Uaru F. Log

[Beetlebug515]

Ah, that makes sense. From what I've read, the males max out at about 9" and the females at 7-8". I'm hoping that my group of young uaru a. make them feel at home. I have noticed all 6 of my uaru a. and the 3 uaru f. schooling together a few times. It looks real neat

 

[ehh]

I'm super jealous though. If for some reason I set up some really big tank, these guys are up there on the list of fish I'd like to stock it with.
I'll be following this thread for sure.

 

[peathenster]

That's pretty hard water for U. fern and I hope peat and almond leaves would help. Might have to look into RO for long term. Ryan Smith had some experience with raising them in hard water.

 

[Woefulrelic]

Ryan Smith had some very informative posts about how poorly these guys do in hard water. I'm not an expert on water chemistry and I could be misinformed, but I believe having high tds in acidic conditions can lead to lethal scenarios. These things become more complex if you don't have naturally soft water. (which it appears neither of us do)

 

[Beetlebug515]

I'll have to track those down when I get home tonight. My only aversion to ro is the size of the tank. I would have to keep about 150 gallons on hand at all times for regular water changes and some extra in case of emergency. Do the "lethal conditions" exist only for soft water fish, or are they applicable to all sorts? My 75 has a ph of about 6.8 because I use pressurized c02. And to be clear, I'm not really aiming for acidic. I'm shooting for 6.5-7 hopefully. I'm mostly hoping the addition of tannins will help their immune system. I'll report back in a while with tests at the 24 hour mark. I'm interested to see how much the leaves and peat have changed things.

 

[Beetlebug515]

Received the NLS Hex Shield today. I 100% believe that it contains a mega dose of garlic. You can smell it as soon as you open the jar. Intense. The pandas are it immediately. Not quite as quickly as my amphs did, but they got a good amount just the same. I plan on doing a 3 day treatment, then resuming my normal feeding cycle. No changes to the water yet, but I'll keep up with it. I have noticed one odd behavior out of them: they push each other. No biting or aggression, just nudging each other around. Odd.

 

[Beetlebug515]

Big update! A couple of days ago I confirmed that the pandas were coming down with ich and started plans to get them out of the 250. So I emptied my 75 into my 250 and the pandas went into the 75 for ease of treatment and a tank that I can feasibly use ro water on. So! New tank specs

75gallon acrylic
Ph 7.2
Kh 2
Gh 4
Temp 86

Treating ich with metroplex, focus, and paragaurd. Will post more updates next weekend.

 

[Beetlebug515]

Also added 10 almond leaves. I saw no change in ph or hardness in the 250 with the leaves and peat. Hopefully I'll see a change in ro water.

 

[ehh]

aw bummer. dealing with sick fish is always the worst.

 

[Beetlebug515]

It is. But I can't say it was unexpected. I think it's better this way. A 75 should suit them just fine while I have them.