ditherfish

Perhaps the easiest way would be to edit the actual gif file, in this case: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v196/fre...trope-ani1r.gif and replace atrope-ani12.gif with a non animated version. I've attached one. If you used some kind of scheme or skin installer, then the simplest thing to do would be to replace the file witha an identically named one (make a back up first). If you can specify the file individually, then you could use the file provided as is. The decision is yours. I like the site as it is- as I said. It is cool- but I think it would be better.

The new look is so cool I hate to criticise. But may I humbly suggest that having an entire column of wiggling fish down the left hand side of the forum lists is distracting. A moving icon shoudl impart additional information- or urgent information. Having all the icons move is the graphic equivalent of using the <blink> tag. Remember the early days of the web? Yuch! Anyway- Having the icons wiggle to show NEW posts or UNREAD posts is somewhat useful- but what is the purpose of having the icon for READ forums wiggle? I admit to having a KISS bias- and would dispense with animated gifs altogether except for URGENT or CRITICAL info postings. However- if the READ fishies didn't wiggle- then I could scan down the list easily- and spot the wiggling fish to see unread posts. As it is- I have a hard time- too much wiggling! And now- to make my point about not using animated gifs- I'm going to use one. :chair: :boom:

Well- that's a thought Garhan- but like the rocks mentioned above- the symptoms didn't really support an environmental contaminant leaching into the water. But in any case- it was pure silicon- it's not in front of me at the moment- but I got it from Canadian Tire in the caulking gun size. I bought way too many it turns out- but it is safe for aquariums, absolutely. Plus it cured and was rinsed and re rinsed. Then it sat and soaked in the tank while it cycled- followed by a nearly full water change. Since I posted last- no problems.

Raven, You could run your new filter in your community tank for a week before moving it to the new tank. It would shorten your colonization period. I setup a new tank- no seed bacteria- fishless cycle- and had stable readings in 10 days- so perhaps you needn't worry too much about seeding.

Thanks Smokey! Nitrates were about 20 ppm - as I posted earlier. I didn't check again after the W/C. I just did another 25% change last night- I will do a full set of tests this weekend. I did vacuum the gravel when I did the 40% change- but not this time. The tank glass is amazingly free of crud or algae! So I didn't fuss too much with it- I figured the fish didn't need me poking about more than absolutely necessary - if the problem was stress related. Tank stable at 82F. I think I'll try your suggestion about no heater holder- I never thought that was an option! But I have had problems in the past (distant past) with fish getting wedged between the heater and the glass, so no holder sounds like a plan. Everyone that I can see looks happy! Who knows about the clown pleco though. I plan to add a new peice of shale for a background, and remove some more slate - once I'm sure that everything is OK- in a few weeks. I will have to do some major tank disturbance then. I'll try to spot him then. It's my favourite fish- but I've provided many many hiding spots - so it's happy, even if I'm not. No odd behaviour- all 4 angels hang out together some of the time. Angels cover the entire tank territory. Some schooling with the 4 cories, but often only 2 together. It's rare to even see all 4, let alone for them all to be swimming together. In the mornings though there is sometimes a little pile of cories in the corner when the room lights first come on. The angels don't like Tetra tubifex cubes- but other than that, they are very hungry. They devour bloodworms. As for the cause of the angel and corie deaths? I really think it was just stress now- that the fish were in a weakened state and couldn't handle being moved into a new environment. The Calgary fish showed absolutely no signs of stress after their first night in the tank, and have settled in, non-skittish. The Red Deer fish remaining all seem fine as well- which makes me think that a build-up of something (say, some unseen metal in the rock or something) is not a likely cause. The dead fish showed no visible signs of illness or disease - so I don't think it was anything specific. I just remembered - prior to the deaths, I did feed a small peice of parboiled lettuce, as well as some peeled zuchini. I removed both after a day in the tank. Could there have been pesticides? Lettuce was very well washed, and steeped in boiling water! Zuchini cube first went in raw, but peeled - floated of course - so I replaced it with another peeled and parboiled cube. Any chance that this is related to the deaths?? I would like to give the angels another lettuce treat - and the cories like the zuke. So what do I do with the lfs credit for 3 angels? I would like some top water fish, but the 20g tank is too full now with 3 toonie sized angels, 1 quarter size angel, 4 cories and a clown pleco.

Sorry RD :blink:, I thought that the instructions said to double the dose if using it for removing chloramines.

Thanks for the heater info! Whew! Heater now submersed. All fish seem happy. Levels OK. I'm going to do a water change (40%) today- if after 3 days everyone is still alive and happy, perhaps the first set of fish were not as hardy as those from Calgary. They appeared to be healthy, but perhaps were just more stressed? Odd- they had been at the RD store for nearly 2 weeks... If I had toxins in the water from the stones or something else, I'd have expected the other cories or the other angels to also become sick.

I tried to attach the specs a a doc, but was not succesful sorry about the munged table-text paste...

Here is info I rec'd after an inquiry to City of Red Deer. They do use Chloramine. To whom it may concern, For your information I have attached a document with the average water quality parameters for the City of Red Deer drinking water supply. Chloramine disinfection is used in the City's water distribution system. Total Chlorine Residual will range between 1.20 - 1.80 mg/L, depending on water age and temperature. Phosphate levels in municipal drinking water are typically very low or undetectable. This is due to coagulant chemicals such as Alum or ferric chloride that are used in the treatment process. These chemicals react with phosphorous to form an insoluble precipitate, that is removed from the water supply. Phosphorous in the source water can occur naturally (Usually in groundwater), or is a result of human activity in a watershed. High levels of phosphorus can promote the growth of algae and weeds. Phosphorus in drinking water is not regulated in North America and its presence is not typically monitored. I hope this information is helpful. Please let me know if you have any further questions. Regards, Randy Reaman WTP Supervisor ---- Water Quality Units City of Red Deer Limit Parameter Drinking Water Colour TCU <5 <=15 Hardness as CaCO3 mg/L 173 - 192 <=500 pH 7.87 - 8.05 6.5-8.5 Total Dissolved Solids mg/L 190 – 224 <=500 Turbidity NTU 0.1 – 0.3 <=1.0 Arsenic mg/L 0.0003 – 0.0004 <=0.025 Calcium mg/L 45.3 - 48.7 no limit Free Chlorine Residual mg/L 1.2 – 2.2 >=0.2 Copper mg/L <0.001 <=1.0 Fluoride mg/L 0.66 - 0.81 <=1.5 Iron mg/L <0.01 – 0.02 <=0.3 Lead mg/L <0.0001 <=0.01 Magnesium mg/L 14.6 - 17.2 no limit Potassium mg/L 0.9 - 1.4 no limit Sodium mg/L 4.6 - 8.1 <=200 Zinc mg/L 0.002 – 0.004 <=5.0 E.Coli Not detected 0 Total Coliform Not detected 0 Giardia Not detected <=1 Crytosporidium Not detected <=1

Great info RD. I note that the instructions state that when you add the Sea Chem Prime to the TANK rather than to the new water prior to adding, you have to base the amount on total tank volume rather than on the new water addition volume. Since you are adding ro remove chloramines as well as chlorine, a double dose would be called for, and 2 capfuls would be the appropriate amount for a 55 gal tank. Since you have the fancy kits, perhaps you might want to try adding the Prime to the new ater first- as an experiement- at the regular dosage, and lert us know the results?

Curioser and curioser: My nitrate levels were about 20 ppm. pH was higher than I thought, at about 8.3. Without any plants, I understand there is no realy nitrate remobal process other than water changes, so these levels must be fairly close to what I had when I had the fish losses. Did the trip to Golds. Bought some Sea Chem Prime. Looks like good stuff. Acting on my kit level readinhgs and a strong does of intuition, I added 3 very nice black veil angels- twice the size, twice as nice and half the price of the RD store. They seem to be doing very well, along with my surviving angel, FOUR cories (one reappeared from somewhere) and the presumed plecostomus...? I also picked up an Ebr Jagr heater to replace my cheapo- and I asked if it was completely immersible. Yes. But when I get it home- I see it has a wter line just like any heater I have owned in the past. I want rto sink this thing behind the rocks- is this a bad idea?

Thanks for the tip. Looks like good stuff. And, yes, Golds is where I was heading! 1 vote for angels. The cory was the first to die. I'm just futilely trying to see if it is indeed nitrate. Tonight I should know- or at least I'll know what the levels are now.

here's a question: who would be more susceptible to high nitRATEs: panda cories marble angels clown pleco ??

Thank you everybody. No new losses today. 3 cories and one angel still hanging out. Pleco still in presumed hiding (algae tab fragment added after lights out gets eaten- but that could be the cories) Ammonia and nitRITE levels zero. (the kits are fresh). Fish were from RD Petland. All new. Tank was scraped, cleaned with vinegar/ammonia. Pure aquarium grade silicon used to rebuild. Tank was throughly (and I mean thoroughly and repeatedly) rinsed with warm water, and flushed. Tank ran for a week with no fish prior to first round of fish (see gallery), then botom cracked, and I started over. Tank then went through more vinegar washing and rinsing, and had the 13 day fishless cycle prior to 80% change and fish additions. As for the rocks: my bad. Yes, they were scrubbed and soaked and rescrubbed and soaked, but without chlorine. I actually don't keep any in the house - nasty nasty carcinogens created when chlorine encounters organics. Not good for wastewater. Removing the slate is a good idea - the shale should be fine though. I'm leaning towards high nitrates - but I'll err on the side of caution and remove the mortared rocks- very very faint skiff of mortar, not enough to even chisel or scrape off- and should just be cement ingredients, ie pH raise should be main concern, no? Still- it's not worth the risk- I'll get newer clean slate. As a water conditioner I used something from Petland- their proprietary brand. Aqua Pure perhaps? (sorry- at work right now, can't check) - removes chlorine and chloramine. I confess that I'm supposed to add 2 drops per gallon, but I usually overshoot that a tad. I don't think there is any danger in overdosing - is there? My pH starts about 8, and with peat I can drop it to about 7.5. It doesn't seem to vary too much- but my pH kit is not accurate at all (spa strips- absolutely horrible "is that orange-red or red-orange? only an exponential difference in pH!"), thus I'm going to get proper pH and nitRATE kits. Q: would there be enough of a pH 'bounce' from 25% wc to stress out the fish? As the fish load dwindled, so did my feeding. I've tried to underfeed a bit- so likely am only overfeeding a little! A nitrATE test kit will tell me more- I hadn't done any nitRATE tests, and this also was my first guess. I had assumed though that the 25% water change every second day would manage the nitrate levels. I did suspect that the nitRATE levels would be high after the cycle - hence the 80% change. And I was worried that the addition of a full tank load of fish would spike the nitrATE levels- so perhaps the 25 % WC every other day didn't handle it? Thanks again all- your ideas are most helpful. Today I go to Calgary (road trip!) and I'll get live plants, pH kit, and niTRATE kit. I'll post the results. Smokey- what's MPO?

thanks. Maybe old tanks don't, but new fish do! help help! See post in fish emergencies.

OK- I'm baffled. Can you shed any light? My fish are dying. this is a newly set-up re-built 20 gal hex. Fishless cycle for 13 days- ammo and nitrite readings zero. Temp constant at 79-80 F. 80% water change prior to adding fish. Fish added Aug 25. See post in photos. 4 quarter sized angels, 6 panda cories, 1 clown pleco. Levels stayed at zero after adding fish. Checked daily. 5 gal water changes every 2nd day. Lost the first fish - a cory, on day 3. Found corpse. Lost an angel on day 4. Lost an angel on day 5. Cory count reveals only 3 cories. Corpses for missing 2 not found. Vacuumed gravel on day 6 in case of decomposing cories somewhere. Lost an angel on day 7 (today). Ammonia and nitrite levels remain constant zero. I'm getting a more accurate pH kit, and a nitrAte kit to see. pH is about 7.5. Peat filtered water -small bag of peat in an Aquaclear 200. 2 angels that died showed listlessness, floating near the surface, not responding to other fish or food, the day before dying. The 3rd angel didn't show any such signs. Fine this morning, dead this afternoon. No spots, no discoloration, no ragged fins or cloudiness, no distended bellys. Just perfect, but dead, fish. Except the first cory corpse. He appeared to have been supper for someone. I expect to find the 4th angel dead soon- although it shows no signs of illness at all; its quite normal, aggressively attacking dried red grubs. Remaining 3 cories are similarly active. Can't see the clown pleco today- but that is to be expected. So - is it me? Is there something in the tank? Washed natural gravel from Burnco, slate and burgess shale. Some faint mortar residue on the slate - could this be the culprit? These are old old slate bricks- they've been out in the weather for a few years. They don't affect the pH, as far as I can tell. pH is steady I think. No live plants- so I need to check nitrAte levels I think. I'm going to try to get better stock from another shop- but I want to be sure I'm not condemning them to die!

Thanks. My camera is sooooo slow- it shoots about 3 seconds after I have the shot composed. Very hard to get good pics. The white balance just can't handle the tank lighting - I have to Photoshop them for anything decent. I'm getting a new bulb, but with a single tube- I don't think it will help much, but it may increase the spectrum, and provide better colour depth. My 4 angels became 2 much more quickly than I thought - I have had a 50% loss in the tank. The angel shown above was the second to go. It was my fave. I also lost 3 of the 6 cories. Pleco is fine tho. Given the daily water tests, and 5 gal partial changes every second day - I'm not too happy. I can see the angels not being thrilled with the pH (7.5), but they appeared nicely acclimatized, and the remaining fish show absolutely normal behaviour and appearance. I'm baffled. But I won't be exchanging the dead angels for more at that store. I'll wait until I can go to Calgary and get better fish for less money. I'll try the cories though. Only found 1 cory corpse - no trace of the others.

Before: I had cleaned and rebuilt the old broken hex, and blithely stocked it with the old gravel, etc, along with some abused cycle fish: black ruby barbs. Unfortunately, the bottom cracked- probably a pressure point, and I woke up to a soaked basement and dead fish. Careful rethought, research, and rebuild, and here is try#2, after an amazing fishless cycle. It's probably old news now, but I am still so enthused about this way of starting a tank! No abused fish, and I was able to add everybody at once. After: Tank has plastic plants now until I can locate some low light plants: Java fern, anubias... 4 angels (to become 2), 6 cories, and 1 clown pleco Babies:

Back in the hobby after over 10 years with only pond fish. With the sad demise of my last goldfish, and a move, I'm back to tropicals. Can't believe how much has changed! Great to have forums such as this one. Biggest change since I last did this: fishless cycling! Great idea. After only a 10 day cycle - plus a few dyas for paranoia, I just added fish to my little 20 gallon hex- all at once, and ammonia and nitrite have stayed at zero (!!!) Next biggest change: the amazing variety of fish available to the hobby, and excellent information. No longer at the mercy of my lfs! So, while I continue to research and save up for my African cichlid 90+ tank- I am the proud owner of a newly set up S.A. community in the old renovated and re-siliconed 20g hex - bad idea the glass is soooo old. purely sentimental reasons. It's just not a great shape for much. and hard to aquascape!!: 4 angels (growing out a pair) 6 panda corys 1 clown pleco I really would like a pair of kribs (my former dabble) or rams- but I know that there is not really room, and the corys would harass them if they bred. Tank #2- probably in the spring: minimum 90 gallon. Would like about 125 gal. No more than 175g. I'll post in WANTED. Would love anyt help from local fishkeepers when I set up the mbuna tank. Don?