Roma 240 slow burn...

[CaptainBarnicles]

This guy has all of a sudden coloured up like I've never seen before...

He is the littlest male in the tank and this morning had the biggest attitude! He's been sparring with up until this morning I believed was a female! ..

It was the most aggressive fight I've ever seen in here, I don't see any damage on either of them thankfully.

The females are incredibly outnumbered in here now though...

 

[Wills]

Looking fantastic! I have to be honest... I'm really not sure its TB now. Surely you'd be losing more fish or they wouldnt look this good!

Plants are looking amazing too! Very jealous of your Balansae waiting for mine to grow in!

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Thank you, it's nice to see tangible evidence of the effort you put in! I suppose without proper testing I'll never know for sure if it's TB? I'm keeping close eye on the little female, time will tell. I would love to add a couple more female Boesemani but I don't feel like it's worth the risk yet.

The Balansae is reaching up to about half way up to the surface now, its all of a sudden shot up. My seachem root tabs arrived today so I'll be shoving a couple under the crypts at the next water change to help them along

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Quick update:

Plants are filling in nicely, did have some trouble with finding a balance though...I was getting a bit of problem algae and I still think there's some deficiency nutrients-wise but I'm being more strict with dosing ferts so hopefully they'll rectify themselves.

I've shortened the lighting period as well as turning down the intensity by a couple %. I've also turned my circulation pump off for the majority of the day and just turn it on in the evening for half hour or so to lift the gunk off the substrate and into the water column for the filter to take.

Pretty happy with how it's looking, fish look good too

 

[Slaphppy7]

Very, very nice...glad to hear the health issues have seem to subsided, as well

Those in the above vid are displaying sparring behavior, which usually precedes mating behaviors, is my guess

[VIDEO]

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Very, very nice...glad to hear the health issues have seem to subsided, as well

Those in the above vid are displaying sparring behavior, which usually precedes mating behaviors, is my guess

[VIDEO]

I agree, although I've never seen them that aggressive. They're usually more interested in getting it on rather than sparring....I wonder if it was about establishing hierarchy?

 

[Wills]

Yay! Really glad things are going well - I've been wondering how things are. The fish look great and really good to see your big crypts starting to go big! Whats the broad leaved one on the left?

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Yay! Really glad things are going well - I've been wondering how things are. The fish look great and really good to see your big crypts starting to go big! Whats the broad leaved one on the left?

Thank you! I'm pleased too, it was pretty awful looking with those big gaps! The one on the left is Cryptocoryne Usteriana I just love crypts

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

I've been doing 50% water changes twice weekly which is easy enough for me to keep on top of. Once a week would be sufficient enough but I have concluded there is definitely TB in the tank, its only affecting the praecox at the moment. If its not TB I've got no idea what else I'm dealing with, so clean water is all I can offer at this point.

They all go the same way...bloating and gasping at the surface. I had 3 praecox like this, one female died this morning. I was going to euthanise those that showed symptoms but honestly, I just can't kill another fish I know its part of the hobby but it's heartbreaking. I've got a male and a female still gasping at the surface, they're still eating so I just can't bring myself to do it although I probably ought to.

None of the Boesmani or Barbs show symptoms, just the praecox has anyone been able to keep them alive?? I'll have 4 left after the two sick ones die.

Otherwise plants are doing OK...noticed on the hygrophila polysperma in particular that some of the younger leaves were growing in deformed and the bottom leaves are brown and falling off...no idea what's going on there but I was advised to lower the light intensity and shorten duration as well as not having the wavemaker on...I still dose tnc lite after every water change

 

[Wills]

It is part of the hobby but a very rubbish part. Really sorry you are going through it.

Just tough to know how you move forward - if its likely all of the fish will die off anyway is it time to 'cut your losses' so to speak? Disinfect and move on? I genuinely don't know what I'd do in your situation.

Wills

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Oh jeepers I just don't think I can cut my losses just yet. They may be OK for a year or 2 more yet... I have no way of knowing.

I feel so mad with it. Its enough to be disheartening and I almost want to just pack the hobby in! Having such hard water makes it very limiting regarding the varieties of fish I can keep, rainbows were my dream....and right now it's a nightmare

 

[Wills]

Oh jeepers I just don't think I can cut my losses just yet. They may be OK for a year or 2 more yet... I have no way of knowing.

I feel so mad with it. Its enough to be disheartening and I almost want to just pack the hobby in! Having such hard water makes it very limiting regarding the varieties of fish I can keep, rainbows were my dream....and right now it's a nightmare

It is tough with hard water - harder still with fish like Rainbows.

I don't think there is any great rush with it you just need to be careful with adding any new fish but with such nice plants and scape there is enough of a 'hobby' these days without really going down the rabbit hole of loads and loads of fish.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

You're right, there's more to the hobby than just the fish. I do really love the plants. I'm still learning the art of underwater gardening and there's so much be get excited about....I'm not sure if I could add any more fish until these have perished? Would it be ethical?

I love cichlids, I would love to have a pop at mbuna one day but even blue (not the electric) acara are a fish that I think are gorgeous...but then I'm limited with plants.

I'm a little obsessed with odessa barbs at the moment, what stunning fish! They may be an option, from what I've read they're easy with their water requirements and seem to thrive in all sorts

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Water change done....forgot to wipe the glass

 

[Colin_T]

How are the Crypts recovering after the salt?

If you give the rainbows lots of plant matter in their diet and keep the water cooler 18-22C, they live longer with TB. The cooler water slows the growth of the bacteria. The vege based diet helps boost their immune system. It doesn't stop them dying but it stops/ reduces other TB symptoms and diseases and they live a bit longer.

You might be lucky if only the praecox have it. They seem to be the most commonly infected in the UK. They are probably coming from the same supplier who has TB in their system and doesn't want to clean it up and start with new stock.