Ichthyosporidium

While it is interesting to see that other people's techniques are working for them, I am giving a general principal that is a good starting point for beginner and novice hobbyists. As you know, once a person has kept a tank for a while, you get to know what the tank will and won't put up with for maintenance. This reminds me of an experiment my father carried out with and for me when I was about nine years old to better understand the concept of variability (some of us know it also as the chaos factor). When I questioned my father about why some tanks do well and others are a problem to the point that they have to be shut down and restarted when we allways follow the same routine and proceedure? He explained to me that variables that were not apparent to us at the time can ultimately affect the outcome of every tank's sucess. He brought out (5) ten gallon tanks. The tanks were setup on a table, right next to each other. The setups were identical. The same filters, the same lighting, even the gravel and media were measured so that all was as homeostatic (the same) as possible. We seeded the tank with water that contained sponge squeezings from a large sponge filter from our pond. We then added (2) goldfish to each tank and maintained them by using the exact same method we used for all tanks we kept. Over the course of one year, the results were as follows: Three tanks were problem free, one tank had to be shut down and restarted twice to which we lost (2) goldfish each time and one tank had a nitrite spike at around the three month period resulting in loosing one goldfish. The point to all this was to show that no matter what technique you use, there is no one hundred percent effective method to maintaining all aquariums. What I suggest is within safe parameters of maintaining a tank when you still do not know the nature of that tank. When you become more familiar with how your tank responds to different techniques and you are confident that it will work for YOU, then go with it. Fortunately, we have nowadays, superior filtration equipment that create a bioreactive environment that is usually found in bodies of water many times the volume of the tank that it is filtering. This makes for a more forgiving situation when it come to water changes and cleaning the gravel. I was used to having box filters and undergravel filters for cutting edge technology when I was younger. These types of filters are absolutely inferior to the power filters we enjoy today and as such, I had to be careful to the extent of maintenance being done on the tank as the balance was that more delicate back then. The advice given by me might be deemed overly cautious in today's standards but it has proven to me that it is one of the safer approaches to keeping a tank and has been for new aquarists that have come to me for such advice.

Carbon is used to take out the finest of particulate. It will remove pigments, medications, and a host of other contaminants that are too small for the prefilter material (sponge, ceramic rings, lava rock) to pickup.

I want to add to my prior statement. If you do a 50% water change on a healthy, balanced tank and nothing else, guess what!? You will get cloudy water. Why do you get cloudy water? Well, when there is a mass vacancy in the tank, you will have a bacterial bloom. This is where bacteria will rapidly multiply to fill the void that is created from such a mass amount of water being removed from the system. Once the bacteria reach an equillibrium, the water clears again. Just because the water appears clear does not mean it is sterile. It is also a time where other, less desireable, microscopic organisims have a chance to establish themselves due to the absence of the nitrifying (good) bacteria. So not only does any practise that allows for as many nitrifying bacilli possible to remain after the maintenance is performed, a good thing for the environmental aspect of the tank, it also reduces the likelyhood of many types of pathogenic bacteria and fungi from establishing themselves in the tank.

Actually, the water is full of bacteria, just not in the concentrations you see in your substrate and filter media.

Actually, I spoke to the brother of the old owner, there isn't a brick border. The two long sides go up against the wall....the entire pond is covered in this cement-like material used to cover decks and pick up truck boxes...apparantly it was set up for years like that with no problems. Forgive me if this is a really stupid question.....but would it be possible to keep a small species of stingray in this pond? As for the dimensions of the enclosure, it is suitable, although it is a bit shallow as you will need at lest 4 to 6" of sandy substrate. The other concerns are temperature fluctuations and water quality. With such a wide surface area and shallow conditions, you migh have trouble maintaining the temperature and if you are able to maintain a temp at around 25 deg c, then you will have mass evapouration and that could make stable water quality a problem as you would be adding water almost daily to compensate. The humidity would be detrimental on your house also.

By doing filter maintenance and a water change at the same time, you risk removing too many bacteria all at once. The likelyhood of upsetting the balance in the tank increases. This is by all means not allways the case, but by staggering maintenance schedules, you further insure that your system stays balanced.

Checkout this site, they have over 100 years experience in garnet abrasive technology. Garnet chemical analysis Incidentally, the form that Iron is in Garnet makes it virtually inert in water. Baisically, Your great, great, great, great, great, great, great.......great grand children might notice a change in the heirloom substrate's iron decomposition, although I even doubt that.

A 20% water change per week is a good average. Do not include evapouration as part of the water change. This means that if you had a 20 gallon tank, you would, at 20%, remove 4 gallons of water. If you had 1 gallon of water evapourate, you would add 21 gallons total. Make sure you do not do a water change and filter maintenance on the saame day. Optimally, it is best spread out by a three day margin or longer, depending on maintenance schedules.

...and you know this HOW Toirtis? :P I would assume because he is a guy. It was the first thing I usually found out in a new city :hey: :welcome: to the group fun fun for all to be had here! :beer:

Do a 20% water change and test in the morning, if it is still high, then change anither 20 to 25%, depending on results

Most likely then it is the ferts you added, as Midgetwaiter said.

Is there any dead or dying leaves? or as Nandopsis said, What is your feeding schedule?

How long have you had this tank running for?

Welcome :welcome: to the site, I hope you enjoy it as much as I Have and all of us regulars for that fact :thumbs:

First though, Synodontis family First though, Synodontis family

To buy or to "happen upon"? To buy: I would suggest Burnco. Parkalnd Nursuries had some around that size when I worked there so you might want to try. To find some in the great out doors, you might have to travel west of Rocky Mtn. House to places such as Abraham's lake or even the Shunda creek area between Nordegg and the Lower Shunda camp ground. A little closer to home, you might want to check Glennifer lake area as there is a fair amount found there also.

My whole point to starting this thread was to point out that feeding live foods is alright. I just think that the care given to live foods should be the best possible, prior to being fed. It's enough that the organisims will meet their fate in a short time without making their last days as miserable as possible. I equate this to beef producers who give their livestock more than enough room to grow with high quality feed and clean conditions. So that the cattle are healthier overall which in turn produces a better product for consumption.

I was raising cichlids when you were still soup in your daddy's n~!$, so yeah, I am familiar with the way many CA and SA cichlids eat as with the way a great many others do also. It is just the way you protayed your first post. Anyway, you are entitled to feed your fish the way you see fit. I am in no way trying to persecute people for the choices that they make, just planting seeds of thought is all.

I like watching my salvini stalk and take down feeders, its quite a thing to see. so im a bad person now. Let me put this into perspective. You feed fish that you know will take a long time to be killed so you can enjoy the kill that much longer when you know that you could feed white cloud minnows or other small feeder fish instead....... I am not the one to judge here but when you know there are better options (which I am assuming you do)than the one you choose just to appease your self-indulgence....Think about it anyway. The last time I checked, there was no captial punishment for fish, crickets, worms, etc. So what is your point? I am not talking about emulating human attributes to an animal or plant here, I am just saying that you should recognise life for what it is an act accordingly to which I hope that most people do.

Personally, A singular tiger oscar is a good choice. They are intelligent, recoginse their owners, and even tame to being hand fed and even being 'petted'. Personallity to the point of seeing emotion is displayed and is a given with this species.

I decide to start this thread in response to another thread so it wasn't being hijacked. Live food, most of us have fed this to one pet or another. Weather it be a mouse to a snake, crickets to a frog, fish to other fish. It is arguably an interesting way to simulate natural feeding, which brings out a very primitive and basic response for many creatures we keep and in some cases it is the only way. Now, It is has been argued that the organisims used for food, are being tourtorously handed their fate. Yes, it is true that some predators do not instantly kill their prey, but for the majority of predators, they hand out the feeder organisim's fate in less than a blink of an eye. Life, no matter what it's allocation, deserves respect and appreciation. It doesn't matter if it is an apex predator, primary producer, or even a decomposer. All organisims deserve equal respect. For example, Cyanobacteria are the oldest know organisims to inhabit the earth (oldest fossil records date back to around 3.5 billion years). They are also microscopic and very annoying when I have to clean my reef tank's glass because of it's prolific nature. I appreciate and respect this group of organisims because all of us would not be here right now if it was not for this simple, little bacteria. Why you ask? Well, before these bacteria, the earth's atmosphere was not hospitable to life as we know it. It was cyanobacteria that engineered our atmosphere so life could progress right to this day. Here in Alberta, we should appreciate cyanobacteria even more as cyanobacteria are responsible for much of the oil and gas we use and prosper from. When you see life for what it is and it's reason to exist, your respect and appreciation for life increases. We are dependent on the diversity of life that this planet offers as it all works togeather to create life as we know it today. We as humans, having being gifted with highly cognitave reasoning have a responsibility to ensure that respect and dignity to all forms of life is given untill it's purpose here is fufilled. I have been asked by many people as to how I can use live food for feeding many of my pets I keep even with the level of understanding (which is not much) of this planet and the interaction of organisims that make up daily life here on Terra. I see feeder organisims for what they are, food for other animals that eat living organisims. Just like I feed decaying vegatable matter to my African fire millipedes, I feed live insects, adult, sub-adult, or larval, to many of my pets at home. I also feed some feeder fish to some of my marine inhabitants. I feed worms, crustacea and insuforia to those creatures who normally consume similar food in the wild. Although these organisims that I offer have a short time to live, I still give them the best home and care possible. Why should we handle and give the best care for the live foods we use in this hobby? Aside from the ethical aspects, you put out only as good as you put in. The quality of foods, dead or alive, should be of concern to the hobbyist. Lets face it, if you offer sickly, malnourished and just simply abused live foods on a regular basis, you are increasing the likelyhood of having sickly predatory fish, frogs, snakes, birds, or whatever prefers to eat live foods, or any food for that fact. True, predators do pick off sickly and injured prey in the wild, but we as humans do not have to be a contributing factor in this equation. Mother nature is brutal enough. For those of you who do not agree with the use of live food, remember that any food you feed your carnivores, omnivores, and even herbivores (plants are alive too) have organisims that were killed to make the food and the respect for all that give up their life for another to continue sould be a given, no matter what form it happens to be in. An act of simply not supporting a buisness who carries out unecessary suffering to any animal is a good start. Also, educating those who are unaware of the situation but can make a difference, such as the owners, the media, or even the person who is actually carrying out the acts to which suffering is incurred, is a good start.

Equivocating apparent tourturous handling to a normal, quick death.... ...Hmmmmm..............Don't you think that life, no matter what it's allocation, should be respected? After all, those fish, even if they were to be used as feeders, should be given some dignity as they are giving up their lives to continue on the survival of another species. Like you said, it is all a matter of perspective, I guess... :eh:

Bright light is essential as it does best in outdoor ponds in full sun. Because of it's gregarious nature in optimal conditions, it requires a fair amount of nutrients. This plpant is key in algae control in both indoor and outdoor setups as it does two things. One, it creates shade and prevents sunlight and or broad spectrum light from penetrating too far so that algae has minimal light to photosynthesize. Two, it absorbs mass amounts of nutrients, especially phosphates and iron. Again, this reduces the nutrients that the algae (and other plants) would utilize and grow on.

Keep us posted on any reults!

What you are using should be adequate. The watts per gallon should only be an estimate as it is not too accurate as far as actually calculating and exact formula as there are too many variables to consider for an accurate formula. Just make sure that if you use a glass protector (sliding glass top or glass lens) to keep it clean. If you have your bulbs exposed to the tank directly, then wipe off the bulbs every week with a vinegar and water solution. Try and experiment by changing one bulb to a sun-glo. You might be surprised by the results!