Oliver

I was so happy when Oliver moved back into his home tank a few weeks ago. Tried to get a closeup of the clean scales on his side, but this was the best I could do- in the baggie ready to float. Water spots and smudges on the plastic obscure it, but yes his scales were clean of parasite.

Oliver in the new setup.

Which looks a little different now- I removed the anubias from the rear corner and trimmed some bacopa to fill in. Also thinned out and trimmed some of the rotalas, which are once again bending to the glass. Maybe I need to remove some of the plastic sheeting over the LEDs, give it more light.

Can see here that one of my anubias did not like getting moved around- the one I think is 'lanceolata' variety. It's got pale areas and holes appearing on the edges. None of the other plants reacted to the rescape like this, so I think it's because I detached it from its driftwood and tied down to a new piece. Hopefully will be okay once it recovers from the shock. Just behind it to the left, can see the water wisteria. That one is growing more since it got moved again- I think it prefers the center spot.

The buces are doing well. I even found one I thought I had lost. After rescaping I looked in the tank a few days later and realized a buce was missing- one that had grown back from a broken rhizome on the old log- and I hadn't seen it since. There was also an odd smell in my room, I wondered if I'd dropped it during the work on the tank and didn't notice to pick it up. I searched everywhere. Finally vacuumed thoroughly and the smell went away.

Then I finally saw the missing buce, when looking for a snail. It was snagged among some small rotala cuttings I had replanted behind the new log. I wedged it into a crevice here on the end of the log. (And now I think the smell was maybe a dropped trumpet snail).

Hydrocotyle is finally growing- because it started floating up instead of staying pegged down. I had it attached to the side end of the log here seen in center- but it has come loose from that now and floats about.

Short end of the tank:

All this was good over the past few weeks, but now Oliver is unwell again. I have been really busy of late and not paying much attention to the fishes besides checking filter flow and temp, feeding them each day. Oliver started spitting out his food. Two days it was like this, I had to coax him to eat. Then he started just eyeing it, not taking any at all. And hanging still in corners, not cruising up and down the tank glass flaring at his reflection like he usually does. I moved the light around to get a good look at him- he's got fungus patches.

Last night I did a partial water change. Today went and got API Fungus Cure- which has malachite green. Some people say it kills their plants (no warning of this on the package) and I know it can stain ornaments and sealant. I set up a quick ten-gallon hospital tank again- plastic plants, threw in some sacrificial duckweed floaters. When I first put in the dose of meds Oliver seemed to feel better- he was swimming around actively. Now he lies on the bottom for long periods of time. I am keeping a close eye on him... Treatment is only four days, and then one more of water changes to clear the water (and make sure he is symptom free before I put him back in the home tank). I am not sure how he got the fungus. Maybe it happened when I fed him a moth larvae and didn't realize he had spit it out after I left the room. I found it the next morning in his tank- I bet it fouled the water. Although I tested it and there was only a slight bit of ammonia 0.05, no nitrites, nitrates 5ppm.