Archived message board.

Cycled Tank - YEA!

Well, my 55gal is finally cycled. I'm sure all of you who have helped me along the way are relieved that maybe I'll be finished with most of the questions!!! I got to move my silver dollars over and treat SPot in the clean 10gal versus the unfiltered 2gal.
By the way, Spot is still acting fine. He still has the red streak on his underside and his eyes still look buggy, but he acts fine. Will the streaks go away over time or should I assume something is still wrong?
Thanks again for everyone's help.
Mandi

• congrads mandi!...you have finally made it through...if spot has lasted this long and seems fine I would think he will make it..did you ever get the medi-gold treatment onboard the little fella? now might still be a good idea..

• I haven't gotten the Medigold. I was out of town last weekend and sent my husband to get some and he couldn't find any. Of course, I got too comfortable. Now Spot seems a little different. He's active some of the time and then he hides behind plants. At one point he seemed to be resting his belly on the bottom. He looks really fat - and he is a pig and has always been plump, but I can't help but think that he's bigger. The blood-looking streak on his belly looks surrounded by poop internally. He's semi-transparent so I can see the poop (I think that's what it is.) I saw him pooping one day but his "hole" looks different than it seems like it should. Maybe none of this is relevant, but I've tried this long to save him and I'm not going to quit now. I'm definitely learning a lot for future fish problems!
  Let me know what you think!
  Thanks,
  Mandi

• mandi...you can get medi-gold through the gold fish connection if you can't find at at a pond or pet store...I think the red streaks you see may be a resulting effect of the high ammonia when you had him in your tank during cycling..I am not sure what you are talking about regarding his anal opening...it's just seems a long time that he has been sick and if he was really ill he would have never lasted this long... so keep those water conditions at optimal levels and do your best regarding obsevations an treatment...

• He is acting okay right now. He has never acted as sick as my fish who wind-up dead. I have just tried to catch things before they get too far. He is in clean water now with optimal conditions so hopefully he will be fine. He is just so fat. He needs to eat less, but I have to feed enough to get to my loach and other fish who don't come to the top to eat.
  Thanks again for your help!

• You may try the sinking food tablets to feed your loaches. Some of your other fish will also pick on them if they are hungry. Don't put more than one or two in the tank. No guarantee spot won't try to gobble it up though. I have had fish steal tablets and run around the tank with them in their mouths.

• Thanks for the tip. I have algae wafers that I have dropped for my plecostomous and the other fish seem to really enjoy them too, but I have noticed that I seem to get more algae when I use them.
  Part of Spot's "weight" problem is probably that I overfed him when he was quarantined because he was in a little tank and he got enough food for more than just one fish. Will he lose some "fat" as he gets more exercise in the big tank and as he has less food to eat?? He is acting just fine...for now.
  Thanks for the responses!

• I always make my algea eaters work hard for their food so they eat up what you are trying to rid...algea...A hungry fish is a healthy fish..careful,overfeeding can lead to the number one cause of illness and disease...

• Yes, I understand about the food:illness relation. I have not used algae wafers very much and don't intend to use them anymore. My 55gal already has plenty of algae for an algae eater. I have decided that incandescent bulbs produce less algae than flourescent...but I still prefer flourescent. I don't currently have a plecostomous in my 55gal because I was waiting to add any more fish. It is time!!! I haven't been feeding the fish in the 55gal very much...I just felt sorry for Spot - but not anymore!

• good girl mandi...never any offence intended....add your fish slowly....get your algae guys in there if you are have a potential algae problem...and hey light well...that's another topic....if you don't have a planted tank...than to start keep the light factor low and down to less than 10 hrs per day....oh and spot hell I'm even getting attached to him...so throw some medicated food to him from me Ok....

• No offense taken! I knew what I was doing while I was overfeeding him, but I felt so bad that he had to be in the 2gal. He loves the 55gal! I added 1 plecostomous today. Hopefully that will help with the algae. I have been trying to turn the lights off occasionally (besides at night) to help with the problem. I definitely think that I need to keep plastic plants for now. I have enough trouble keeping the fish alive!!! j/k Actually, I didn't lose any fish (knock on wood) through the cycling process...and I even had 6 neons in there during it! I did do a lot of water changes so maybe that helped. I told Spot hello for you. He smiled. He also thanked you for helping to keep him alive. I just wish I knew what kind of fish he is. He must be some sort of mix-breed. Oh, I used to have a male guppy in the tank with my other fish - which includes 3 Tiger Barbs. He died after 4-5 months. Today I added another one and the Tigers went after him and began shredding his tail and tearing him to pieces. Of course, I got him right out and put him in my 10gal. I thought the original guppy had tail/fin rot and now I wonder about that. I never saw the Tigers being rough with him but no other fish got sick at the same time. I know that Tiger Barbs prefer bigger schools and I intend to get a couple of albino Tigers and a couple of green Tigers. My question: will all of the varieties of Tiger Barbs school together or do I have to get only regular Tigers? Also, once I get a few more, will it be safe to move the guppy back with them? They also hovered over the plecostomous to let him know who's boss for a few minutes but I guess he didn't have fluffy, exposed fins to grab (and he's bigger than the guppy.) So, what now?!?!?! I got the male guppy as a mate for a female that I have so I moved her to the 10gal with the male. That is also where my baby mollies are and most are big enough that the guppies aren't a threat but a few are very small. I was hoping to let the babies stay in the 10gal alone for a while so they wouldn't be prey and could relax and grow.

• Gee whiz, you're brave to want to try more barbs after that experience! I can't answer your question re: combining different varieties of barbs. I have heard that having more of them reduces the likelihood of them pestering other fish. That has not been my experience, however. My first group of six was my last, many years ago. I got so tired of them picking on everyone, including each other. They're pretty, but they can be awfully troublesome. I have resisted all barbs for that reason.

• Just a note. Cherry barbs are only a little bigger than neons and a shy fish. So don't let the tigers give all barbs a bad rep.

• Thanks for the input. They usually don't pick on any of the other fish. The other guppy seemed fine in there with them so I don't know what might have changed. Maybe I have more fish in the tank and that causes them to be more territorial. I don't know.