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Fish Heads · 01-18-2005, 10:11 PM

First: ****my betta fry tanks get velvet any time that I don't take care of them by weekly water changes, feeding too much, too high ammonia, nitrites, etc . . . ****In other words, something else may be making your fish sick and the velvet, ick, etc ****then takes over. ****Pet shops will test water parameters for free. ****Some kosher salt or aquarium salt will sometimes help velvet but wait unti other tell you to do so. **** ****When I was a kid, we would put pennies in the goldfish bowl because mom didn't want to buy the copper salts - no wonder they all died. ****We also gave any new fish a salt bath before putting them in.

How big is your tank? ****How many fish did (do) you have in it? ****What type of filter do you have? ****Do you have a heater? ****Do you need to use a declorinator? ****These answers will help everyone on the forum to figure out the puzzle.

As far as starting over. . . any tank, gravel, plastic ornaments can be disinfected with a mild bleach solution. ****Just rinse, rinse, rinse and use a declorinator rinse to be sure. ****But by the time one has bought the bleach and more declorinator, one could have ****paid for the medication. ****(but medication won't do any good if the water is poor).

Live plants help all creatures survive and even more so in an aquarium: ****live plants can help absorb fish wastes of nitrites (algae can absorb ammonia directly)

Cycling an aquarium without inputing waste and seed bacteria doesn't really work. ****When I set up my 55 gallon, I dumped some water borrowed from a friend in the cycling tank, then every other day I added ****fish food, fish waste from my fish jars, etc. to give the bacteria something to eat. ****Too much kills the bacteria, too little and the bacteria cannot grow in the filter. Then when my water starts to clear. I dump the water, rinse the filter with room temperature declorinated water, fill the tank again and I'm ready to add fish.

And so if it sounds like I have all of the answers, just check my blurb on my 55 gallon taqnk disaster. ****We're all making mistakes and learning ****well most of us anyway ****. . except for maybe Mark. ****LOL

GOOD LUCK

01-18-2005, 10:11 PM	#2
Fish Heads Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 9	Re: Disinfection methods? First: **my betta fry tanks get velvet any time that I don't take care of them by weekly water changes, feeding too much, too high ammonia, nitrites, etc . . . In other words, something else may be making your fish sick and the velvet, ick, etc then takes over. Pet shops will test water parameters for free. Some kosher salt or aquarium salt will sometimes help velvet but wait unti other tell you to do so. When I was a kid, we would put pennies in the goldfish bowl because mom didn't want to buy the copper salts - no wonder they all died. We also gave any new fish a salt bath before putting them in. How big is your tank? How many fish did (do) you have in it? What type of filter do you have? Do you have a heater? Do you need to use a declorinator? These answers will help everyone on the forum to figure out the puzzle. As far as starting over. . . any tank, gravel, plastic ornaments can be disinfected with a mild bleach solution. Just rinse, rinse, rinse and use a declorinator rinse to be sure. But by the time one has bought the bleach and more declorinator, one could have paid for the medication. (but medication won't do any good if the water is poor). Live plants help all creatures survive and even more so in an aquarium: live plants can help absorb fish wastes of nitrites (algae can absorb ammonia directly) Cycling an aquarium without inputing waste and seed bacteria doesn't really work. When I set up my 55 gallon, I dumped some water borrowed from a friend in the cycling tank, then every other day I added fish food, fish waste from my fish jars, etc. to give the bacteria something to eat. Too much kills the bacteria, too little and the bacteria cannot grow in the filter. Then when my water starts to clear. I dump the water, rinse the filter with room temperature declorinated water, fill the tank again and I'm ready to add fish. And so if it sounds like I have all of the answers, just check my blurb on my 55 gallon taqnk disaster. We're all making mistakes and learning well most of us anyway . . except for maybe Mark. **LOL GOOD LUCK