I bought my goldfish in 2001. Recently the one I think is a
female developed a reddish splotch on her back - in the
photo you can see it above and to the right of her gill.
I had let their water (I have two goldfish) get very brackish,
that is, distastefully black and cloudy. (There is so much
stress with my home being in foreclosure, is how it
happened.The stress
is horrible and I
don't do things for
me, my plants or
my fish that should
be done.)
When I took out the
old water and
replaced it with
fresh, filtered
water I saw that
this goldfish, which
is a lighter color
overall, had a
reddish splotch.
The other goldfish
had splotches, too,
but not as large or
intensely colored in comparison to his overall coloring.
My first thought was that they were more brightly colored
because they were ready to mate, but I worried that was
pollyanna optimism.
I Googled "Red splotches on goldfish" and found that it
can be caused by too much food making the water's
ammonia content too high.
and I made sure to get out all the dead plant leaves.
Usually the fish huddle together at the bottom after I clean
their water, but this time they seemed to be enjoying the
fresh water from the get go: they began swimming around
so actively I felt as if they were playing.
However, the red splotches are still there, on each of the
two fish, so although I will clean the water again tomorrow,
and put in fresh
Stress Coat, I'm
wondering about
ordering some
antibiotic.
(I haven't driven since
I got tetanus in 2004
because of the muscle
seizures, and later because
of how debilitating tetanus
is.) The man I hire to drive me
is not usually available on
the weekend, so ordering
may be the best thing to do.
It's interesting to me that I felt so good about how old my
goldfish are, but then I went to a goldfish forum and took
major heat about how I didn't have them in a large enough
tank. After that I felt guilty every time I looked at my
goldfish, so in a way that guilt contributed to them getting
sick, because I didn't want to look at them, and without
looking at them, you can't see how they are doing.
While it was probably worthwhile to tell me that goldfish
need a lot of room, I think making people feel guilty is
counterproductive most of the time. For one thing, stress
is a primary cause of depletion
of vitamin B12, and when
people run low on vitamin B12
they have an increase in pain,
a reduction in cognitive
function, a loss of balance,
and many other problems
that make it less likely they
will perform well, and more
likely they will lose their
temper or on the other hand
become extremely depressed.
For these reasons I wondered
about an antibiotic that also
contains B vitamins.
Fish/human similarities - While I
had tetanus I had fine red lines
under my fingernails and thick
red lines under the toenail of
the toe I had injured. Lines like that are called "splinter
hemorrhages" and are associated with a blood infection.
In 2007 I was getting dull red splotches under my nails due
to an ongoing infection that I keep in check by using
vitamin C. In the picture you
can see the splotch just above
the white moon. Basically, it
seems very similar to the
splotches the goldfish had
when they were affected by an
infection. (When I forget to
take vitamin C, or when there
is a lot of stress, the splotches
I have, like that pictured above,
overpower the moon on my
thumbs.) All of this gives
the impression that living
organisms share in how ill
health affects them... that's you and me, fish, animals and
most likely insects.
Today is July 25, 2009, and I hope to be able to report that
my goldfish are healthy again in the very near future.
July 26, 2009, my goldfish each have far less of a red
splotch today, so the Stress Coat alone must be working. (I
put off ordering the antibiotic in case Del could give me a
ride tomorrow, Monday.)
January 29, 2010, my goldfish bowl has been needing
cleaning and new water more frequently than every week,
so I'm looking at bigger "habitats" for my goldfish. I'm sure
the bowl they are in is less than 2 gallons.
January 30, 2010, In the last day I've read a lot of
aquarium specifications and reviews at PetCo, PetSmart,
Wal*Mart and Drs. Foster and Smith, and I am coming out
of my confusion over acrylic versus glass.
Basically it appears that glass tanks come with
incandescent lighting and are heavy, while acrylic tanks
come with full spectrum fluorescent lighting and are much
lighter in construction weight.
While many who buy acrylic tanks complain about easy
scratching, many more people buy acrylic tanks than buy
and review the less costly glass tanks.
For myself, I think I've gone from being drawn to the 5
gallon tank with excellent reviews at Wal*Mart to the 12
gallon Eclipse 12 by Marineland at Dr. Foster and Smith...
In any case, in preparation I've painted a sturdy, solid wood
table to use as a stand.
February 6, 2010 -
I'm not sure the
table is as sturdy
as I thought. But, I
think it's up to the
job. (You can
barely see the
antiquing I did on
it. Very subtle.)
My goldfish are in
their old bowl on
my desk. They've
been watching me
prepare their new
Eclipse 12 home.
When I was putting
in steaming water
so my hands would
stay warmer while
I was planting, the
fish actually looked
worried and began
huddling together. I wonder if fish have a genetic memory
of steaming water being a bad sign for fish in terms of
longevity vs. dinner for humans.
Later - With sun
shining on it the
micro sword
grass, at the front,
is sending up a
stream of tiny air
bubbles. In the
closeup I took
you can see them,
but I'm going for
a sort of uniform
look to my
pictures here.
Time to go check
the Mopani
driftwood to see if
it's releasing fewer
tannins. Hope so!
I'd really like to
place it in the
aquarium so I can
put plants behind it and then put the filter in place.
February 7, 2010 - Acrylic vs. Glass -- Oh Oh! my
goldfish don't appear to be able to see out of the acrylic
tank. They see their reflections in the sides which are like
mirrors. I'm SO disappointed. Back to looking at
aquariums, and this time glass is a must. (Though I have an
email in to Marineland.)
Later - Well, I'm no longer as sad as I was. The fact is I
have to make a decision: do I want my fish to no longer see
me? or, do I want to buy a new, glass tank, and go through
all the trouble of setting it up? do I want to get a larger tank
while I'm at it, since the cost is minimally more? do I want
to purchase a wheeled cart for my aquarium stand so that I
can put the water I filtered for the Eclipse into the new
tank? (and then move it into place when the Eclipse is
empty-ish) do I have another $100 to spend? ... or ... do I
want my fish to not see me anymore??? (I used to love
seeing their little fish faces looking out of the tank at me.)
Later still - Then, there's the problem of how much I like
the present table, that I antiqued. It's pretty, and I love it.
But I'm not sure it's strong enough to hold a larger tank.
If I get the steel and chrome cart with wheels, that's strong
enough, but my living room is going to be dominated by
chrome, given that my plant racks are chrome.
February 9, 2010 - I've decided to get the 16 gallon glass
tank with hood from PetSmart. It isn't that much heavier
than my 12 gallon tank. A gallon of water weighs 8.43 lb.
I'm now sanding an old bread board I used to use as a
drawing desk. It has ink stains, numerous cuts from my
craft knife, and glue streaks... so sanding is not going very
quickly. I may opt for the "distressed" look and
polyurethane it with less than perfect sanding results. Time
is a factor because I have to send back the Eclipse 12, and
before I do that I have to get my substrate out of the bottom
and into a new glass aquarium. Meaning the board has to
be in place before I get started with the transfer.
February 13, 2010 - I am so happy with the Aqueon glass
aquarium. I'm delighted to see my two fish, as opposed to
seeing them and a half dozen reflections of them.
Because the Marineland
Bio-Wheel filtration
was broken on the
Eclipse 12, the water is
somewhat cloudy. I'm
hoping that clears up. I
can filter the water only
when there is sunlight
for my solar system. So,
I bought a 30 gallon
system, almost twice as big as I need, in the hope that the
added water processing will make up for the hours the
system is turned off each night.
February 14, 2010 - he water is more "foggy" than cloudy
today. But, it is by not
clear. I hope that the
improvement tomorrow
is equally great. Then,
in a few more days the
water should be lovely
clear. Hopefully.
Other than that, I'm no
longer quite as happy
with the Aqueon aquarium: the light appears to be
something other than full spectrum.
February 19, 2010 - Aqueon tech support has been
wonderful and explained to me that the lights are 8000
Kelvin, which is the spectrum for "daylight".
April 2, 2010 - Ah, Algae. I was not expecting algae now
that I have a filter, but... algae there is. It's interesting that
the algae has formed in straight lines. At first I thought the
remaining nutrients reduces the amount of nutrient left for
the formation of new algae.
That explained, it seemed to me, the straight lines of algae
in my aquarium: when I was setting it up I put in the Eco-
Complete substrate, added Britta filtered water and let it set
over night. The line of algae is at the level of the water the
first night. That suggests
that some nutrients from
the Eco-Complete rose
to the surface and clung
to the glass. Then, next
day when I added more
water in stages, the
nutrients rose like rungs
in a ladder toward the
top. When algae began
to form, it thrived best
where the nutrients had
stuck to the glass.
Additionally, algae
grew most vigorously
where sun from my
clerestory hit the aquarium: just right of the filter tube.
Notice how much less algae there is to the left of the tube.
Now that I see how much light affects algae growth, I'm
not leaving the light on as much as I had previously.
December 13, 2010 - I was so depressed today after
dwelling on the fact that the lawyer who foreclosed my
condo without sending me proper documents is now
pleading with the bankruptcy court to dismiss my case
against him (for violating the automatic stay) with prejudice.
I don't understand how courts can allow a lawyer like that
to keep practicing, and hurting people, and the economy. I
just got so SO depressed.
When I happened to look at my goldfish they were nose to
glass watching me, as if they could feel my depression and
were concerned about me. Most days they just swim about,
investigate the bottom of their aquarium, and uproot plants
in their eager eating of them.
I'm so glad I purchased the more costly glass aquarium, so
that they can see me.
As an aside, the water is really clear and I haven't changed
the Marinland filter since I put it in. I think the Eco-
Complete is making a huge difference.
2/7/2011 - Last night I was in huge pain due to eating left
over beans and rice that apparently had "gone off". I was
up for hours and every time I looked at my goldfish, there
they were with their little fish noses to the aquarium glass
facing my bed. They must have been able to feel how bad I
felt, and they appeared to be concerned about me. It's not
the first time I've noticed this behavior in them. I love
them, so much!!!!!
time I watched videos on planting an aquarium. The one by
a man from Tropica was very helpful. However many of
the plants I bought from AquariumPlants.com were not in
good shape upon arrival. The Anacharis was a pretty
reddish color, which turned out to mean it was dying. One
of two micro sword grass was lovely but the other had only
a tiny amount of grass, maybe about the size of a dime. The
dwarf hairgrass was brown and slimy, both top and bottom.
I tried to salvage the middle, which I hoped would grow.
Some did. And, I didn't cut off enough of the Mermaid
Weed stem bottoms for the roots to grow into the substrate.
Instead the roots were hanging off the stems. When I pulled
the plants up for replanting, I discovered that their bottoms
were rotting. So I called AquariumPlants because they
advertise that they have great customer service, only that
turned out not to be true. They said they'd be glad to refund
my money for the plants that died if I sent them pictures I'd
taken when the plants arrived. LOL! I hadn't thought I
needed pictures and they hadn't said I would. So, be warned.
This time I put the EcoComplete in and just barely covered
it with filtered water, so that the nutrients wouldn't cling to
the glass and invite algae. That worked really well.
Also, I planted the aquarium then waited three weeks to put
the goldfish in, so that the plants could root. During that
time I had the aquarium only half full because Aqueon tech
support said that it was alright to move the aqaurium on the
rolling cart as long as going over the edge of a rug there
wasn't huge wave created which could damage the corner
seals. It seemed to me that less water was one way to
control the size of the wave, since indeed I had to move the
tank over the edge of a carpet.
With the aquarium only half full I couldn't run the filter so
by week three there was hair algae... not so pretty. On the
other hand, there was a LOT less algae than I'd gotten in
the previous tank, and that may well have to do with the
CO2 I provided for the plants via Seachem's Flourish
Excel. The reviews for it said it deterred and even killed
algae.
I called Aqueon to ask if the filter, now that it was running,
would pull the algae off the plants. The tech said... "No."
He helpfully suggested Japanese Trap Door Snails to eat
the algae... so I ordered some, and WOW, do they ever do a
lovely job!!!!!
female developed a reddish splotch on her back - in the
photo you can see it above and to the right of her gill.
I had let their water (I have two goldfish) get very brackish,
that is, distastefully black and cloudy. (There is so much
stress with my home being in foreclosure, is how it
happened.The stress
is horrible and I
don't do things for
me, my plants or
my fish that should
be done.)
When I took out the
old water and
replaced it with
fresh, filtered
water I saw that
this goldfish, which
is a lighter color
overall, had a
reddish splotch.
The other goldfish
had splotches, too,
but not as large or
intensely colored in comparison to his overall coloring.
My first thought was that they were more brightly colored
because they were ready to mate, but I worried that was
pollyanna optimism.
I Googled "Red splotches on goldfish" and found that it
can be caused by too much food making the water's
ammonia content too high.
- That certainly could be it, because
last fall a woman who was
helping me in my house went over
to the fish and asked them, "Are
you hungry?" She then picked up
my food container and fed them.
I didn't feel comfortable with her
doing that, but I found that she
made me feel guilty about not
feeding my fish enough, so since
then I was feeding them a very
great deal more.
That was despite Kathy, whom I
had worked with at a small hotel,
telling me that the main killer of
goldfish was overfeeding.
Last night I fed them an amount
more like that I used in the past,
and I changed the water again
today, adding Stress Coat and
Stress Zyme.
But, the internet also suggested
that it could be from an infection
caused by the water having been
dirty for an extended period.
and I made sure to get out all the dead plant leaves.
Usually the fish huddle together at the bottom after I clean
their water, but this time they seemed to be enjoying the
fresh water from the get go: they began swimming around
so actively I felt as if they were playing.
However, the red splotches are still there, on each of the
two fish, so although I will clean the water again tomorrow,
and put in fresh
Stress Coat, I'm
wondering about
ordering some
antibiotic.
(I haven't driven since
I got tetanus in 2004
because of the muscle
seizures, and later because
of how debilitating tetanus
is.) The man I hire to drive me
is not usually available on
the weekend, so ordering
may be the best thing to do.
It's interesting to me that I felt so good about how old my
goldfish are, but then I went to a goldfish forum and took
major heat about how I didn't have them in a large enough
tank. After that I felt guilty every time I looked at my
goldfish, so in a way that guilt contributed to them getting
sick, because I didn't want to look at them, and without
looking at them, you can't see how they are doing.
While it was probably worthwhile to tell me that goldfish
need a lot of room, I think making people feel guilty is
counterproductive most of the time. For one thing, stress
is a primary cause of depletion
of vitamin B12, and when
people run low on vitamin B12
they have an increase in pain,
a reduction in cognitive
function, a loss of balance,
and many other problems
that make it less likely they
will perform well, and more
likely they will lose their
temper or on the other hand
become extremely depressed.
For these reasons I wondered
about an antibiotic that also
contains B vitamins.
Fish/human similarities - While I
had tetanus I had fine red lines
under my fingernails and thick
red lines under the toenail of
the toe I had injured. Lines like that are called "splinter
hemorrhages" and are associated with a blood infection.
In 2007 I was getting dull red splotches under my nails due
to an ongoing infection that I keep in check by using
vitamin C. In the picture you
can see the splotch just above
the white moon. Basically, it
seems very similar to the
splotches the goldfish had
when they were affected by an
infection. (When I forget to
take vitamin C, or when there
is a lot of stress, the splotches
I have, like that pictured above,
overpower the moon on my
thumbs.) All of this gives
the impression that living
organisms share in how ill
health affects them... that's you and me, fish, animals and
most likely insects.
Today is July 25, 2009, and I hope to be able to report that
my goldfish are healthy again in the very near future.
- This is a picture of Foxtail, one of the
plants that makes a lot of algae. It is a
coarser plant than Limnophila, but
overall I have a hard time telling them
apart. This is the one, I think, that was
in with my fish when they got sick.
- This is a picture of Limnophila. My
fish didn't appear to dislike it as much
as they disliked the Foxtail. But, it was
quite invasive and also made a lot of
algae.
July 26, 2009, my goldfish each have far less of a red
splotch today, so the Stress Coat alone must be working. (I
put off ordering the antibiotic in case Del could give me a
ride tomorrow, Monday.)
January 29, 2010, my goldfish bowl has been needing
cleaning and new water more frequently than every week,
so I'm looking at bigger "habitats" for my goldfish. I'm sure
the bowl they are in is less than 2 gallons.
January 30, 2010, In the last day I've read a lot of
aquarium specifications and reviews at PetCo, PetSmart,
Wal*Mart and Drs. Foster and Smith, and I am coming out
of my confusion over acrylic versus glass.
Basically it appears that glass tanks come with
incandescent lighting and are heavy, while acrylic tanks
come with full spectrum fluorescent lighting and are much
lighter in construction weight.
While many who buy acrylic tanks complain about easy
scratching, many more people buy acrylic tanks than buy
and review the less costly glass tanks.
For myself, I think I've gone from being drawn to the 5
gallon tank with excellent reviews at Wal*Mart to the 12
gallon Eclipse 12 by Marineland at Dr. Foster and Smith...
In any case, in preparation I've painted a sturdy, solid wood
table to use as a stand.
February 6, 2010 -
I'm not sure the
table is as sturdy
as I thought. But, I
think it's up to the
job. (You can
barely see the
antiquing I did on
it. Very subtle.)
My goldfish are in
their old bowl on
my desk. They've
been watching me
prepare their new
Eclipse 12 home.
When I was putting
in steaming water
so my hands would
stay warmer while
I was planting, the
fish actually looked
worried and began
huddling together. I wonder if fish have a genetic memory
of steaming water being a bad sign for fish in terms of
longevity vs. dinner for humans.
- The black material at the bottom of the aquarium
is Eco-Complete Planted Aquarium Substrate. It's
really heavy. (It felt as if 20lb. of it was a LOT
heavier than 20lb. of flour. That's a joke...)
I'm hoping that my plants thrive. Usually they
last a few months then sort of peter out.
As deeply as I could, I planted each of the three
different kinds of plants that I purchased, and
the wisps of plant that had survived in the
goldfish bowl. Then, I placed aquarium gravel
around the bases of the plants to help keep them
secure.
Later - With sun
shining on it the
micro sword
grass, at the front,
is sending up a
stream of tiny air
bubbles. In the
closeup I took
you can see them,
but I'm going for
a sort of uniform
look to my
pictures here.
Time to go check
the Mopani
driftwood to see if
it's releasing fewer
tannins. Hope so!
I'd really like to
place it in the
aquarium so I can
put plants behind it and then put the filter in place.
February 7, 2010 - Acrylic vs. Glass -- Oh Oh! my
goldfish don't appear to be able to see out of the acrylic
tank. They see their reflections in the sides which are like
mirrors. I'm SO disappointed. Back to looking at
aquariums, and this time glass is a must. (Though I have an
email in to Marineland.)
Later - Well, I'm no longer as sad as I was. The fact is I
have to make a decision: do I want my fish to no longer see
me? or, do I want to buy a new, glass tank, and go through
all the trouble of setting it up? do I want to get a larger tank
while I'm at it, since the cost is minimally more? do I want
to purchase a wheeled cart for my aquarium stand so that I
can put the water I filtered for the Eclipse into the new
tank? (and then move it into place when the Eclipse is
empty-ish) do I have another $100 to spend? ... or ... do I
want my fish to not see me anymore??? (I used to love
seeing their little fish faces looking out of the tank at me.)
Later still - Then, there's the problem of how much I like
the present table, that I antiqued. It's pretty, and I love it.
But I'm not sure it's strong enough to hold a larger tank.
If I get the steel and chrome cart with wheels, that's strong
enough, but my living room is going to be dominated by
chrome, given that my plant racks are chrome.
February 9, 2010 - I've decided to get the 16 gallon glass
tank with hood from PetSmart. It isn't that much heavier
than my 12 gallon tank. A gallon of water weighs 8.43 lb.
I'm now sanding an old bread board I used to use as a
drawing desk. It has ink stains, numerous cuts from my
craft knife, and glue streaks... so sanding is not going very
quickly. I may opt for the "distressed" look and
polyurethane it with less than perfect sanding results. Time
is a factor because I have to send back the Eclipse 12, and
before I do that I have to get my substrate out of the bottom
and into a new glass aquarium. Meaning the board has to
be in place before I get started with the transfer.
February 13, 2010 - I am so happy with the Aqueon glass
aquarium. I'm delighted to see my two fish, as opposed to
seeing them and a half dozen reflections of them.
Because the Marineland
Bio-Wheel filtration
was broken on the
Eclipse 12, the water is
somewhat cloudy. I'm
hoping that clears up. I
can filter the water only
when there is sunlight
for my solar system. So,
I bought a 30 gallon
system, almost twice as big as I need, in the hope that the
added water processing will make up for the hours the
system is turned off each night.
February 14, 2010 - he water is more "foggy" than cloudy
today. But, it is by not
clear. I hope that the
improvement tomorrow
is equally great. Then,
in a few more days the
water should be lovely
clear. Hopefully.
Other than that, I'm no
longer quite as happy
with the Aqueon aquarium: the light appears to be
something other than full spectrum.
February 19, 2010 - Aqueon tech support has been
wonderful and explained to me that the lights are 8000
Kelvin, which is the spectrum for "daylight".
April 2, 2010 - Ah, Algae. I was not expecting algae now
that I have a filter, but... algae there is. It's interesting that
the algae has formed in straight lines. At first I thought the
- aquarium had been used in display
at PetSmart, but they assured me
that it had not.
- Googling led me to articles that
said leaving some algae is a way
to limit algae formation based on
the fact that there is only so much
nutrient in the water. With a filter
the uneaten food and fish
droppings are taken out, which
limits nutrient available for
remaining nutrients reduces the amount of nutrient left for
the formation of new algae.
That explained, it seemed to me, the straight lines of algae
in my aquarium: when I was setting it up I put in the Eco-
Complete substrate, added Britta filtered water and let it set
over night. The line of algae is at the level of the water the
first night. That suggests
that some nutrients from
the Eco-Complete rose
to the surface and clung
to the glass. Then, next
day when I added more
water in stages, the
nutrients rose like rungs
in a ladder toward the
top. When algae began
to form, it thrived best
where the nutrients had
stuck to the glass.
Additionally, algae
grew most vigorously
where sun from my
clerestory hit the aquarium: just right of the filter tube.
Notice how much less algae there is to the left of the tube.
Now that I see how much light affects algae growth, I'm
not leaving the light on as much as I had previously.
December 13, 2010 - I was so depressed today after
dwelling on the fact that the lawyer who foreclosed my
condo without sending me proper documents is now
pleading with the bankruptcy court to dismiss my case
against him (for violating the automatic stay) with prejudice.
I don't understand how courts can allow a lawyer like that
to keep practicing, and hurting people, and the economy. I
just got so SO depressed.
When I happened to look at my goldfish they were nose to
glass watching me, as if they could feel my depression and
were concerned about me. Most days they just swim about,
investigate the bottom of their aquarium, and uproot plants
in their eager eating of them.
I'm so glad I purchased the more costly glass aquarium, so
that they can see me.
As an aside, the water is really clear and I haven't changed
the Marinland filter since I put it in. I think the Eco-
Complete is making a huge difference.
2/7/2011 - Last night I was in huge pain due to eating left
over beans and rice that apparently had "gone off". I was
up for hours and every time I looked at my goldfish, there
they were with their little fish noses to the aquarium glass
facing my bed. They must have been able to feel how bad I
felt, and they appeared to be concerned about me. It's not
the first time I've noticed this behavior in them. I love
them, so much!!!!!
- 4/1/2012 - Aqueon Planted Aquarium Kit -- It
was time for a new, larger aquarium for my
goldfish, which grew proportionally to the
additional space they had in their previously new
tank, above. The Aqueon Planted Aquarium is 9
gallons bigger and has a much more lovely hood.
The light is meant for growing plants.
It turns out I didn't plant the plants correctly last
time, so they didn't spread the way I had hoped.
On the other hand, there was masses of algae
which spread "gloriously". It isn't particularly
helpful to leave some algae to deter algae
growth, and not turning on the lights hurts the
plants more than it deters algae.
time I watched videos on planting an aquarium. The one by
a man from Tropica was very helpful. However many of
the plants I bought from AquariumPlants.com were not in
good shape upon arrival. The Anacharis was a pretty
reddish color, which turned out to mean it was dying. One
of two micro sword grass was lovely but the other had only
a tiny amount of grass, maybe about the size of a dime. The
dwarf hairgrass was brown and slimy, both top and bottom.
I tried to salvage the middle, which I hoped would grow.
Some did. And, I didn't cut off enough of the Mermaid
Weed stem bottoms for the roots to grow into the substrate.
Instead the roots were hanging off the stems. When I pulled
the plants up for replanting, I discovered that their bottoms
were rotting. So I called AquariumPlants because they
advertise that they have great customer service, only that
turned out not to be true. They said they'd be glad to refund
my money for the plants that died if I sent them pictures I'd
taken when the plants arrived. LOL! I hadn't thought I
needed pictures and they hadn't said I would. So, be warned.
This time I put the EcoComplete in and just barely covered
it with filtered water, so that the nutrients wouldn't cling to
the glass and invite algae. That worked really well.
Also, I planted the aquarium then waited three weeks to put
the goldfish in, so that the plants could root. During that
time I had the aquarium only half full because Aqueon tech
support said that it was alright to move the aqaurium on the
rolling cart as long as going over the edge of a rug there
wasn't huge wave created which could damage the corner
seals. It seemed to me that less water was one way to
control the size of the wave, since indeed I had to move the
tank over the edge of a carpet.
With the aquarium only half full I couldn't run the filter so
by week three there was hair algae... not so pretty. On the
other hand, there was a LOT less algae than I'd gotten in
the previous tank, and that may well have to do with the
CO2 I provided for the plants via Seachem's Flourish
Excel. The reviews for it said it deterred and even killed
algae.
I called Aqueon to ask if the filter, now that it was running,
would pull the algae off the plants. The tech said... "No."
He helpfully suggested Japanese Trap Door Snails to eat
the algae... so I ordered some, and WOW, do they ever do a
lovely job!!!!!
Red Splotches on My Goldfish
Gold Fish: Healthy Friends
| http://www.health-boundaries-bite.com Your fingernails reflect your health -- Learn some warning signs -- Karen Kline |
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