[The Dude1]

One of many things that does stink about this hobby. You never know what's going to cause new fish stress and if that stress is going to kill them. Hope it pulls through for you though.

So this morning one of the emperor's was dead on the circulation pump and a second had a patch of fungus. I did a 60% water change and suddenly everyone looks happier and healthier. All 3 Rams ate this morning and it looked like everyone else did. I really dig the Furcata's but I don't know why. They are small and female guppy like except for the males... when they flash... but when they flash... wow... and those big blue eyes... So I checked a couple local places and no luck on any front. So Mika and I did the only reasonable thing... we drove to Tampa again LOL! Unfortunately they only had 2 Emperors... so I got them and they said they'd have a big group on Thursday. So know I've got 7... I think 10 more... I also got 4 more Furcata to give me some type of school as they are schooling group fish. Lastly no male Rainbows... as I was talking to the lady she mentioned that she had seen me in the store like 5 times in 2 weeks. She asked what I wanted... we started talking about rainbows and she said she probably won't get more in because she can't sell the females. Then she mentioned she had 1 male Millennium Rainbow in the back that she was considering for her own tank! She let me buy him and said she would likely get Bosemani in again when she could get larger specimens to check out there colors a little better. I gave her my number and asked her to get in any good males that she could find and I would buy them. Pretty cool. I know the fish farm that she gets them from, but they don't allow you to select just males.. have to buy a group... but they are very high quality. I'll probably look into my online options. Lastly I saw a gorgeous pair of Apisto's Caucatoides Triple Red... that weren't for sale. Again she said she would get me an equivalent pair if I would like. I've ordered them twice and both times they didn't make it. This was from a highly reputable Apistol breeder who refunded my money BOTH TIMES INCLUDING SHIPPING. It's just too far and if I do overnight I'm paying like $100 for 2 fish... but man am I excited to get them... definately going to breed them and set up a smaller tank for the fry. I'd never seen them in person...
Lastly I picked up some whisker shrimp to help with cleanup and uneaten food until I get numbers up in the tank and suitable plant mass to stabilize the water parameters.
Stock now is
3 Bolivian Rams
1 Millennium Rainbow
7 Furcata Rainbowfish
7 Emperor Tetras
4 whisker shrimp

Plan to add
Pair of Apisto Caucatoides
3-5 more Furcata Rainbows
10 more Emperor Tetras
Maybe 10 Nerite snails
6- 8 Oto's

I'll snap a pic when everyone settles in

 

[The Dude1]

Looks like both new additions didn't make it. They were smaller than the others, but looked good in the store other than being the last 2 and not happy about only being a pair. The one with fungus made a full recovery after nothing but a water change. The Furcata's are one tough fish! They haven't skipped a beat! I read that they were delicate, but from my experience they are quite hardy. They have split into 2 schools with one dominant male per group. The Millenium Rainbow isn't happy being the only fish of his size. He appears to be sulking. I may check a couple local places today if I get a chance, but I don't want sub par stock and Ive hit all the good LFS places. Maybe Ill find a gem at a Petsmart that is out of the way. More than likely a Bosemani, but I would like a few of them anyway. I'm about to mix up breakfast. Bloodworms, NLS pellets, and Omego One flake. If the Rams eat today like yesterday I can confidently say they are out of the woods. Stems are growing quickly. Ill snap a shot in the next couple of days for sure.
I need to replace the heater from the syno tank asap. You just don't see much in there unless its feeding time. I expected more action as there are 13 in there with nothing else. Perhaps they would be happier with cohabitants?

 

[The Dude1]

I'm certain I'm having a mini cycle. Did a water change yesterday and got set up to do another today.. and the lights starting getting screwy... then one wouldn't turn on. I'm done trying to reinvent the wheel. Took everything off and returned all 3 fixtures and the case of bulbs. After thinking it through I decided to use the Marineland fixture and the Beamswork fixture from my 150 as well as a 36" Ray2 I had laying around. I can then use just the Beamswork for low light night viewing. My 150 is 5 feet by 2 feet and it just wasn't cutting it with 48" fixtures. I swapped them all on and I really like it. I think it will be more than adequate for high tech. I then bought an FSPEC and a DHL fixture from Amazon. They wont be here for a few days, but the bolbitus is obviously dying off. I'm not sure if its a high tech only thing, but I cant grow it. I'm going to transfer some to my little tank with DIY CO2 and glut to keep it alive until I can grow some in one of the 75 gallons once I get my CO2 system. I really wanted one of the fixture that does sunrise and sunsets and thunderstorms, but it would be about double the price. Ill get a custom set up built for a 300+ gallon once I finish Med School. Fish seem to be doing alright. I added another bag of bio media from my 150 to the AC70. With two bags of bio media I hope that ends the mini cycle, but we will see. I may hook up the 2217 from the lower 75 if I need to. Cycles suck

 

[The Dude1]

I've got a 3 bulb T5 Catalina fixture on the bottom and the bulbs are probably 18 months old, but that sure doesn't look like 3 T5 bulbs...

 

[lisals]

Your tanks are looking really great
Really hope the added media helps.

 

[The Dude1]

Your tanks are looking really great
Really hope the added media helps.

Thank you. Everytime I consider setting up a tank I dramatically underestimate the cost. I really had to get most of the stuff other than the tank. I haven't gotten close to where I want it to be stock and equipment wise. I'm going to force myself to wait at least 1 week with no losses before I purchase any fish. By then I should know my scholarship situation for next semester and I can get at least the CO2 and ferts setup. 10 more Emperors and maybe 5 more Furcata's to start. That should put the groups where I want them. I'm going to keep an eye out for some nice male Rainbows, but I'm not holding my breath. It would be great to find a place that carries good stock and would allow me to select males and that also carried some nice Apisto's. That would make the overnight shipping much easier to swallow. As it stands I'll probably wait for the LFS to bring some in for me. The Triple Red pair that they had in one of their planted display tanks was breathtaking. I would have given them $100 on the spot.
The Apisto's will be the last to be added and Ill make sure to add some moss covered cichlid stones for them that I already have. I need to pick up some flame moss and get working on those. I'm going to rehome the puffer and the dwarf gourami and use the 11.4 as a fry rearing tank.

 

[lisals]

You're in Florida right? I would think it would be easy to find some good LFSs there. Well.. if you're in or near the busier areas. Hopefully the place you've been going will get some nice ones in for you
There's a LFS here that will do special orders for customers, but their tanks are a bit janky and not taken care of very well which is a shame.

You are right... I think a lot of folks underestimate how expensive all of this ends up being. And it is so damn hard to have patience!

 

[The Dude1]

You're in Florida right? I would think it would be easy to find some good LFSs there. Well.. if you're in or near the busier areas. Hopefully the place you've been going will get some nice ones in for you
There's a LFS here that will do special orders for customers, but their tanks are a bit janky and not taken care of very well which is a shame.

You are right... I think a lot of folks underestimate how expensive all of this ends up being. And it is so damn hard to have patience!

I think comparatively speaking there are a few here. Most are saltwater. The place in Tampa is almost 45 minutes away, but it is spectacular.
Lost another Ram and a Furcata today. Ive done instant cycles on tanks many times before using established filters, but it just isn't happening this time. I'm done adding fish. At least until I get the CO2 system and by then the tank would have to be cycled. Doing another water change now. With the amount of media and plants I am astounded that I am having such problems.
Good new is that one of the new lights will be here tomorrow for my 150.

 

[lisals]

Ugh. I'm sorry you're losing so many fish. Probably is best that you don't add anymore right now until your tank gets sorted out. Frustrating when the old media bacteria isn't doing what it should lol. Maybe add a dose of Prime every day will help keep the remaining fish healthy.

 

[The Dude1]

Ugh. I'm sorry you're losing so many fish. Probably is best that you don't add anymore right now until your tank gets sorted out. Frustrating when the old media bacteria isn't doing what it should lol. Maybe add a dose of Prime every day will help keep the remaining fish healthy.

Ive been considering that. Right now I'm doing a water change one day, dose of Prime the next day, then water change the next, etc... I'm just completely dumbfounded that with all this media that I'm likely still having ammonia and / or nitrite. Plants are growing exceptionally well.
I was making excuses trying to blame the losses on the store, but the Furcata's have been there for weeks and were in perfect health. The fact that one could not make it through is a good indicator of conditions. It these 2 Rams do alright I will be somewhat placated. I wanted a pair and more than a mated pair didn't work in a 75 for me previously. The Millenium Rainbow is eating like a pig, but the Rams are still passive. They seem to be eating a little here and there. I guess its fortunate that I wasn't able to buy the large schools all at once. If I only lose 1 Furcata and what... 3 Emperors... well and of course the 2 Rams... I guess that's not too terrible.

I may bring some water samples to the store next week to ensure that ammonia and nitrite are at zero before I get the group of 10 Emperors.
Any idea how much longer I should wait to add other fish for the biofilter to catch up? I don't know as much as I thought so any insight into that would be appreciated.
Adding 10 Emperors 5 Furcata and 3 or 4 Rainbows may overwhelm the biofilter again

 

[The Dude1]

Third Furcata Rainbow dead. Obviously I made a huge rookie mistake and overestimated the amount of bacteria in the set of bio material that I added to this tank originally. To make sure this doesn't happen again lets review the loss of life and cost.
2 Bolivian Rams @ $7 each
3 Furcata Rainbows at $9 each
3 Emperor Tetras at $3 each
So a grand total of $50 completely thrown out the window by not using a test kit and thinking I could wing it.

Ive accepted total and complete failure and have moved my 2217 from the synodontis tank below to this tank. The synodontis tank still has the AC70 but has been setup for 3 years or more with the same substrate, rocks, etc.
As I can not fit another HOB onto that tank due to its placement I will need to look into another canister.

I'm still going to wait a week or more to ensure that I don't have some super cycle going or something else. As long as I havent lost any other fish I will add to the emperor tetra group and hopefully put an end to my losses on Friday.

 

[mbkemp]

We all learn hard lessons. When in doubt test water, change water, test again


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[The Dude1]

We all learn hard lessons. When in doubt test water, change water, test again


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes. I feel very foolish. Ive been doing planted tanks for 10 years... I havent had to cycle a tank in years as I always have substantial media. It just didn't work this time and I didn't want to look at the circumstances objectively. I hope it wont happen again. Hopefully the remaining fish are healthy enough to make it and we can put this behind us.

 

[mbkemp]

I feel ya. My second tank got me. Fortunately everything in it was hardy, prime a water changes and they all made it. If they live and we learn then the hobby gets stronger in my opinion


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[lisals]

I'd say once your tank seems stable for about a week, add in one group of fish at a time and give it a week or 2. Let the tank and new fish settle in. Get a test kit though.. at least just the ammonia and nitrite ones so you can be sure of what is going on with those 2.
I also would reduce feedings for a few days too... or maybe even for a week depending on how the tank is handling everything.

 

[The Dude1]

Lost another female Furcata. Everyone else seems pretty happy. Not buying fish is tough. To help I'm going to put the money I would spend into my secret squirrel regulator account so I should be able to pick that up in 2 weeks. I'm not buying anymore fish until the C02 is set up... I hope. I found an online retailer that has EVERYTHING I want... except they "try" to sex Rainbows... I don't want females I don't think. I would really like to have the Bolivians and Apisto's breed, but I'm not fooling myself about the Rainbows. We will see. Maybe I'll just do the Apisto's and Emperor tetras, but that's not really worth the overnight shipping

 

[The Dude1]

Life has officially beaten me down. I go to school full time and had hoped to start Med School next fall. This semester is over in less than 2 weeks and I've maintained my 4.0 GPA. In the last several weeks my Mother learned that she has 3 tumors on her lung one of which is the size of a tangerine, 2 brain tumors, and a tumor wrapped around her carotid artery restricting blood flow. She did not share this information with me willingly. She was diagnosed with terminal cancer 24 years ago and miraculously beat it. She went in for surgery in Thursday. It went well, but she went into a fib Saturday. Yesterday at 4pm she had a massive stroke. They were able to remove 99% via surgery, but there is no information as to the degree of damage that it caused. She said that she never wanted to live after having a stroke... She and her husband have a substantial life style completely dependant on her income. I feel like I'm getting hammered from every end. If I could crawl into my aquarium I would do it. She got a little puppy a week ago to help her through the cancer treatment. I don't even know what I should hope for.. I'm just not ready to lose her. She is the youngest 60 you can imagine. She could easily pass for 45.
I need some kind of escape and I think this is likely this most positive outlet. I can't concentrate at the gym I can't concentrate on my studies... I've just lost my path. I think I may just do the PA program and get my Masters so I can start on my new career with a minimal amount of debt. I could finish my PhD while I'm working. I really wanted her to be there to see me earn the title of Doctor...
I ordered ferts today. Obviously it's something I had to do so I might as well start dosing now and get the hang of it. I'm thinking of starting with 1/2 EI due to my reduced plant mass and no CO2 right now.

 

[mbkemp]

I am sorry to hear of your troubles. Praying for your mom and you


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[lisals]

Ugh, I'm sorry about your mom. That's rough. I hope she's gonna be ok.

 

[The Dude1]

Thank you, but the news was all bad. I may just buy the CO2 system now to give me something to focus on. They did brain scans and there is massive damage. She doesn't want to live like that. Her brain is also swelling so they want to remove a large portion of her skull to give it room. That's sounds like nothing but suffering for her and I will not do that. I am trying to distance myself from this so that I can make the right decision and not what I want.