tank update! emergency help me!

abrahamcho · #1 09/12/2007, 08:28 PM

OKay i finally got the nitrate down from 40 to 20. is this still bad for the peacock mantis? the ammonia is 0 and nitrite is 0 ph is 8.2 and salitinty is 2.4. help plz i dont want my mantis to die. it is usally doesnt come out of his pvc but he is outside and he looks so sad. plz help me it is an emergency! i did a water change yesterday and did one today and it doesnt seem to help. also the water is kind of cloudy.

Pea-brain · #2 09/12/2007, 08:42 PM

nitrates of 20 aren't toxic, but they should be down more ideally below 10. I hope you mean a salinity of 35 ppt or 1.024 specific gravity. Is your peacock curled up in a ball on the bottom of the tank?

Dan

abrahamcho · #3 09/12/2007, 08:49 PM

ya 35 ppt my bad. i am sorry. 1.024. it is not curled up like a ball but just outside chilling but it does not look good and it is not active. is there anything i can do?

Alesia · #4 09/12/2007, 09:19 PM

Well, if you think your mantis looks "sad" -- have you considered the fact that he's in a tank that is considered by almost every person on these boards to be completely inadequate for its needs? YOU may believe it's fine, but the weight of experience of the community here should encourage you to re-think your decision to keep a peacock mantis in a tank that small.

You asked a few days ago what would happen if you chose to keep a 6 inch peacock in a 12g cube -- I guess now you know! Putting such a large and relatively messy animal in a tiny volume of water is going to throw your parameters out the window -- no wonder you're having trouble stabilizing everything...

Not trying to be harsh, but you asked for advice and were told before that there could be some trouble with your set-up.

abrahamcho · #5 09/12/2007, 09:59 PM

actually the water parameters are now in the zero only the salinty is high. oh ya by the way i transfered it to a 34 gallon like 2 weeks ago when i asked people if it was too small so ya. i dont think that my mantis is sad about 34 gallons of freedom.

hoosierpat · #6 09/13/2007, 12:16 AM

If the salinity is high it can only be your fault. Salinity will not rise if you are topping off the tank with fresh water as you are supposed to. As water evaporates from the tank you have to add fresh water because the salt is not evaporating, only the water.

How do you define "sad"? I have dealt with a few mantis shrimps and would never explain one's mood as "sad". If they are not stimulated you should not expect them to be very active.