Epic fail! And I'm *still* not sure how/why

[OrangeCones]

If indeed it was a pH crash - does "crash" mean higher or lower? Also if it is so sudden, what causes it and what could you do about it? Is the nitrogen cycle affecting the pH so that if one is testing the water regularly it wouldn't or shouldn't come as a surprise?

If it was a pH crash, it would mean the pH was getting lower over time. Not a suddenly lower pH, but a gradual change lower.

The beneficial bacteria cannot live in very low pH (in the 4s I believe), so it could have caused a sudden 'crash' in the beneficial bacteria, so calling it a pH crash is a bit inaccurate. It is akin to suddenly stocking a tank on day one, without having cycled the tank first.

The pH can be lowered over time by: excessive dissolved organic matter in the water and by the normal biological process of the beneficial bacteria and live plants. As the bacteria convert ammonia to nitrite to nitrate, and as the plants consume ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, they all are also using the dissolved minerals in the water. If they get too depleted, it can drop the pH to the dangerous level.

This link may be helpful to understand this:

Beginner FAQ: Water Chemistry

 

[bassbonediva]

breebrry, thanks! I'm sorry you lost your tetra. I definitely know the feeling.

A little update...I went and exchanged my dead angelfish today (FINALLY...he died on Sunday, but today was the first chance I've gotten to get back to Petsmart). They had just gotten their shipments in and had a tank full of little angels. There were a whole bunch of white ones (eh) and two black marbles. One of them was absolutely adorable, but I resisted. If they had been bigger, I probably would have caved and bought him. Instead, the chick working the aquatics department went through all the female bettas with me, mainly because there was little going on in the store and she was bored. I ended up finding this GORGEOUS bi-color that I couldn't resist. Her body is blue-green (not quite turquoise, but not quite teal either) and her fins are deep crimson. I also moved everyone over from the 20gL who will be a permenant resident of the 55gal, leaving only two juvenile rainbow wag platies in the 20gL who are too small yet to be taken to the LFS. Everyone is greatly enjoying all the space in the 55gal (two of my female bettas are used to the space since they survived the meltdown) and Kyron, my horseface loach, has been buried *somewhere* since I put him in there. Have yet to see his little nose poking out of the sand, but I'm sure he's still there. I have pics, but they haven't finished uploading yet, so I'll either put them up later tonight or tomorrow (I have a 6:30am meeting for my new "job," so I have to hit the hay early tonight).

I might be getting my angel next month (depends on $$ and on when I get the angelicus botia). I'm going with a friend down to Phoenix (two hours south) to deliver and set up a wedding cake she's (we're) making for a friend's wedding reception and since I'm driving, I get to dictate whether or not we stop anywhere else (if we have the time). If we have the time, I'm going to check some LFSs down there and see if they have any pure black or altum-type angels. Any tips on transporting an angel?

Thanks, everybody, for following the progess of this tank and for all the kind and encouraging words. It's really meant a lot.

 

[bassbonediva]

Alright! We have pics!!
The new girlie betta (thinking of naming her Bella):

"Let...me...oooooouuuut!!!"

The swordtail and his harem:

Alistair being crazy:

Esme, who plays tag and "follow the leader" with Alistair :

Rosalie, who is my little hunter...she "caught" an insect that had fallen in to the tank:

 

[lauraf]

Looking lovely! You have such beautiful bettas.
In terms of transporting angels, they aren't any different from other fish - make sure they are in big bags of water, keep the temp as level as possible, and try not to go dune-rolling while they are in the car.

 

[Thyra]

My LFS is Petsmart. One of their clerks actually warned me about buying fish right after their supply comes in. (Friday for this store) He says after 24 hours if they have survived they will probably be okay. Unfortunately my day for going into town is usually Fri or Sat. and I have really wondered about the stress this puts the fish under. They arrive in the water from their point of origin - get plopped into Petsmarts tank, which is probably city water and if they get bought that day or the next they are once again changed; like in my case, to well water.

 

[OrangeCones]

Drip acclimation to different water conditions is your friend

 

[TAL]

Thats what I do...... New fish spend quite some time next to their new home slowly getting acclimated to the new water before getting in.

Also, it give me time to see if they stay alive - aka - brought homw a sickness.

The LAST thing I want is to start having to read those threads about medicating tanks!

 

[bassbonediva]

laura, we'll be driving a Mercury Grand Marquis (my friend's mom's car), so I don't think dune-rolling will be on the agenda. rofl! And thanks! I love my betta girls! Rosalie is my special favorite, but don't tell the other two.

When I returned the dead angel last night, the chick in the aquatics department said she warns customers that the angelfish will probably die within a couple of weeks because of how small they are and because they generally tend to be weak stock (especially their pure white ones).

I was thinking of bringing a 2gal bucket with me and having them put water from their tanks into the bucket, then putting the angel in it (with a makeshift cover, of course) and transporting it that way. That way there's a constant supply of fresh air to the water, instead of there being stale air in there. It's a two hour drive from Phoenix to my town.

 

[lauraf]

As long as you have a secure cover, the bucket would be okay .... but wouldn't the water slosh more than in a sealed bag?

 

[bassbonediva]

I don't think so...I was thinking of actually seeing if my dad has a 5gal bucket with a lid (like an old paint bucket) that he would be willing to drill some holes in the top of. Have the fish store only fill it up about 3gals worth and stick the top on...that way, the water won't slosh and the angel will have some room.

 

[riseabovethesun]

What a beautiful outcome for all the chaos - sometimes that is the route we have to take for the best of the best! I love the tank and your girls are darling! Insect hunting, too funny :]

 

[bassbonediva]

Thanks, riseabovethesun! I can't wait to complete my stocking (just need the kuhlis, angelicus botia and angelfish...which amounts to about $50+ worth of stock, depending on how much the angel costs me)!

 

[riseabovethesun]

Thanks, riseabovethesun! I can't wait to complete my stocking (just need the kuhlis, angelicus botia and angelfish...which amounts to about $50+ worth of stock, depending on how much the angel costs me)!

*eek!* darn prices! Beautiful choices though

I really can't wait to see the final outcome it's going to be fabulous!

 

[bassbonediva]

It's kind of random stocking (mainly 'cuz I'm having to work with some of the stock I already have...and because I'm impulsive ), but I think it'll look pretty good. I REALLY want some sort of small pleco (like a bristlenose or...? Nothing *too* expensive, though), but I don't think I can fit one in. My tanks tend to be heavy on the bottom feeders. lol

If I can find some more good-looking swords, I'm going to add more swords as well. I think I need one especially behind that piece of driftwood on the left (where the filter intake and heater are). There's an anubias in the front, but I would like a big sword to kind of cover up the heater and filter intake. Hopefully Petsmart gets some more good ones in their next shipment on Tuesday.

 

[riseabovethesun]

My tank is totally random too! I'm not working with what I already have but am kind of in the same boat since I bought my tank from someone else it already had most of the fish in it and was near max-full (for me) so I was stuck picking out random fish. But I did remodel the whole thing which was nice and have come a long ways!

Swords SO come in handy for hiding stuff I think it would fit in perfectly. I wish we had Petsmart we have Petco which just never has anything great fish-wise (here at least) I go to my local place but one is more focused on saltwater and the other only halfway cares about fish.

 

[bassbonediva]

My LFSs don't have barely any plants (one has three tiny java ferns that have been in there for probably two months, the other has the "standards" of hornwort and anacharis...sometimes).

I'm having a SERIOUS issue with evaporation, though (and I don't have the money for a canopy right now). I lost almost five gallons since I redid the tank on Wednesday. Meh!

 

[riseabovethesun]

My LFSs don't have barely any plants (one has three tiny java ferns that have been in there for probably two months, the other has the "standards" of hornwort and anacharis...sometimes).

I'm having a SERIOUS issue with evaporation, though (and I don't have the money for a canopy right now). I lost almost five gallons since I redid the tank on Wednesday. Meh!

Oh my maybe there is something you can do temporarily to help it slow down..

 

[bassbonediva]

I think it's the T5 that's causing the massive amount of evaporation. My 46gal has no lighting on it ATM (just haven't gotten around to putting the fixture on the tank) and it doesn't evaporate hardly at all 'cuz I keep my house on the cooler side (in the high 60s). My 20gL has just a regular T8 on it and it's not evaporating very fast either. Hopefully at the end of the month I'll be able to get a canopy for it (I get paid for two of my piano students at the end of the month, which is $80). I found a 48" (two 24") Perfecto glass canopy on amazon.com for $25+ shipping, so that's not too bad.

 

[Thyra]

After all this work are you really moving all this to WA in time to start teaching this school year? You have your work cut out for you!

 

[bassbonediva]

No, I'm not moving until NEXT summer (I don't even graduate college until this December). lol Sorry, I probably didn't make that clear. It's still going to be a challenge moving all my tanks and fishes up there. Especially considering how much some of my fish will potentially grow by the time I move (Alistair, the featherfin cat, will probably be at least 5"; the angel will have grown significantly; Kyron, the horseface loach, will be pretty close to his adult length of 8"; the angelicus botia will probably be between 4-6"). I think my 5gal buckets with portable air pumps on them idea just flew out the window! lol Gonna have to get big plastic tubs and put portable air pumps on them, I guess.