First Water Testing

I tested the tap water this afternoon after work. My tap water - from Southside, Alabama - goes through an electronic water softener (the "Super Imp" purchased from The Water Imp Company in the UK), then into a 5 micron filter, into a carbon canister filter, and then into another 5 micron filter. The tap water tested:

Southside, AL Tap Water Sample

Test	Results
NH3 (ammonia)	0 mg/L
NO2 (nitrite)	0 mg/L
NO3 (nitrate)	0 mg/L
CA (calcium)	2 drops = 2*20 = 40 mg/L
PO4 (phosphate)	0 mg/L
FE #1 (toxic iron)	0 mg/L
FE #2 (chelated iron)	0 mg/L
GH (general hardness)	7 drops = 7*20 = 140 ppm = 7.84 dH
KH (carbonate hardness)	10 drops = 10*10 = 100 ppm = 5.60 dCH
pH (low test)	7.4 pH

It looks as if Southside has moderately hard water - not that I am surprised in the least. I mean, I already had purchased that electronic water softener a year or so ago.

After testing the tap water, I performed a 60%-70% water change (the number one thing stressed in "Simple Guide to Freshwater Aquariums" by David Boruchowitz is periodic, frequent water changes). I immediately noticed improved behavior in the elephant nose fish. She (Christy is calling the fish "Ella") seems to be playing in the water as it is poured into the tank.

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Water Test Kit Is Here

Finally, the Hagen Master water test kit came in today. I will test the tap water first and then the aquarium water. I'm hoping that I will be better able to maintain a stable environment by being better able to monitor what is happening with the aquarium water.

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Books Arrived

Today, the two books I ordered came in. I called Drs. Foster Smith to check on the test kit and it has shipped and should be in tomorrow.



I started reading the Simple Guide to Freshwater Aquariums by David E. Boruchowitz, and have already found out that I messed up by getting a small tank. The analogy made in the book makes a lot of sense: if you have two cars out in the hot sun - a small sports car, and a large, twelve passenger van, and if they heat up to the same temperature, if you start both vehicles at the same time to cool them off, which one will reach a comfortable temperature first? Of course, the small sports car will. In the same sense, if you were to spill an equal amount of gasoline in each vehicle, which vehicle will the smell be stronger? Again, in the small sports car. In an aquarium, you want stable temperatures, and a larger aquarium resists temperature changes better! Also, in a larger aquarium, with a larger water volume, toxic waste is more diluted - so water quality is easier to maintain in a larger aquarium.



CRUD! I really did want to get that 29-gallon tank from Fish Tails in Rainbow City, and now it looks like I would have been better off getting it.

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Still Waiting

I called and talked to Greg again (a fish tech at Drs. Foster Smith). He agrees that I should continue to wait to see what the water quality is in the aquarium. When the test kit that I ordered comes in, I can find out what is happening with the water and then take appropriate steps to medicate the tank and/or remedy the situation. We discussed the growth some more and decided that it might be a fungus rather than a bacteria or parasite - and as such, if medication is to be used, then I could use the MarOxy that I purchased from them earlier.

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Aquarium Update

The elephant nose continues to thrive - and even the plants look somewhat better. Whatever that whitish, cottonish stuff was, it seems to have gone dormant since the clown loaches died. I am still thinking of adding medication to the tank, but I still am going to hold off until I know what the tank is doing.



I feel somewhat like an idiot trying to figure out what this aquarium is doing - being the "newbie" and all.. To that end, I ordered two books from Drs. Foster Smith: Simple Guide to Freshwater Aquariums by David E. Boruchowitz, and Aquarium Plants Manual by Ines Scheurmann. Hopefully, these books will help me out of the "newbie" stage...

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The Second Death in The Aquarium

The medications that I ordered from Drs. Foster Smith finally came in this afternoon at work. However, by the time I got home, the first clown loach has already succumbed to it. Whatever the disease / bacteria / fungus was, it was deadly effective against the loaches - and it has not harmed the elephant nose fish at all.



I called Drs. Foster Smith and talked again to Greg, the fish technician. We decided that it would probably be better to hold off administering any medication until I can determine what the water is doing (waiting on the water test kit to come in!!!)

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My First Dead Fish

Well, the second clown loach has died. I'm guessing that it's due to the whitish growth found on its sides. Which of course has me worried because the original clown loach has the same growth on its sides. I'm hoping that the medicine I ordered from Drs. Foster Smith comes in today in time to save the original clown loach.



On a little brighter note, the elephant nose does not seem to be infected or affected by whatever this growth, disease, or fungus is.

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