[mwarsell]

I use liquid carbon (Easy Life Carbo, like Excel) 2 ml / day to induce plant growth. But now only 1 ml / day, more on this later. I have a 24 gal tank. I've also dosed potassium, nitrogen, iron and phosphate in the past, but always within the parameters (however, I don't have a potassium test so don't really know how much of that is in my water).

I recently acquired 4 otocinclus macrospilus, today I found one lying dead. I thought they didn't have enough food to eat, so I dashed to the LFS and got some Hikari wafers. Previously I had tried blanched cucumber, but only my sewallia ate that.

So, where I'm getting is this: will the previous use of liquid fertilizers affect fish detrimentally? And otos in particular? For example, my PO4 was too much (something above 3) compared to nitrogen (also 3), so I stopped dosing PO4.

FYI, the 24 gal planted tank has apistogramma borellii harem (1+2), 6 x dwarf pencilfish, 3 otos (NOW and a sewallia lineolata. I'm NOT planning to have anymore fish in there.

 

[Boredomb]

Some fish are sensitive to Liquid carbon such as Excel due to the chemicals they use. This is why I never use them! As for the other fertilizers in excess they can be bad to fish. Do you do weekly water changes?

 

[candymancan]

I have been using API liquid CO2 for a few weeks now.. everyday I put like 40 gallons worth in my 27g and 30h hex and none of my fish are affected.. not even my neons.. I also use seachem flourish 2x a week and API leafzone 1x a week.. All my plants are lush and radiating green and color.. and my large amazon sword if I prune its leaves it grows new ones like 3 inches every night

 

[mwarsell]

I do 30% weekly wc. My plants are also fine: i have a monster stargrass in the middle and i have to remove frogbit from the surface because it grows so fast. My last wc was with somewhatcolder water, the temp dropped momentarily from 74 to 68. All my other fish seem to like that sort of Amazon rain season thing, but could this have killed my oto? Should i aim for constant temp in the future?
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[candymancan]

I do 30% weekly wc. My plants are also fine: i have a monster stargrass in the middle and i have to remove frogbit from the surface because it grows so fast. My last wc was with somewhatcolder water, the temp dropped momentarily from 74 to 68. All my other fish seem to like that sort of Amazon rain season thing, but could this have killed my oto? Should i aim for constant temp in the future?
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Always try to get water the same temp as the tank a big drip on temps like that can kill fish.. Its like us jumping in a frozen lake.. Feel the tanks water with yiur hand and try to get the same feeling with the water from your faucet.. Im sure people go anal here and actually use a thermometer to check there new waters temps... I just go by feel..
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[Boredomb]

I do 30% weekly wc. My plants are also fine: i have a monster stargrass in the middle and i have to remove frogbit from the surface because it grows so fast. My last wc was with somewhatcolder water, the temp dropped momentarily from 74 to 68. All my other fish seem to like that sort of Amazon rain season thing, but could this have killed my oto? Should i aim for constant temp in the future?
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Yes temperature change can cause shock when it is big enough. 6° isn't in my book that big of a difference. Most tropical fish in nature will experience temperature change from day to night or during the rain season. That lil of a difference I wouldn't worry about.

One thing about Otos they are almost always wild caught fish. So usually they are to the point of starving when they make it to your tank. This why its important to have a mature tank with some algae that they naturally eat. From there you can usually get them to except prepared foods but not always. I never could with mine.

 

[candymancan]

yea my tank doesnt have algae period.. Its 8 years mature too.. But i do seem to have brown algae or diatoms my nerite snails get the class clean but they dont touch my plants so my ottos are happy to eat the diatoms off them i only have two though.. I heard its best to keep their numbers low so they dont all eat everything and then starve
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