From my Naracara sales thread ...

**louislkl** · 15th Sep 2009, 20:36

WAahahahahahah ... yaya , my boss told me that its the most hardy ones among the apistos ... But what to do ... I keep them in a 1ft cube tank with ADA soil and sponge filter and a fan as my chiller is not working ... Dont really know whats wrong ...

maybe the soil ... the soil i use for cycling water in a 3ft tank ( planning for CRS ) but didnt get to keep anyting then i decomm already ... in the tank only have old sea mud and a big wood with moss ... i only keep like 3 chins chins as to prevent mosqitos ...

If anyone can help me , pls advise me as i using back the soil to start my 3ft planted ... HELP ...

**genes** · 15th Sep 2009, 20:59

Ivanacara adoketa are very hardy fishes. Since you have closed your sale thread. I'll speak my mind. Hope you don't mind. From the pics you posted. The fishes don't seemed healthy. Very obvious in the apisto pictures. They have clamp fins and poor body posture. I find that these are signs of diseases after keeping them for sometime.

And you mentioned about white spots. Clearly your water is at problem. Too high in waste level due to improper water maintenance. If i had a 1K fish in my tank, especially in a cramp 1ft cube, i'll make sure it gets a proper filtration rather then relying on a small sponge filter.

Another cause could be the diseases are brought forth by other fishes that you introduced into the adoketa tank. Or that you introduced the healthy adoketa into a already diseased tank.

I would suggest you dry out the soil under the sun before reusing it again.

**louislkl** · 15th Sep 2009, 21:20

Originally Posted by genes

Ivanacara adoketa are very hardy fishes. Since you have closed your sale thread. I'll speak my mind. Hope you don't mind. From the pics you posted. The fishes don't seemed healthy. Very obvious in the apisto pictures. They have clamp fins and poor body posture. I find that these are signs of diseases after keeping them for sometime.

And you mentioned about white spots. Clearly your water is at problem. Too high in waste level due to improper water maintenance. If i had a 1K fish in my tank, especially in a cramp 1ft cube, i'll make sure it gets a proper filtration rather then relying on a small sponge filter.

Another cause could be the diseases are brought forth by other fishes that you introduced into the adoketa tank. Or that you introduced the healthy adoketa into a already diseased tank.

I would suggest you dry out the soil under the sun before reusing it again.

No worries ... i am here to learn anyway ... Intailly i thought its was stress as i had just bring them back from my boss place ... Actually his tank is more dirty then mine ... so i was still thinking is it my tank or his tank ...

His tank is a 3ft tank , running one external filter ( Jebo ) , in his tank he have alot of dead plants and some live plants all are floating around ... here and there ... he actually gave up on keeping them so maybe thats the reasons where so unmaintain ... he have his reasons for the unwillingness of keeping them as some family matters happened back then so he didnt have the mood ...

i actually took water from his tank as i'm afraid that the fish cannot adapt in new water ... Mind if i ask , how can i check if the soil is suitable for use be i start adding water or planting anything in ...

Really Great thanks bro for clearifying man ... I'm actaully no apisto-guy here ... Pls advise further yea ...

**genes** · 15th Sep 2009, 21:26

You will not be able to know if the soil is clear to use or not. Unless you bleach them. But its ADA soil (mud based), so bleaching is out of option. The best bet would be drying them out completely under the sun hoping that will kill whatever pest that resides within the soil. Of course another option is use new soil. But i think drying under the sun will be sufficient because the diseases you mentioned are not potentially deadly diseases.

**louislkl** · 15th Sep 2009, 22:01

Originally Posted by genes

You will not be able to know if the soil is clear to use or not. Unless you bleach them. But its ADA soil (mud based), so bleaching is out of option. The best bet would be drying them out completely under the sun hoping that will kill whatever pest that resides within the soil. Of course another option is use new soil. But i think drying under the sun will be sufficient because the diseases you mentioned are not potentially deadly diseases.

Will there be a solutions that can be added into the soil to kill all the bactirials ?
Because i have already set the soil into the tank and layered nicely with the base fert ...
ARGH ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**genes** · 15th Sep 2009, 22:08

Don't think so. Just add a heater and crank it up to 32deg in the tank to hasten the maturity of the diseases. Don't introduce fishes yet for at least a week so the parasites don't have host they can attach to and should die off.

**louislkl** · 15th Sep 2009, 22:27

Originally Posted by genes

Don't think so. Just add a heater and crank it up to 32deg in the tank to hasten the maturity of the diseases. Don't introduce fishes yet for at least a week so the parasites don't have host they can attach to and should die off.

If that will help , i will be damn gradeful man ... now currently the tank is only with layered soil , without any filter hoses attached and nothinig is attacted ... can i just add one quarter filled with water and add a heater and heat up till max ... will too high spoil anything within the soil ... like base ferts or ADA soil ... Pls advise ...

Bro Genes , really thanks alot , you really help alot man ...

**Jitticus** · 15th Sep 2009, 23:00

Introducing effective microorganisms (EM) will theoretically remove other pathogens by way of displacement. You can try adding beneficial bacteria to an empty system and then later adding hardy fish such as a betta splendens to see if it falls sick.

**louislkl** · 16th Sep 2009, 01:25

Originally Posted by Jitticus

Introducing effective microorganisms (EM) will theoretically remove other pathogens by way of displacement. You can try adding beneficial bacteria to an empty system and then later adding hardy fish such as a betta splendens to see if it falls sick.

I see I see , But should i run an empty tank ( no flora/faunas ) first with EM and do a cycling process ... Will pathogens be harming the plants or be hidden in the plants itself and attack when livestocks are added ...

I was afraid that testing with too hardy fish couldnt get any results as they are hardy as they were named ....