fish treatments

Yesterday I did fifty percent water changes on three tanks and dosed with levamisole. The angelfish tank still looks okay and I don't know if my shrimp bowl has gotten cross-contaminated or not. I did a half dose for the guppies and the white clouds in the window tank. (Lost another white cloud, now only three). Moved Laddie out into a QT bin so he could get a full dose.

Covered the tanks to keep dark, checked on the fishes this morning. Laddie is already perked up more. He didn't eat but is moving around alert. Dark marks on both dorsal and anal fin, I've seen it before don't know the cause- but feel better now that he will recover.

When I did this treatment before, the floaters died. I put some salvinia minima aside in small containers just in case.

Guppies and white clouds were all hiding timid under plants at substrate level when I checked on them. Guppies in the tenner ate, and I was pleasantly surprised to see I haven't lost any fry in the 20H- at least their numbers don't look diminished- I never did an exact count. Maybe one guppy in the tenner is gone, I only counted nine but the other could be hiding. However the tank has a slight bad smell- I found one horned nerite closed up unresponsive, wonder if it's dying. Or if the other nerite or missing guppy died and I haven't been able to find it. When I do the big wc at end of treatment (tuesday) will lift some things out to look more thoroughly.

One small thing of cheer- in the dim light (tanks are covered while on medication) I saw that one of my buce is flowering:

Found out why the sweet potato vine was faltering on top of the window tank. There's tiny aphids and mealy bugs again. Not very many- I dipped a toothpick and swiped them off the parrot's feather.

Yesterday put hands in my 45 to lift out  small sponge filter sitting in background- to use in the QT for Laddie. Also pulled out four empty ramshorn shells. I think nearly all my blue ones are gone now. Either they got old, or they got eaten.

salvinia-

Doing maintenance on the guppy tank today. It was late afternoon, the light strip was already on, I set it upside down on the edge of tank stand. Thought the salvinia minima looked rather pretty with the light shining up from below:

small fish update

My two guppy moms are about to have their third batch of fry. Here's the last one from the previous batch- you can just see it middle of the photo below the broader fake stem plant leaf:

They're getting very square in the belly again, but dart around excited when I'm close to the tank so all my photo attempts came out a blur:

I did some cleanup in the window tank recently. Took the last sheet of plastic film off, to let more light in now it's winter. I hadn't realized how dim the tank was getting until I saw how much brighter it looks now. My six white clouds still look well- one is always very plump (front top of photo) I kept hoping they'd spawn and I'd get fry but now I just think this one is a pig or bully and eats more than its fair share.

I started adding floaters back in. Topside has been very bare lately- especially since I decided to plant the elodea stems against the rear glass. Salvinia minima suddenly took off in the guppy tank and completely covered the surface, so I thinned that out and dumped a bunch back in here, hoping that whatever killed it off before is no longer a problem. Also started thinning out hornwort weekly from the angelfish tank, likewise put those trimmings in here. I thought the hornwort would melt or shed a lot (large temperature difference) but needle drop was minimal. And what do you know, my paradise fish quit sitting on the substrate and is now moving about the tank again, or hanging near the surface under some floaters. I think maybe he was feeling exposed and thus hanging low, rather than being sick all this time. If that's the case, glad I didn't put him through the stress of a needless medication dose.

salvinia revived

I've moved all salvinia minima into the tenner, and all duckweed into the 20H (guppy growout tank). The first photo is in focus here-

but this second one is more true to color. It's filling in!

After a recent water change, air bubbles were clinging to the root hairs, looking very pretty like jewels sparkling.

Male panda guppy- daddy to all the fry- darting past. No longer has spots. That's one of his older fry on the left, tail facing the viewer. Funny, the adult male sometimes flares his fins, flexes his gonopodium and does the little backwards-shimmy display next to a fry. Either I made a mistake and put a female or two in here, or they aren't developed enough to appear male yet, or the adult is just desperate for some attention- do males display to each other like that? I don't know.

moved some bits

I was thinning out duckweed in the tenner last maintenance day, and found a few pieces of salvinia looking much healthier than those in the window tank. Better conditions for it. So I promptly thinned out more duckweed, and moved in more salvinia.

Dwarf sword looks happier in the window tank after a week. Just don't know if it will survive the cold.

window tank overheads

These are my favorite photos from the other day. I took the trouble to clean the glass tops- ugh, the rear pane was particularly dirty with brown algae and scum. Took some overhead shots while I was working there. Among my favorite plants- the crypts becketti:

Here's the grand growth on the younger crypt moehlmanii. Bolbitis thicket behind it, Laddie the paradise fish is in front of course he was looking for handouts. Crinum is front right.

Left front corner of the tank- the small remainders of crypts willisii, anubias newly tied on driftwood in back left corner, older crypt moehlmanii front center, slender leaf of a crypt undulata I moved last week in the center.

The bolbitis thicket! It looks so beautiful from this top angle- that's the rear tank glass on the top edge of the photo. I just wish this one was a bit more in focus:

Likewise the hygro (or is it ludwigia?) stems: they turn to face and touch the rear glass, which looks like the top surface here:

Looking down at the small clump of crypt undulata in the rear. To the left, ludwigia arcuata. Some bolbitis tied on small wood chunks across center- hard to see them. Subwassertang makes a green smudge below it all.

Better view of the ludwigia arcuata. Bolbitis thicket on the left. One piece of mermaid weed center. Sweet potato vine roots reaching down.

Another view of the ludwigia/is-it-hygro stems, up against one of the sponge filters. Can see how thin the windelov ferns are (compared to those in the betta tank!)

I took this photo trying for the elodea stem, but really it shows off Laddie the paradise fish (and some crypt becketti on the right).

Can see in several of those photos above, how washed out and brown the salvinia minima is. I think it just can't compete with other plants for nutrients, especially now that the sweet potato vines have grown tons of roots? maybe I'll have to phase it out and let elodea be the floating plant . . .

tanks update

I haven't had time to take and upload photos, but here's a bit of update. My betta still has popeye, on one side only. I gave him several epsom salt baths, no change. I increased water changes on his tank, and was more careful about cleaning out food he didn't eat. His appetite has come back and he is not as lethargic, but still spends lots of time resting in a sheltered spot under edge of windelov driftwood, or hiding behind the anubias. I don't know if he will ever recover from the damage of going through the tank cycle, sigh.

I had two groups of black skirt tetras going through quarantine. It was almost two weeks, then up came a family vacation (bad timing on my part, I shouldn't have got new fish so close to a trip). One group of tetras looked great, I put them in the angelfish tank. Other group had signs of ich and fungus. I returned those to the store. Came home from trip and the tetras in the angel tank look well- good color, alert, super eager to eat. But on closer inspection a few of them had specks of ich on fins. Either they had it and my QT wasn't long enough, or I somehow cross-contaminated even though I use different siphon hose for each tank, and wash hands between. Dang. Angelfish doesn't show spots but yesterday was definitely looking irritated and flashing, scraping on stuff. Looks like it's in her gills. I have to order meds online- the stores don't carry much anymore. Meanwhile am raising the temperature- it's 82° now and so far all the fishes doing fine with that- and doing a 50% water change every other day- glad of the bare bottom, hoping I can physically remove a lot of it.

My shrimp bowl is fine. While I was gone, instead of eating some older anubias leaves mottled with algae I had clipped off and left drifting, the shrimps picked apart the elodea stems. I removed what was left of that. Buces and mermaid weed are doing great in here, the flame moss I tried tying onto a rock all turned yellow and looks dead.

Paradise fish is doing great. Tank is nice and green with summer. I replaced some of the older sweet potato vines on the back with new cuttings. For some reason smaller crypts on the left of the tank are doing poorly- had a lot of leaves turn white and melt. Also the crinum is looking sad (no new growth, tips dying off on older leaves), and salvinia minima floaters have a lot of dieoff. I don't know if all this is from only having one fish in the tank instead of two now- less food input so less plant nutrients? or something else. Flame moss died in here too, but the fissidens remaining on the mesh is looking great. I'm hoping to move some of that onto a rock soon. A lot of the vals have died off too, but the few left are finally growing taller and I hope they send out some runners.

separation

I put Laddie in my QT bin- set up in basement window which gets bright indirect light (so the salvinia floaters I put in with him won't die)

He's doing fine. Looks dull in these photos because the bin sides are semi-opqaue, and it was backlit as well. I fed him flake about twenty minutes after moving him- he snapped at it eagerly, and now comes darting to the near side, wriggling his fins at me when I walk through the basement room- not much fazed at being in strange quarters.

Perry shows no improvement yet. Has the tank to himself for now- I'm not sure he noticed. I dosed with metro and prazi. Took apart a plastic folder and cleaned it, I'm going to fit the sheet against the existing wall to block sight- see if that helps any. It will be a temporary measure, I'll find a better wall if it turns out to be useful. I offered his favorite flake this morning, and he ate it but slowly. Now he's been just hanging at surface all day, not moving. If I glance over there, it's as if the tank is unoccupied  because I see no movement . . . I am hoping it's the medication distressing him now, and he'll look better when the treatment is done . . .

paradise after treatment

Well, my best guess was internal parasites so day before I did a 50% water change, dosed the window tank with levamisole, covered it against light for 24 hours, then a huge 75% water change next day. When it was down so low the water level was barely height of the fishes' bodies- they didn't like that- but I had new water on hand to quick start refilling again. I gravel vacc'd as well as I could around the plants with the tiny one (airline and medicine syringe). This pic from the 50% wc I did just before dosing the meds- Laddie is the blur on the left.

Perry is on the right here- I patched two photos together so half the crinum is missing and the light on surface doesn't match- but you can see how healthy all the water spangles have grown in!

But- nothing has changed. Laddie's fin is all clear, now- I'm sure the huge water changes helped clear up that little problem. He darts around eager and interested in everything. Perry- as in the above picture- sits looking miserable just at surface or on substrate, in the shelter of a plant. He only eats half the bites I offer. I still don't know if this is virus, parasite, or just behavioral- is he so depressed and intimidated by Laddie next door . . . Well, I'm going to let him rest a few days, then treat the tank with metronidazole, and repeat the dose of levamisole in a few weeks- just in case the stringy poo I saw really was from a parasite load- but somehow I feel like it won't help.

new for the tanks

I bought some plants from a forum member. Have been wanting to try dwarf water lettuce in my tanks. I know the floaters I had before in the 45 all died- hornwort, then frogbit. But now it has more light, so maybe . . . ? Well, this is what I got. The roots all fallen off and the leaves kind of folded but I hope it springs back. I put most in the angelfish tank, smaller ones in the 20H and a few in the tenner- suspect it might do best in there because of the fert dosing, will have to see.

Most of the package was actually full of salvinia minima, and a lot of common duckweed. It took three rinses of all the plants to remove the duckweed.

Salvinia went into the paradise fish tank. New ones are (left) are quite a bit larger than mine (right). I'm guessing that means the tank they came from had more nutrients, or higher light. So these will probably melt and regrow. I don't need more salvinia but since it came in, here it goes.

The duckweed I threw away. Had to pour the bucket water through paper towels set over a sieve, to keep it from going down the drain.

in the tanks

My amano shrimps are busy in the 20H, constantly picking at stuff. They've cleaned all the older unsightly leaves off the lower part of rotala stems

Here's a closer pic of one:

I've noticed since the angel moved out, the glass is a lot cleaner- malaysian trumpet snails are out all day, and there are tons more baby ones floating around underside of the surface film. My nerite snail is way more active in here than it used to be, also. I know the angelfish had been eating the baby trumpet snails off the surface. I bet it was also nipping at the adults and the nerite.

I was a bit surprised during maintenance day -yesterday- to find this tank had 40ppm nitrates. I haven't been feeding it much at all- or so I thought- giving the shrimps a bit of food once every two or three days. A flake or two of fish food crumbled up, or the microscopic bits left at the bottom of the thawing container, after I feed all the fishes frozen food. The last time though, I simply dumped all the water from the thawing container straight into the tank, instead if siphoning out the tiny food bits. Maybe that added too much organics to the tank. I won't do it this week, see if nitrates stay lower.

My window tank is chilly at 62°- so when I had my hand in the tank to rub off some algae and clean up a few dead leaves, I couldn't keep it in there too long! No algae at all on the glass this week, but more on the large crypt. Its scion is bright, untouched green but the mother plant is starting to look worn out. Last week I cleaned a ton of browned, wilted salvinia minima leaves from the surface; this week those floaters look great- seem to be spreading, and very few dying this time.

In the tenner, I repeated my change of last week- doing the maintenance right before the light comes on, and dosed half the recommended amount of ferts (because nitrates were at 40, and I prefer them to stay near 20ppm). I broke a root tab into quarters and placed them in the back row of rotalas, to give a boost.

My angelfishes look better! Skye doesn't have any more damage to his long trailing fins, and he threatens the tetras which keep clear away, so I think they quit nipping him. M. Beautiful seems to be healing- tail fin doesn't look quite as ragged on the edge. I was sitting on the floor watching the fishes feed this morning and noticed that two of my black skirt tetras- not the largest ones, by the way- have fat, squared-off bellies. Probably gravid females! Well, if they spawn, there will be some egg goodies for the kuhlis and angels. I seriously doubt fry would survive in the tank (although I had a surprise before- when I raised one baby cherry barb).

happier fish

Photos of the newer floaters in my window tank- more salvinia minima

and hornwort (above and below view)

my paradise fishes have better colors with these additions-

Perry especially seems more at ease- no longer hiding or lying on the bottom for long periods of time. Pics from short end of the tank:

33 plant status

My long tank looks kind of sparse, now.

Several days ago I removed the sticks- they appeared to be rotting- and lifted out the mopani wood piece, cleaned off all the browned bolbitis fern. Most of the remaining, healthy fronds were on the ends of the rhizomes, 'walking' off the wood reaching for the tank floor. I trimmed a lot of those, reattached on top of the driftwood. It looks better in person. It reminds me of this picture.

Yes there are new fiddleheads in there- two left of center

Other plants- I am not sure how my crypt cordata is doing. It quit making new leaves, and all the existing ones are starting to melt. Maybe it doesn't like the cold, or perhaps it is still recovering from the hard time- two rescapes and then a few weeks of meds in the tank with fequent water changes had to be rough on them all.

Crypt beckettii is fine- even sprouting more new leaves!

Behind it in this overhead can see the subwassertang looks healthy too, even if its texture is small, and the greenness of bolbitis fronds.

Subwassertang against the front glass

Small new bolbitis fronds on the mesh wall- all that's left on these two rhizome pieces, but I hope it grows back well.

Vallisneria still looks messy. Every time I experimentally tug on a melting leaf to remove it, the whole plant starts to come up. So I leave them to disintegrate on their own, but it's taking a long time...

In the corner behind Perry's filter, crypts becketti petchii and lutea are growing back. I'm thinking of switching this filter out for a hydro sponge, same as I have in the 20H. So much easier to clean.

Crypt on Lady's side- tiny new leaf.

Buces

Anubias nana 'petite' does really well in here- lined up behind the crinum.

Which is doing an odd thing- it has three leaves that appear to be fused in center- comes from the base as three leaves, then together, then splits again near the tips- I wonder if they will separate entirely as it grows out?

Windelov ferns are same as always

Ludwigia repens var arcuata hasn't grown much since last trim and replant. The stem pieces I planted of 'hygro species' melted as far as I can tell.

Side angle here shows in reflection- they are green, but bend a lot- either seeking light or shortage of something

Ludwigia palustris is doing okay- melting leaves at base but not nearly as fast as the hygro went

Up top, salvinia appears to have recovered- most of the leaves are green now, I don't see nearly as many deteriorating. But the hornwort has nearly all died off, there's only have one small stem left in here. It was so lovely before I moved the tank over. Will try to replace with pieces from the 20H.

I replaced all the peaky-looking sweet potato vine with new cuttings, and used some of the lime-orange coleus as well. Rooting nicely.

That's the current state of the tank.