R.I.P. Cory
Sadly, the sick little Cory did not make it through the night. I couldn't find him in the morning, so I feared he was snacked upon, but fortunately I found him in a deep corner of the new rock dome I bought. I will try to take a small solace (undeserved as it may be) that he died in relative peace, tucked away from his more agressive brethren.
Retrieving him was very little fun, but once I got him out, I noticed his gills were even more discolored than previously. I don't know if this happened pre- or post-death, but I took some pictures to record the illness for further study.
After work, I swung by Petsmart and got sucked in to buying all sorts of things. First off, I ended up getting a Freshwater Master Test Kit that will test pH, high range pH, and more importantly, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. I hesitated because Petsmart offers to do the test free once a month, but I figure the convenience to do it at home as well as the flexibility to do it as often as I need was worth the $25. I also got some more ground cover for my remaining cory and the neons, and got a veggie clip so I can give the otos something more to eat.
Coming home, I brushed off Pepper as politely as I could, and got to testing. First in line was the sour smelling 5-gallon that may or may not have directly led to the death of one of my beloved cories. Ammonia, 0 ppm. Nitrites, 0 ppm. Nitrates.... off the chart! >160 ppm. They should really be below 80 ppm. So yes, the biowheel was doing its job, but there was not enough relief of the nitrates it was producing. I realized the problem was severe enough to do a water change without waiting a day for the chlorine to evaporate out, so I did ~20% water change.
Turning to the planted tank, I ran the gamut of tests again (even though the fish are doing fine and it smells good). This time, the ammonia came in at 0 ppm, but the nitrites came in at 0.25 ppm, which is low, but it should really be zero. Nitrates were probably 40 ppm or less. It's kind of hard to tell since all the colors in the important range of that card look more or less the same. This is a real shame since most of the measurements in a fully cylcled tank will be of nitrate levels in that range. I'm hoping I'm just at the tail end of cycling the tank, and that's why there is no ammonia, low nitrites, and a significant amount of nitrates. I'll check again in a week and the nitrites should (hopefully) read zero.
Retrieving him was very little fun, but once I got him out, I noticed his gills were even more discolored than previously. I don't know if this happened pre- or post-death, but I took some pictures to record the illness for further study.
After work, I swung by Petsmart and got sucked in to buying all sorts of things. First off, I ended up getting a Freshwater Master Test Kit that will test pH, high range pH, and more importantly, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. I hesitated because Petsmart offers to do the test free once a month, but I figure the convenience to do it at home as well as the flexibility to do it as often as I need was worth the $25. I also got some more ground cover for my remaining cory and the neons, and got a veggie clip so I can give the otos something more to eat.
Coming home, I brushed off Pepper as politely as I could, and got to testing. First in line was the sour smelling 5-gallon that may or may not have directly led to the death of one of my beloved cories. Ammonia, 0 ppm. Nitrites, 0 ppm. Nitrates.... off the chart! >160 ppm. They should really be below 80 ppm. So yes, the biowheel was doing its job, but there was not enough relief of the nitrates it was producing. I realized the problem was severe enough to do a water change without waiting a day for the chlorine to evaporate out, so I did ~20% water change.
Turning to the planted tank, I ran the gamut of tests again (even though the fish are doing fine and it smells good). This time, the ammonia came in at 0 ppm, but the nitrites came in at 0.25 ppm, which is low, but it should really be zero. Nitrates were probably 40 ppm or less. It's kind of hard to tell since all the colors in the important range of that card look more or less the same. This is a real shame since most of the measurements in a fully cylcled tank will be of nitrate levels in that range. I'm hoping I'm just at the tail end of cycling the tank, and that's why there is no ammonia, low nitrites, and a significant amount of nitrates. I'll check again in a week and the nitrites should (hopefully) read zero.
posted by k-maub @ 7:16 PM
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