fishish Posted October 10, 2010 Report Share Posted October 10, 2010 (edited) I think (I hope!?!?!)I have finally solved this rather long substrate and dieing Amazon sword drama you may all know of if you've read some of my other posts Went to St Kilda Aquarium today (Thanks for the idea Joan ) and bought some laterite. Have heard its not ideal but they reckoned that there are different qualities of it available. Anyway, at $19 for enough for up to 100 litre tank I'm quite satisfied! lol They also gave me a couple of tablets ($1.50 each) and said to stick half of one under each sword every 3 months. Problem: cycle will get upset. I'm going to need to empty it, take out gravel and put the laterlite down then gravel back on top. They said it will make water cloudy (although it says on box it won't make it turbid???) so I'll need to re-house my fish for a few days till it has settled. I don't have another home for them. Getting another 3 foot on wednesday but planning it as a spawning tank so no dividers for 3 boys. What to do???? Also wondering how you clean the gravel if you have substrate??? lol I realised its powdery and will surely just get sucked up siphon regardless of gravel being on top of it? p.s if anyone has never been to st kilda aquarium lol they have some LOVELY bettas and gorgeous set ups for other species. Edited October 10, 2010 by fishish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yanagi Posted October 10, 2010 Report Share Posted October 10, 2010 Have you got a big tub and some empty juice bottles? Toss them in juice bottles, fill the tub, put heater in the tub. Heats them all. Just feed minimally, if at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted October 10, 2010 Report Share Posted October 10, 2010 Yan, once again you have brilliant answers for every fish question! FISH GENIUS YOU ARE! :bighug: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishish Posted October 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2010 (edited) lol Sarah Yeah she is though huh? Thanks Yan, was thinking along those lines as it seems to be sorta what people have set up for jarring grown fry? I have a big bucket that I use to age their watet, its plastic though, would the heater not melt it? How do i clean the plastic bottles? I have some that had juice and various things in previously, is it ok to clean them with detergent then rinse with tank water thoroughly? Edited October 10, 2010 by fishish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billphil Posted October 10, 2010 Report Share Posted October 10, 2010 Alternative suggestion: Why not wait until you get the new 3 ft tank and get it going. St Kilda has some marvellous platic type fry dividers (with solid lids on etc) that nothing will be able to escape from. I have some of these fry dividers for emergency use and they work wonders. In answer to your specific questions: a) as long as the heater is not in direct contact with a side of the bucket, the heater will not melt the plastic of the bucket B) why not use just serial rinses with the water to remove all traces of juice and coke etc. I never use detergent in washing anything to do with fish. Yes St Kilda is the greatest. Four tanks have on them at the moment -fish sold to Bill. Guess who that is...hehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishish Posted October 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 10, 2010 (edited) Thanks. I have begun! HUGE job with such a big tank. All for the swords, they better appreciate it! lol Still wondering about how you clean the gravel? Cos the stuff is powder and completely disolves in water as I've discovered! Edited October 10, 2010 by fishish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted October 10, 2010 Report Share Posted October 10, 2010 is it ok to clean them with detergent then rinse with tank water thoroughly? NO!! Never use detergent in the vicinity of anything fish related. Just rinse with water. It's not like it had weed killer in it :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yanagi Posted October 10, 2010 Report Share Posted October 10, 2010 lol Thanks guys... There's a question I don't have an answer to Fishish. Maybe you should lay some down in something like those plastic tanks and see if you can still gravel vac but not vacuum as deep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishish Posted October 22, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2010 The answer to how to clean gravel that has laterite under, if anyones interested is you dont! Well thats the answer I got, LFS guy said the plants do all the work. I then asked about decomposing food on it and he said you can clean just the top carefully as Yan suggested :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bec Posted October 23, 2010 Report Share Posted October 23, 2010 I have used the plain brand spring water bottles and they are great. You can get a six pack (1.5 litre each) for about $4. Get twice as many as you need. Put them in a large plastic tub with a heater or you can keep all of them in the tank you are cycling to keep them warm (tie several together with a piece elastic so they stay upright or in the tank with the dividers). Pop the fish in half and keep the other half floating in the warm water so they are the right temp for the next day. I swap the fish from one bottle to another every day so there is no ammonia build up. I add 4 drops of ammonia lock to each bottle to take care of chlorine but the water is 24 hours old before used. Rinse the old bottle with water and fill with fresh water and replace in the heated tank. De-chlorinate the next day ... the chlorine will help sterilize the bottle a bit (note - if fish is obviously sick do not use his bottle on other fish without proper sterilizing) To swap them over carefully empty the old water into a bucket and use a plastic cup to catch the fish at the end. Use a large mouthed funnel and tip into new bottle. I have used this method on many of my Thai fish and to date have no trouble with the fish handled in this manner (while waiting for them to come out of quarantine - two weeks at a time). I also use this method with methane blue if any fish looks 'clampy' or shows any signs of fin rot. It makes for a quick easy hospital tank and you can throw it away when the fish is better Bec Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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