Why NTTH at times seems to be Ich Central...
The answer is sadly simple. NTTH folk too often concentrate on precision with the cycle chemistry, and then---don't know how very, very, very, very critical the next step is, which is to be absolutely certain A) the sandbed is somewhat matured beyond mere cycle (ie, can it handle even one fish safely yet?) and B) that the water will not be (for a fish) like a run-in with sandpaper.
SOLVING A: put a CUC in and even FEED them for a bit. Their job, understand, is not to 'clean up' the algae. It's to clean up fish that might die sometime in the history of the tank. Get them in there, let them do itty-bitty poo that will encourage the sandbed, and continue testing to be SURE that sandbed is handling the bioload. SOLVING B: understand that fishes' slime coat is their protection against parasites and bacteria---ruining it is like sandpapering your skin and then going out to play in the dirt. It is stripped by some meds (copper, for one) and also by water that is low in alkalinity---below 7.9. SO---how do you help that slime coat? If you are doing any treatment, keep the fish in qt AFTER the med is gone and bring that water to 7.9-9.0 alkalinity for a week or so before you put them into your tank. And be sure your tank water is in that same range---constantly. Forever. If you do these two things, you will have much better luck. That 7.9-9.0 rule for your qt and for your tank will serve you for all your career in this hobby. |
forgive my ignorance...NTTH?
|
New To The Hobby.
|
Quote:
(I didn't know either) guess we need to teach sk8r how to introduce acronyms properly.. First usage of the acronym should be as follows.. "New to the hobby (NTTH) folks......" Then the full words can be omitted.. |
:lmao::lmao:
|
Well, it piqued your curiosity. ;)
|
sure did, I learned 2 things from this post...
1. NTTH means 'new to the hobby' 2. I had no idea alkalinity plays a part in fish slime coat production I will be sure to keep an eye on my QT alkalinity numbers from now on |
Interesting point about the alk, I had never heard about that until now.
|
I learned one thing..
Using the enter key makes stuff easier to read.. ;) Quote:
|
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 10:58 AM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
User Alert System provided by
Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Pro) -
vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.