AudraM
01-09-2008, 2:10 AM
Ok, first some background. I'm going to err on the side of too much info, so bear with me.
I bought a used 37 gal tank with fish, supplies, gravel, and filter in mid December. When I bought the tank there was a bunch of hair algae which is mostly gone and the woman I bought it from told me that the filter needed cleaned. So I did and put it back together like she had it. It's a Cascade 700 canister by the way. This is also my first tank, so I didn't know enough to understand that the filter really wasn't set up well. It had the blue sponge stuff in it and some carbon and more sponge stuff. I did know enough to not clean all the filter media at once. Because of the hair algae, I rinsed off most of the decorations & plants. I was too lazy to use soap :) and now that I know better I'm glad. One thing we did not get was nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia tests. I found time to get some a couple days after cleaning the tank & filter the first time and found that all were way too high. At that point I started doing some research on how the filter should be set up. A clerk at my lfs helped me and I added some bio rings and zeocarb to my filter. With these changes, a good cleaning, and lots of partial water changes, my ammonia has now been at 0 for about 2 weeks. Nitrites have been 0 for about a week, but the nitrates have climbed to 40 during the same period. I've tried to do partial water changes every day, but don't always get it done. I usually get one done every couple days. I gravel vac every change. The ph has been a steady 7 since getting the tank.
Now for the mystery. During all this time, my fish have done fine. When the ammonia spiked they were gasping at the surface for awhile, but 24 hours after adding the zeocarb and biorings to the filter and a good water change, they were fine. That was 3 weeks ago or so.
Yesterday evening, one of my platys started laying of the bottom of the tank. I watched him carefully and didn't see anything else wrong. His fins weren't clamped, he didn't look bloated, no scales sticking out, no white spots. When he did swim, he seemed ok, but he didn't swim far or long. he just stayed in the corner. After looking thru some books and searching a few sites I decided that moving him out of the tank was a good idea. I filled the bucket I use for water changes with a couple gallons of water, added a decoration for him to hide in, and moved him over. He still seemed fine except for just laying on the bottom until this evening. I had bought a small kit to keep him in and moved him right before dinner. Just before sitting down, I noticed he was twirling around, getting stuck in the fake plant, literally bouncing off the walls. After dinner, we noticed he was dead.
One of our favorite fish is an albino red tail shark. He's real easy going, curious, friendly. He didn't hide much. About a week ago, that changed. He started hiding most of the time (under the same piece of wood that usually houses the pleco & cories, instead of the rock the red tail had staked out previously), rarely even coming out for food. Other than the hiding, I didn't notice anything else wrong. When he did come out, he seemed as easy going as ever, no problems swimming, no obvious signs of disease. I haven't seem him a couple of days. My hubby said he thinks he saw him yesterday, but it might have been Sunday. After dinner I was cleaning the tank and found the him dead when I moved the rock he staked out. I don't know if he was under it, or caught behind it.
I don't know what happened to either fish. I don't know if I missed something due to my inexperience, or if it's just one of those things. I don't know if the two deaths are even related. I can't see how the shark would have gotten caught in some way in/around the tank and died. I worry I put the rock on him, but I'm usually really careful. I'm also worried that I have something wrong with the tank and I'm going to have more deaths. Is there anything I can do to prevent any further illnesses?:help2:
I bought a used 37 gal tank with fish, supplies, gravel, and filter in mid December. When I bought the tank there was a bunch of hair algae which is mostly gone and the woman I bought it from told me that the filter needed cleaned. So I did and put it back together like she had it. It's a Cascade 700 canister by the way. This is also my first tank, so I didn't know enough to understand that the filter really wasn't set up well. It had the blue sponge stuff in it and some carbon and more sponge stuff. I did know enough to not clean all the filter media at once. Because of the hair algae, I rinsed off most of the decorations & plants. I was too lazy to use soap :) and now that I know better I'm glad. One thing we did not get was nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia tests. I found time to get some a couple days after cleaning the tank & filter the first time and found that all were way too high. At that point I started doing some research on how the filter should be set up. A clerk at my lfs helped me and I added some bio rings and zeocarb to my filter. With these changes, a good cleaning, and lots of partial water changes, my ammonia has now been at 0 for about 2 weeks. Nitrites have been 0 for about a week, but the nitrates have climbed to 40 during the same period. I've tried to do partial water changes every day, but don't always get it done. I usually get one done every couple days. I gravel vac every change. The ph has been a steady 7 since getting the tank.
Now for the mystery. During all this time, my fish have done fine. When the ammonia spiked they were gasping at the surface for awhile, but 24 hours after adding the zeocarb and biorings to the filter and a good water change, they were fine. That was 3 weeks ago or so.
Yesterday evening, one of my platys started laying of the bottom of the tank. I watched him carefully and didn't see anything else wrong. His fins weren't clamped, he didn't look bloated, no scales sticking out, no white spots. When he did swim, he seemed ok, but he didn't swim far or long. he just stayed in the corner. After looking thru some books and searching a few sites I decided that moving him out of the tank was a good idea. I filled the bucket I use for water changes with a couple gallons of water, added a decoration for him to hide in, and moved him over. He still seemed fine except for just laying on the bottom until this evening. I had bought a small kit to keep him in and moved him right before dinner. Just before sitting down, I noticed he was twirling around, getting stuck in the fake plant, literally bouncing off the walls. After dinner, we noticed he was dead.
One of our favorite fish is an albino red tail shark. He's real easy going, curious, friendly. He didn't hide much. About a week ago, that changed. He started hiding most of the time (under the same piece of wood that usually houses the pleco & cories, instead of the rock the red tail had staked out previously), rarely even coming out for food. Other than the hiding, I didn't notice anything else wrong. When he did come out, he seemed as easy going as ever, no problems swimming, no obvious signs of disease. I haven't seem him a couple of days. My hubby said he thinks he saw him yesterday, but it might have been Sunday. After dinner I was cleaning the tank and found the him dead when I moved the rock he staked out. I don't know if he was under it, or caught behind it.
I don't know what happened to either fish. I don't know if I missed something due to my inexperience, or if it's just one of those things. I don't know if the two deaths are even related. I can't see how the shark would have gotten caught in some way in/around the tank and died. I worry I put the rock on him, but I'm usually really careful. I'm also worried that I have something wrong with the tank and I'm going to have more deaths. Is there anything I can do to prevent any further illnesses?:help2: