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Recent content by Apistonaut

  1. Apistonaut

    Clamped Fins and Tail

    Everything is well. I came here for the sole purpose of observing, learning, and sharing. My contribution towards the levels of nitrogen are necessary out of caution.
  2. Apistonaut

    Clamped Fins and Tail

    Oh, I was concerned about the Borellii tank because, even with expensive and dilute bacteria in a bottle, the tank is still only 3 weeks old and the user presumably introduced all of the livestock at once. It works, but who knows if it's that fast or his manufacturer's claim is honest. I truly...
  3. Apistonaut

    Clamped Fins and Tail

    Also, at a pH around 6.7, you will still have free ammonia. Much of it will already be ammonium, but it takes time, days. It’s not an instant and miraculous reaction. My wife and I are chemists. Here the water is slightly alkaline. Free ammonia dominates and I’ve had problems with livestock at...
  4. Apistonaut

    Clamped Fins and Tail

    I don’t understand, I’m sorry. What did I do? I don’t want to hurt anyone’s fish. I suggested that since his tank was less than 3 weeks old and cycled his tank with a bottle nitrifying bacteria solution, he may have been having peaks of ammonia that he didn’t catch. Those products vary wildly...
  5. Apistonaut

    Stressed A. Borellii sp. Opal male

    It’s just my concern, not anyone else’s. Like I said I’m sure there’s a far more intelligent explanation than what I can come up with. I just see a 3 week old tank and the lightbulb ticked. Hoping for the best!
  6. Apistonaut

    Hi all!

    Welcome! Make sure you don't intend on breeding the pair in the new 20 gallon. Community tanks are rough places for pairs of Apistogramma if kept too small. I appreciate you wanting just South American fish in it!
  7. Apistonaut

    Stressed A. Borellii sp. Opal male

    Also, Seachem Stability might have incredibly dilute levels of bacteria sold in a big jug to better seperate you from your money. Other products are basically the equivalent of sewage water and don't require much use at all in 1oz containers. Stability on the other hand asks you to use about 4...
  8. Apistonaut

    Stressed A. Borellii sp. Opal male

    Ammonia spike in a new tank can be a sure thing. Live foods can indeed introduce ammonia, just like any other organic matter. There is a fundamental misunderstanding of your nitrogen cycle. Uneaten food turns to ammonia (no matter how slowly introduced). Eaten food turns to waste, which turns...
  9. Apistonaut

    Clamped Fins and Tail

    You're in a bit of a bind. The ammonia and nitrite are not fine. The nitrogen cycle, once established, should never read ammonia and nitrite above 0. Any value is deadly to fish, at the very least encourages stress induced illness. You may add some Fritz Turbo Start 700, it's basically...
  10. Apistonaut

    Macmasteri red shoulder?

    You can achieve happy Apistogramma with bleach white substrates, but you will have to sacrifice a lot of plant growth in exchange for subdued lighting conditions which require many floating plants and low powered lights. They will just glass surf and become food forward all the while becoming...
  11. Apistonaut

    Stressed A. Borellii sp. Opal male

    It's possible it could have been wildly hard water, but I doubt it was truly high enough to affect him. Your pH doesn't suggest high KH. I'm sorry about the loss. It's incredibly frustrating without an answer. You may have had ammonia spikes from an incomplete cycle once you added fish, even...
  12. Apistonaut

    Greetings and advice needed on A. hongsloi fry!

    BBS. I've lost every clutch I've ever had without BBS. Dry foods, frozen BBS, etc have never worked. They will eat some of the dry foods with very little enthusiasm and just refuse to grow. Live BBS is a necessity, especially if you want to double the rate at which they grow in the first month...
  13. Apistonaut

    Stressed A. Borellii sp. Opal male

    Other than a mystery parameter, I'm at a loss. The sponge that you use to clean your glass, has that ever been in contact with soaps?
  14. Apistonaut

    Stressed A. Borellii sp. Opal male

    Were you introducing water straight from the tap without aging it or conditioning, by chance?
  15. Apistonaut

    WC Apistogramma sp. "Ipiranga" from Brazil

    Would love to see them in a week or so. Please do update!
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