3 MORE fish DIED!

**D-Bo Dre** · 03-29-2007, 06:14 PM

Originally Posted by goodcents

My hats off to you for being able to put together a reef tank that small, every thing has to be perfect

ps anopther reason I would never have a party at my house

(mostly I can't stand people

)

Thanks, it took me a while to get it to where it's at now.. I just added a Marine Beta a few days ago.. It's so tight! I'm just keepin an eye on my Maroon clown fish b/c he is a fu*ken bully!! Attacks anything that goes near his bubble anemone..

**IronReload04** · 03-29-2007, 06:18 PM

Originally Posted by taiboxa

im not even sad anymore IM JUST ****ING FURIOUS! 600$+ gone just like that kuz? iono i test the water ammonia is high but they give false positives all the time too depending on the type of ammonia so iono.. i think im gonna just start going POSTAL and shooting people till i get up to bout 600bux worth of deaths that way ><

give em some tren .....that aughta strengthen em up

***Doc.Sust*** · 03-29-2007, 06:33 PM

Originally Posted by D-Bo Dre

Thanks, it took me a while to get it to where it's at now.. I just added a Marine Beta a few days ago.. It's so tight! I'm just keepin an eye on my Maroon clown fish b/c he is a fu*ken bully!! Attacks anything that goes near his bubble anemone..

got a picture of the beta?

**singern** · 03-29-2007, 06:47 PM

Originally Posted by D-Bo Dre

Thanks, it took me a while to get it to where it's at now.. I just added a Marine Beta a few days ago.. It's so tight! I'm just keepin an eye on my Maroon clown fish b/c he is a fu*ken bully!! Attacks anything that goes near his bubble anemone..

If you get another Clown they will fight each other and leave the other fish alone.

**alphaman** · 03-29-2007, 06:59 PM

Originally Posted by singern

If you get another Clown they will fight each other and leave the other fish alone.

So you're a reefer huh? Me too! Well, I've got a nano reef.

Freshwater is whack.

And on the clown -- make sure you get another maroon (they're the most aggressive clown) that is a little bigger than the one you already have so he can hold his own when you put him in.

**taiboxa** · 03-29-2007, 09:00 PM

Originally Posted by D-Bo Dre

Next time instead of spending $600 worth of fish all at once u should make sure ur water is good and maybe one fish at a time.. softens the blow bro..

i had them all for like 2 years .. wasnt like i introduced them into krappy water... im pretty anal bout my tank.

also i have many many real plants in there Goodcents.. gotta have real plants makes it PRETTY

**taiboxa** · 03-29-2007, 09:02 PM

Originally Posted by alphaman

Freshwater is whack.

there arent any bichirs for salt water so salt water is whak

**taiboxa** · 03-29-2007, 09:19 PM

Originally Posted by Bojangles69

If you could read or find the ingredients in the plant food Id really like to know. I found more than a few companies who fell WAYY short of thier claims and we had to stop ordering from the manufacturer because of it.

So Im dying to know what form this nitrogen is coming in, if its not nitrates Im guessing it may be urea but see if it says on the plant food. Now as to the fish breathing for air.

Realize this. ANY dissolved salt or gas will force oxygen OUT of the water because like 95% of any salt or gas you can think of has a higher solubility rate than oxygen. So even too much plant food can force out O2 so make sure your using the right dosages. And the crazy part is this.

The rate of absorption of plant food to plant is proportional to the amount of plants you have in the tank. And If your doing weekly/monthly plant food doses and the plants arent eating all the food quick enough, you essentially will have a slowly but constant rising level of plant food.

Now the manufactures say its not harmful to fish. But either is a little bit of salt. But too much of ANYTHING will kill a fish, and often it doesnt take a lot of any dissolved salt to force out enough O2 to kill fish.

Now ammonia CAN exist in an acidic environment contrary to logical belief (because ammonias naturally basic). Im not gonna get deep into the chemistry BUT you can have a neutralized salt that creates an acidic ph (neutralized salt doesnt mean its neutral, again Im not getting into the chemistry unless your really interested)

But you will have an acidic ph (from the salt) with the basic ammonia but the ammonia and salt are nonreactive to each other thus the ph stays acidic while the ammonia continues to rise.

But the ammonia will still show up on a strip test so thats always your reassurance.

And for some reason just from what Ive seen I dont think its ammonia spikes. When ammonia spikes it doesnt just go up and dissappear, its spikes UP and STAYS UP.

Unless you have something in the water to treat ammonia (other than the crappy ammolock products that dont work) Than yes it will actually fluctuate up and down. But if your not testing positive for ammonia Id ditch the whole ammonia issue as even being a problem.

Im actually concerned with first the plant food, and second the ph (again im not sure what these fish require and it wont make a drastic difference but..)
on average should be around 7.4-7.6 for most fresh water fish than 8.2 for african cichlids.

If hypothetically speaking your breeder/distributer keeps these fish in anything (you said your tank was 6.8-6.9) less than a 5.8-5.9 or ABOVE 7.8-7.9 the fish can be going through ph shock. More likely though his ph would be higher, but I always test the breeders water before I put my fish in (except for ammonia because it will be flawed) my tank to make sure NOT that my water chemistry is PERFECT but to make sure my water mimics the breeders water than I slowly adjust it back to ideal from there. And YES A LOT of breeders have TERRIBLE water.
If you worked in some of these major distruting places youd realize why.

But those are just some of my thoughts/opinions.

as for my fishguy he is phanominal. i have known him for years and he is a die hard.
the nigrogen supplement i use and works great is a potass. nitrate, urea mix.
my tank is very heavily planted as bichirs need plants and stuff to lay on so they can be closer to the surface, as for PH they can tolerate practically any so i try to keep it on the acidic in since they are huge eaters/poopers
i do water changes bi weekly and add plant supplements 2x a week usually right after water changes.

as for treating ammonia lol i have found nothing works better than frequent water changes and an increase in airation.

**D-Bo Dre** · 03-29-2007, 09:23 PM

Originally Posted by taiboxa

i had them all for like 2 years .. wasnt like i introduced them into krappy water... im pretty anal bout my tank.

also i have many many real plants in there Goodcents.. gotta have real plants makes it PRETTY

ohh aight, you did'nt mention that.. and yeah,, REAL plants are the way to go!!

**D-Bo Dre** · 03-29-2007, 09:25 PM

Originally Posted by Doc.Sust

got a picture of the beta?

I'll try to get one up 4 yA,

**taiboxa** · 03-30-2007, 03:00 PM

welp after talking w/ my friend who is practically a fishwhisperer lol we concluded that i added too many plant supplmeents all at once.. where as usually i add lil by lil through out the week.. i added potassium,nitrogen,carbon,phosphorus and one other thing.. which was too much to do all at once.. even though i did do a 35%waterchange that day

which basically forced the O2 outta the water just like BoJang said welp.. live and learn (though i have kinda 'frontloaded' my plant food before .. i guess it was just a matter of time)