Kribensis fry, water changes and more

[Theo1994]

Hello dear community,

I have a 10 gallon growout tank that currently houses 13 boraras naevus and 15-20 kribensis fry. It's been running for about 45 days, more or less, and has some java moss, wood and echinodorus. I use ro water and the ph was less than 6 (I have a catappa leaf inside). I have ammonia of around 4ppm (API test) for 2 weeks, but the fry are acting normal. I think this is due to the ph and the percent of unionized ammonia. I do water changes every other day, of about 30-40% from an established 30gal (where the parents are and the fry spent the first few days) with a ph of around 6.5, and the ph in the 10gal is actually now around 6.5.Yet the ammonia stays relatively stable, probably due to the constant feeding. Do you think that adding fresh ro water would be better? Or it would further the chemical instability? Should I aim to keep the ph around 6-6.5 so the ammonia will not get really toxic? I 've read that this way the nitrogen cycle will not start in the known way, probably it will take way more time to develop.

On a second issue, I 've been feeding the fry powdered food (Tropical mikro-vit and Tetramin baby) and they are eating well. I had an algae outbreak which benefited the fry since I can see them eating it, and it has receded.I suppose w/o bbs their growth is slower, but they are actually growing and I am watching their bellies full from day 1. Would you consider the rotifers from ocean nutrition (frozen food) a good choice, since I can't get my hands on bbs anytime soon? Or keeping the food that actually worked for the first two weeks would be ok, since it's already working?

Currently everything's working out, I'm posting for any optimization of my setup, maybe someone more experienced can enlighten me on what to do and what to expect. Feel free to ask me anything that could provide a better insight. I ve posted this in another forum, but regarding the chemistry of the water the answers I have previously gotten here were great and prompted me to search for more, especially the sir with the nickname @dw1305.

Thanks in advance.

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I have ammonia of around 4ppm (API test) for 2 weeks

but regarding the chemistry of the water the answers I have previously gotten here were great

I always ask @regani or @gerald, they both understand water chemistry.

I'm not sure, I very much doubt you have 4 ppm NH4+, but assuming you have some you would definitely need to keep the pH below pH7. I'd strongly recommend some floating plants.

One issue you have at the moment is that you will need to add more and more oxygen to deal with the bioload, as the fry grow, and <"higher levels of dissolved oxygen"> will raise pH.

Can you try and rehome the Kribensis fry? I know it isn't always easy.

You could try <"adding some "Prime">, even though you aren't adding tap water, because it will complex ammonia into less toxic forms.

cheers Darrel

 

[Theo1994]

Thanks for your reply sir.

Yes I guess with that much ammonia no fry would survive for such a long time, let alone thrive. As I checked today the ph reading I get is 6 or less from the API tests. The tds is around 200. The filter I have is inbuilt to the tank, and has one end for aeration which I use except for the nighttime, because it's noisy. I have a spare air pump atm would you think that would help? Or the aeration from the filter (it's a sunsun tank, if you came across one you know what I am talking about) is sufficient?

I change water every other day yet the ammonia stays the same. I decided, with input from more experienced, to add fresh ro water remineralized. Currently I add prime with every wc, yet even when I didn't add for a week no fish died. Rehoming sadly is not an option, and on top of that mama krib laid eggs today.

With this setup what would you expect? Do you need any more info for the full picture?

 

[Theo1994]

Regarding the floating plants, right now there's none available. My echinodorus though have sprouted runners which are on the surface of the water (a bit lower or higher). By floating plants you mean certain types of plants that have the desired attributes , or any random plant that's thriving while on surface? Thanks

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

By floating plants you mean certain types of plants that have the desired attributes , or any random plant that's thriving while on surface? Thanks

Yes, any random plants that have broken surface. They have access to 21% oxygen and 400ppm CO2, Diana Walstad referred to it as the <"aerial advantage">.

and has one end for aeration which I use except for the nighttime, because it's noisy. I have a spare air pump atm would you think that would help?

Yes, you definitely need more oxygen at night, rather than during the day. Plants have a massive net positive effect on dissolved oxygen levels, but at night they are contributing to the bioload.

Currently I add prime with every wc,

OK, that is where the <"ammonia reading is coming from">.

cheers Darrel

 

[Theo1994]

Thanks for your time sir.

I ll try to run the aeration during the night as well. The link to my ammonia reading doesn't open, probably it's a temporary problem. The prime is misleading my ammonia readings? Or does it actually add ammonia? Should I stop (over)dosing it? I got another dechlorinator (api stress coat) should I run this instead?

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

The prime is misleading my ammonia readings?

Yes.

cheers Darrel

 

[Josh]

If you're just treating tap water, I prefer to use the simpler dechlorinator like DECHLOR (https://smile.amazon.com/Weco-Insta...ld=1&keywords="dechlor"&qid=1608607761&sr=8-2)
Prime, IMHO, tries to do too much and can complicate things (not always). Of course tap waters are not all created equally. My city sends a tap water report annually and I use that to determine how/when to augment it.

 

[Kevin Fehringer]

Theo, I suspect your ammonia levels are related to your water changes. Many municipalities add chloramines to their water supply to make it safe for drinking. Chloramines are made by combining chlorine and ammonia. When you use Prime, it breaks the bond in chloramine creating chlorine and free ammonia. The Prime then neutralizes the chlorine and "binds" the ammonia. While it is a trade secret, the consensus is that Prime changes the free ammonia (highly toxic to fish) to ammonium (less toxic to fish) and holds the ammonia in that form for at least 24 hours. Your beneficial bacteria can use that ammonium in its cycle and convert it to nitrites and then to nitrates. So what you may be picking up in your testing is the ammonium freed up from the chloramine in your fresh tap water.

 

[Theo1994]

Hello all and thanks for the replies.

I use ro water so I don't know how much of the alleged chloramine can get through it (ro water tds=6). I do believe it's ammonium as well, partially due to my low ph (6,0 or so) Anyway I switched from prime to stress coat. So far no fry or boraras have died or are struggling. I'm doing like 40-50% wc every other day so I guess even w/o the cycle working properly the ammonia should have went down. The plants (except for some moss) and the fish are doing great, it's just the readings that are kinda disturbing.