Very first tank (planted, low tech)

[megwattscreative]

Hello lovely people! Very happy to be back on UKAPS with you wonderful folk.

A PLANT UPDATE:
The tank is doing very well with good growth everywhere. There's a few yellowing leaves from the emergent plants, but I think this is due to submersion rather than an iron issue. I have noticed some holes in aquatic leaves - I have a huge (and unchecked) snail population that I'm not quite sure what to do with. It's all the new plants I've added, which would make sense as they were most likely grown emergent. For example, the corymbosa has been dropping a few leaves/they are being removed and floating to the surface - I'm noticing floating portions of leaves that appear to have been chewed/cut off.




I've removed the big papyrus (as it was getting a bit ridiculous!) and am thinking about adding some small monstera Dubia cuttings to the back wall to grow out. The creeping fig is doing really well and I would love to expand on this look. My partner has also (fairly) taken offense to the dripping aspect of the drip wall, so something to cover the non mossy patches would be ideal.

A PEST UPDATE:
Any idea 1.) if I need to reduce the snail population, and 2.) how to do that?
Also, if anyone has any recommendations for planaria traps (DIY preferable) that would be fab.

A FISH HEALTH UPDATE:
since altering the filtration and tannin levels etc, everyone is doing really well! dad and I are pretty sure the ick entered the fishtank with fish from the store. My brother is returning my old nano cube so I will set that up as a quarantine tank for future purchases to avoid this happening again.

One of the cories (I've taken to calling him raggedy man) is still looking pretty worse for wear. His condition hasn't worsened, but his tail is not regrowing and he still has a white patina on the right side of his head/mouth. I also think his eye might be slightly swollen, but it's honestly difficult to tell due to the patina. I've tried to upload some decent pictures for evidence.


(He is feeding in the first photo which is why he looks to be in a funny position). Any advice on how to treat him? All of the other fish in the tank are doing very well, regrowing fin loss etc. The raggedy man is still swimming, eating and doing all of the Cory things, but his swimming is definitely hampered by his tail and his body has a slightly curved appearance when swimming. I'm wondering whether to try treating with medication again, or whether to increase tannins and live food to see if that helps? Water parameters are all good (unchanged since previous posts) and the temp is at 22°c. As soon as I get the quarantine tank properly up and running I would like to get some more Corys, partly because I think they might be my favourite fish, but also in case this dilutes any bullying behaviour.

A FOOD UPDATE:
I don't know quite what I'm doing wrong, but I seem to be terrible with both grindal and micro worms. Any advice on raising strong cultures in the early days is welcome! I'm currently attempting to culture daphnea from my neighbours pond, as I at least have a renewable resource of these to support the culture.

Thanks all for your support and advice, so happy to be back 🙂

 

[Wookii]

I don't know quite what I'm doing wrong, but I seem to be terrible with both grindal and micro worms. Any advice on raising strong cultures in the early days is welcome!

Grindal worms should be fairly straight forward - you just need a decent sealable shallow tub, with some holes in the lid stuffed with cotton wool or similar to stop them escaping but allow airflow. Half fill it with damp coconut coir, and then just feed the worms regularly with dry cat food pellets. I have some cultures coming on for 4-5 years old now on the same coconut coir, no smell or any issues, and they produce tens of thousands of worms.

 

[ElleDee]

It's not an ongoing culture, but hatching bbs using a dish is super easy! You just need non-iodized salt and a light. A pinch of baking soda, if you need to alkalinize the water. The dish is shallow enough you don't need to add air and I've never supplemented heat, though I hear that speeds up the hatching.

 

[megwattscreative]

HELP NEEDED: CORY ILLNESS

As a further update to the raggedy pygmy cory, I've noticed some very small white spots/growths on the pygmy Corys barbells, pectoral fins and anal fins. It's affecting 3/6 Corys, with the raggedy man definitely looking the worst. One of the Corys has 2 on his anal fins, one has some on a barbell and one on a pectoral fin.
Here's a photo of the barbell one:



The raggedy man has the damaged tail, 2 spots on his anal fins, 2 spots on his barbells and the white patina on his head. There's pictures of him in the previous post.

The white marks don't look like the white spot/ick before: the white marks are much smaller and more irregular It's almost impossible to get a picture with my camera but this post looks similar, only on a much smaller scale. Could it be flukes/nematodes? If so, this forum recommends prazi pro - what are your thoughts?

 

[ScareCrow]

I'm not the best at fish ailment identification but to me it looks like grains of sand on the barbells. If that is the case I'd suspect something is irritating the fish making it produce extra slime coat.

 

[megwattscreative]

I'm not the best at fish ailment identification but to me it looks like grains of sand on the barbells. If that is the case I'd suspect something is irritating the fish making it produce extra slime coat.

Hi scarecrow, thank you! I'd agree, however it's also on the anal and pectoral fins. To be fair these are all on the bottom of the fish, so it could be? One of the Corys also has a white patina, fin rot/damage and (possibly) swollen eye, which I don't know if it's related to an irritated slime coat? I've attached some pictures 🤔 he's looked like this for some time, i treated the tank a couple months ago with Esha ick X and Esha 2000 and everyone else recovered. The raggedy Cory is still swimming, feeding, resting etc, but he's still looking unwell and the new sand grains/marks are a new development.

 

[Gerald Buswell]

Corydoras and related can be susceptible to bacterial infections, I think that is the issue with your fish.
I am not sure what is available to you but, maybe Esha(?) have a product… I see you have been using their stuff, so perhaps another treatment will help. Personally I like to use salt, but that’s not an option with plants.

 

[Bradders]

Hopefully someone has seen this before and can hone in on the diagnosis. I can’t work it out from the picture but I agree it’s odd (or a clue) that the bottom dwellers are seeing issues on the bottom of the fish. Finger in the air? Bacterial related - but I have no idea for sure.

I do have some frozen shot-gun medication that I can send you if everything else fails. It’s mixture of several drugs mixed in the food (including an antibiotic) which is a ‘last resort’ to feed the fish for 10 days - hence it’s shot-gun and somewhat un-targeted. But if everything else fails …..

 

[megwattscreative]

Hopefully someone has seen this before and can hone in on the diagnosis. I can’t work it out from the picture but I agree it’s odd (or a clue) that the bottom dwellers are seeing issues on the bottom of the fish. Finger in the air? Bacterial related - but I have no idea for sure.

I do have some frozen shot-gun medication that I can send you if everything else fails. It’s mixture of several drugs mixed in the food (including an antibiotic) which is a ‘last resort’ to feed the fish for 10 days - hence it’s shot-gun and somewhat un-targeted. But if everything else fails …..

Thanks bradders, that's really kind of you!! I will see if anyone can find a diagnosis before I go all guns blazing. I haven't lost any of them, so it's not dire, but I would prefer to keep them happy and thriving! Can't wait for the quarantine tank so I can avoid this in future 🫠

 

[PARAGUAY]

Think l would try esha2000 again, but the quarantine aquarium will be a good way to go

 

[ScareCrow]

Sorry for the slow reply. I'd guess that it's bacteria causing irritation and then the slime coat trapping grains of sand.
I'd have a bit of a gravel vac round the bottom of the tank. Is there a possibility that some food has gone uneaten and is trapped under the structural leaf litter?
I believe I've fallen fowl of the same issue recently but with bacterial colony in my canister filter hoses. As you have a matten filter you obviously won't have that issue.

 

[megwattscreative]

Food in the leaf litter is definitely a possibility, although the fish & snails usually clear it up. No apologies needed, thank you for the advice!

 

[megwattscreative]

A SAD UPDATE

Its day 2 of dosing Esha 2000, but unfortunately I haven't seen the raggedy man in 3 days. I searched the tank today (just looking in with my phone torch) and sadly found his body. I'm pretty sad about this, and definitely don't want to lose any other fish, but I am at a bit of a loss: I did everything that I could think of, and everything that was suggested, for this poor cory 🙁

I've removed his body and will continue to dose with Esha 2000 until the tank is completely clear of any infection. The other corys are looking a hell of a lot less sandy - their slime coats are almost back to tip top condition, and they are cosily shoaling, resting on leaves, eating voraciously and doing all of the Cory things quite happily. Based on what I read on the ESHA website and your help, I'm almost certain the raggedy man had a bacterial/fungal infection, possibly combined with protozoan parasites.

I am seriously hoping this is the last bout of illness I have to deal with for a while!!

My main takeaways from this process have been:

1. QUARANTINE NEW FISH

I know this is obvious, but as a newbie buying from a very reputable LFS, I just assumed everything would be ok when adding new fish to the aquarium. I'm not 100% sure, but @dw1305 and I ascertained (after he'd seen the tank) that the bout of ick and fin rot a couple months ago were almost certainly the result of adding new fish with quarantining and observing. I'm pretty sure I bought them after they had just come into the shop/just moved out of shop quarantine. What I thought was a marking on some of the corys I now realise was most likely an infection they had in the store. All of the other fish totally recovered with treatment, but the raggedy man never regrew his fins and began declining rapidly again about a week or 2 ago. He was still behaving normally (feeding, going up for air etc), however his visible symptoms were worsening and he unfortunately did pass away in the last couple of days. If I had quarantined the Corys before adding them to the main tank I could have prevented the spread of any illnesses, recognised the health issues of the raggedy man before he got so raggedy and potentially have preemptively treated. My brother is going to return my nano cube, which will become my quarantine tank. In future, all fish and plants will be quarantined before going into the main aquarium, and I'm going to consistently sterilise botanicals in boiling water. I'd rather not risk introducing any illnesses (or more planaria).

2. TANNINS, PLANTS, WATER CHANGES, FILTRATION

More tannins, more plants, more water changes, and improved filtration made a huge difference to recovery speeds before I even medicated. Oak and beech leaves were hugely helpful, as was changing with rainwater whilst medicating. When it comes to blackwater fish, my motto for tannins is now the same as plants: you can never have enough. Increasing surface agitation by bulking up filtration made a huge difference to water quality, plus the higher flow helped distribute medication. Adding more plants really helped to reduce stress and aggression too: as @dw1305 rightly says, there's probably no such thing as a peaceful fish, so more hiding places made a massive difference. (It has made me question how anyone with an iwagumi set up manages to avoid all out warfare, but that's a question for a different thread).

3. UKAPS IS POSSIBLY THE BEST RESOURCE EVER
Ukaps has been an invaluable resource in working through this period of illness as a beginner. When I signed up to this, I had absolutely no idea how bloody stressful keeping fish could be! I feel very responsible for these tiny little lives and want to give them the best experience in a tank possible, and I'm hoping I'm getting better at it. I am hugely grateful for all of your advice, support, concern, patience and knowledge. I have still made a predictable amount of mistakes (so far) as a first time fish keeper, however it has definitely been a lot easier and a lot happier/healthier for all involved, thanks to your advice. I have no idea how anyone successfully manages to keep fish without this resource. Essentially: thank you!!

I am sincerely hoping that this is the last sad/illness-related update I will have for some time, and that the tank will chug on quite peacefully from now on (with the additional cautions of quarantining etc). The raggedy man was the only fish still looking visibly ill, so now he's passed, I'm hoping the infection will clear up from here on out. Thank you all again so much for your advice and support! Hopefully it will get better from here.

Ps. I've added in a little video and some photos I took today post finding the raggedy man. Trying not to get too disheartened - hopefully the rest of the fish are all actually thriving (as they seem to be).

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,
Sorry to hear that @megwattscreative , your small tank is at home, as Tom can't have pets.

Cheers Dad

 

[megwattscreative]

Hi all,
Sorry to hear that @megwattscreative , your small tank is at home, as Tom can't have pets.

Cheers Dad

Yes think mum is bringing it up in October 🙂

 

[Bradders]

Its day 2 of dosing Esha 2000, but unfortunately I haven't seen the raggedy man in 3 days. I searched the tank today (just looking in with my phone torch) and sadly found his body. I'm pretty sad about this, and definitely don't want to lose any other fish, but I am at a bit of a loss: I did everything that I could think of, and everything that was suggested, for this poor cory 🙁

I am really sorry to hear that. Please don't feel too bad or defeated; there are some you cannot save no matter what you do—and you have done everything right since identifying an issue. In fact, you saved a lot more than you lost due to your actions.

When it comes to blackwater fish, my motto for tannins is now the same as plants: you can never have enough.

I have some blackwater fish (Cardinal Tetras) and have kept them alive for (so far!) 18 months with good filtration. I honestly think that good, clean water (and a dirty filter!) is the key to success with them.

Increasing surface agitation by bulking up filtration made a huge difference to water quality, plus the higher flow helped distribute medication. Adding more plants really helped to reduce stress and aggression too: as @dw1305 rightly says, there's probably no such thing as a peaceful fish, so more hiding places made a massive difference.

It is truly amazing how filtration, flow and plants make a difference!

It has made me question how anyone with an iwagumi set up manages to avoid all out warfare, but that's a question for a different thread.

I often wonder about this aspect. I spent an hour in my new local fish shop, looking at various single-species tanks, which were massively overstocked but had fish that were getting along nicely with no aggression. I did this when choosing my Platys some time ago to check health and there was no aggression despite the crowded space with no decor. I got 6 of them home to a bigger tank, more plants, more decor and they have never stopped getting upset with each other!! They actively seek each other out to harass each other!! Go figure?!

 

[megwattscreative]

Hi all, just a small post because I'm incredibly impressed with the size of my peace lily - most of the leaves on the lefthand plant are 30cm long at least. I've had the lid on to help with humidity, but now the leaves are burning on the lights - what to do? It's definitely not a bad problem to have, very happy with the growth 🙂

 

[OllieTY]

If the peace lily will stay ( And I think it should, it looks great) then maybe some more selective pruning to stop the leaves reaching the light is the only course of action. It's obviously a larger growing variety with nice big leaves like that ( there are dwarf ones available) so this will probably just be part of ongoing maintenance!

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

but now the leaves are burning on the lights - what to do?

hen maybe some more selective pruning to stop the leaves reaching the light is the only course of action. It's obviously a larger growing variety with nice big leaves like that ( there are dwarf ones available) so this will probably just be part of ongoing maintenance!

What Ollie says, just remove them.

cheers Darrel

 

[OllieTY]

I think you can normally find the dwarf varieties in supermarkets and Homebase, and repot that big fella to enjoy him outside the tank!