31 replies to this topic

[Donna]

Hi everyone,

Did a 30% water change yesterday. Rinsed not cleaned filter in tank water, changed filter wool. Have a built in juwel filter. Also, bought some red plants (not ludwigia) to put in the the tank.

Now fish are lethargic, on the bottom of the tank....what is going on? Help please.

Being an aquarist is not coming easy to this little black duck

Should I move as many fish as I can to my smaller tank, or do a partial water change? I always use conditioner.

I have been having a bit of trouble stabilising the temp in my tank, but it hasn't gone over 27...

Sorry to be a pest.

Thanks,

Donna

[kevy73]

Do you have any test kits?

What sort of fish are you keeping?

What is your pH?

[Donna]

pH is 6.8 roughly the same as yesterday before I changed the water. I change the water every week, but usually only 25%. I have mainly SA dwarfs. Wooded and planted tank. I have just put two butterflies in my smaller planted tank. I am terrified something happens to my flags and my kribs. They are my favourites.

I did some planting yesterday, got a bit murky, but that's not that unusual either......

I am not cut out for this...my fish are more worrying than my kids!

[kevy73]

Donna, I know the feeling, Kids are easy in comparison, at least they can tell you when they are sick!

Sounds like you are doing everything right. 27 might be a bit high, but otherwise fine.

I am at a loss to explain the lethargy.

If you cleaned the filter, you might have extra ammonia or nitrite (or nitrate) can't remember which... I dont suppose you have test kits for those?

[Donna]

No, no test for those.

I did a two bucket change, realising that if the filter has been overcleaned, this will only make it worse I really didn't do anything more than normal yesterday....except for the planting. I guess I could have released some toxins from the gravel??

I am too scared to catch the flags in case I stress them out more, and I can't even see Mr Krib.

I am really bad at this.

Need to get some kits when in LFS. We don't have a lot of specialist FS down here in North Bunbury as you call it I will get some off the net.

I know you are interested in HC. I did a stupid thing and bought a bunch of it of EBAY and then found out they don't ship it here....my husband had to undo the deal and wasn't very happy with me I had to do some fancy dancing!

I have always been good at stuff, no probs. Ha ha, this is a real challenge. That's why I like it I guess. Thanks for your help.

Regards,

Donna

[Gavin]

You should definately get ammonia and nitrite test kits - they will tell you if the filter is malfunctioning(say if you have killed the bacteria) but it sounds like you were on guard against that so I doubt it.
What other symptoms can you tell us? Are the fish breathing heavily?
As a wild guess I would think a toxin has got into the tank perhaps from :
perfume on your skin when you had your hands in the tank?
Aerosols(flyspray, air freshener)?
contaminated bucket?

In any case, more water changes are the safest way to go(making sure that it's not contaminated) that way whatever is wrong will get diluted enough to keep the fish alive till you figure it out.
HTH

[Donna]

Hi Gavin and Kevvy73,

I did a two bucket change already. Do you think it is safe to keep diluting. Fish have not recovered to any great degree. If I start loading up my little tank with fish, I am going to end up with a spike in there as well.

Don't use perfume routinely, air freshener, or aerosols of any kind. However, I do keep the bucket in the shed but I did rinse it meticulously before use yesterday. Plus I used it to empty the tank first, then refilled with the same bucket? Is it possible I disturbed something in the gravel? The clown loaches seem to be the most active, they are swimming to the top trying to get in the current with everything else shut down including the tetra.

Anyway, do you think I can keep going with the water changes? How much do you think is possible before reaching really dangerous levels?

Thanks,

Donna

[Brett]

Hello Donna,

Sounds like a serious problem if it affecting all of your fish.

Its always tough to guess the cause of these problems, but I can tell you that it happened too quickly to be related to filter failure and is very unlikely to be related to anything in the substrate.

My initial thought was that one of your buckets was contaminated. I always use fish only buckets, never those that have been used for any other purpose. I think you should move all of your fish into another tank, and then take a sample of your tank water down to your local LFS and ask them to test it.

Good Luck
Brett

[Donna]

Hi Brett,

Yep, I have a fish bucket. I haven't used it for anything else for months....I think I am going to need luck. It makes me think I should always have a back up tank, which I have got, but it is not currently set up. I have run out of places to put tanks. I only have two, but not a lot of furniture

If I fill the little tank with fish, how long before it will spike as well...I only have two fish in there and some BN babies. The filter is just one of those little submersible power filters with a little brown sponge.....oh I am in bind

Thanks,

Donna

[Gavin]

Agreed, I doubt it has anything to do with the substrate unless it is really black and smell of hydrogen sulphide(like rotten eggs).
The LFS though, will probably test for ammonia and nitrite but with poisoning from those chemicals you tend to get rapid breathing-Are the loaches gasping at the surface?
You can't test for other types of foreign contamination such as poisons or detergents.
If the fish are still showing symptoms I would continue to change at least 25% daily(more if their condition continues to deteriorate) until either you find the cause or they get better.

[Donna]

Loaches are going to the surface, but they are not gasping. They are going near the water outlets and air. I have increased aeration and I have added two little stick on power filters with the little brown sponge in them. The loaches are enjoying the outflow.

The two bucket change seems to have improved things a bit. Tetra are colouring up. I will try another change. pH is down a bit, 6.0. If it is some kind of poisoning, would it affect the little fish first? Hate to use the tetra for canaries, but these are desperate times. I will continue to move fish to the smaller tank if the condition of any of the fish worsens.

Thanks everyone, you have been a great help. I have made 1.2 million posts already today.... I am an idiot

[Fishy]

Hi Donna,

You are NOT an idiot and you ARE cut out for this fish keeping stuff. Everyone has had their disaster stories.

I read for months before setting up my first tank, researched the fish, did everything right. Because of my inexperience I miscued the tank cycle (thought it had cycled, but it hadn't). So I added all my favourite fish that I had been waiting to buy... then watched them gasping air at the top of the tank.

After many water changes and much more stress, my solution was to get all fish out of the tank into a large bucket, checking water temperature was around the same as the tank. I changed the fish over every morning and night to another bucket (checking temp). Not leaving them in the bucket long enough to start raising ammonia. After 3 days, the tank water was perfect and the fish spawned within the fortnight - no losses everyone of them no worse for wear.

I am no expert, but the changing of my fish twice a day saved their lives and saved me LOTS of stress (I felt the same way you do now). The master test kit was a bit expensive, but I think that even if you only purchase an ammonia test, it is a must - it really puts your mind at ease to know what's happening.

Good luck Donna, just remember, if the tank water is stressing you out think of the bucket holiday for your fish as a temporary solution...

Bon

[Donna]

The bucket option is a really good one. I am also lucky to have the small tank, but that definitely will spike with an increased bio load. Damn, I have to go to work tomorrow to pay for all this stuff. I need to stay home and monitor.

You are right, time to have a decent testing kit, this tank has been set up for almost exactly one year and this is the first problem I have had. I have been relying on luck for too long.

Thanks for your support Bon, I do tend to panic. Loss of fish is not an option.

Regards,

Donna

[kevy73]

Donna how did you go last night? Any news / progress?

I hope you managed to sleep rather than keeping an all night vigil.

[Donna]

Hi all,

Had a bad night filled with dreams of fish freezing......my house looks like a scene off Duece Bigolo!!! Don't push the button on the blender!
My plants are in buckets everywhere, and I fear for them as well. I have taken the day off work.

I have suffered heavy tetra losses.....neon heaviest, rummy next and black neon tetra are all alive.

Fish are all now in lthe ittle tank. No large fish losses yet, but I am not liking the look of the big boy BN and my clown loaches. The kribs looks the healthiest (why aren't I surprised) even the krib fry and juveniles.

If anyone has any tips for making the chances of my fish better, I would be most grateful. All my fish are now in a 50cm fry tank that is heavily planted and has eco complete substrate. I have popped in an airstone and won't be feeding until at least tomorrow. Lights out. Should I do daily water changes in the little tank, and if so, how much?

I think the pH might have crashed in my tank, last reading it was at 6, but then, it has been lower. That could explain the resistance of the kribs they come from the river Niger which experiences low pH and extreme conditons. I am going to empty the tank but I will take some water to the LFS to see if I can get some answers and at least learn something from this.

I am really hoping there are no more losses. My poor BN, he was given to me by Ben in good faith (he is a BN breeder and this boy was one of his breeders) and now I have let him down

I am going off now to buy some eco complete or ADA for the tank and get rid of the gravel. I suspect there may have been some pockets of gas or something that I disturbed under the plants etc when I was planting. There is quite a strong smell coming from the tank. I could be wrong, my tank has always smelled swampy, I am probably just clutching at straws.

Anyway, anyone know where there is some eco complete or ADA in stock???

Thanks,

Donna

[Donna]

Damn, have lost a clown loach I have put the loaches in a tank with the tetra and a big air curtain as they like the moving water. Next problem is going to be when this temp tank cycles.....omg....this is getting ugly

[dazzabozza]

Hopefully u can get those ammonia/nitrite test kits ASAP. Sometimes it's hard to tell the tank is cycling until it's too late. I've got a fry tank I'm cycling now and the levels are going through the roof. Since there's fish in there I've got to combat it with regular water changes and APi AmmoLock.

Dazza

[Donna]

Hi Dazza,

I know, its not just the fresh tank I just set up, there is an extra bio load on my fry tank now with all those extra bodies.....darn, if only I could go back a couple of days, might not have done things the same.....

Do you know of anywhere that has amazon ADA or eco complete in stock? I am ditching the gravel.

Regards,

Donna

[Mr_docfish]

If you are having problems with low pH and/or ammonia, avoid the ADA stuff - causes both problems to start with.

It sounds like you need the test kits, and something to maintain your pH. Also, what water conditioner did you use... small fish and loaches are more prone to toxins and some chemicals than bigger fish are...

[Donna]

Bugger, just bought ADA off the net.....I can mix it with the eco complete that I have left, will that help?

I am in the dark. I have no idea what went wrong. My LFS only tests water at certain times of the day, and you guessed it...I was too late,and the guy who tests wasn't there.

I suspect that the pH went really low and CO2 levels went up???? Is that a fair guess? My knowledge of water chemistry is at present limited, but I am not stupid and will learn quickly with help.

The only visible injury to any fish at all, is one of the juvenile kribs appears to have gone blind in one eye?? Not sure if this is a result of the "event" however, some of the dead tetra looked a bit odd around the eyes.

I think I am lucky I acted quickly...there was an odd smell from the tank. I can't really tell you anything else to give some clues, but big boy BN has recovered and so have the dwarfs. Not sure about the loaches, they are in their resin ornament. My biggest worry now is maintaining the small tank that is carrying most of the load, and the new tank I set up!!

I really appreciate everyone's help. I have been a tad hysterical, but I do take living things seriously, particularly when they are trapped in an environment of my making. I want to give them every chance. The flags had just spawned on the weekend and everything was going well......

Thanks again,

Regards,

Donna