Mixed questions/concerns - SOS UPDATE

It doesn't look gold though. I don't see it anymore so maybe it was just something simple that I mistook or something.

They certainly seem happier. the VT is building quite the nest, biggest he's ever done with me. He flares at me then builds some more then flares at me again and keeps going back and forth then he'll rest on a leaf then build some more. It's fun watching him but if he's flaring at me then I wanna let him be to do his fishy thing. Don't wanna stress him out.

Alpha is also a bit more active. He's swimming around a lot and I put a simple plant in his hospital tank because he couldn't settle down to rest so I figured the leaves would be a good place for him to anchor his fins on to take a rest. Both fish are VERY hungry...their bellies are big but I don't wanna feed them too much even though they're eating every scrap. For Alpha I think it's because he's still growing and now needs to heal. The VT has always been a lil piggy.

The whole for the VT LOOKS like it may be trying to heal already even though it's only a day old. Alpha shows no signs of new fins and he's looking more and more tattered. It looks like all fins are now affected.

Once I get the water balanced out they should recover much faster......I hope.


The guy at the store showed me the charts. The Nitrate was decently above normal levels but not quite to dangerous yet. Still if it could help him to heal....and with the ammonia and everything. They don't sell separate stuff in our stores to treat individual water quality aspects (besides PH), so it's all or nothing. Obviously something is wrong and I'll do whatever it takes to get it fixed.


And yeah, I'll DEF be changing the water more than every 6 months. I think it was referring to larger filtered tanks anyway. They never leave any extra food and they don't poo as much as I thought they would. As soon as I find one I scoop it out but I still do my part/whole water changes.

Thinking about getting a small gravel vac. We used to have one but, again, as with all our fish stuff, my mom threw it out :/

You can go to a dollar store and by a turkey baster. Then just return the water
through the fish net until you are ready for a W/C. I did it that way for awhile.

You can use a bit of airline for a cheap gravel vac, esp as your hosp tank is barebottom and stuff. I use it in my hosp tanks and generally smaller ones and it works really well... you just need to suck on the end so use a clear bit of line so you can see the water coming towards the end, trust me you DON'T want to swallow it *yuck*

When I had velvet I confused it with ick at first as it wasn't the gold I was imagining it to be. If you added salt that;s good, because that helps loads. Also, velvet is smaller than ick, so it sometimes is only visible if you shine a torch over the fishy... will look like a fine dusting and can make the fishes slime coat look excessive I think.

Hope they both heal up soon, it's really worrying when they're sick

Yeah I think it was just his slime coating. I sometimes forget they have one because I rarely see it. I think he DID make a bit much slime and that is what I saw....maybe he was preventing illness or something, if that's possible. I don't see any spots on him now other than the small hole in his fin, which already looks like is filling in unless it's more slime again, lol. Hard to tell because he hides if I shine a light on him. He hates the light and is afraid of cameras, lol. I dunno WHAT my cousin did to him but he's a very VERY shy fishy.


Alpha though....I dunno about him. He doesn't mind the light, he's curious, good appetite, comes to me when I'm around (well, as much as He CAN come to me) but his fins just aren't coping well. I'm really hoping this doesn't kill him. His fins are the ONLY sign of trouble he has.


I thought about that with the airline.....our vac before was nothing more than a hose in general with a special tip that sent the picked up gravel back into the tank. His bottom IS bare but after two days there was only one odd-looking ball of poo. It was NOT a food pellet for sure....but it was also different than the VT's poo. I'm wondering if I had just fed him too many shrimps. But neither of them poo DAILY either. I dunno how often they SHOULD, lol. The other one has rocks only off to one side to help keep the plants in place and the bare side is where I place his food and with the water so still they fall right down into the bare area, missing the gravel completely.

I was thinking though....I have all sorts of rocks from rivers and even the Great Lakes....bigger ones that are smooth. Would those be ok in a fishy tank instead of the small gravel? I think the coloring on the rocks is getting into the water and clouding it up a bit, even though they're pre-used and have been rinsed through several times already.

How are Alpha and Fishy doing? Are they enjoying the heat? Did you get things figured out yet as far as the U/G filter?

Marineland makes a new internal filter I see for up to two gallons. Cost only $12.
Trust me I know how it is not having money. Might as well be $100 at times!

Yeah, I have Alpha in the tank you sent as it can circulate the meds and water conditioner. I see why you wanted me to use the bi-valve....help lower the air flow a little so the current isn't so strong. I'm just wondering if it's working well enough. I'm gonna have to make a shallow lean-to in there for Alpha to hide in....he doesn't like even the slightest current but there needs to be to push the water under the rocks. It's still something to fiddle with but I'll do that after he gets better. He's fairly tattered now but not really worse....still no signs of re-growth.

The VT is VERY happy. I put the smaller heater in with him for now as Alpha has adequate heating with just the bulb (I checked....the tank feels toasty and there's high humidity on the surface). the VT is sticking close to the smaller pad....it's only heating the water right around it so I WILL put that bigger one in there. I just wanted to wait till the bubble nest's life was spent (and it is today). The hole in his fin had gotten a little bigger and seems to have the smallest thread of fin dividing it down the center but I can swear I see some fin regrowth......but if I try to look he's either got his fin clamped or he's swishing it around too fast to let me take a decent look, lol.

I'll update pics soon.