You may add Seachem prime. However, not to add too many type of solution/ chemical. Do some water changes before adding them.
Have not heard any update from you too. Hope the fishes are ok.
I often have problems with nitrate.
May I recommend Biozym's nitrobacter bacteria capsule? Used this to manage a mini-cycle a while back. Took about 2-3 days to stabilize my tank. During this time I used lots of Prime and 50% water changes plus moved some fauna into a separate hospital tank to reduce bio-load.
Greetings & thanks to those that contributed to this thread. I was overseas for the past 11 days & had no wifi connection.
Came back yesterday to see my fishes' color totally faded & they looked sick? Turned on the light and checked on them this morning & their colors are back, swimming around the fauna. I'll be working on a 50% WC later, treated with anti-chlorine. Some fauna seems to be dying too, leaves turning translucent etc
Sorry to know that. Did anyone tent to your fishes when you are oversea? Even if you have automatic feeder. The water condition may turn worse if no water changes have been made by your family.
Fish colour faded with light off is normal. Do you put timer for your light to turn on? How about food? They go without food for 11 days?Originally Posted by Junneh
You may invest on soundtech timer for lighting if you have plants. I am not sure how long they can survive without food. Try invest on automatic food feeder. Try not to feed too many times on setting the automatic food feeder. Let say set feeding to once per day.
My fishes are fed on a daily basis, once a day. Of course, someone was feeding the fishes for me. They haven't done any water change yet though. And I suspect there might have been another ammonia spike.
I have thought about upgrading my equipments but the water doesn't seem stable just yet.
Not sure if it helps, but this is my method:
I usually only feed my fishes once every 2 days... so when i'm away on overseas trips, i'll just skip feeding them totally if its a short 3-4 day trip, they have no issues being without food for up to 4 days. When i return from the trip the fishes are still healthy and active.
If the trip is a longer period of time, like more than a week, then i will setup a food timer to feed every 3 days, that will ensure the waste bio-load doesn't accumulate as quickly, taking into consideration that there will be no weekly water changes to re-balance the tank during that period of time.
That being said, my method is based on established planted tank setups with moderate bio-load and the fishes are healthy from the start. If the tank is new or with high bio-load or the fishes are still acclimating, then definitely have to get someone to feed the fishes more often and monitor the setup while you are away.
Well, I guess I should start WC 30-40% once every 2 days again. The fishes are healthy & active when there's light but when night falls, most are hiding amongst the flora looking pale white. They basically freeze up at their position looking ghastly. I know tetras lose their color at night to hide from predators but it's something's wrong in the tank. I have not tested the water parameters yet, but have done a 50% WC earlier today.
I'll update u guys again & thanks for the advice.
Update: 14/05/15
Tested the water parameters today, seems to be looking good. Alas, I think my tank is fully cycled?Took me 2mths+ to get the tank properly set up, though losing some fishes along the way. My fishes are doing fine now, the remaining 2 ghost shrimps seem to have adapted to the community tank. No visible wounds or aggressive behavior noticed.
Ammonium: 0
Nitrate: 20
Nitrite: 0
PH: 7
The only problem I have now, are my plants. They seem to be dying off slowly, although I have a 13W light turned on at least 4hrs daily & dose Micsea liquid fertilizer once a week. D:
Based on the test measurements, it looks like your tank can be considered cycled.Update: 14/05/15
Tested the water parameters today, seems to be looking good. Alas, I think my tank is fully cycled?
Ammonium: 0
Nitrate: 20
Nitrite: 0
PH: 7
The only problem I have now, are my plants. They seem to be dying off slowly, although I have a 13W light turned on at least 4hrs daily & dose Micsea liquid fertilizer once a week. D:
Your plants dying off could be due to nutrient deficiencies (have to refer to online plant nutrient deficiency charts to check the symptoms and solutions), or it could also be due to the short photoperiod of 4 hours... plants need light to photosynthesis and grow, otherwise they may become stunted as new growth can't develop fast enough to replace old growth. Perhaps try increasing the light photoperiod to 6-8 hours.
Last edited by Urban Aquaria; 14th May 2015 at 23:29.
I guess it's back to the textbooks? Well, I'll try increasing the photo period and increasing the dosage of fertilizers. Hopefully it works before I lose more of my fauna. Thanks again UA
Hello guys, I've been trying to grow my moss recently. Somehow, it doesn't seem to be going well. The moss has some sort of white substance growing on it. Perhaps slime maybe? There's also a battle royale in my community tank. Not sure who's the culprit though
Those could be dirt, algae or maybe even mold/fungus, try to see if you can physically remove or vacuum them up with a siphon.
As for your fishes, the tank may be overcrowded so it increases the aggression between the various species... you may need to reduce their numbers.
Are the ghost shrimps still in that tank?
Losing fish is very common. Even an experienced hobbyist can lose valuable fish.
So if you just stick to inexpensive fish, you will not be wasting much money as you learn the ropes. I know so many friends who spend a fortune on great fish but usually end up by chucking their fish tank in the storeroom. But frankly speaking, you need to be an expert before you are ready to keep expensive fish.
LIFE IS UNBEARABLE WITHOUT A FISH TANK!!!
The ghost shrimps are dead. The only species left in the tank are neon tetras & rummy nose. I don't think the tank's overcrowded because I have given most of the fishes away. I'm growing my moss in a separate container, dozed with liquid fertilizer once per week. I simply leave the container out on window ledge only to check on it once per week. I've washed the moss several times on different occasions to wash off the white substance but it keeps coming back. Google doesn't give me the answers I need though.
My ultimate aim is to breed cherry shrimps. I'm not gonna be giving up this hobby anytime soon, after investing so much time and money in this. Haha.
A photo of the moss with the white substance in it would help alot in identifying the issue.
I know there are many bugs in there. Hope u can see the white substance clinging on the moss
My ultimate aim is to breed cherry shrimps. I'm not gonna be giving up this hobby anytime soon, after investing so much time and money in this. Haha.[/QUOTE]
You are right. Those who manage to make it are those who have passion and motivation to learn all they can about it.
With your commitment, I think you should have a good chance of succeeding.
Well, is there anything I should take note of when keep shrimps? Bought my first 20 red cherries today. I've read about shrimps dying during molt due to XXXXX reasons. I asked the LFS about the remedies for it but they told me there actually isn't. So...can u guys help out? haha
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