New Wild Heckel - Which Tank to use?

[TW]

I'm picking up my new wild caught Heckel tomorrow & not sure which of options I'd be best to use.

Option 1: Empty 100gal QT wich was to be filled from water from my discus tank. Around 13.03.08 when I knew I was likely to have new wilds, I put a sponge filter into my discus tank, to pick up some good bacteria, which I could transfer to the QT when time came (which it has now).

Sponge is still there, trouble is, as this thread discuses http://www.discusforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16019&highlight= on 26.03.08 I had pull out a sick apisto (new) from the discus tank, that had 2 strange growths on it. So, now unsure whether I should use the sponge in the discus tank now for the new Heckel

Option 2: is the divided dwarf cichlid tank, which has also been the subject of a thread http://www.discusforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15882&highlight= In this case, I suspect some new dwarves brought in worms & infected 2 long standing female aggies. Tank has since gone through full 4 week Big L & Prazi treatment. Treatment finished around 13.03.08 & no-one in there seems sick (but I did suspect at least one of it's residents was a carier of worms). Would the treatment have gotten rid of worms from carriers). The 2 fish that had the worm symptoms have been removed to another QT and seem to be doing well for the moment. Is this 2nd option safe for the new Heckel? Tank in Option 2 is pH controlled by C02, so it will be easier to keep pH low in this tank

Option 3. Use the currently empty 100G QT with a new sponge for the filter - but this means no bacteria being in the new tank. Also, this tank will need to have pH controlled by chemicals, to keep it low enough for the Heckel's liking.

What do you think my best option would be?

[ILLUSN]

Where in sydney are you? if you like I can give you a bit of well matured filter media from my heckel tank or even a sponge from one of my sponge filters to get you going.

I'm in kingswood just outside of penrith if your up for a drive.

[TW]

That's real nice of you ILLUSN. Seems we can always count on you for advice & even better, practical help. I am a fair way (Menai - Sutherland Shire - close to Xtreme, which is where Heckel is coming from). I don't know how to get to Penrith, but I could figure it out.

I guess by your response, that none of my options will really do?

Your suggestion gives me another idea. I have a mature cannister filter on my african tank, which has no health issues (darn apistos are nearly always what cause me heartache - shame I love them so much).

Anyway, what if i pulled out media from that cannister & put it in a stocking, as well as wrapping the used white sponge from that filter around a serilised foam filter? Would that be sufficient. I wouldn't move the media across until I bring the Heckel home, so that it has no chance to die, before there's something in the tank to keep the waste supply up. I have some Net San (or something named similar to that) that I'd use to sterilise the sponges that I put in the discus tank to mature.

If you don't think that would work, then I'd think about how I could get to you for mature media.

Under the circumstances, I guess I shouldn't transfer water across from the main discus tank to the QT tank - which is my usual tatic for filling & waterchanging the air filtered QT. Although I don't yet know if the discus tank will have any issues due to the newly removed apisto, Merrilyn said I should practice strict quaratine methods with that tank. I wonder how long it will be before I know if that tank will suffer (it holds that nice wild - the picture that Wayne took that you recently admired).

Anyway, what do you think of the new plan?

[ILLUSN]

your new plan is fine, and should work very well, your filter bacteria will do beter if they dont have to travel and are already use to your water ( the ph in my heckel tank is at 4.8 at the momen)

t you could have also gone with option 1 and just filled the center of a new sponge with mature media from an established.

[TW]

Thanks ILLUSN. Will go ahead with this plan.
ph in my heckel tank is at 4.8 at the moment Wow, I worry about keeping pH low & stable in this tank without pH. I do have a spare pressurised C02 set (including gas bottle). Maybe I should set it up on QT, even though it is unplanted, simply to keep the pH low - or should I just do it with chemicals? The issue with chemicals is I have no test kit that will give result below 6pH. What's your opinion on this.

I'm also real nervous about putting any driftwood / plants in QT for hiding spots, since they will both need to come from the 2 tanks with the recent apisto sickness. Anubias in African tank are all secured fast to coral, which wouldn't do at all with the Heckel.

He will eventually head to my community discus tank, so I may not go as low as you. Is pH 6 too high or do I need to go lower?

BTW, I believe mine are from the same batch as yours? I'd love to see a pic of yours, having had a little while to settle down in your tank.

I'm sorry I always have so many questions :oops:

Thanks once more for all your help.

[ILLUSN]

no worries I'll put up pics tomorrow once i clean the glass.

i just let mine go to 4.5-5.0 with HCL or acid buffer and leave it, they seem fine, i had a little bit of a fungus problem with tommos heckel when i raised the ph to 6.5 to introduce the 2 new ones from Xtreme, dropping the ph and adding salt fixed it in 24hrs.

[TW]

I have discus buffer - will that do it? Trouble is, I have no test kit to measure pH at that level. I have one of the pH pens, but it won't calibrate right, so reading is just nonsense. What is HCL?

[ILLUSN]

HCl is hysrochloric acid, discus buffer will work well with penrith tap water (from prospect i think) 4 measured teaspoons in 500l drops the ph to 4.95 instantly and after 24hrs it between 4.4 and 4.8

[TW]

Thanks

QT tank is only 100L, so less 1 teaspoon will be more than enough and then redose proportionally at each water change.

[TW]

Quite a stressful day. The new heckels entered the QT yesterday. Decided to put a spare 2224 eheim into service on QT (at one time it was running UV on the african tank). I stole 2 filter pads from the african tank, as well as 1 whole basket full of media, added a sachet of miracle leaf & started the filter running. Also put in 2 sponge filters, so plenty of filtration going in there.

This morning first one, then both Heckels were laying on their side on the bottom of the tank. After 3 phone calls to Xtreme for advice (thanks Wayne) things seem better now. Seems I had the pH too low for these guys, plus also I had ammonia in the tank (because there's ammonia in my tap water, even though it had been aging for a week).

I brought the pH back up to neutral & added amrite down & cycle to the tank - fish still on side, but maybe only a little better (maybe). Was going to replace the water, using water from the african tank - but I seem to have sent tank into a mini cycle. Maybe I stole too much filter media at the one time, or maybe I had the filter shut down too long & there was an ever so slight trace of ammonia (it wasn't there yesterday).

So, I did what I really didn't want to do & replaced the water, using the water from my discus tank. I hope the water doesn't bring any little surprises with it (I had an apisto in there with lumps, which I pulled out on Wednesday night & it died 2 days later).

Anyway, for the moment, the Heckels seem to have picked up. They are now upright again & swimming around. Here are a couple of pics of them taken about 30 mins ago. http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/165L/000_1946.jpg http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l128/TankWatcher/165L/000_1945.jpg
Their bars aren't showing much, so I guess that means they are still a bit stressed, but I have spotted them eating my homemade beefheart.

When they have had a day or so to settle, should I put them through a precautionary worming treatment? Also, because they are so much smaller than my other discus, I think I will leave them here until they grow up some. I have one other discus, who is just a little bigger than them. Would it be worthwhile transferring that one to QT to join them, just to pump up the number of discus in the tank to 3, which might make them happier.