There's an article in the Articles section here on Aquaria Central on Euthanizing Fish. It's rather good, too.
Roan
Aquarium Crisis!!! Please help
- Thread starter Justy213
- Start date
Roan
Answers to questions to help you help me.
Thank you for all your help. Some asked questions, here are the answers.
1. The aquarium is partially under a sky light so it does get some afternoon light.
2. No, the tank never housed fish before I received it. It was brand new.
3. I only have a few fish in there now. I have 2 black skirts, 2 bleeding hearts & 1 algea eater.
4. I have had my tap water tested. I use water conditioners like Cycle and Start right. I have been using a ph balancer but only the last couple of months due to way too high ph. (Source unknown)
5. I bought test strips to test all the nitrates, amonia, etc every week.
6. I'm a bit confused about "old tank sydrome". Can someone explain that in more detail? This is the first I have heard of it.
7. I do have a backpack filter as well as my undergravel system. Is there a better filter I should use? Or maybe I don't have enough "buggies" in my bio filter? Or too many?
8. I don't feed my fish too often. Once a day. I have been giving my algae eater half a wafer every other day. I was thinking that could be a problem but I have only had my algae eater since August.
I would appreciate any advice and thanks to all who have already posted your advice.
Justy
Thank you for all your help. Some asked questions, here are the answers.
1. The aquarium is partially under a sky light so it does get some afternoon light.
2. No, the tank never housed fish before I received it. It was brand new.
3. I only have a few fish in there now. I have 2 black skirts, 2 bleeding hearts & 1 algea eater.
4. I have had my tap water tested. I use water conditioners like Cycle and Start right. I have been using a ph balancer but only the last couple of months due to way too high ph. (Source unknown)
5. I bought test strips to test all the nitrates, amonia, etc every week.
6. I'm a bit confused about "old tank sydrome". Can someone explain that in more detail? This is the first I have heard of it.
7. I do have a backpack filter as well as my undergravel system. Is there a better filter I should use? Or maybe I don't have enough "buggies" in my bio filter? Or too many?
8. I don't feed my fish too often. Once a day. I have been giving my algae eater half a wafer every other day. I was thinking that could be a problem but I have only had my algae eater since August.
I would appreciate any advice and thanks to all who have already posted your advice.
Justy
Old tank syndrom occurs when a tank has not had proper water changes over a long period of time. Water has a buffer in it usually measured in hardness (kh, Gh). Eventually through biological processes (which are acidic) that buffer crashes. Fish adapt and things seem fine but then when you finally do a fair sized water change the buffer is re-established, then the pH and buffer shoot up to standrad levels, often shocking the fish and leading to deaths. If you are in this situation then small water changes (no more than 10%) per day over a week or so can help to bring things back. Why is this important?
Well fish do best in healthy clean water. As mentioned they can adapt, but if something does go wrong it is often important to do a large water change (ex if you are usuings medications, some falls in the tank etc...). If the buffer is strong then a large water change will not affect things at all. If the buffer is weak or non-existant then a sizable water change can lead to a crash.
Light isan't an issue if the food source is taken care of for algae. Also green algae blooms will not hurt the fish themselves but should be dealt with. The pH balancer is probably feeding the algae. Find out what is going on with your pH. Test it out of the tap, and after sitting in a shallow dish overnight. If it is fine there then somethin gin the tank is affecting the pH.
Your filter sounds fine.
Weekly water changes of 30% or more should be started, aren't hard to do, and can really help keep your tank up and running well and clean. And keep your fish healthy.
Well fish do best in healthy clean water. As mentioned they can adapt, but if something does go wrong it is often important to do a large water change (ex if you are usuings medications, some falls in the tank etc...). If the buffer is strong then a large water change will not affect things at all. If the buffer is weak or non-existant then a sizable water change can lead to a crash.
Light isan't an issue if the food source is taken care of for algae. Also green algae blooms will not hurt the fish themselves but should be dealt with. The pH balancer is probably feeding the algae. Find out what is going on with your pH. Test it out of the tap, and after sitting in a shallow dish overnight. If it is fine there then somethin gin the tank is affecting the pH.
Your filter sounds fine.
Weekly water changes of 30% or more should be started, aren't hard to do, and can really help keep your tank up and running well and clean. And keep your fish healthy.
ther reason i asked about the previous use of the aquarium is due to a problem i had once... i picked up a five gallon once at a garage sale for a dollar... great deal, huh? it was used to house gerbals or something. i figured, no big deal... i'll bleach it, and bammo, i've got a rearing tank.
well, everything i put in that tank died. i could not place the problem. if you've ever been around gerbals, rats, mice or the like, or even been in a pet store with a room with poor venilation, you know the strong ammonia smell these habitats have.
one day it hit me.... glass is a plasma and absorbs things like ammonia, only to be rereleased at the worst time, especially in the presence of water. its the same reason you shouldn't use Windex and like products on aquariums. that tank was leaking deadly ammonnia constantly.
now it holds a philodenderon and some neat looking rocks.... thats why i asked
and on the green water, i had that problem a couple of years ago. the solution is simple. turn off the light and cover all sides of the tank. brown paper sacks and tape is ideal. tripled up newspaper would work too. you might have to cover the top as well, with the skylight. leave it that way for a week, and i'd bet your greenwater problem will be solved. it worked for me.
phosphates are a likely cause of green algae bloom. Are you using a cheap activated filter carbon?
if i remember right, green water is actually cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae. not a true algae, but closer to bacteria. if you cut any one of its fuel sources, it will die off to a point where it wont be able to outcompete regular algaes and should not reappear. this is one of the few cases where regular green algae is your friend. if you have a way to seed the new tank, do it when youre starving the tank of light. one rock with some of the green stuff would suffice. it will survive past the cyanobacteria.
hope this is of help.
well, everything i put in that tank died. i could not place the problem. if you've ever been around gerbals, rats, mice or the like, or even been in a pet store with a room with poor venilation, you know the strong ammonia smell these habitats have.
one day it hit me.... glass is a plasma and absorbs things like ammonia, only to be rereleased at the worst time, especially in the presence of water. its the same reason you shouldn't use Windex and like products on aquariums. that tank was leaking deadly ammonnia constantly.
now it holds a philodenderon and some neat looking rocks.... thats why i asked
and on the green water, i had that problem a couple of years ago. the solution is simple. turn off the light and cover all sides of the tank. brown paper sacks and tape is ideal. tripled up newspaper would work too. you might have to cover the top as well, with the skylight. leave it that way for a week, and i'd bet your greenwater problem will be solved. it worked for me.
phosphates are a likely cause of green algae bloom. Are you using a cheap activated filter carbon?
if i remember right, green water is actually cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae. not a true algae, but closer to bacteria. if you cut any one of its fuel sources, it will die off to a point where it wont be able to outcompete regular algaes and should not reappear. this is one of the few cases where regular green algae is your friend. if you have a way to seed the new tank, do it when youre starving the tank of light. one rock with some of the green stuff would suffice. it will survive past the cyanobacteria.
hope this is of help.
echoofformless
Peat Advocate & Defender Of Snails
Honestly, I'd lose the undergravel filter. If you have a good backpack filter then there's really little to no reason to use it. Not to mention the problems they can bring if any of the bacteria becomes anaerobic.
Make sure your vacuuming your gravel during water changes.
Get it away from the sunlight if possible.
It might help to buy a filter that can do water polishing, such a a Magnum HOT or something like it.
If it's not a planted tank, make sure you're using fresh carbon. That helps remove some of the nutrients that algae likes to eat. You could also try some products like phos-zorb if your phosphates are too high.
Keep up with the water changes, but don't go too crazy with them because that can destablilize your water parameters.
I'm sure it will work itself out. Most things do with a little patience and trial and error. Don't look at this as something to be stressed about, instead see it as a chance to learn a little more about the hobby, as well as play scientist. Half of this whole fishkeeping thing is really about the pleasure of maintaining a little piece of the living world in your home, and that includes tackling the problems that go along with it. :cool2:
Make sure your vacuuming your gravel during water changes.
Get it away from the sunlight if possible.
It might help to buy a filter that can do water polishing, such a a Magnum HOT or something like it.
If it's not a planted tank, make sure you're using fresh carbon. That helps remove some of the nutrients that algae likes to eat. You could also try some products like phos-zorb if your phosphates are too high.
Keep up with the water changes, but don't go too crazy with them because that can destablilize your water parameters.
I'm sure it will work itself out. Most things do with a little patience and trial and error. Don't look at this as something to be stressed about, instead see it as a chance to learn a little more about the hobby, as well as play scientist. Half of this whole fishkeeping thing is really about the pleasure of maintaining a little piece of the living world in your home, and that includes tackling the problems that go along with it. :cool2:
i just noticed something (nice post TKOS, BTW)
i would venture that the pH balancer you are using is the phosphate source. I'm of the opinion that pH should not be manipulated by retail chemicals in most instances, but thats another can of worms all together.
and you can not have too many biofiltering bacteria. their numbers will not exceed what food they have. bacteria reproduce on average every 20 minutes, so populations are constantly regulated according to condition. (thats why their so adaptive and largely considered to be the first lifeforms)
i would venture that the pH balancer you are using is the phosphate source. I'm of the opinion that pH should not be manipulated by retail chemicals in most instances, but thats another can of worms all together.
and you can not have too many biofiltering bacteria. their numbers will not exceed what food they have. bacteria reproduce on average every 20 minutes, so populations are constantly regulated according to condition. (thats why their so adaptive and largely considered to be the first lifeforms)
echoofformless said:
I can't see how this would be true. Large water changes at a decent frequency can only help stablize your water parameters unless you are adding lots of things like Ph up and down or baking soda or something. I do weekly large water changes and my water params are the same as my tapwater. If I did daily water changes the params will be the same as my tapwater as well. That seems stable.
A blackout can work well for algae blooms, generally 4 days or so, with absolutley no light. But dealing with the source first is always a good idea or the bloom will come right back. My last bloom came back no matter what I did until I figured the source - a decaying plant. I removbed it, did a large water change and all was right.
What was your maintenance schedule like before? Can you list what results you get for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Also, what is the ph? You mentioned it was too high, but alot of fish can adjust to various levels of ph. FYI, when you run out of the test strips, I would replace them with liquid test kits. They are much more reliable. Also, "cycle" is not necessary, all you need to add to the tank is something to remove chlorine and chloramine(if you have it, you can contact the water company to double check).
Couldn't agree more. Water changes of 50% per week on all my tanks are my best friendsTKOS said:
Roan
echoofformless
Peat Advocate & Defender Of Snails
I guess I should have clarified my statement about water changes.
It relates to the idea of tap water chemistry. I live in Philadelphia, where my tap water is hard and alkaline. My tank is an Asian blackwater, where I use peat filtration to maintain a certain degree of softness and acidity.
Each time I do a water change, I naturally introduce water that is different from my established tank water. To be safe I age it, and feed it very slowly through my filter so that it goes through the peat before reaching the tank.
Still, I get slight fluctuations in kh, ph, etc. Nothing drastic, but keep in mind that my tank is in perfect health. I'm thinking that if we're discussing a tank that seems to have imbalances, then rapid and frequent changes in water chemistry could very well only add to the problems.
The issue I've found in this fishkeeping world, is that there are so many variables and individual situations, that we always find ourselves in these endless discussions. I wish more of us would recognize that there are simply no hard and fast solutions or solid facts. No two tanks are alike. No two fish are alike. (Would you believe I used to know a guy whose male bettas jumped the barrier and then he left them together for years because they never fought?) No lie.
It relates to the idea of tap water chemistry. I live in Philadelphia, where my tap water is hard and alkaline. My tank is an Asian blackwater, where I use peat filtration to maintain a certain degree of softness and acidity.
Each time I do a water change, I naturally introduce water that is different from my established tank water. To be safe I age it, and feed it very slowly through my filter so that it goes through the peat before reaching the tank.
Still, I get slight fluctuations in kh, ph, etc. Nothing drastic, but keep in mind that my tank is in perfect health. I'm thinking that if we're discussing a tank that seems to have imbalances, then rapid and frequent changes in water chemistry could very well only add to the problems.
The issue I've found in this fishkeeping world, is that there are so many variables and individual situations, that we always find ourselves in these endless discussions. I wish more of us would recognize that there are simply no hard and fast solutions or solid facts. No two tanks are alike. No two fish are alike. (Would you believe I used to know a guy whose male bettas jumped the barrier and then he left them together for years because they never fought?) No lie.
Last edited:
