I JUST moved here, so I haven't been able to test the actual water yet, my water at home wasn't hard or anything, the pH was good at home. When I tested the TANK pH today, it was around 8, which I feel is too high. I might pick up a gallon or two of spring water, just to make sure. I'm also going to do a test on the actual tap water to see what the pH is coming straight out of there, could be because it is city water.
He does have one really clear split, it was just the little chunks that fell off that concerned me. It looks like someone pulled a few of the fringes off. (I call them fringes, because I have no idea what they're actually called :P)
I really need to get my heater from home because I can't leave their hood light on all the time to heat the water :P It's surprising how well it works....
I'll go do a test on my tap water, see whats going on there.
Now THAT was a really helpful post :] Thank you. I already took out the prickly plastic plants, the others don't have rough edges or anything he could do damage on. The filter is not on his side, its on the Calvin's side, its on the lowest setting. I might do real plants, I just need to get paid first and do a little research on how to maintain them, because I don't want to jump into it and cause issues in my tank. The hood doesn't allow me to have the intake and outtake on opposite sides, Calvin is good with the filter because he doesn't have as many fins as Bleu, I had Bleu on the filter side at one point, and within 10 minutes he was stuck to it, even on the lowest setting. I've never seen Calvin struggle or get stuck ever. So thats not an option. I'll continue to do the water changes and test. I feed them high quality frozen blood worms, and sometimes they get the frozen brine shrimp/spirulina/bloodworms mix. I'll stop using salt, I wasn't using to much, but you are right, don't want resistance issues. As for the source water, I just tested it, pH is a 7.6 and zero on everything else. I don't have KH/GH test kit, but I'm sure I could bring my water to a place that tests it and get it tested. I think I'll stick to bottled for now, just to be on the safe side. Or I could just bring buckets from home. :P
I wouldn't use just bottled water-but you could do a 50/50 mix with your tap/bottle water along with the dechlorinater and be fine.
Your pH is fine and best not to try and change this with chemicals- Its the Kh/GH is what will tell you if you have hard or soft water not the pH anyway...
Sometimes the long fin males-especially the CT and VT can have issue with use of their fins to swim and with water movement-Somewhat like the flag in the wind effect and it has nothing to do with water quality, however, maintaining water quality, nutrition and temp will help prevent secondary infections and support a strong immune response.
Not all Long fin males have these issue-a lot is related to genetics....
I would add a good quality pellet food to their diet along with your current foods and if you have access to live mosquito larva-offer several rinsed for one meal a day to boost protein intake.
I hate putting chemicals in my tank, it ruins all the bacteria thats been growing! So I avoid anything with chemicals. I'll switch out a gallon of tank water for bottled with a little stress coat tomorrow.
Thats why I'm asking my landlord if she knows if we have hard or soft water, I don't have a kit for that. I have a good quality flake that I feed them a couple of times a week. I try to switch it up every 2 days. I don't have access to mosquito larvae. Do I need pellet or is the flake ok?
I hate putting chemicals in my tank, it ruins all the bacteria thats been growing! So I avoid anything with chemicals. I'll switch out a gallon of tank water for bottled with a little stress coat tomorrow.
Thats why I'm asking my landlord if she knows if we have hard or soft water, I don't have a kit for that. I have a good quality flake that I feed them a couple of times a week. I try to switch it up every 2 days. I don't have access to mosquito larvae. Do I need pellet or is the flake ok?
Agreed like anti algae would kill my Marimo. But you can give fish a little drinking but long term it does not have the proper minerals.
I hate putting chemicals in my tank, it ruins all the bacteria thats been growing! So I avoid anything with chemicals. I'll switch out a gallon of tank water for bottled with a little stress coat tomorrow.
Thats why I'm asking my landlord if she knows if we have hard or soft water, I don't have a kit for that. I have a good quality flake that I feed them a couple of times a week. I try to switch it up every 2 days. I don't have access to mosquito larvae. Do I need pellet or is the flake ok?
Good quality flakes are fine-the more varied the diet the better.....
The less chemicals the better........ IMO/E the only chemical additive you need is a good quality dechlorinater that covers both chlorine and chloramines......
Also, check with the landlord if they have a water softening unit hooked up on the water and if so, what kind it is and if you can bypass it to collect water to use for the fish.
But now I'm even more alarmed, because Bleu's has gotten a little worse since the water change and now Calvin has a rip in his tail as well... It's not as clean as Bleu's, but it's a big ol rip in his tail..
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