On 4/21/05, Gary Lange <rainbowfish4u2 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>=20
> When you don't keep up with your water changes bad things happen. Fish=20
> become succeptible to things in the tank that normally wouldn't bother th=
em.=20
> The females have already gotten used to living in a toilet! The other fis=
h=20
> in the tank may also be a bit more resistant. This is the complaint of=20
> newbies into the hobby. The fish in my tank, which I haven't changed in 2=
=20
> years are fine. When I add new fish they die, WHY? Same argument. I reall=
y=20
> don't buy the phosphate argument though. Just stop whining and get him to=
=20
> start doing his water changes ;-)
>=20
Well, if it is San Francisco water then phosphate is unlikely to be a=20
problem anyway. http://www.sfbaaps.com/reference/dixon_01_01.shtml
The likely problem is infrequent water changes. There is another=20
possibility, but I don't know if this happens in the SF area. My area=20
dramatically increases the addition of chloramines in tap water in the=20
spring. They don't tell anyone, either. I've had to double the amount of=20
Amquel that I use.
Liz
Soft water fishes in the wild and in our fish room. In the wild, most of th=
e=20
> time they are getting 100% water changes every second. It's not really th=
e=20
> low pH that causes the problems in our aquariums but the stuff that cause=
s=20
> the pH to go low, fish waste etc. He may have screwed around too long=20
> already so it may be too late for that male. I'm not sure if it was=20
> mentioned but Pseudomugils in general need a little bit more care than th=
e=20
> average aquarium fish. Hopefully they're getting something besides just=20
> flake food in his tank. Live baby brine shrimp. Cyclops-eze, chopped=20
> bloodworms are all helpful. Live daphnia will bring out the best breeding=
=20
> performance in any Pseudomugil, ditto for mosquito larvae. But I think=20
> that's probably a secondary problem and not the primary one. Have him=20
> perform a 2-3 50% water changes a couple of days apart and then at least=
=20
> once every week and see what happens. I wish I could tell you that I alwa=
ys=20
> do 50% weekly water changes on each of my 80 some odd tanks but I don't. =
At=20
> least I "get that" and when I see a tank isn't looking particularly perky=
I=20
> do a quick check on the tank parameters, pH being the easiest and with my=
=20
> low KH the most reliable one that tells me to get off my arse and do some=
=20
> water changes. When I mess up I'll also go back and do a second 50% chang=
e a=20
> few days later. I guess that is the difference between a good aquarist an=
d=20
> the "wantabees". Not knocking your friend but this is the way it's been f=
or=20
> the last 30 odd years I've been in the hobby. People don't want to take t=
he=20
> time to change their water, they want to buy the snakeoil stuff from Tetr=
a,=20
> they'll buy $40 worth of medicine as their fish are now sick from the nas=
ty=20
> water, but they still won't do the proper water changes. The meds only ma=
ke=20
> the situation worse. They'll claim their water is too hard, too soft, too=
=20
> high, too low, too hot/cold, too much phosphate... Nitrates, nitrites and=
=20
> ammonia definitely are a problem but in most instances (not all, especial=
ly=20
> from wells in the farm belts) not in the water that you're adding to the=
=20
> tank. If he had even a little bit of ammonia in his tank then he definite=
ly=20
> had a water quality issue. BTW I think I would recommend that he uses a S=
an=20
> Fran produced product called Amquel (Kordon) when he does those water=20
> changes. If his tank has ammonia and is acidic it's not healthy. But if h=
e=20
> does a 50% water change and the ammonia that is left is still above norma=
l=20
> levels increasing the pH (via the water change) could be toxic w/o someth=
ing=20
> to help tie up the ammonia. BTW make sure you DO NOT use an ammonia test =
kit=20
> that uses Nessler reagents as they test false positives for any ammonia=20
> treatment. Tetra makes a fine reagent for testing for ammonia as well as=
=20
> others that don't rely on that reagent. If you can get him to do his big=
=20
> water changes let us know in a few weeks. If not try and convince him tha=
t=20
> fish "screen savers" are much easier to care for!
> cheers,
> gary lange
>=20
> *Tom Ray <t_a_ray_cissp at yahoo.com>* wrote:
>=20
>=20
> I find these responses interesting. I too believe water /
> environmentals are critical. That's why I previously got him to
> change his water. That's why I am also a bit "A.R." about things like
> that.=20
>=20
> 1) As for me... I don't currently test for phosphates. So do you
> think phosphate testing my water before I make my weekly water changes
> might add value?=20
>=20
> 2) If phosphates are high, what remedy do I then take?=20
>=20
> __________________________________________________
--=20
Breakthroughs are not achieved through consensus thinking.
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Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
On 4/21/05, Gary Lange <rainbowfish4u2 at yahoo.com> wrote:
When you don't keep up with your water changes bad things happen. Fish become succeptible to things in the tank that normally wouldn't bother them. The females have already gotten used to living in a toilet! The other fish in the tank may also be a bit more resistant. This is the complaint of newbies into the hobby. The fish in my tank, which I haven't changed in 2 years are fine. When I add new fish they die, WHY? Same argument. I really don't buy the phosphate argument though. Just stop whining and get him to start doing his water changes ;-)
Soft water fishes in the wild and in our fish room. In the wild, most of the time they are getting 100% water changes every second. It's not really the low pH that causes the problems in our aquariums but the stuff that causes the pH to go low, fish waste etc. He may have screwed around too long already so it may be too late for that male. I'm not sure if it was mentioned but Pseudomugils in general need a little bit more care than the average aquarium fish. Hopefully they're getting something besides just flake food in his tank. Live baby brine shrimp. Cyclops-eze, chopped bloodworms are all helpful. Live daphnia will bring out the best breeding performance in any Pseudomugil, ditto for mosquito larvae. But I think that's probably a secondary problem and not the primary one. Have him perform a 2-3 50% water changes a couple of days apart and then at least once every week and see what happens. I wish I could tell you that I always do 50% weekly water changes on each of my 80 some odd tanks but I don't. At least I "get that" and when I see a tank isn't looking particularly perky I do a quick check on the tank parameters, pH being the easiest and with my low KH the most reliable one that tells me to get off my arse and do some water changes. When I mess up I'll also go back and do a second 50% change a few days later. I guess that is the difference between a good aquarist and the "wantabees". Not knocking your friend but this is the way it's been for the last 30 odd years I've been in the hobby. People don't want to take the time to change their water, they want to buy the snakeoil stuff from Tetra, they'll buy $40 worth of medicine as their fish are now sick from the nasty water, but they still won't do the proper water changes. The meds only make the situation worse. They'll claim their water is too hard, too soft, too high, too low, too hot/cold, too much phosphate... Nitrates, nitrites and ammonia definitely are a problem but in most instances (not all, especially from wells in the farm belts) not in the water that you're adding to the tank. If he had even a little bit of ammonia in his tank then he definitely had a water quality issue. BTW I think I would recommend that he uses a San Fran produced product called Amquel (Kordon) when he does those water changes. If his tank has ammonia and is acidic it's not healthy. But if he does a 50% water change and the ammonia that is left is still above normal levels increasing the pH (via the water change) could be toxic w/o something to help tie up the ammonia. BTW make sure you DO NOT use an ammonia test kit that uses Nessler reagents as they test false positives for any ammonia treatment. Tetra makes a fine reagent for testing for ammonia as well as others that don't rely on that reagent. If you can get him to do his big water changes let us know in a few weeks. If not try and convince him that fish "screen savers" are much easier to care for!cheers,gary lange
Tom Ray <t_a_ray_cissp at yahoo.com> wrote:
I find these responses interesting. I too believe water /
environmentals are critical. That's why I previously got him to
change his water. That's why I am also a bit "A.R." about things like
that.
1) As for me... I don't currently test for phosphates. So do you
think phosphate testing my water before I make my weekly water changes
might add value?
2) If phosphates are high, what remedy do I then take?__________________________________________________
Do You ------=_Part_914_19870229.1114106813007--