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re: Stripped Down Tank (Long)

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>Date: Fri, 31 Jul 1998 12:53 +0800
>Subject: Stripped Down Tank (Long)
>From: Kenny Song <kensong at pc_jaring.my>
>To: Aquatic Plants Mailing List <Aquatic-Plants at actwin_com>
>
>
>------------------
>>Two things I notice. Removing all the fast growing plants all at once
>>probably lowered the oxygen content of the water by quite a bit. I did this
>>once without thinking of the consequences and lost fish due to oxygen
>>deprivation. Second thing is that 40% water changes once a *week* sounds
>>like way too much for a heavily planted tank. You kept your water unstable
>>by doing that. 25% every 2 weeks should be plenty.
>
>The Cabomba was first pruned, then thinned out before being removed. That
>was 2 weeks before the outbreak. My frequent water change never really
>showed any signs of discomfort to the fishes because they are especially
>active after a change. Also the excellent book -Nature Aquarium World Vol
>1-3 by Takashi Amano
>recommends a 50% water change weekly!!! so I thought I was already being
>conservative and those books had tanks with the loveliest plant and
>aquascaping. >
>
>>
>>Fish gulping for air is always serious. Siamese algae eaters (I presume
>>that is what you mean by "Siamese suckers"?) seem to need lots of oxygen as
>>they will be the first to gasp.
>
>Yes, I think so too, but I never saw them gasp. When I found them, they
>were already dead. Incidently, they had something that looked like hair
>algae stuck to their gills. Those are found on some driftwood. Any ideas? 
>
>>
>>But you do not tell us if you tested the water for high concentrations of
>>anything harmful. What is the pH of your water, the temperature, the KH and
>>GH? How do you add CO2? Do you use fertilizers and if so, what? Is there
>>chlorine in your water and do you remove it when you do changes? Do you
>>make pH adjustments?
>
>My water change is always dechlorinated and the pH is 7.0. My tank pH range
>from 6.4-6.8 day and  night and temperature is between 79o -81o. I did not
>measure KH and GH? My Co2 is dosed manually from a compressed tank at one
>bubble per 2 secs. I don't use fertilizers since I use JBL laterite and the
>tank is still quite new (4 Months). No pH adjustment since I thought the
>range is acceptable.
>>
>>
>>I doubt if complete water changes everyday for 3 days would help anything
>>and you must buy and use test kits....not use fish to *test* the water.
>
>I agree. I put the fish in not to test the water, but to see if they were
>0K back in their tank before I put the rest in in stages. I really thought
>the tank was safe.
>>.
>>
>>I find it hard to believe that all this was necessary. From the information
>>you gave us I suspect that simply adding some aeration and replanting with
>>some fast growing plants would have been all you needed to do. I suspect
>>the fungus is due to stress. Fish stress very easily and your's have been
>>through hell with all those water changes.
>
>
>During the 2 weeks while the tank was without fish, I aerated the water
>well and off the CO 2 but that did not help.
>>
>>It's too bad you did not ask for advice when the fish were gasping for air
>>and I suspect that all this could have been avoided. This is a case of
>>panicing and learning the hard way. Do not dispair. Everyone makes mistakes
>>in this hobby. If you don't have any, buy some test kits and make sure that
>>you have some good books that explain the water chemistry going on in an
>>aquarium.
>------------------
>Thanks for your feedback but I  am still wary about whether I can put back
>those fishes in my newly set up tank and whether my pp treatment of the
>plants is sufficient.
>
>Kenny Song
>Penang, Malaysia 
>========================
>Sent from Newton UMP2K using
>Netstrategy's Enroute v1.4.3b1
> 
>
>
**************************************
http://www.metronet.com/~cyn  in roastingly hot North Texas

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