Think Fish Keepers Daily News. [2016-2019]

I've had an espeii rasbora that has steadily been getting more and more skinny over the last several weeks. It initially had a spot of fluff on it's side, but that disappeared the next day before I could get a good look at it. And it seemed absolutely fine. So I spent a couple weeks just counting the number of espeii I had until I realised that it was looking (lost its shine and bright colour) and behaving ill. Despite me trying to make sure it got sufficient food by feeding it separately (which I thought was working because it was eating and even had a day where it's colour came back), it got progressively thinner. This morning I found it's body after a quick search when I realised I couldn't see it at feeding time. 

@Helen - sorry to read about this. 

After a couple of pieces of sad news on the forum the past couple of days, I thought I'd share some good news as an antidote. I resisted the urge to move any plants during the weekend's water change and only lost a few leaves in the space of a week, in comparison with the usual loss of about 25% of each plant's leaves when they were potted (not helped by lifting the pots in and out of the tank during each water change). Unfortunately, the floating plants melted within a week or so of their arrival - my own fault as I need to keep them contained in fish feeding squares to prevent them being buffeted around the tank or sinking - but at least the planted ones are now faring much better now that they're directly in the substrate. 

I learned an important lesson this evening about the importance of thoroughly cleaning test tubes, not just swilling them with water a few times and leaving them to dry. PH was 9! Thankfully, I re-tested and also tested the tap water, getting more accurate readings for each.

Nerite snail is perched precariously on the end of an anubias leaf, with nowhere to go. He has an audience of 11 fish right beside him, watching as though they know what's likely to happen.

The fish were indeed correct - he landed upside down, tried and failed to rectify his position, then had to be repositioned with the help of an aquascaping tool.  It didn't stop similar behaviour today, though...

The filter won't stop vibrating today and it's driving Mr FCMF crazy. I assumed the nerite snail had wedged himself behind it as he often does but he's nowhere to be seen. Twice, I've taken the filter off the bracket, removed and replaced the bracket itself and all the media and the impeller, to no avail. I'm wondering if I over-cleaned the impeller and impeller well yesterday and whether that would even account for the vibrations... If this doesn't subside over the course of the week, I might need to consider investing in a new filter.

Thanks, Sue - I've just tried that after seeing your suggestion but it's still not reducing the noise...

Thanks. I've had the filter out again for examination this morning - magnet definitely isn't split or showing any signs of wear and tear. It seems to be metallic. It doesn't look as though spares of this particular impeller are available to buy but I've e-mailed the manufacturer to seek their advice.

That is good news 

Snails can only get out if there's a hole somewhere. In my old 50 litre, the 2 nerites in there went through a spell of climbing through the cut outs in the back of the lid and crawling over the kitchen floor (vinyl not carpet). I stopped them by pushing some filter wool into the holes. They stopped doing it after a few months.

In my old 50 litre, the 2 nerites in there went through a spell of climbing through the cut outs in the back of the lid and crawling over the kitchen floor (vinyl not carpet). I stopped them by pushing some filter wool into the holes.

I recall you mentioning that before so filter wool duly installed there as a precaution. 

so does that mean you have 10litres more water in the tank??... I can almost hear the till at the LFS... 

You read my mind! I've already been on the Community Creator, working out what of my previously possible additional fish might now be a possibility - still not sufficient space even for a shoal of a micro species. Having said that, the way the fish haven't yet got used to the new filter flow and the fact that the micro pellets scatter across the bottom of the tank uneaten, I did wonder whether another attempt at keeping pygmy cories (in my now much more mature tank and keeping them in larger numbers) and who might be able to eat such leftovers even although they do produce waste themselves might actually be less problematic than the uneaten food decomposing on the tank substrate...

What about cherry shrimp?

I would love to have shrimp but (i) I wouldn't trust the remaining female tetra and the territorial male harlequin with them (I saw the latter eyeing up the snail the other day) and (ii) I couldn't handle shrimp in the same tank as fish given my heebie-jeebieness over dead fish and exponentially even more so over potentially finding a dead one some day with shrimp availing of the feeding opportunity. An invertebrate-only tank some day is probably about as far as I'll get to that but I can't see that / a second tank for that happening any time soon.