Topic: problem

[2002eileen]

in my tank, there's a piece of bogwood that seem to be causing a sort of brown stuff on the tube of the filter and since then some of my guppies started to die I was wondering if the bogwood is doing this

will i need to take it out??

[Cholly]

Probably not, but I can't rule it out entirely. Do you know what your ammonia, NitrIte and NitrAte readings are? If you don't have a test kit, don't panic, you can take some tank water in a clean jar down to Petco, PetSmart or your LFS and ask them to test it. I know Petco and PetSmart will, most fish stores will. Don't settle for "this is a bit high" or "It's fine!", get the numbers.
What kind of filter do you have and what is your normal tank maintenance? The more of my questions you can answer, the better answers I can give you.

[Santaaa]

First take water sample then change half of the water in the tank. remove the bogwood and any other decor in the tank that was not sold as aquarium safe.  Then post your results for the first sample here and also take a sample of the new water later and see how it goes. If it is ammonia or NitrIte that is causing trouble first get Prime water conditioner and add it directly to the tank at double the dose as it says you can double to dose in an emergency. Then what I would do also is add about 1/4 teaspoon aquarium salt per gallon if it is ammonia or NitrIte spikes causing it as it will help reverse the effects of ammonia or NitrIte poisoning. There is one draw back, I had a betta I tried to keep in a filtered tank a very large one mind you but still filtered well the bacteria to convert NitrIte did not take as well as I hoped. I use to not test enough either. So my poor betta got NitrIte poisoning and well the salt saved him and I took him and put him in his own bowl unfiltered. Well he nearly died he had it really bad. With the salt he recovered but when I tried to take him off the salt he got ill again and back on the salt he went. Without fail if I removed the salt from his tank he would get sick and nearly die as I believe it severly damaged his immune system. He live a good 2 years on salt but he could not be taken off of it. Hopefully that is not the case for you but don't be surprised if you have to keep them on salt to keep them healthy after a NitrIte or ammonia poisoning problem.  This case is from my very early experiences with fish. I hope my misfortune can help you in your situation. Even though you don't know what is wrong alot of times the most common problem is water quality. Salt is good to add in small amounts to help fish relax and support the immune system I have also read it helps fish breath easier which it has appeared to when my fish have gotten sick they seem to breath a lot easier.   Use it in moderation though.  1/4 teaspoon per gallon will do the trick if it is poisoning. If it isn't salt can be used as a treatment but I have never been successful with salt as a treatment although my aunt has been. If it has been hit with poisoning I would feed the fish anti-biotic food by Jungle to help prevent secondary infections and keep them warm.  Try to ween them off the salt as soon as you think they are back to normal.

[2002eileen]

thanks