We've had a tropical fish tank for a few years now and never had any problems when changing water etc, however I come down today and see my 2 favorite fish (about 6 years old), and 3 others dead, and about 4 more looking like they are also on their way :cry:

 

the last few days has seen some changes in the tank but I need to understand what might have happened to prevent it from happening again and see if I can save the remaining fish.

 

2 days ago - emptied tank of fish into a different tank carefully, saved probably 70% of original water, whilst we put some new gravel in (washed it first) and added some new ornaments etc. Also 3 new live plants.

 

yesterday - got new fish - 2x sailfin mollies, zebra loach and 2 small catfish. Added the new fish in the correct style - adding water to bag releasing after an hour etc. the water from the fish shop added into our tank...

 

the water is really cloudy now so I'm sure its not stress of the fish moving etc, please can someone advise, I do not know what to do? :(

 

thanks :hang:

Edited April 13, 201213 yr by Baz

yeah tahts it the carbon(charcoal) should be changed regularly for best effect but i doubt you really need it. the floss should be changed or cleaned regulalry an dthe coarser sponge should only be changed when it doesnt spring back to its orginal shape and is too dirty to be rinsed clean. becasue ypou have no bio media it would be sensible to as recommend wash them un a bucket of tank water. if you ever get a bigger tank buy an external filter will make your filtration far superior no point atm tanks not really big enough to benifit. :)

agreed harby, best to clean the filter in fish tank water and pop it back in the filter, doesn't have to be spotless it will still work fine.

 

When changing filter sponges, take the old filter out, squeeze it into a bucket, plop the new filter into the bucket of squeeze and let it soak for around 20 mins in there, stick the new filter (with out squeezing) into the filter and pop it back into the tank.

 

dont worry about muddying the tank water when putting the filter back in, this is actually beneficial to the eco system and the water will clear eventually.

I'm pleased to report that the tank settled and no more fish were lost, plec made it yay lol. Quick action and great advice were to thank :)

 

I was gutted about losing my two flying foxes, so after a bit of googling last night I managed to locate some more... so had a trip out today to pick up four siamese flying fox babies :)

 

 

 

They were great to watch as a pair, even more impressive as four! Well pleased with them and the tank is pretty much back to how it was, looking forward to seeing them grow into the same size as the last foxes!

 

 

Sweet mate, where did you get them from?

I stumbled across some website called tropicalfishfinder.co.uk or something, you can search for species and they list aquariums that usually keep them. One of them that came up was Maidenhead Aquatics in Brigg garden centre, its only 28 miles away so I rang them first thing this morning to make sure they had them! :thumbup:

I stumbled across some website called tropicalfishfinder.co.uk or something, you can search for species and they list aquariums that usually keep them. One of them that came up was Maidenhead Aquatics in Brigg garden centre, its only 28 miles away so I rang them first thing this morning to make sure they had them! :thumbup:

 

Nice, i'll have a look once I get my temp down. lol

Nice, i'll have a look once I get my temp down. lol

 

Yeah its a good site if you are looking for something in particular :yes:

i used to keep fish in a big way . breeding and supplying pet shops . you did right acclimatising the fish by floating the bags for half an hour or so but never , never put the water from the bags into your tank . the amount of aquatic shops that ive been in with diseased tanks is unreal . pound to a penny you have added bugs to your tank via the water in the bags . do another 50% water change and then again tomorrow . make sure you dechlorinate the water as it goes in . 3x the recommended dose . dissolve a couple of tea spoons of salt and add that aswell.

blimey, thanks for the info andy, never knew that :shock:

yeah tahts it the carbon(charcoal) should be changed regularly for best effect but i doubt you really need it. the floss should be changed or cleaned regulalry an dthe coarser sponge should only be changed when it doesnt spring back to its orginal shape and is too dirty to be rinsed clean. becasue ypou have no bio media it would be sensible to as recommend wash them un a bucket of tank water. if you ever get a bigger tank buy an external filter will make your filtration far superior no point atm tanks not really big enough to benifit. :)

 

i have a cannister filter on my tank with sponge,media,carbon,floss and also crushed coral.

 

Crushed coral is great for keeping the ph level down

i used to keep fish in a big way . breeding and supplying pet shops . you did right acclimatising the fish by floating the bags for half an hour or so but never , never put the water from the bags into your tank . the amount of aquatic shops that ive been in with diseased tanks is unreal . pound to a penny you have added bugs to your tank via the water in the bags . do another 50% water change and then again tomorrow . make sure you dechlorinate the water as it goes in . 3x the recommended dose . dissolve a couple of tea spoons of salt and add that aswell.

 

Sound advice mate. I always net from the bag to add fish and never add bag water to my tank :thumbup:

I think your wires are crossed coral chips are alkaline, and will increase ph. As for the advice of 3 50% water changes baz just had a crash due to reducing his biological capacity to process ammonia and the tanks just settled out. exchanging out large volumes like that could put him back at square one, and whilst i see your point in a domestic setting its all abit previous, if parasites are introduced now they can spread quite happily within the substrate etc without being reduced suffiecently by water changes, a simple product such as protozin or melafix would be a better route at a half dosage, as theres no visable issue. I really dont recommend the corse action of exachanging large volumes because of this.

If your particularly worried about the introduction of parasites then quarentine is the way forward, and the only way to esure that deseases arnt transferred. as for adding a mild salt soloution again for a comercial stand point this is a good tip esp when dealing with coldwater species such as carp, however in a domestic setting it will cause issues with plant life, over dosing can be fatal, and the changing permaters and water chemistry atm is illadvised stability is far better even than improvent in most cases(unless things are madly out of kilter) improving conditions gradulaly is far more effective.

dont change your regime baz, keep a close eye on your stock if things, esp your ammonia and nitrite levels as your system is now rebuilding itself to deal with your waste loads, should things go sideways you only have one problem to contend with rather than several potential variables, this is a majour part to fishkeeping not cahnging to many things at once, a bit like cleaning all your connectors in your engine bay at once you wont know which one made the difference.

my main piece of advice to you now baz is to let the system recover dont add any more fish for a month or so, and buy your own test kit, a basic kit wont cost the earth and regular checks even once a month will help you know if things are about to go a bit off.

it will also get you more use dto the idea of testing and help you to understand water chemistry in greater detail for when you decide to progess with your fishkeeping, we all do it. tanks get bigger and fish get more and more delicate over the years as you want to push yourself to different things.

i had a simular set up to yourself about 15 years ago, now ive caused myself a right headache, by well.... youve seen my tank pics haha.

 

* just to make you feel better my friends brother just called me and ive just spent a fair while explaining to him how he has contarcted whitespot and how to deal with it.

ive killed my fair share of fish in the early years, unfortuntly its part of learning. touch wood none recently, a few of my fish are over ten years old now:)

Edited April 18, 201213 yr by Stephen
more time to answer things better.