Saturday 26 July 2008

Getting ready for the holiday

Done a water change today and cleaned the filters ready for the holiday. Although a late evening water test still showed the nitrates as between 10 & 20ppm - so still too high for my liking.

Cleaned both filters - not touched them for 2 weeks, which is a good indicator. The small one was dirty, but not really toobad. Especially considering it had been put in with used filter pads. But the large one was basically clean. About 20% of each pad was dirty, the rest spotless. They should last the holiday!

I've set up the old tank for the huge number of danio fry and added a couple of algae covered rocks from our local store. Will set up an airline before too long as well. Need to try to keep this lot alive longer than the previous lot! They lasted 2 weeks after spawning, well this lot need to last at least 3 weeks to be alive when I get back from holiday!

Maintenance - 20% water change; nitrates still high teens ppm after change; set up tank for baby danios; both filters rinsed; 1 foam and 1 polyester pad changed in fluval 2+.

Friday 25 July 2008

Guppy Fry Growing.

There's been a bit more bullying in the breeding net, and one of the Guppy Fry was laying on the bottom, being bitten by the others. But the moment food was available she was up to the top and feeding and seemed to recover. I think that maybe all of my comings and goings over the last few days have meant I've not been about to feed them enough, and there isn't much extra food floating in the breeding trap.

So tonight we set all of the female Guppy Fry free to the main tank. A worrying moment - would someone come along and eat them? They seem happy enough. Probelm is that I won't be able to feed them as heavily, but then if I'm not about, I can't do that anyway. And from Tuesday I'm away for 2 weeks so they will only be fed every 2 or 3 days. So they need to be out to scavange.

Hopefully they will be OK. They are starting to show different tail colours and some are showing body colouration. My daughter is planning which to keep and which she'll allow to go...

Also, bought another 6 bunches of plants, so the tank is once more looking nicely planted.

Thursday 24 July 2008

Danio Fry Galore

Noticed last night that the danio eggs had started to hatch - one of the two I'd caught had hatched. Then managed to catch another 20 or so fry throughout the day - all have joined their sibling in the glass jar.

Wednesday 23 July 2008

Another fish goes missing

Got back from our trip to London and all of the fish were ready for a feed! Some where quite quiet, but picked up once the food hit the water. But the male Guppy has disappeared - he's nowhere to be found. Not even a dead body!

Monday 21 July 2008

Danios at it again...

2 of the female zebra danios are being pursued by up to 4 leopard danios and I've recovered at least one egg, although no idea what to do with it at the moment! Only 8 days until I go on holiday.

Also, a records with the shrimps - one has carried the eggs for 14 days - hoping they hatch and some survive...

Off for a break away, so that's about it for today & tomorrow - more desertion of the Guppy babies!

Sunday 20 July 2008

The Panda Hasn't Made It

Sadly, the Panda Cory was dead in the tank this morning. Also, one of the female Guppy fry (when are they no longer fry???) has also died overnight.

Because of this, when I got back from The Open, switched the lights on late and fed them well - was worried that they have been a bit neglected the last few days - the golf has meant the babies haven't been having so many feeds each day...

Saturday 19 July 2008

Very quiet day!

Maintenance - 20% water change.

Wednesday 16 July 2008

AWOL Danio

The female Panda Cory that I noticed wasn't well a week ago might actually be making a recovery. She's been out a little more this afternoon and the marks on her side seem to have subsided. Likewise, the male Guppy is a little more active.

But what is strange is that the Danio who has been misbehaving - swimming vertically at one point - is missing. He's nowhere to be found there's not even a dead body. I've ripped out most of the plants and ornaments in turn to see if he is about, but I just cannot find him. I wouldn't have thought that the snails would have eaten the entire fish - bones included! In the past the most I've witnessed is the fish stripped to a skeleton, and that was a small Neon.

Maintenance - 20% water change; old filter running in tandom with new filter.

Monday 14 July 2008

The troubles plod on...

Neith of the 'sick' fish are showing any signs of their 'conditions' improving, although the female Panda Cory did appear twice - around feed times, although I hadn't added food - and hunt for food. The male Guppy continues to hide away.

And now there's a leopard Danio that's acting strangely! His colour, I've noticed this evening, has paled off and he doesn't seem to be able to hover without sinking. Maybe some infection that is affecting his swim bladder and mucus?

On a brighter note, 2 shrimps are now bearing eggs. Maybe one can go to term and produce some baby shrimps - which will probably be food for the rest of the tank!

Sunday 13 July 2008

Double Tragegdy!

A double tragedy - and neither of the 2 fish that we were expecting!

First, I noticed a Bloodfin Tetra stuck, and very dead, in the base of the Java Fern. Removed that and then saw a Neon Tetra stuck, and also dead, between the breeding traps!

The Neon - well, I'm not sure if he died and then floated there or swam there and became stuck. It hurts, either way. The Bloodfins I have seen one attacking the other - I think we had 2 males. So now he's alone and attacking his reflection.

We had decided only this morning, before returning home from our trip away, not to get any more occupants until after our main holiday. We go in just over 2 weeks and I didn't want to risk introducing whitespot etc into the tank next week. That would only leave me a week to treat it. With the baby Guppies growing, there's enough load on the tank anyway.

So when we come back we have to decide whether to get more Bloodfins (I really liked them!) and Neons, or Cardinals.

The female Panda Cory is still very quiet - I've not been able to find her, she's moved from her hiding spot of an hour ago. And also the male Guppy is still very much hiding. But I did knock a load of food off plants yesterday as I moved them about, maybe he's eaten too much of the loose food.

Maintenance -

Saturday 12 July 2008

New filter

Peformed a 20% water change and fitted the new filter. Apart from that, the male Guppy continues to hide and the female Panda Cory isn't moving much, but I'm away for most of the day, so not able to watch them! The first time I've left the tank with fish in it!

The new filter is so powerful we've resited it slightly and angled the outlet well away from the babies, but I'm wondering if I can get away without the air curtain now - at least when I'm at home! Maybe just save it for when I'm not there to watch what is happening. I'll switch it off on Monday and monitor the levels.

Maintenance - 20% water change; new filter.

Friday 11 July 2008

Splitting out the Guppies

The female Panda Cory continues to plod on. She was eating today, but she is still very thin and worryingly so. Chucked in another load of bloodworm this morning. The Corys are loving this new daily diet!

The male Guppy was also looking quiet, but later on did perk up. There wer probably 2 danios spawning today - I think all 4 females have spawned this week, they are all looking thinner and not about to burst. But the result was that not many fish, apart from the Corys, wanted feeding this morning. Full of fresh eggs, I suppose. I'll keep my eye out for babies hanging around next week!

I've also removed 13 female Guppies to the second breeding net. I found one near dead and another small one with most of its tail bitten away. The near dead one died at lunch time. I dropped it into the main tank as feed, but the larger fish tried to eat it and spat it out. So I suppose the larger males, and much larger females, are probably safe from the hungry mouths.

With nearly all of the females removed - there are a few smaller ones that seemed to know to hide with the males, it should be less stressful for the males. More space for them all, and 2 nets for the danios to hide behind.

The nitrate readings are back up to 20ppm. A bit disappointing, since I changed water mid week. I do need a few decent bunches of plants as areas are looking thin, but apparently the plane bringing the plants in on Wednesday didn't turn up, so we are without new plants in the whole area!

I have bought the Fluval 3 Plus filter. Almost twice the capacity of the Fluval 2 Plus, so should keep the water cleaner. Although I've not plugged it in yet! I'm changing the water tomorrow so I'll need to move a few bits about. The only space where there new filter could fit in (it's a lot longer) is right over the air curtain. I was concerned that the filter would suck in the air bubbles and produce micro bubbles if positioned there...

Maintenance - nitrate 20ppm; 13 female Guppies into separate breeding net.

Thursday 10 July 2008

100 posts...

100 posts and going strong...

The female Panda Cory is still quiet. She seemed to be trying to find food this morning, just not the energy to look for long. And she is extremely thin and a lot smaller than the male. I did gently use a net to guide her into a margarine tub, which I floated at the top of the tank for 30 minutes. I added plenty of variety of food and let her eat in peace. When I returned her to the tank I dropped in a block of frozen bloodworm, which I squirted directly around her. The other Corys loved that and I think she got some. I'll repeat the margarine trick tomorrow, if she's still with us. It is making it easier for her to find food.

Was also talking to the aquatics manager at a local garden centre and he said he uses the Fluval Roma 90 at home (same as me). He agreed that the filter isn't enough if it is heavily planted / stocked and said he ran two Tluval Two Plus filters in his tank. He recommended anything stronger than the basic Two Plus that's supplied with the tank.

Other than that, it's just keeping fingers crossed for the Panda Cory.

Wednesday 9 July 2008

I'm worrying again...

I'm worrying again. When does this become a peaceful hobby? I suppose when everything settles in (I thought they had done) and I'm not so attached to the fish.

Well, the Danio Fry that was released into the main tank seems to have survived the night unscathed. He seems to be swimming around happily. But someone has taken the biggest nip yet out of our male Guppy's tail. A good portion of the top has gone.

But what I am worried about is the female Panda Cory - she's suddenly very quiet and looks like she has a couple of marks on her side. Just like the Albino Cory did when it started its demise. And that lasted for 5 days!

So I've done a 20% water change and cleaned the filter and removed the last 'fern'. Kicked up plenty of dirt doing that! Also, I'd not added salt for a couple of changes, so in case they are wounds on the Panda Cory I added ½ teaspoon of salt to bring the salt levels back up. I worked out that 20% would have been lost in the change at the weekend, and then a further 20% of the remaining 80% with this water change, bringing it down to 64%. (Wonderful maths!). So ½ teaspoon seemed a little conservative, but I didn't want to overdose them!

Maintenance - 20% water change; filter cleaned; ½ teaspoon salt added.