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Its a BOYU power filter (2000lts per hour). Its cleaned every week. One of the compartments is full of ceramic rings, the other compartment is a sponge. The ceramic rings were added just 2 weeks back after it was suggested by my LFS.

There is no rockwork in the tank. The "cave" you asked about is driftwood. Three big pieces. The driftwood has been test for ph and it came out OK. The gravel vac is thorough and it happens every week.

The gravel is the normal kind...i guess its artificial and its kept clean. I have also tested it for ph, but it came out OK. The water changes happen every week and the fresh tap water (after treating it for chlorine) is added.


On a more positive note, the clowns are looking better….I know these are all subjective inferences and based on my own personal assessment of the situation. The skin looks better and the fin rot seems to be healing….kind of. No meds have been added as I will be away for 5 days and just the regular water changes are happening.

Once I am back on Sunday evening I will check the ph and kh once again and re-evaluate the situation. I will post updated pics once I am back.

A friend will come over and feed the fishes in my absence. I have instructed the friend on the proper feeding portions. All I can now do is keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.

I want to thank you all for your help..I appreciate it.

I just uploaded an old video of my one of my sick clowns:

http://s35.photobucket.com/albums/d152/clownygirl/?action=view&current=DSCF2792.flv

Just got back from my 5 day vacation and here are the readings:

Ph = 4.5
Ammonia = 0.1
Nitrate = 0.1
Kh= 1

The clowns look no better, nor worse.
I am going to do a 25% water change. As suggested I will not clean the filter media and do a thorough gravel vac.

Request then you to please take a look at the video that I have posted and let me know what you think is affecting the clowns.

I will get myself some shells to help create buffering (increase kh) in the tank. If I cannot get my hands on shells I will resort to baking soda.

Can I replace all my OLD gravel with Coral sand?

This should help increase kh slowly in the clown tank.

Though, I had a few questions regarding coral sand. Will coral sand be safe for clowns?

Can I buy the ones that are sold for marine setups (Azoo)? They are the only packaged version of coral sand I have seen at my LFS.

Will the sand be smooth and polished?

Won't that increase kh to dangerous levels?

Also I guess this will increase ph. Will it increase ph to 8.
If so, then will the clowns be OK with a ph of 8?

The Sera kh kit I am using is not very user-friendly.
It instructs me to add the regent one drop at a time and wait to see if the color changes from blue to green to yellow.

The problem is that the moment I put one drop, the color becomes light yellow. It never changes from blue to green to yellow. Upon adding additional drops of the regent the color becomes a darker yellow.

Am I following the instructions correctly?

Coral sand might prove to be overkill, try something like adding a little crushed oystershell, and building up to the level you need.

Clownygirl
You can also try a small amount of shell grit and tie it in the toe of a panty hose. I used to use it a lot when I had the big back drop filter in the old 4ft tank. You can control it very easy this way. Also place it close to the inlet or place it into the filter in the panty hose of course.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
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16 of the 19 clowns are looking good, 3 of them still look pretty bad. The PH finally came up to 7.0, I added some sea shells to the tank and the ph shot up in 48 hours, not a lot of shells though.

I also got myself some bacterial medicine - it's called Azoo Bacterial treatment and contains Methylene Blue and Acrinol. Has anybody used this in the past and how safe is it for clowns? Should I dose the entire tank or quarantine the sick clowns?

Have you tried to get any Primafix and Melafix on the WWW at all? See if it can be imported first.

Never heard of that med Clowns can be very touchy to some meds.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

I got myself a 120ml bottle of AZOO BACTERIA TREATER in liquid form. It contains Methylene Blue and Acrinol. I have attached the url for your reference

http://www.azoo.com.tw/azoo_en/modules.php?name=Product_Review&bkid=282


Three of the clowns who had cloudy eyes and fin rot have been put into a small quarantine tank where they are being medicated. Some signs of recovery are present (cloudy eyes seem to have cleared up and fin rot seems to have stopped). The instructions provided by Azoo mention that treatment should be continued for 3 days in a row.

The new problem that seems to have surfaced is that a couple of new clowns are showing signs of fin rot and cloudy eye in the main tank. Should I medicate the whole tank (79gal) ? the disease seems to be infectious….

If the fish in tank are affected and the segregation has come too late, then you might as well treat the tank. Moderately used methylene blue shouldnt kill the filter bacteria entirely, so it has to be worth the risk.

I do not have any plants in my 79 gallon clown tank. The only reason I am thinking about medicating the whole tank is cause I think the infection may be contagious, also the quarantine tank is just 1 foot in length and I am not comfortable keeping the three 4" clowns in such a small tank.

The only problem that I foresee is that all the beneficial bacteria will get completely wiped out if I medicate the whole tank....but this may be the only option that I have...especially if the infection is spreading to other clowns in the tank.

I have medicated the whole tank before using RIDD ALL which has a high concentration of methylene blue. I guess if the fish have survived in the past with all benifical bacteria being wiped out then they should be fine now....

I will go ahead and medicate the 79gallon clown tank.