Good news... Bad news...

[ruecole]

Well, the good news is I FINALLY found a sponge filter for my fry tank. They look MUCH different here than the ones I was seeing online. They're enclosed in a square case, but function just the same as the cylindrical/triangular shaped ones I've seen. The pathetic thing is, I went to Petcetera and told what I was looking for and they said they didn't carry such a thing, but they do!!! :rolleyes:

Also, the baby gouramis are now out of the Ziploc bag and into the 10g.

Now the bad news:

Though I'd been very good about water changes, yesterday afternoon, I noticed more babies had died and several more weren't looking very good. So I tested the water: ammonia 1.0 ppm; nitrites .25 ppm. :ssad:

So I suctioned the survivors out and put them into the 10g.

And now the 10g is doing a mini cycle (ammonia is hovering between .10 and .25 ppm, nitrites are still at 0, nitrates at 5 ppm) I'm guessing because the tank sat for 4 days without a filter and obviously there wasn't enough bacteria in the tank to keep up. :sigh:

So I've taken the HOB filter cartridge and placed it at the bottom of the tank (it's been sitting in the filter in the big tank so the bacteria on it wouldn't die off). So hopefully that'll help bring things back into balance.

And to top it all off, Jasmine (my froggy) died. She started floating on Friday, quit eating yesterday afternoon, and died last night. :cry:

I've checked and rechecked the water in that tank and it's always come up clean as clean can be, so I KNOW it wasn't anything I did. I'm actually wondering if the frogs they're selling at Petcetera are diseased. :smad:

Anyway, I'll be getting my money back today and won't be buying any more froggies from them!

Poor Jasmine. Poor baby gouramis. :scry:

Rue

[gm72]

Wow, sorry to hear of your troubles there. At least you identified the problem with the fry though and were able to save some of them!

[emma_421]

I am sorry to hear about that. I lost a lot of baby mollys when my tank sprung a leak 5 days ago. The good news is though, there will be more... and then more a month later... and then more:c10:

[ruecole]

Thanks, guys!

Hopefully the mini cycle works itself out in the next 24 hours and I don't lose anymore fry in the meantime. I haven't given too much thought to what I'll do if/when my gouramis spawn again. Can you keep brand new babies with 1 month old fry? And what about when you get 3 month old, 1 month old and brand new babies all in the same tank? When do the older fry be big enough to eat the new babies? (Okay, my head's starting to hurt already! :hmm3grin2orange: )

I'm totally stumped on the frogs, though. This is the third frog I've lost in exactly the same way. They seem healthy one minute, eating, froggying around the tank, the next they're floating, then dead. :ssad:

For now I'm just going to see how little Violet does. Hopefully, she'll survive okay for the next 2-3 weeks, and then in I can try getting another frog (just NOT from Petcetera). If she dies, though, I don't know what I'll do. I really want to keep frogs, but not if they only live for 2-3 weeks in my tank! :scry:

Rue

[gm72]

Can't help you with the frogs, just have no idea about them, never researched or kept them.

For the fish, depends on the physical size of the fry. If the larger fry have mouths big enough to fit the new fry, I would think they will eat them.

[ruecole]

Makes sense. :ezpi_wink1:

Thanks, gm!

Rue

[squirt_12]

yeah the fry MAY pick on the little fry like nipping at their fins but they shouldn't because they are the same kind.

Now i don't know about the frogs...i have 1 and s/he has done fine since i gto it (about 2 months ago).

Sorry to hear about everything that has happened to you. :(

[ruecole]

Thanks, Curtis.

I've been trying to find more info, but all I can come up with is it could've been some sort of poisoning (though I can't think of what!) or something called Epidermal chytridiomycosis which (based on the highly scientific--and therefore barely readable!--articles I found online) is some sort of bacteria or fungus that causes the same symptoms (peeling, floating, dying).

There's not much you can do if it's poisoning except get them out of the tank and into clean water and hope for the best. The bacteria, on the other hand, can be cured with diluted Malachite Green.

Of course, (upon more research) Malachite Green is banned in Canada... :sigh:

Rue

[squirt_12]

well the weird thing is...i myself havn't saw my frog peel. are they supposed to???
well i am sorry but i have no idea what is happening to them. Maybe there is something in your water??? but you prob. treat it.

Well i would do a little more research on that product before you buy it just incase it isn't the right thiing.

[ruecole]

Geez, I REALLY hope this isn't what my froggies have got!

Read this article:

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

The symptoms are eerily similar, though. Right down to the thrashing at the top of the water like they're trying to jump out! :scry:

Fortunately, it's not contagious to fish, but if this is really what's killing my frogs, then I'll have to bleach EVERYTHING (including my 10g and 20g) or risk spreading it into the wild through water changes!

OMG, I HOPE this isn't what it is! This stuff sounds HORRIBLE! :ssad:

Rue

[squirt_12]

yes it sounds horrible and sadly it sound slike what you have. So if this next frog dies of the same symptoms i would do what they said in that articel.
Throw th gravel and ornaments away. or let soak in bleach. and clean everything with bleach. Then you can try it again.
I hope this froggie lives.

[ruecole]

This sucks!

That article I found had a link to a forum for ADF enthusiasts who seem quite knowledgeable about this fungus and they said the symptoms my poor froggies had sounded exactly like chytrid. And it's 100% likely my surviving froggy is now going to get it. :ssad:

If I can find something called Benzalkonium Chloride before she starts to peel/float, then it's possible I can save her.

Of course, now I'm freaking out that I'm going to have to tear down and bleach all three of my tanks to keep from spreading this stuff into the wild (worse than I already have!).

This sucks! :ssad:

Rue

[squirt_12]

:ssad: Why would you have to do it to all of the tanks??? you would just have to do it to the one. wouldn't you???

that really sucks...i am sorry that this has happened to you. I have never heard of this before..... :(
I am sad with you.:ssad:

[ruecole]

Thanks for being sad with me, Curtis. I'm definitely not happy right now. I don't want my froggy to die, but I don't know if I'll be able to save her. :ssad:

I'm hoping that I won't have to tear down all three tanks, but I thought I read somewhere (can't find it now, of course... :rolleyes:) that the fungus lives in the water and can be spread from tank to tank by using the same buckets/nets/sponges/etc. regardless of whether frogs live in the tanks or not.

But I'm not going to think about that right now. I'm just trying to figure out where to get that Benzal Chloride stuff before Violet takes a turn for the worse. :ssad:

Rue

[spudbuds]

Sorry this is happening to you rue. Good luck on saving your frog. Keep us posted.

- Bill

[ruecole]

Thanks, Bill.

Oh, this sucks even worse. I can't find any of that stuff I need locally--at least not for a reasonable price and not in a reasonable quantity! (What am I going to do with 50L????)

I did find a place online where you can buy it, but it's going to cost a small fortune to ship it across the border.

My froggy, it seems, is doomed. :scry:

The one glimmer of hope: Only 74% of frogs exposed to this fungus die. So there IS a 24% chance that Violet will survive.

I'll cling to that hope! :ssad:

Rue

[CAF]

Well you can add 2% to the survival rate....

I hope your froggie makes it.

[ruecole]

Have I mentioned I'm not very good at math???? :rolleyes:

Either way, she's got a one in four chance of surviving. And I figure since she's froggy number four, that makes her odds pretty good... :sbiggrin:

Rue