It's been a while since the last update.
Things haven't been going great, so my enthusiasm for the entire project became tempered. I had some problems with ich infiltrating via some new additions this past winter. Treating 650 gallons of water with medication isn't cheap. Trying to net everyone out to treat in a smaller 150 gallon tank and letting the rest of the equipment air-dry to kill off the ich wasn't reasonable either. Salt treatments and lots of electricity for a lot of heaters resolved the ich problems.
So a couple months later, now I'm having nitrate problems. Why, I wasn't sure. Doing 50% water changes isn't feasible, but my projections based on the amount of fish and volume of water, suggested that my weekly 150 gallon changes should have been sufficient.
Turns out that when you have 60-something fish in a tank, when 1 dies, it's not necessarily apparent. Having 60+ fry in a 50 gallon, if a tiny fish dies, there isn't a huge impact on water quality. Having a 6" fish rotting behind the rocks however is a different matter. Having 2 is even worse.
So a big water change to initially dilute nitrates and increased water changes thereafter got things back on track. I've since been losing a fish every month or so. Some were due to my Aristochromis coming of age. Maybe the champs too, but based on my observations, the chrystii looks at some of the other fish from above with a crooked gaze. So goodbye peacocks. I'd picked some of the larger peacock species, but they just didn't grow quick enough. I lost my smaller phenos as well.
Things seemed be going well, but I'm still losing a fish here or there and haven't necessarily figured out why. 1 fish out of 40+ will just start to hang out by itself, uninterested in feeding, with no visible symptoms and within 1 week of becoming antisocial, pass away. However, it has enough energy that it's nearly impossible to net. Really stinks to see it coming, not know what it is, and having little I can do about it.
Aggression isn't a problem. If it were some kind of bacterial infection or a virus, I'd expect my catfish or clown loaches to exhibit symptoms, both being thin-skinned fish and more easily prone to health issues, but they do not.
Doing some more reading on aluminum toxicity, which by prior research was a concern for acidic waters only, may also occur at pH levels higher than 8. Apparently it impacts gill function in some manner. My well water is around 7.8-8.6 depending on the test kit and tester. Time to change things up ...
I'd built my heater battery with an aluminum fin radiator base to keep the heaters off of the bottom of the plastic sump. I've noticed chemical reactions taking place upon it (hence my renewed interest in looking up potential toxicity to fish).
I'd like to think I'm well learned, but I disliked chemistry and didn't spend any time looking up what is really taking place - if you love chemistry and can explain, I'd love to hear what is really going on. After taking it out of the water, it looks like there is salt adhering to the aluminum rather than the aluminum itself flaking off.
Not as fancy looking, but I had some slate pieces not in use yet. I hardly ever touch the heaters or move things around in the sump, so I'm just placing the heaters atop the slate in the bottom. Should be sufficient.
And from here it's a bit of waiting game again. I have some fossies in grow out. The dominant male is nearly full color now and really wanted to add a trio to the tank, but have absolutely no hurry.
