timbruun

So yesterday I had a trapdoor snail die in my shrimp/snail/fry tank. I took it out right away and everyone seemed fine. It was late so I figured I'd do my regular water changes the next day instead, but right before I went to bed I noticed all the shrimp were up at the top sideways and my holding female was at the top looking like it was sucking air. So I did an immediate 30-40% or so w/c and they all seemed better. So today I figured I'd do my w/c on all my tanks and do another couple small ones on the shrimp tank again just to make sure. They all seemed fine until shortly after. They are doing the same thing. What could be causing it? I do notice alot of very small swimming things in the tank. I assume they came with the plants or something and aren't harming anything? There are also slightly bigger swimming things in the water also that resemble mosquito larvae except smaller. I have no idea what shrimp babies look like so could that be them? The tank is a 5.5 gal with a aquaclear 20 HOB on it. No air pumps. I was worried first that that was the problem but should that not be resolved by water changes? Sorry for the long post. Any help is great. Thanks in advance. Edit: It is planted slightly and has mostly hornwort in there now. Lots of it.

Same here. When I first started I would point the end at the thermometer so I knew what it was coming in at. Now I have my taps set close enough and I just check by hand to make sure.

k, thanks jason. I'll keep that in mind if I ever see it again in my tanks.

That fish actually ended up dying. I did constant water changes to keep the parameters in check. Later noticed a bigger hole in the bottom of the fish. Have no idea what caused it. It just seems weird that it would get all rocked up in such a short period when it was doing good for a while. And none of my other fish have had any problems.

How big is he/she? And how long have you owned it?

Like Vallisneria said, just make sure there's nothing added to it and give it a good rinse before hand and you should be good to go.

Don't think it's ticking them off, but they will never stop digging. I find new tunnels under rocks on a regular basis. Especially when breeding time comes along, they dig like crazy. I would just let the holes be. I found it gave the tank a more natural look until they got down to the eggcrate and took the sand from between the squares. Still very neat to watch though.

I've been told many a time that cichlids and plants don't work well together. After much work I've finally got my tank setup with plants and rarely have a problem. All I did was whenever they dug it up I'd move the plant/plants to a spot they weren't digging. I did that practically every morning and every night. Takes forever for plants to get established when this is happening I found. Light plants that float I just used a weight to hold them down in the sand. Now I have the odd plant they dig up and I just put it back. They will eat plants also which makes it more challenging. And what's worse is they seem to really favor new growth so it doesn't give the plant much chance. Just keep them well fed and try different plants if they are eating/digging up the same plants all the time.

Looks exactly like my Ruby Red

@ Ishkabod The pH change is simply from the water sitting. CO2 gases out of the water and the pH gets more basic. My water comes out of my tap at 7.5 or so and after 48 hours in a glass/pail it's at 8.5 or so. You can speed the process up by circulating or but an air stone in the water. I've done tons of reading on it since I've had that problem since I started. I still do about 50% water changes sometimes and the fish don't seem to mind too much. The only ones that seem to not really like it are my Piranhas.

Sounds good. I'll try that later tonight then. I think she's been holding for a day or two already since I was gone for a few days and she looks ready to spit.

What's the best way to catch a holding female in a maze of rockwork? I have a holding Electric Yellow and she's pretty elusive... So I'm just curious if there is a better way than sitting and waiting forever.

Agreed to remove affected leaves. I had some in my tank and just cut them all over and haven't seen any BBA since.

I put some in with them sorry to say...Didn't even think about the petricolas. I wasn't sure about the africans since people have mixed results.

I didn't know petricolas ate snails.... Or is it just Ramshorns that they can get at?

Maybe I'll give them a try.

Looks really good.

In the case of a 13w, would that be enough to grow plants? That's probably my main concern. The fish do fine with any light.

And actually now that you mention it, do they not produce less heat also?

I bought a normal office light for my really small tank since I couldn't find any tank light that would fit where I have it. So my question is will a regular 60w bulb cause any problems? Is it good enough light to keep low light plants? Any other issues that I should know of and if it won't work what else can I use in a regular screw in type light?

It's brown algae/diatoms, and it's actually going through it's course. Tank is starting to get better. I can actually see grey/black on the rocks again.

That's more what I was hoping for I guess. Better a wound than a disease. Double checking water parameters as I type this. Should be all really good since I've been doing frequent water changes to help get rid of algae.

Just noticed this the other day. He isn't eating much either. Well, not coming for food like he used to. Nobody else has it just him. Let me know what it is and what I can do please. Thanks in advance.

Might want to try with a sharp razor. Just make sure you don't scratch the glass.

When you talk 10 times you're talking of what the filter is rated and not actual flow I assume?