Think Fish Keepers Daily News. [2016-2019]

Once I finally finished with carpet samples and taking my mother to the dentist, I got to work on the 180 litre. It now has sand on the bottom, which I've washed over the last couple of days. And I've put crushed coral in the small filter I use for carbon. I've been adding around 1 ppm ammonia while the meds were in the tank and not doing water changes which would dilute the meds, so despite adding a bit of bicarbonate of soda the pH keeps dropping. The crushed coral is instead of the bicarb.
The postman also brought some new suckers for the older filter bracket and some more Eheim substrat pro. I'd added another basket to the smaller biopower but filled it with sponge. It now has substrat pro. I mixed the new with the old from the other baskets in both filters then refilled them all with the mixture.

Over the next few weeks I will increase the ammonia dose from 1 ppm to 3ppm in gradually increasing stages. Then I'll go fish shopping in about 3 to 4 weeks, or when the filters can cope with 3ppm if that takes longer. And I'll do water changes as though there were fish already in there, which should get rid of the majority of the bicarb as well as top up my KH.

Corydoras Julii- Caught depositing eggs!!!

@Littlefish its really interesting to watch them go about this behaviour. The male is constantly following the female and trying to mate... Only caught once but he isn't having much luck now!

Sat down to eat my dinner and noticed one of my peppered cories wedged in a weird position. Decided to take a quick peek before I ate and then wished I hadn't  The poor things eyes were bulging out of it's head, it was bloated and it looked in huge distress. I decided to euthanise it immediately. I thought it was my fat cory but  spotted her elsewhere.

I have no idea what caused this, I immediately tested the water and all the results are normal and no different to how they usually are.

Ate cold congealed pasta for dinner, saddened and mystified, I'll be keeping an extra close watch on the tank for a few days.

Ta Donna, the other fish all seem fine, the amano shrimp and snails are trundling round doing their own thing too so it's not the water.

I just hope I wasn't too quick to euthanise it but it looked very distressed and didnt even try and move away when I netted it.

So sorry to hear, Fiona. Judging by its lack of stimulus to move out of the way of a threat (ie the net) I'd say this was a pretty foolproof signal it had no way back... I believe you did the right thing.

Hugs x

Sorry to hear about the cory. Always sad

Thanks all, I'm just waiting for the lights to come on so I can do a head count. The temp in there is 26C and I always change with slightly cooler water.

@fcmf as long as the output of water from the filter isn't reduced you don't have to clean it daily, it will collect gunk. When I had an internal filter in the 200l my shrimps loved sitting on the grill eating whatever got caught there. cleaned it roughly once a month on average. The sponge filter in the shrimpery needs cleaning roughly once a fortnight. I hope this saves you a bit of work.

It sounds as of everyone is quite busy in your tanks. 

Fair point @Fiona , perhaps I should have said that your shrimp and remaining cory are busy.