existing 55g-new problems...

jameshilljr · Jan 12, 2011

I'm sure I should know this one, but I have had my 55g AC tank setup for going on 2 years now, with about (15) 2-3inch mixed malawi cichlids without any sickness or any new fish(besides the new fry)-but now i have a couple of fish(1 socolofi and 1 lab) eyes are milky and their scales seam to be falling off :crazy:...I perform a 25% WC every 2 weeks, and my levels appear ok.... any suggestions besides water changes????

rockhoe14er · Jan 12, 2011

how often do you clean your filter? also what type of filter do you have?

sometimes food can get trapped in your filter and if you don't clean it often enough can serve as a food source for some pretty nasty bacteria that can cause sickness in a otherwise healthy tank.

Coler · Jan 12, 2011

25% water change every two weeks is not really enough.

When you say your levels are ok, can you confirm your ammonia, nitrite and especially nitrate when tested with a good liquid drop test kit ? These fish have severe intolerance to elevated nitrates.

Any chance of a pic of the fish ?

Are your fish still 2 - 3 inches after having them for two years ? What species kind ?

What filtration are you running ?

Sorry to come back with questions - hoping we can get to the bottom of it.

jameshilljr · Jan 14, 2011

sorry for the delay in my response... I use an API liquid tester to check the levels(which I thought were ok- 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 10 nitrates)
I have 2 AC70 HOB filters (with 2 foam inserts and biocubes)-which I usually end up cleaning the sand out about once a week from the AC's stirring up the sand... Unfortunately I ran low on food during the most recent ice storm here and ended up crushing up some sinking algae wafers to supplement them during that time(about 3 days):shakehead:- after this time I noticed the cloudy eyes on some of the AC's and decided to perform a 50% WC and a 100% cleaning of the filters(using the treated water to clean the foam). Unfortunately, a couple hours after I posted the original question here, my wife called me at work to inform that 80%of the AC's were dead!!!:jaw: The water reaked of dead fish(naturally)....I had her pull the 5 fish that were still alive and put them in a 5 gallon bucket with an HOB filter until I could get back home... I ended up completely breaking down the 55g(coompletely removing all of the rocks, sand, and water-and washed everything with regular tap water-since the treated water was horrible- which is always fun with ice covering everything outside....now the tank has been redone( unfortunately I have to recycle the tank....) and I figured I would have some cloudy water and some ammonia spikes, but after testing the water, all of my levels are at 0!!! The water definately reaks again, the water is cloudy and apparently I don't have clue what the issue is...

shaynablizard · Jan 14, 2011

Sorry to hear you've lost so many, hopefully you can get the remaining fish and tank stable again. 2-3" does sound small for most Malawis - I suspect it was too crowded with not enough water changes and overfeeding is possible. The suggestion to make sure your filter is maintained is a good one. In general, if I notice one of my cichlids has a scratch, torn fins, or cloudy eye, I'll increase the water changes to 40% twice a week and add some aquarium salt and they heal very fast..

jameshilljr · Jan 14, 2011

shaynablizard said:
2-3" does sound small for most Malawis -

I wrote that down wrong, most of the AC's were 4-5inches(3 Labs, 1 Kenyi, 7 smaller socolofi's(2-3in.), 2 red zebras, 1 Metriaclima zebra, and 1 pleco)

All that is alive now: 1 M.Zebra, 1 Kenyi,1 Red zebra, 1 socolofi, and the pleco....

myswtsins · Jan 14, 2011

That's horrible, I am very sorry for your loss.

jameshilljr said:
I ended up completely breaking down the 55g(coompletely removing all of the rocks, sand, and water-and washed everything with regular tap water-since the treated water was horrible-

What do you mean by regular tap water and treated water, well vs city? Why is the treated water horrible and what did you fill the tank with?

Let me make sure I understand correctly, you re-did the tank with clean rocks, filters and fresh water but it turned cloudy and smelly? If so, that sounds like a situation I would encounter!

Seriously though maybe the sand or wood held something nasty from the unfortunate mass die off. Cloudiness could be from the sand or a bacteria bloom but the smell is unusual.

Are the pictures from your "55g redone" thread still accurate? Can you get us a current picture?

Are your tests fairly new, less then 2yrs old? A lot of kits don't last longer than 3 yrs. If you have some household ammonia handy I would test your ammonia test kit.

Sorry for all the questions but hopefully we can find some answers!

efors · Jan 15, 2011

It seems to be a bacterial bloom. In that case, daily water changes and possibly an antibiotic were needed, IMO.

jameshilljr · Jan 15, 2011

here's a pick of the M.zebra- I just lost another socolofi............ughh

Do I need to get rid of the sand and rocks????

myswtsins · Jan 15, 2011

I would definitely try putting any fish showing signs of illness in QT. With some more answers from you we could better assist you, most importantly what water source are you using? What is the pH right out of the tap? and aged 24 hrs? and the pH of the current tank water? Do you use a water conditioner of any kind?

From the pictures there looks to be some slime coat loss, would you say that's accurate? Is his tail missing or is that just the way he was in the picture?


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existing 55g-new problems...

jameshilljr

Kanien'k?haka-People of the Flint

rockhoe14er

AC Members

Coler

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jameshilljr

Kanien'k?haka-People of the Flint

shaynablizard

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jameshilljr

Kanien'k?haka-People of the Flint

myswtsins

Global Moderator

efors

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jameshilljr

Kanien'k?haka-People of the Flint

myswtsins

Global Moderator