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what works well in my tank ?
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Hi,
John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.
I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.
With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.
I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.
If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.
I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.
I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.
Thank you
Darragh Sherwin
what works well in my tank ?
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04 Apr 2013 07:07 - 04 Apr 2013 07:36 #1
by lisa1 (lisa masterson)
Hi so im a new fish owner iv a 10g tank i know its small im going to change next year. So im not having the best look with my fish i had a peco for a month and it passed this morning as did my batta but i only had him 1day, so iv 3 guppies left so my question is what should i put into my tank that would do well with my guppies and well in only 10g tank i dont want my fish to die so i joined this to learn as much as i could ? Thanks all answers welcome Lisa .
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04 Apr 2013 09:11 #2
by JohnH (John)
Lisa,
I'm saddened to hear of your losses this morning.
I fear we might have to take a 'step back' here and ask you a few (well, a couple) of elementary questions.
1] (And this should always be the first question for newcomers) Do you have a test kit for the water?
2] Have you checked the water?
SO many newcomers are sold their new tank etc without a water testing kit - I believe this is equally as important as the tank itself, NO-ONE (no newcomer, at least) should be allowed to take the tank from the shop without a basic test kit (and not those test strip thingys either!).
I wonder if your tank has only been running for a month whether the water and filtration were properly mature?
Plecos are normally pretty hardy fish so something isn't quite right for an established one to have died overnight.
I think your immediate plan of action would be to change about a third of the water in the tank and not even think about any new occupants until everything is settled.
If you have a test kit, please do a test, preferably before you change any water, and post up the results here. Change the water after testing though without waiting for replies.
Bettas are lovely fish, but aren't always the most hardy of fish either. This loss may be able to be explained by it being from poor stock. We can go further into this later, for the minute let's ascertain the quality of your tank water.
John
Location:
N. Tipp
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.
ITFS member.
It's a long way to Tipperary.
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04 Apr 2013 09:16 - 04 Apr 2013 09:16 #3
by bmcg38 (Brian McGrath)
some questions to start :
1) is your tank cycled ?
2)have you got a test kits for ammonia / nitrite / nitrate , therefore are you testing the water ?
3)Are you using a water conditioner ( prime / nutrafin etc etc ) to remove chlorines etc from the water coming from the tap ?
4) Do you know the PH of the water ?
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04 Apr 2013 12:00 #4
by lisa1 (lisa masterson)
Hi i dont have a test kit i was told by my pet shop to bring in some water once a week so iv been doing that at fist it was fine then he told me my ph was up and he sold me ph down so i put that in and he said it was ok so that is why we got the new fish betta the other day. But im going to get my own text kit this week. Im doing what you said there john no more fish till i work out my prolem with my tank iv 3 guppies still in there and seem fine acting the same now as the day we got them. My water here comes from a well so it is clean im told its qualty is good as we had it tested for are own sake as we are buying the property at the mo. The thing that gets me is my peco as he was my frist fish ( and i got attached to him i called him sucky) and he was doing great till i put in my bata now im not saying he did anything to him but they passed on the same day odd ? mabye not ? lisa
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04 Apr 2013 12:32 - 04 Apr 2013 12:35 #5
by Bohrio (Alex Rodriguez)
My advice is that you buy your own water test kits and avoid using products such a jbl ph down etc as they will indeed lower your pH but this will only last for a short period (sometimes just a few hours) and after a while your pH will go up again. Your fish will not like sudden pH changes. There are several ways to combat high pH but we can look into it once we know more about your water levels.
Like John said dont put any more fish until you figure out whats wrong with your tank. If you are going to buy a test kit go for JBL or API, dont buy Nutrafin (their ammonia test is almost useless).
One you get your results post them here.
What kind of filtration are you using? Also, John already mentioned it but its important, have you cycled the tank? When was the last time you did a water change? and when you do, do you add any type of water treatment product such as biopol to make your tap water safe?
Bettas dont mind plecos, IMO i doubt it had anything to do with his death but that's just my opinion. I think John is in the right path, you need to test your water asap to find out whats wrong with it.
You will need to buy the following tests, Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates and pH for starters. You can find them on almost any pet shop.
Also, whats the temperature of the tank?
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04 Apr 2013 12:40 #6
by bmcg38 (Brian McGrath)
i think this person is only doing a 20% water chage every two weeks .. That needs to be increased 20% every week in my opinion .. When the shop says your PH is up , what does that mean ? what is the reading e.g 7 / 7.5 / 8 etc etc ..
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04 Apr 2013 12:51 #7
by JohnH (John)
I just wonder, but am a bit reluctant to ask, do you have a filter and if you have do you clean the media?
I note that your water is coming from your own well-source and is going to be quite high in pH. This is exactly the same for me - I bet you're forever de-clogging your kettle too?
Guppies, as with most generally-available livebearers, are fine with higher pH and harder water, Plecos will exist OK also. Bettas - less so, although I personally don't think this is a factor for your new one's demise.
What might have been a contributory factor (and this is mere speculation) would be if the Betta had been in low pH water at the shop and had been moved into your tank with much higher pH.
Perhaps you are aware of the 'gradual introduction' process and followed that? If so, you can ignore that question.
Keep the faith, these things happen to us all, certainly when we were 'learners' so try to not be too disheartened.
I'm sure someone here will get to the bottom of it once they get your water readings.
John
Location:
N. Tipp
We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl - year after year.
ITFS member.
It's a long way to Tipperary.
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04 Apr 2013 14:32 #8
by lisa1 (lisa masterson)
Im taking all of that on im getting my test kit asap and il be back with the results Thanks to everyone LISA
pS: There is so meny questions i want to ask so when this it sourted il be picking brains
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04 Apr 2013 14:37 #9
by bmcg38 (Brian McGrath)
Im taking all of that on im getting my test kit asap and il be back with the results Thanks to everyone LISA pS: There is so meny questions i want to ask so when this it sourted il be picking brains
yes , get the kit post the results and go from there . It will all be fine , not that much to it really , but it can be a bit daunting at the start .. I would try and get a PH reading too if I was you
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what works well in my tank ?
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