The Vent and Rant Thread

[Witty Username]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

I floated their containers in the tank for almost three hours to allow the temperatures to sync. Then I lowered the tops and allowed some of the tank water to merge with the container water. After another 30 minutes I let the new fish swim out into the tank on their own. No extra stress.

Stitchawl

This could be where the build up of toxins is coming from. This is the way I was taught to add fish:

1.Turn the light off in the aquarium to reduce stress.
2.Lift the lid and place the sealed bag containing the fish in the water so it floats.
3.Let the bag float for ten minutes, then open the top of the bag.
4.Put some tank water into the bag.
5.Close the bag and allow it to float for another five minutes.
6.Repeat steps four and five once. For sensitive fish such as neon tetras repeat two or three times.
7.Place the small net into the bag, lift the fish out, and quickly transfer it to the aquarium.
8.Discard the bag of water in the sink (never in the aquarium).
9.Leave the light off for several hours to allow the fish to adjust to the new setting.


Your fish are in the travelling container for maybe 4 hours (including the journey home from where you purchased them), mine no more than 40 minutes. Stressed fish will produce more ammonia and four hours = a lot of ammonia in the travelling water.

Try testing the pH levels of the travelling water and see how it compares to your tank - as little as 0.5 difference is enough to kill sensitive fish like neons.


My other suggestion is Neon Tetra Disease. Have a look at this article and see if it matches what you are experiencing:

Neon Tetra Disease

I hope it is not this disease but the loss of colour and difficulty swimming you mentioned make it a possibility.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by Witty Username

Your fish are in the travelling container for maybe 4 hours (including the journey home from where you purchased them), mine no more than 40 minutes. Stressed fish will produce more ammonia and four hours = a lot of ammonia in the travelling water.

I asked the manager of the pet shop about their plastic bags. He said that his fish arrive in the same bags, often having been in them for several days to two weeks in transit. I was concerned about that myself.

I don't like to net the fish. I've always thought that produces the most stress on them. I do remove most of the travel water, mixing in tank water, before letting them swim out.

All chemical levels are (as far as I can test at home) within the normal range;
pH, nitrites, nitrates, ammonia, CL, and water hardness... but this makes me think... I'm wondering if the filter material included with the tank's external filter has marine salts add???? But then, why would five of the fish still be hale and hearty??? As I said, it makes no sense.

I'm going to go and read that article. I wonder if a Neon disease can spread to Betas and Guppies?

Thanks for your suggestions!

EDIT: I just looked at that article. I read this to say that the disease would take a few days to manifest itself. My fish kill was, in all cases, within 12 hours. I think I can rule it out.

Stitchawl

[phenomshel]

Can I scream now? Please? Just a little one? No??? Well, dang.
I have read the case study and questions for my Organizational Development paper so many times I practically have it memorized. The problem is, the reading the professor assigned has absolutely NOTHING to do with the questions she asked. According to the message boards and internal IM system, everyone else is having the same problem, and these messages started on Friday. No answer from the professor. I now have a raging headache and my stress level is through the roof because there is NO WAY I can complete this assignment with the information given, and it's due by Sunday midnight CDST. If I have to get my first zero EVER over this, I am going to be absolutely livid.

[WT Sharpe]

Turn something in, don't just get a zero. They're devastating to the GPA.

[wannabee]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

Grrrrrrr.... I am getting angry.
I put in a new aquarium and I can't get the water balanced. The fish keep dying and the water goes from clear to cloudy to clear again!
Any of you who keep fish got any ideas?

Here is what I've checked so far;
1. The water is well aged, so no CL
2. The pH is 7 Perfectly neutral
3. The tank is only set up for a couple of days so overfeeding isn't an issue. Besides, I used to breed several different species when I was a kid, so I know how much to feed.
4. I've tested for Nitrates and for Nitrites. All normal
5. The fish come from healthy tanks as do the plants.
6. No plastics inside the tank other than the intake tube for a large filter. I've changed the filter material several times.
7. Fish food is a mix of TetraMin flakes and freeze dried tubifex worms, a combination I've fed for years.

So why are the fish continuing to die?


Stitchawl

A new fish tank has to cycle. New fish, new fish poop, new ammonia, new nitrites and new nitrates. About six weeks from experience.

Best to start with a couple of fish. Not neons (we'll discuss that at some further stage) other larger tetras are good.

A couple of fish only poop for a couple of fish. A lot of fish . . . well, they poop for more fish. The bigger the tank, the slower the reaction to toxic ammonia from the poop, the smaller the tank the quicker the ammonia effects the fish. A little tank will kill new fish really quick if new water is not provided to dilute the ammonia.

With any new tank add starter bacteria. (The start to the cycle) It will break down the ammonia to nitrites and different bacteria (that don't exist yet because it's a brand new tank) break the nitrite to nitrate. That's why it's best to start with fewer fish. If the water becomes acidic, the new plants can break down and stuff up the cycle even more. So use fake plants for a start up tank.

For a new tank I would suggest to replace a quarter of the water every 2-4 days for two weeks with new water that's had water purifier added. You can do it less frequently after that but check the ammonia levels. After 6 weeks you can go back to once a week. Then you can add fish, but slowly. You can extend the times for lager tanks (4ft) and reduce the time for smaller (2ft) The tiny tanks need more maintenance but repacing ALL the water removes vital bacteria required for the cycle so just replace a quarter to one third of the water per water change.

I suppose the key is: Small tanks need maintenance more frequently than larger tanks and tanks with more fish in them need it more frequently than tanks with less fish.

Attached is "Disky". We buried him last year, aged eleven.

[phenomshel]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

Turn something in, don't just get a zero. They're devastating to the GPA.

Yes, I know. Still no word from the prof. A helpful student found a press release from the relevant organization about their employee retention practices (which is what the paper was supposed to be about but was nowhere to be found in the assigned reading material). So I'm doing a paper on the importance of employee retention and how to do it right with the relevant organization as an example. That's all I can think of to do at this point. It might not be exactly what the prof. wanted but it's *something*.

[SneakySnake]

Bluddy Qantas strike planned between 6am and 10 am. My flight is now at 9.35 (funny it was 9.15) Am I going to be waiting at the bluddy airport all day?

bloke is going to drop me off. I guess worst case he can come back and pick me up.

Well if they make a big delay I hope they text me before we leave for the airport three hours before the flight leaves.

Anyway reader is all charged up, I guess I can get on with my book.

[HomeInMyShoes]

How the heck do you know if the Kindle is actually charging?!? Last time I plugged it in to the computer it charged. This time. Half a day later, it said it was charging, but it never went to green and when I unplugged it, it had the same charge showing as before.

[HomeInMyShoes]

Had to do a soft (through the menu reset). One hour later I've got a happy green light. That seems pretty dumb to me though.

[badgoodDeb]

Originally Posted by HomeInMyShoes

How the heck do you know if the Kindle is actually charging?!? Last time I plugged it in to the computer it charged. This time. Half a day later, it said it was charging, but it never went to green and when I unplugged it, it had the same charge showing as before.

It charges faster with the wall charger. The USB through computer is known to be a slower charge.
But having to reboot it does sound odd.

[HomeInMyShoes]

^Except they didn't ship a wall charger across the border to Canada when I won mine, but that's a rant for another day. I do have a USB wall charger that I'll try again next time. Now that I know the potential charge time and the reset trick to get it to work that should work.

[wannabee]

The window cleaner has dirty windows.
The builder has a half built extension.
The mechanic drives the car with no brakes.
. . . . and I bought an easel and paints two years ago and they're still sitting where I left them and the sketching program I bought for the iPad is full of stuff for work.
Does anyone know some artist's forums that might revive a bit of my old artistic spirit because 28 years of doing it commercially for VERY uninspiring subject matter has left me pretty spent but wish - I wasn't.

[SneakySnake]

you could do an impression of your very cute avatar.

[wannabee]

I did. When I first got sketchpad pro or whatever it's called.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by wannabee

The window cleaner has dirty windows.
The builder has a half built extension.
The mechanic drives the car with no brakes.
. . . . and I bought an easel and paints two years ago and they're still sitting where I left them and the sketching program I bought for the iPad is full of stuff for work.
Does anyone know some artist's forums that might revive a bit of my old artistic spirit because 28 years of doing it commercially for VERY uninspiring subject matter has left me pretty spent but wish - I wasn't.

Load up a syringe full of insulin, turn on a 'Bob Ross' video, and .... yes... I think there's a happy little tree that lives right there! It's your world, and only you know where to put that friendly little cloud...Yes, I believe it has a friend with it! And I think there is just one more happy rock over... nope! There are two happy rocks over here next to the stream. And isn't there a just the friendliest little bush under that tree? Yes, I think there is.... And remember, there are no mistakes in your world. Just happy coincidences that help us. And now let's clean this brush. That's just the very best part of this, isn't it? I love to clean my brush....



Stitchawl