What's wrong with my water, and what am I doing wrong?

The place for all discussions not loach-related concerning freshwater fish keeping. All our members keep other fish so you may benefit from their experience.

Moderator: LoachForumModerators

KittyKat
Posts: 98
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011 1:11 pm
Location: Berlin, Germany
Contact:

Re: What's wrong with my water, and what am I doing wrong?

Post by KittyKat » Mon Oct 17, 2011 4:17 pm

Jes wrote:1. I wasn't afraid to ask for the filter goop or gravel out of fear of looking funny. I'm not a shallow person. Rather, because of how important my fish actually are to me, I was fearful of introducing a bacterial infection to them. You're not aware of my previous issue posted in the Health and Treatment section of this forum.
Sorry, I misread that! No, I am not aware of your previous issues
Jes wrote:2. I'm aware of what the products do to the ammonia. I can read and comprehend what I read very well.
Sorry again, I thought you were talking about dechlorinators (Prime vs. Stress Coat) as that was the only Seachem product you mentioned in the post. But I am also slightly confused now, which API products did you replace with Seachem ones? I can only see mentions of dechlorinators, buffers and test kits above…
Jes wrote:3. I understand how water becomes oxygenated. That's why I don't fill my tank the whole way, so the filter waterfall creates the constant surface movement of water. Also, I have a 3" airstone that creates a lot of surface movement when the bubbles break at the surface. I mentioned the powerhead being used as current (notice the word "current") at the bottom of the tank to prevent having another person tell me that my loaches need a constant current and thinking I wasn't meeting their needs. Clearly, some people do not know how to read carefully on this forum, and quite honestly, it is takes away from the truly helpful responses.
No offence, but I can't read your mind, so please don't take offence at me being thorough: it was not clear from your post whether you had enough aeration and whether you knew about surface movement. It is often the case that if someone is using air pumps on a regular basis for additional aeration, they actually do so because it is *needed*, not *just in case*.
Jes wrote:4. Of course I clean the test tubes out immediately after use and thoroughly, I might add. Who wouldn't?
Too many people: from what I have seen, most average fish keepers who run off to work in the morning after testing the water. It's great that you do, but you did ask for ideas and it is a valid one. I think it may still be worth a trying to soak them in soft water, just to be sure there really is no residue being left behind. Otherwise, have you checked the expiry date?
Jes wrote:Maybe you didn't mean for your responses to be interpreted the way I did. If I was wrong, then please accept my apology. I didn't set up an aquarium before first becoming as knowledgeable as possible about it prior to obtaining direct experience with it. To assume otherwise about me doesn't make any sense.
I most definitely did not mean it in the way you read it! Please understand that I try to not assume anything, which is why I try to explain everything because there are a lot of things I take for granted nowadays that someone else might very simply not know about. I also think the benefit to this is that when those who know less than you or I come along and read what we write, they may take something useful away from it. I am glad that you researched before you bought, this is a rarity indeed and says a lot of positive things about you.
Kat
stock list | main display tank | 60 litre cycle log (ex- guide for beginners) | Flickr

KittyKat
Posts: 98
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011 1:11 pm
Location: Berlin, Germany
Contact:

Re: What's wrong with my water, and what am I doing wrong?

Post by KittyKat » Mon Oct 17, 2011 4:50 pm

p.s. if you are interested: Prime does not actually convert ammonia to ammonium (which is the opposite of what I said earlier) and Seachem have no idea if or how it detoxifies nitrite and nitrate, their claims being based on their customers telling them that it alleviates the symptoms, apparently
Last edited by KittyKat on Tue Oct 18, 2011 2:20 am, edited 1 time in total.
Kat
stock list | main display tank | 60 litre cycle log (ex- guide for beginners) | Flickr

starsplitter7
Posts: 5054
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2007 11:04 pm
Location: Tampa, Florida

Re: What's wrong with my water, and what am I doing wrong?

Post by starsplitter7 » Mon Oct 17, 2011 5:26 pm

Jes,

Please keep in mind this is an intenational forum, and people from different places may focus on different things. (I do not know if Kat is a native English speaker -- I am not -- my native language is German, and I emphasize things differently, add strange grammar at times, and unusual puntuation -- which can slightly alter the meaning to a native speaker). I don't think there's anything in Kat's answers that's incorrect. I don't know if Kat knows you personally, but if Kat doesn't, then it is hard to know your level of expertise. Any bit of information can be helpful if it isn't something you know, and how should we know what you know and what you do not?

I have been keeping fish 6 years. I have made every mistake ever known. I still consider myself a beginner. For a couple years this forum was my lifeline to the fishworld. I read every post posted. When I got comfortable, I started answering questions, when it was one of the same 40 questions asked every day. If I disagree with information people give me, I file it away. I have never met anyone on here who gave out bad info on purpose or with a malicious intent. People are here to help.

Jes
Posts: 12
Joined: Sun Sep 11, 2011 10:49 pm

Re: What's wrong with my water, and what am I doing wrong?

Post by Jes » Mon Oct 17, 2011 11:25 pm

At this point, I doubt that RIFF-RAFF or KittyKat will even open this thread again, but I type this in hopes that they do. I apologize for the manner in which I responded to your responses. I am new to on-line forums. This is not an excuse, just an explanation as to why I misinterpreted the connotations of your responses. I grew up in a family that didn't value the intellect of the girls, and as such, the girls' ideas were always ignored. I've always been on the defense because of my upbringing, and feeling as though others didn't read my posts carefully or assumed that I didn't know anything was hard for me to handle. This baggage is not your fault. I honestly didn't notice how much my younger years affected how I see the world today. Thank you Starsplitter7 for helping me to reflect on this. I realize how fortunate I was to have had people even read the thread I started and to take the time to post a response. I know that you were only trying to help. I hope you'll accept my deep-felt, humble apology for the manner in which I responded to you.

KittyKat
Posts: 98
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2011 1:11 pm
Location: Berlin, Germany
Contact:

Re: What's wrong with my water, and what am I doing wrong?

Post by KittyKat » Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:44 am

I understand that any one of us can take things the wrong way occasionally :) Until you pointed out your sex, I was not aware of what it was, so please believe me when I say that I did not even wonder about it as it makes no difference to your knowledge or experience in fish keeping. I do find it very sad that you grew up in the environment you mentioned :( While traditionally this is a man's hobby, there are many women involved nowadays too and I have never experienced any sex-related discrimination over the years, so I hope you are as lucky.
Kat
stock list | main display tank | 60 litre cycle log (ex- guide for beginners) | Flickr

starsplitter7
Posts: 5054
Joined: Thu Sep 13, 2007 11:04 pm
Location: Tampa, Florida

Re: What's wrong with my water, and what am I doing wrong?

Post by starsplitter7 » Tue Oct 18, 2011 2:00 pm

Off topic a minute.

I agree with Kat. I didn't know if you are male or female, and by the way I am also a girl. Not only do I keep fish, but I am an Astronomer. Fish Keeping is a male hobby (my club is at least 70% male), Astronomy is more so (80% or higher). I was shifted away from math when I was in school because "girls aren't good in math". I am not good at math, but I love science. So I am self-taught, and I teach others. I will be on a panel this weekend for a local Sci Fi Writers' Convention (Sci Fi also a male dominated hobby). The panel is women in science, and I get to host the panel. I have never seen any male/female issues on this site with women's opinions not being respected. This will be a good place for you to learn and grow. Not to mention the Loach Goddess herself, Emma, is a moderator here. She is internationally respected. There are some misinformed answers, but never intentionally. Everyone is doing the best they can.

Now back to the subject a bit: I confess I don't read every post thoroughly. I scan to see if there is something I can contribute to and see if there's something I can help with. I have completely misread posts, and I will do it again in the future, but I hope to help more than hurt.

And back to the actual subject. How is your ammonia? Are you cycled? How are your fish doing?

monicalovefish
Posts: 27
Joined: Wed Mar 21, 2012 6:33 pm

Re: What's wrong with my water, and what am I doing wrong?

Post by monicalovefish » Wed Mar 28, 2012 10:09 pm

I've used Tetra SafeStart and it has helped on occasions where my tanks crashed. Luckily, that only happened at the start and now they are more stable. I would recommend you look at your process. How are you cleaning your filter? Are you rinsing in aquarium water (media) or are you using sink water. It's really easy to accidentally kill off your bacteria by over cleaning when you're starting off. It happens to everyone. Unfortunately, it does take a little bit of time to get the bacteria really growing in the gravel. I did one thing though which helped me out. I started with stones that already had the bacteria built into them - some of the aquarium stores carry them. Weird eh...but it did seem to help stabilize my tanks to have the gravel pre-prepared (live gravel). In the meantime, I would recommend testing daily and doing water changes as you need. Seachem's Prime is great to help keep your fish from suffering from Ammonia poisoning. I totally agree with the others about that one. You can also hunt for someone with media that is established...they might give you a small amount (ie gravel or a filter they were about to swap out) to help you establish the tank faster. Good luck! I hope your fish are doing well.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 51 guests