All's Well...

My tank seems to have recovered fine from the filter mishap. Before my water change today the Nitrates level was under 20ppm and the Nitrites were at 0. This tells me that the bacteria have resumed their work. The water clouded up briefly but soon cleared up again.

I was listening to an archived version of PetFishTalk Live hosted by the Bailey brothers. They webcast a weekly talk radio show every Wednesday and if you haven't listened to them I would suggest giving it a try. They do have some good tips and a considerable about of fish keeping experience. Anyway, they suggested that when filter conditions are not favorable for good bacteria growth that they will go into stasis until such a time that conditions are right for them again. He said that on a bio-wheel that has stopped spinning for more than 24 hrs the bacteria will go into stasis. When conditions are favorable they come out of it. He said that it might take about 24 hours for them to start working again.

Anyways the fish have started eating in my tank again and I always view that as a good sign.

It Could Have Been Bad

This afternoon I went down to feed my two guest fish and to my surprise the Oscar did not meet me at the top for food as has become his custom. He looked stressed and stayed on the bottom of the tank. I just did a water change the evening before so I was surprised and then it dawned on me...the tank was silent.

I had gotten into the habit of turning off my filters when I do water changes and I did that the night before....I forgot to turn them back on again. I tested the water and the Ammonia level was very high. The nitrate level was about 20 ppm and the nitrite level was 0 ppm.

I turned on the filters again and did a 25% water change. I'll have to watch the tank closely. I hope I did not kill off all of my biological filtration. I figure the filters were off about 16 hours.

Tank Chemistry

I did a 20% water change last night. This morning my tank has the following readings:

NH3 .5 PPM
Nitrate 20 PPM
Nitrite 0 PPM
PH 6.8
KH 80
TH 425

I'm posting this mostly to keep a running record of it. I should also point out that I am using Amquel Plus. This product has been known to produce a false positive on some test kits. I find that to be very annoying.

More pictures and an update

I've talked much about the Oscar in my 38 gallon tank. Here is the pleco in my tank. I've not given him a name....what kind of name does one give to a pleco? He is in his favorite location in the upper right corner. 9 times out of 10 I will find him in there when I come to check on my tank.

Anyways, I have been fighting a high NH3 level since about Friday. I only did one water change last week and with the amount of waste these two fish produce coupled with the smallness of the aquarium, that was a mistake. I did a quick 20% water change on Friday and this time I treated the water with Amquel Plus rather than Stress Coat.


The Pleco does not seem to be showing any signs of stress, however, the Oscar (Siggy) is twitching every so often. I'm not sure if this is because of the water quality or if he has some sort of brain damage resulting form the number of time he was transferred from tank to tank. He is eating very aggressivly (he is a pig) so that is good I guess. He would not eat at all on Friday. I also added a bio-wheel filter to the tank on Friday, so now it has two filters (a bio-wheel and a Fluvial 205 canister). I eventually plan to use the bio-wheel in my 20 gallon. It can't hurt to get it cultured in this tank first.

My 20 Gallon Tank

I am getting ready to set up my 20 Gallon tank. I am not sure what kind of fish I am going to put into it. I was thiking about Zebras, and maybe some neon tetras. I have not had much luck with neons in the past, but I do like them when they are in a big group.

I'm thinking that I would like to try my hand at settign up a planted tank, which is something else that I have never had much luck at. I need to do more research on the subject I think.

Still Looking Good

Sigmond was wating for me this morning. His appitite had increased over the last few days. This is a good sign. He usually is pretty shy; when I open the hood to feed him he hides away. Not today though. He almost took the food right out of my hand.

The tank is still very clear. I have not done a water change since last Friday. I have a scheduled water change set for tonight or tomorrow. I'm also going to do filter maintenance as well. I am going to change the carbon and one of the two filter pads. I'm not going to toss the old pad though. I am going to use it to start my 20 gallon cycling.

Sigmond the Sea Monster

Here is a pic of Sigmond. He is a 6 inch Tiger Oscar.

Here is another view:

You'll notice the bubbles behind him. I added a bubble wand to the tank and he loves it. He spends a great deal of time swiming in the bubble stream.

Fishy Update

Hey, the 38 gallon tank still looks clear and the Oscar is doing better. He is twitching much less and is eating. The pleco seems to like the new driftwood decoration that I have added.

I have given the Oscar a name. The one he came with was "Stupid". The person who was fish sitting him named him that after she added him to her tank with another Oscar. He took excpetion to that and got aggressive. That is why he is now living with me.

I've changed his name though...."Sigmond the Sea Monster". If anyone out there is as old as me they will recognize the name. I loved that show when I was a kid.

As soon as I get my camera working I'll try to take some pictures and put them up here.

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Cycled At Last

My cloudy tank finally cycled this weekend. The water is crystal clear. I did daily 20% waterh changes for the better part of last week becasue thge water got so clowdy and the fish were looking very unhappy. I still have concerns about the Oscar that I have in there. He is not swiming like a fish in good water. Sometime he sits on the bottom. He also has a periodic twitch that worries me.

I went to the cities this weekend and bought some aquarium supplies. I also bought a black background for my 38 gal as well as a driftwood tank decoration.

I picked up some Amquel Plus and a water test kit. I have been using Stress Coat as my water conditioner. I wonder what other people thinkabout stress coat.

I bought a new filter for my 20 gallon tank. I hope to get that set up this week. It is going to be a freshwater setup. I think that I am going to buy another 20 gal and try settgin up a saltwater tank. I want to start small since I have never done salt water before.

Back in the Hobby Again

After several years of being away from tropical fishkeeping I am juming back in with both feet. I got out of the hobby about three years ago and now that my fllor was redone I decided to set up my 38 gallon aquarium again.

My original plan was to keep my favorite fish in it. Angles, Zebra Danios, and Silver Dollars. Sometimes thebest laid plans go astray, however. No sooner had I gotten the tank set up and filled did I get a call from a friend. Her nephew was being deplaoyed to Iraq and he had an Oscar and a Pleco that needed a temporary home.

So, now I am fostering a 5 inch Oscar and a 4 Inch Pleco for the next 18 months. What about my angles you ask? I am making plans to set up my 20 gallon aquarium now. I'll keep you posted.