ADG Raffle Tank - Finally!

[Mzungu]

I really think it was caused by the bacterial bloom/ammonia from all the new fishes. But I agree, covering that window would help Geoff, at least!

I just did another big water change. I will post more pictures when the timer says it's okay to turn my lights on, but it looks promising!

Before I started filling:



After filling:

[Mzungu]

All right, lights are on! It's only the pink and actinic, though. I'm still going to keep the photoperiod reeeeally short for a while, leave only one set of lights on, and probably do another big water change again in the next couple of days, and keep up with hosing down the micron pads. But, looks good!

[Mzungu]

Well, this is just awesome.

Now that I can see my fish, I realized why I've been pulling otos out for the last few days. They've got ich. :aua:

So, I'm off to the local Petsmart to buy a heater and some salt. Sigh.

On a lighter note, this is why we should QT all new fish! I'm glad I did.

[cichlid1409]

nice, you can actually see inside the tank now.
WTF. ich now too
makes you almost wanna throw it all out and start over. ugh.

[Mzungu]

nice, you can actually see inside the tank now.
WTF. ich now too
makes you almost wanna throw it all out and start over. ugh.

I know! I asked Geoff, "Can I PLEASE win the 'I can't win' award? I know it's a bit oxymoronic, but please...?"

But like I said, it's a good thing I QT'd these guys, and haven't mixed anything with them, or them with anything.

Who knows how long they've had it. I'm guessing it started showing about when the green water did. That's about when I had my first oto die - I just assumed it was like every oto, and whenever you buy a group of them, some are bound to die, being wild-caught and all...Sigh. Poor things.

[mark razmandi]

good luck on getting the tank back together. it looks better already.

[cichlid1409]

BTW...that lace is lookin gooood

[Mzungu]

Thanks, Mark. :)

Mike - Yeah, I'm happy the Lace is still there!

[Zulaab]

MB -- if you need to use a chemical to remove the ICH I cannot recommend a better product but Kordon's ICK-Attack. 100% natural, and it kills off ICH in 24 hours, (at least all signs of it) and I just love that stuff.

[Mzungu]

Thanks, Jesper! That's actually what I'm using. I decided to ditch the salt and try this, since I never have, but have heard great things from some of you guys who've used it.

[mark razmandi]

kordons ich attack is the S**T!!!! not kordons rid ich, but kordons ICH ATTACK...ive used it and i LOVE it

[Mzungu]

Okay, well, time for an update.

Ich was not nice to my fishes; neither was the green water, which delayed my noticing the fact that they had ich. I am left with 1 BN pleco. I haven't seen any otos for some time. 3 gobies have jumped to their death so far. But everyone else is still kickin'. :(

Just trimmed a bit of the background, replanted the tops, and did a small water change.

I also changed the photoperiod from about 2-3 hours to about 4-5 hours. All I know is that it wasn't on for long, and I added a couple hours.

The CO2 bottle is officially empty, and has been for over a month now. This tells me that something is definitely wrong. I'm thinking there's a leak somewhere - there's just no way that having the CO2 on a low setting for 8-10 hours a day would deplete a 3/4 full 10lb tank in a little over a month.

Anyways, here's a pic:

[ssrprelude]

It's looking very nice MB. I can see!

[myjohnson]

The CO2 bottle is officially empty, and has been for over a month now. This tells me that something is definitely wrong. I'm thinking there's a leak somewhere - there's just no way that having the CO2 on a low setting for 8-10 hours a day would deplete a 3/4 full 10lb tank in a little over a month.

Yeah, sounds like there is a leak. Did you us Teflon tape when putting the regulator on the bottle?

You might want to check for leaks by spraying Windex (or soapy water) around the areas that may have a leak.

This happen to me once when I didn't tighten the regulator down to the bottle enough.

Foreground has really nice growth by the way!

[Mzungu]

Yeah, sounds like there is a leak. Did you us Teflon tape when putting the regulator on the bottle?

You might want to check for leaks by spraying Windex (or soapy water) around the areas that may have a leak.

This happen to me once when I didn't tighten the regulator down to the bottle enough.

Foreground has really nice growth by the way!

Thanks, Thai. No, I didn't use teflon tape. I just put it under the stand as-is, didn't mess with anything, as I seem to have bad luck with CO2 systems and I didn't want to mess it up. But later on I made sure everything was screwed on as tight as could be, since my CO2 kept adjusting itself, and I was assuming there was a leak somewhere from almost day one. Hmph.

Maybe I'll try that soapy water idea. Thanks!

I'll probably have to trim the foreground pretty soon. That stuff grew in so fast I'm still amazed that I don't have any bare spots that I need to wait to grow in! I was thinking tonight, "Well! Nothing to do with this plant! It's done its job."

It's looking very nice MB. I can see!

Thanks, Jim!