'll be upgrading soon. Is her diet adequate? She's been getting fed every other day. Should she be fed more frequently? Less frequently? Information on Electric cats here on the net is pretty vauge thus far. Oh btw...she has a Sponge Filter capable of filtering up to a 20g.
