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I was able to purchase my first culture of Daphnia today from the store! So I will try to grow the culture first (I have probably 100 in a jar) and once I have a sizable portion, will start feeding to the paros. I chose not to purchase the blackworms until I knew if they were suitable.
Hi,
Things do seem to be getting better. I believe the two paros that had clamped fins do not anymore. I have not lost any paros at this point. One chocolate died.
I do notice the original fish with would I believe was columnaris is scraping against plants, sometimes violently as well as a couple of paros. So I do believe I have to medicate. I wonder if it is too soon? The chocolates will not eat which to me indicates a bacterial problem. So I want to kill the bacteria before it can spread to the paros.
I am going to use Maracyn Plus (Sulfadimidine and Trimethoprim together) because I was using Erythromycene originally when this happened, and I assume by now the bacteria are completely resistant to it
I just wonder if I should wait to medicate any longer? I became more concerned when I saw the paros scratching because I’ve never seen that before. All the fish are extremely skiddish, they dart around at the slightest thing moreso than normal. I don’t know if it is indicating something bacterial at this point, or the fact the ph when from low 5.0 to almost 8. I still have to adjust the ph back down, I just don’t know what to do first.
Ryan
I tried with my 5 gallon tank to turn the filter off and the water developed a slime on top becoming very stagnant. Is this ok? I thought maybe a small bubble filter on very low would keep some water movement as well as circulate warm water from the heater.
Hi everyone, I want to thank everyone for taking the time to answer (at length) many of my questions.
My latest obeservations:
The paros are all eating well and look well. The two of them that very closed caudal fins are begining to open up. But I am sure I see something gray and patchy on them, almost similar to the picture of the chocolate I posted. I will keep an eye on it, I just hope it doesn’t spread quickly. I notice that those fish swim almost with their tail end slightly pointing down, as if it was dragging itself.
The chocolates have colored back up, some look normal, caudals starting to open. I have not noticed them eating yet.
A few of the sparkling gouramis are still scratching/flashing against plant leaves. They were doing this before I medicated.
Tonight, I am going to drain the tank down to about 7 gallons and slowly add a gallon a day at first of 5.0 RO water.
At this point, my prize fishes are the paros. I just hope the other fish are not going to give a disease to all my paros. I am very encouraged by many comments here showing the paros have a strong immune system.
RyanTemperature now at 82 since yesterday. I was using RO water with a buffer from seachem to make it 5.0 ph. Some chocolates looking better but don’t know if they ate yet. The paros are eating nicely. I believe 2 of the 12 have closed fins as of yesterday. I don’t believe number is growing.
My well is in my back yard, 200 feet in the ground.
Tomorrow i plan on draining tank to 10 gallons ( now at 7.4 ph) and slowly add back 5.0 ph RO water.
I know I’ve read the ph for paros can go even to the 4.0 area, but what should my constant target be?
I’ve also seen a lot about conductivity. Can someone explain that to me and what i need to measure it?
I’m sorry can i delete this post and move it to the methods section?
I have moved it to the methods section
This is what I see in the tank. I think I see the same “grayness” on the licorice gourami with close fins. But I see it the worst on this chocolate. Does that look like bacterial spreading, or is that would you think damage from the chemical reaction? If it is bacterial, I would like to treat before it spreads but I don’t want to hurt the fish more.
Helene,
Tank is 40 gallons.
I noticed when i first brought the ph down the paros colored up a lot but the chocolates hid. Perhaps they were already sick.
I noticed through all this that the new paros i have, the ones that are probably the un-named species of filamentosus are MUCH more delicate than the others i have ( blue line).
I have had them 2 weeks now and they are developing a very dark color accented with emerald green on the edges and in the fins. I believe even the female with rounded clear fins has started to develop an emerald border. The caudal is starting now to grow out the filament. Pictures to follow.
Thanks
RyanThank you. How can I diagnose odinium. The chocolates have maybe something whitish or grayish on then and the eyes covered in gray film, but i attributed that to the chemical reaction. 1 chocolate died and his scales were very brittle and hard.
I am affraid to net them as the paros go crazy when they see the net and I’m affraid they will get hurt. But i will try to take it out of the tank. Temperature is 82f, it was 86 when all this happened. I will try to get acidic water back into the tank.
My PH is probably around 5. I did this with RO water and a buffering product. I would like to now start adding humic substances to the water. I came across a Blackwater extract product by Brightwell. It says it adds humic substances to the water. It says to remove the carbon when using it, as I would if using real peat moss. My question is, what do members here use for filters then without the carbon? I know in many things I’ve read, it is suggested to use a sponge filter, but are members using carbon too? What about the peat in the water? I just want the water to stay clean.
I had one other which had a reddish, more of a brown trace color in the caudal fin, but it died shortly after putting it in the tankThe black edging seen in the caudal turns green/turquoise when displaying. I have taken a short video of displaying between this male, and another “blue line” I will tried to post tomorrow and provide a link.
I put the other fish in a separate tank. My second question is what do members here use to determine water PH? Currently, all the kits I can find do not go below 6.0. I am sure my water is closer to 5 as I use RO and add a product by Seachem to stabilize it at 5.0.
Thanks,
Ryan
Hi,
I originally bought the minnows and tetras to get the tank started. The PH in the tank is about 5.5. So I am doing everything in favor of the paros and chocolate gouramis over the other fish. I plan to give them away shortly. I use RO water.
At feeding time, I feed the minnows on one end of the tank, and the paros on the other end. This helps the paros get the food.
Currently I have 6 of the blue line licorice gouramis, and 2 of the filamentosus, or related to them.
Today, finally, my chocolate gouramis spawned. The male has them in his mouth. I am hoping there are fry later on.
Ryan
