Todays test readings!!

[Birdiemarie]

PH - 7.4
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 5.0

Can I do a water change and go get fish?!!

 

[kcbee]

Yes!! Looks like your cycle is done!! You shouldn't have to do a WC either. What type of tank do you have? I have two saltwater reefs - one 37 gallon and one 90 gallon.

 

[waterfaller1]

Hurry up! Let's see the new fish!!

 

[Birdiemarie]

I'm so excited! They are floating in their bags getting acclimated to the tank. They are BIG!

 

[kcbee]

What did you get!!!

 

[Birdiemarie]

Two Orandas...one orange/yellow and one orange/black.

 

[Birdiemarie]

Here's a pic we took with a cell phone (terrible). My dil is out of state with the camera so won't be able to get a good pic till she returns but I'll try to get a better cell phone pic tomorrow. I didn't want to keep the light on any longer. I feel bad you can't see how beautiful they are.

The black/gold one is about 3" and the Orange/yellow one is about 5" from nose to end of tail. They're busy exploring the whole tank together.

Possible names but still thinking: Sushi, Hamachi

 

[KimKimWilliamson]

Thats exciting!!!!!

 

[rikkitikki]

Ohh, I like them, they're pretty

 

[Birdiemarie]

Thank you. I am in love!

 

[Birdlover]

How exciting!!! Congrats Marie!!

 

[sodakat]

Orandas are my all time favorite! We have an all orange one and a redcapped right now. They are about 8 months old and starting to get good head growths. Also their bodies are forming nicely. My husband is the fish keeper and his passion is discus. He has *many*.

 

[zoo mom]

Very pretty. I love the name sushi for a fish.

 

[Gen120]

Wow Marie! They are soooooo beautiful! I can't wait to see better pictures! Congrats! Seems like more and more people on AA are getting fish which makes me want some badly. lol!

 

[Birdiemarie]

Thanks Victoria.

 

[kcbee]

They are beautiful!!!!

 

[Birdiemarie]

This was scary...but is better now. After about two hours my new babies started swimming frantically and would zoom up to the top and then down again swimming vertically instead of horizontally and at certain points seeming to be pushed up to the top of the tank. I checked the aerators and they weren't too strong but I lowered the main one anyway. I hadn't fed them (they had been last fed in the AM at the store) so I know they weren't floating from eating. They had been swimming fine at the store. Then I checked the temperature and it was reading 77F on the digital and 80F on the glass thermometer. According to what I read it looked like they might have been experiencing oxygen deprivation from it being too hot. The thermostat was off so I made myself calm down and think! I remember Carole talking to me about how she occasionally in the summer floated ice bags on the water to help control the temperature so that's what I did and as the temp went down my fish calmed down and weren't frantic anymore. I also read if you suspect oxygen deprivation to turn up the bubbles so I increased the bubbles that I had decreased. The temp now on the digital is 74.2F and about 77F on the glass one. I want to get it down just a little more so the glass one is closer to 76F so will add more ice. They are still swimming up to the top a lot but they are more in control and not frantic anymore and swimming a lot more horizontally as well so tomorrow I'll look more into what else may be causing this. But at least I feel they will survive the night now. And i thought Ruby held the market on causing me grey hairs.

 

[CarmieJo]

They are beautiful!

Blowing a fan across the (open) top of the tank helps to cool it too. It cools by evaporation so have water on hand to replace what evaporates.

 

[waterfaller1]

They are beautiful Marie. Don't be disappointed if the one with the black turns orange. Yikes, a scary first night! I don't understand how the tank could be that high if your home is 73, unless this fluval really puts out a lot of heat. I second what Carmie said, about a small fan. Just blowing it at the filter tubing helps too, kind of like how a chiller works. The only thing electric running into the tank is the airpump and fluval, correct? {sometimes stray voltage causes problems}
They don't look like they are flashing do they? If you need to call me don't hesitate. Congrats on your first fish!

 

[waterfaller1]

Another thought.. do you have the spraybar breaking the surface of the water? This will help oxygenate the water also. You should always have some surface movement. But too much flow can also cause stress. How long did you acclimate them? You aren't using a heater, right?