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Post by ickyfishywishy on Jul 18, 2005 17:37:23 GMT -5
i did a full clean up to my tank a few weeks ago, and i was concerned that my bio-filter might have been damaged, (the bacteria i mean) but no affects showed until these past few days! everyday a fish would die! and they would look/act/swim as normal as possible the day before..... im realy peeved at whats going on, my 2 new beautifull marble angels died 2 days in a row and im just confused! i want to blame the orange finned loaches cuz they ould emedietly attack and kill anything that might be injured or sick...  if this keeps going on im gona do a full water change and cycle all over again! what is most confusing, dont discus need perfect water chemestry?> they are the only ones acting perfectly normal thank god! and im thinking of quickly rescuing them and giving them to my bf,,,, so what do u think i should do? the water chemestry didnt change at all,,,,, PH= 6.1-6.3 no amonia or nitrates.... the only new addition was a heater and its constantly at 80-81.5 cuz of the lights ..... shouls i simply do a complete change? |
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Post by amanichen on Jul 18, 2005 17:52:00 GMT -5
First, never do a complete cleaning on your tank unless I say so  Actually you want to avoid doing a complete cleaning unless you have one of the following situations: 1. Tank is contaminated poisoned with a chemical (other than the ones you'd normally find in the tank -- high ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, KH, pH and GH do not require a complete cleaning.) 2. You have an otherwise untreatable disease outbreak (ich and fin rot are not included in this, I'm talking about the REALLY dangerous microbes that you rarely hear about.) Other than the situations above, just do some major water changes. You don't need to nuke and pave the aquarium just because the ammonia is high. So why did you do a complete cleaning? |
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Post by ickyfishywishy on Jul 18, 2005 18:03:17 GMT -5
well it was a complete cleaning of the filter box since there was so much guck stuck in tiny areas i couldnt reach with out flipping it over and spraying it with water and i chnanged almost 50% of the water,,,, so i put the filter sponges in a bucket of tank water and cleaned the hood,,,, installed a blue marine light and after maybe 15 minutes put the spnges back in the box and turned the filter on,,,, the only meds i used these past few days were "general aid" the guy at the store said its good to put some once every 6 or 8 months.... anyways!.... im concerned that maybe i left the filter spnge in the bucket too long maybe?.... i think im going to do like u said... a major water change every 2 days till it a complete change then watch the water chemestry verry well.......
im sorry to say this but im taking this as both a good and bad thing... could it be that my verry EXTREAMLY active loaches stressing my fish? and then they would eat the poor stresed fish??? can some loaches do that???
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Post by amanichen on Jul 18, 2005 18:14:09 GMT -5
Installed a "blue marine light"...what for?
What are the ingredients in it? Some medications will mess will reduce your popluation of nitrifying bacteria.
It's also good to keep up on water changes and test your water regularly, but how many fish store employees tell you to keep up on your maintenance instead of dosing medications for no reason?
It's possible. When handling filter media you want to gently wash it out in some old tank water, and then get your filter up and running as soon as possible. Fifteen minutes isn't that long, but you want to keep the media in water all the time, and avoid rinsing it too much. I can't see exactly what you did but if I was there I'd be able to tell you if anything seemed out of place.
You need to clean the mechanical media in your filter once a week -- that will prevent the sludge buildup that you saw.
Don't do more than 50% water changes -- you don't need to completely drain the tank because the ammonia is high.
I think you need to elaborate on this. You bought some clown loaches, correct? Are they harassing your fish? Are they stealing their food?
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Post by ickyfishywishy on Jul 18, 2005 18:33:55 GMT -5
about the blue marine light...... it makes the fish look better,,, i have 2 lights,, one is a blue marine and the other is a plant life light... would it make a difference? about the meds.... iv used it many times before and nuthing ever hapend... this time i even used less cuz of the fact that i had nothing wrong.... just like the guy at the store told me to....  about the watre changes..... i do weekly change about 12 or 13 galons per week.... and this was the 1st time i use the med for no reason :S about cleaning the filter media..... i clean the bio spong ever 3 weeks and i allways do what i allways do... slightly wave it in old tank water completely submerged and brush with my fingers lightly to take away any guck that is stuck. and the sludge collected was in corners and openings i could never reach before i guess i learned my lesson now... about the crazy loaches..... no they are orange finned loaches, they have a blue body and orange fins... i have 4.... they have been in my tank maybe 5 months or 4 now. these days are the first time they would harras the fish they dont like ALL THE TIME!  !... like my poor neon tetras they ate right after i put them in the tank... it has gotten worse after i took out my gold gouramies... and all the fish eat their food, none get left behind i allways make sure of that.... i drop in some bottom feeders pellets sometimes of tubifex worms... then after all is gone some flakes for the rest of the fish [Harrasin my fish] = they would chase them and nip them sometimes, and if they get a taste of a fish once, they all start to attack the paticular fish they tasted... :S this is actualy kinda creapy...... |
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Post by amanichen on Jul 18, 2005 22:26:35 GMT -5
To answer your original question: What can make this happen? Answer: a whole chain of events caused it. about the blue marine light...... it makes the fish look better,,, i have 2 lights,, one is a blue marine and the other is a plant life light... would it make a difference? I was wondering why you chose to use it. Apparently General Aid is an antiparasitic medication with a main ingredient of Acriflavine. Acriflavine can have an effect on the biological filtration. I'm not saying it had an effect in your situation, but then again it's quite likely. Again, there's no reason to use it unless you're treating something specific. That's good that you do change the water that often. But remember, clean the mechanical media in your filter once a week. Filters become clogged and become less and less effective over time unless the water flow rate stays near its maximum. The neons were seen as intruders, and removing the gouramis has given the loaches free reign in the tank. It's a fairly typical fish hierarchy. I can't account for sudden aggression from a loach other than to say it was probably going on for a long time before you noticed. With all the livestock changes you've made the loaches have taken over. |
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Post by ickyfishywishy on Jul 19, 2005 19:14:46 GMT -5
about the gouramies! i thought that too, they were like the sherifs of the tank they were the ones who chased the other fish but to a lethal way.... i guess now the loaches r taking over like u said.... cuz the water is fine, but i am not gona use the meds like u said :S i didnt know that it could effect the filter that much.... now im gona have to get rid of those little critters.... they realy are making a fuss in my tank.. at night they would chase each other and make cliking noises like they are snapping at each other... it freaks the fish out! so bye bye loachees... thanx brian for the advice  i learn something new everyday.... |
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Post by amanichen on Jul 19, 2005 20:02:02 GMT -5
Well like I said, not one thing went wrong...the problem was just a whole series of events compounded together.
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Post by ickyfishywishy on Jul 20, 2005 7:43:16 GMT -5
well i confirm that the loaches ARE the problem mostly! i watched them in the dark last night peck and chase the poor little swordtail that died today!!!! ooooooo im so maaad! i wana get a huge oscar and have those loaches tought a lesson  of coarse i wouldnt do that.... would Mbuna cichlids be OK with loaches? or would discus be better? like 4 loaches and 10 discus? or would they still be the preditors?.... im gona let my tank calm down for a month or 2 maybe even 3... then ill do some redecorating and change what ever might be left of the live stock |
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Post by ickyfishywishy on Jul 20, 2005 7:44:35 GMT -5
and i will watch out of what i put or do from now on thanx brian. |
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Post by amanichen on Jul 20, 2005 19:47:09 GMT -5
well i confirm that the loaches ARE the problem mostly! i watched them in the dark last night peck and chase the poor little swordtail that died today!!!! ooooooo im so maaad! i wana get a huge oscar and have those loaches tought a lesson of coarse i wouldnt do that.... would Mbuna cichlids be OK with loaches? or would discus be better? like 4 loaches and 10 discus? or would they still be the preditors?.... im gona let my tank calm down for a month or 2 maybe even 3... then ill do some redecorating and change what ever might be left of the live stock I think you should stop playing mix&match with your fish and get species which will be able to hold their own against each other =) |
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if this keeps going on im gona do a full water change and cycle all over again! what is most confusing, dont discus need perfect water chemestry?> they are the only ones acting perfectly normal thank god! and im thinking of quickly rescuing them and giving them to my bf,,,, so what do u think i should do? the water chemestry didnt change at all,,,,, PH= 6.1-6.3
!... like my poor neon tetras they ate right after i put them in the tank... it has gotten worse after i took out my gold gouramies... 
i learn something new everyday....
of coarse i wouldnt do that.... would Mbuna cichlids be OK with loaches? or would discus be better? like 4 loaches and 10 discus? or would they still be the preditors?.... im gona let my tank calm down for a month or 2 maybe even 3... then ill do some redecorating and change what ever might be left of the live stock