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damselfishYesterday I was productive and settled in to play some Guild Wars 2. But first! A bath. At which point I took a spectacular fall and slammed my knee into the handle of a drawer while thinking "please God don't let my head go through the glass shower door."
My head didn't and I felt the knee injury as a distant sensation of something that should hurt, but didn't. I looked. There was a gray dent in my knee cap in the shape of the handle.
That... wasn't good. Nothing appeared broken and I could stand up with no pain and no matter how I prodded this injury I couldn't feel a thing. After wigging out and getting advice while a blue-gray knot swelled up, I got myself situated on the couch and marveled at how different injuries can be. It wasn't painful, but neither was that time I nearly broke my neck. It also wasn't a funny story like that time I nearly broke my neck.
I looked at my aquarium from an angle I don't usually.
And saw a dead cory.
A weary fury assailed me. I'd found a dead cory yesterday for reasons unknown and this death was equally unexplained. Then, as I watched, the beautiful male molly swam erratically. I heaved myself off the couch, again (as I'd been answering roughly 500 phone calls and wandering around the living room as someone else thought of something I should try for my knee) and fished out the dead and the dying.
And found another dead cory floating behind the sprayer bar. Also two more guppies are missing, lord knows where their carcasses are. Probably eaten by the angelfish.
Despite being told to keep my knee elevated I did a big water change which involves lugging around a bunch of 5 gallon buckets and tested all my water because what the hell is going on. No. Everything was where it should be. No ammonia, no discernible nitrites and low nitrates.
I said I'd give this aquarium the old college try one last time with an all new setup. I did. I failed. I yield. I'm done. I don't know what in the world besides a heavy copper load in the water that will kill cories but not angelfish.
The only guess I have is that my canister filter is pumping evil humors into the water: the tank was fine when I ran two 55 gallon HOB filters. It was even fine again when I had to remove the canister for a while and run a single 55 gallon HOB despite that being way too little for the big tank. But when I run the canister, death prevails. This is certainly coincidence and strange hindsight because I don't understand how the canister could do that.
That's it. My aquarium is haunted. That's my only explanation.
If anybody wants it, I've got a free 75 gallon aquarium, black pine stand and canopy, 55 gallon Aqueon Emperor, Penn Plax Cascade 1000, plants I don't feel like re-using in the small tanks, and any fish that are still alive as of your pickup.
My head didn't and I felt the knee injury as a distant sensation of something that should hurt, but didn't. I looked. There was a gray dent in my knee cap in the shape of the handle.
That... wasn't good. Nothing appeared broken and I could stand up with no pain and no matter how I prodded this injury I couldn't feel a thing. After wigging out and getting advice while a blue-gray knot swelled up, I got myself situated on the couch and marveled at how different injuries can be. It wasn't painful, but neither was that time I nearly broke my neck. It also wasn't a funny story like that time I nearly broke my neck.
I looked at my aquarium from an angle I don't usually.
And saw a dead cory.
A weary fury assailed me. I'd found a dead cory yesterday for reasons unknown and this death was equally unexplained. Then, as I watched, the beautiful male molly swam erratically. I heaved myself off the couch, again (as I'd been answering roughly 500 phone calls and wandering around the living room as someone else thought of something I should try for my knee) and fished out the dead and the dying.
And found another dead cory floating behind the sprayer bar. Also two more guppies are missing, lord knows where their carcasses are. Probably eaten by the angelfish.
Despite being told to keep my knee elevated I did a big water change which involves lugging around a bunch of 5 gallon buckets and tested all my water because what the hell is going on. No. Everything was where it should be. No ammonia, no discernible nitrites and low nitrates.
I said I'd give this aquarium the old college try one last time with an all new setup. I did. I failed. I yield. I'm done. I don't know what in the world besides a heavy copper load in the water that will kill cories but not angelfish.
The only guess I have is that my canister filter is pumping evil humors into the water: the tank was fine when I ran two 55 gallon HOB filters. It was even fine again when I had to remove the canister for a while and run a single 55 gallon HOB despite that being way too little for the big tank. But when I run the canister, death prevails. This is certainly coincidence and strange hindsight because I don't understand how the canister could do that.
That's it. My aquarium is haunted. That's my only explanation.
If anybody wants it, I've got a free 75 gallon aquarium, black pine stand and canopy, 55 gallon Aqueon Emperor, Penn Plax Cascade 1000, plants I don't feel like re-using in the small tanks, and any fish that are still alive as of your pickup.
