jameson_uk
Member
Over the last year I have had six of the 10 dwarf neon rainbowfish die. Most of these have ended up with columnaris which I believe they are susceptible to if they don't have good water.
I do a 50% water change most weeks and tank is reasonably well planted and low tech. The other residents (black Neon tetras, Sterbai Cory, Oto, an SAE, Amano shrimp and snails) have all been fine (lost one Cory to a tumor and a couple of weak tetras soon after they were added) and parameters seem OK. Always zero ammonia and nitrite and reasonably stable pH/GH/KH 7.5/5/12.
Nitrates are the only issue and quite often show 40 when I do a test. Having checked and my local water authority list average nitrates for my area as 27.5 so they are never going to be particularly low.
That said, my pre filter is always pretty manky. I rinse that once a week and I am always amazed at the amount of crap that comes out. I vacuum the substrate every week and try to remove as much dead foliage as possible so not sure whether this is normal or what I could do to reduce the amount.
So given the high level of nitrate in the tap water (and I have no interest in switching to RO) is it worth replacing the rainbows or are these never going to like the setup I have?
I do a 50% water change most weeks and tank is reasonably well planted and low tech. The other residents (black Neon tetras, Sterbai Cory, Oto, an SAE, Amano shrimp and snails) have all been fine (lost one Cory to a tumor and a couple of weak tetras soon after they were added) and parameters seem OK. Always zero ammonia and nitrite and reasonably stable pH/GH/KH 7.5/5/12.
Nitrates are the only issue and quite often show 40 when I do a test. Having checked and my local water authority list average nitrates for my area as 27.5 so they are never going to be particularly low.
That said, my pre filter is always pretty manky. I rinse that once a week and I am always amazed at the amount of crap that comes out. I vacuum the substrate every week and try to remove as much dead foliage as possible so not sure whether this is normal or what I could do to reduce the amount.
So given the high level of nitrate in the tap water (and I have no interest in switching to RO) is it worth replacing the rainbows or are these never going to like the setup I have?