Brown on my fish?
PWC’s, while maybe annoying to fish, is nothing compared to the stress they feel from having poor water quality (elevated ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, hormones, etc.).
In your follow-up reply, you identified your algae eater as a CAE, which technically should be called an IAE (Indian Algae Eater) since they are not from China. http://fish.mongabay.com/species/Gyrinocheilus_aymonieri.html They grow to over 10″ and need a large tank. They are tolerant of harder water so the salt should not bother them but maybe someone else will chime in on this. I don’t recall ever reading anything about not using salt with CAE’s.
You should probably get a heater for the tank so it will maintain a consistent tropical temp of 78-82F depending on the average needs of your fish. Especially in smaller tanks where the water can change temperature rapidly depending on the room temp. I have a blog where I did an experiment on a 10G with a simulated heater failure in the stuck off position and then in the stuck on position to show how fast the water temperature drops and/or rises. If the temp changes more than 1-2F per day, some fish will start to show stress or succumb to bacterial issues. Water getting too cool, too fast, is also a common cause of an Ich flare up.
Have you taken either of the free online tutorials I have listed on my blog “A to Z of fish keeping”? Since you are trying to learn, it would be well advised for you to take these tutorials.
Yes, if you over clean your filters, you could put your tank into a mini-cycle. While it’s best to rinse out your filter media in removed tank water or dechlored tap water, rinsing it with your tap water for a short time period will usually not kill off all of the nitrifying bacteria… if the tap water is around the same temp as the tank. If you used hot water, that would kill off the bacteria quicker. While I don’t recommend thoroughly washing off the filter media, especially for newer tanks, unplanted tanks or tanks with a single filter system, your chlorine/chloramine levels in tap water do not instantly kill bacteria so some should survive.
If your filter system will hold two cartridges, then it is a good idea to have two running all the time so you can alternate thoroughly clean one every couple of weeks. If you can’t fit two cartridges, then get some extra filter media (floss pad, sponge, bio-balls, etc.) and leave it in the reservoir so it stays fully cycled at all times. This is also a good way to have extra media always cycled if you need to set up a Q-tank or H-tank or new tank.
You should probably start keeping a log of your tanks, test results, things done to the tanks, etc. When I first started, I use to keep a spreadsheet on my computer to log all of my test results and events. Once you have a tank set up for a while and learn a proper regimen for the tank, then you can slack off on keeping all of the numbers or even doing tests but for the first six months or more, it’s a good idea to test regularly so you will learn how fast the water quality is deteriorating, etc.
Yes, you NEED an ammonia test kit.. especially as a newbie and with new tanks. They do sell the API individual test kits and I think the ammonia kit is around $5-7.00 at Petsmart.com and the local stores will match the online price if you print the page.
Lenny Vasbinder Fish Blog - http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com
Category: Philippines Internet Koi Society
