Weird acting SAE

[Aeris]

Hi! My Siamese Algae Eaters are acting weird. I just bought them last week, and were already almost full grown when I got them. They were schooling at first when I got them, then one or two of them started to just lay on the ground all the time. Two just died a couple days ago, and I have no idea why.

The pH is really low, 6.0, no ammonia in the tank and no nitrite. The temperature is always around 76 degrees. I have a 135 gallon tank with some plants, rocks, two powerheads and a fluval X5. The fish I have in there are currently 12 black phantom tetras, 5 goldfish (sizes around 5 - 6" each), 8 catfish, and 4 SAE.

My SAE aren't as energetic as before now, and they just lie on my powerheads most of the time. I'm wondering if they just like the powerheads.. or if they're dying? Is that normal behavior for SAEs or is there something wrong with the water?

Thanks!

Jan

 

[jm1212]

how long has your tank been set up?

are you feeding them?

how often are you doing water changes?

what kind of catfish do you have?

your temp is to low. it should be around 78-80º.

goldifsh should not be kept with tropical fish such as tetras or SAEs. they require lower temps and a different diet.

 

[ThePBM]

lack of oxygen? are your powerheads breaking the surface of the water? SAEs do best with a good current in the tank (hence why they hang around your powerhead) but that could mean they're not getting enough oxygen cause when they breathe in a current they use smaller holes in their heads.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

SAEs have a poorly developed swim bladder. If they don't swim, they sink so they often rest on things, including the bottom. And full grown would mean about 6 inches.

These are one of the hardiest fish I know so I would be worried that they died so fast. They tolerate a wide range of pH, gh and temps. Since you don't say what "catfish" you have I hesitate to suggest maybe they could be the culprits.

 

[fxie]

how long has your tank been set up?

are you feeding them?

how often are you doing water changes?

what kind of catfish do you have?

your temp is to low. it should be around 78-80º.

goldifsh should not be kept with tropical fish such as tetras or SAEs. they require lower temps and a different diet.

I started setting up the tank in June, and finished setting it up around a month and 1/2 ago. My goldfish and corys have been in the tank since the beginning, none of them have died yet.. and hopefully they won't die, I'm really attached to my goldfish.

They seem to eat the fish food that I put in the tank.. and I've had a SAE before and I never fed that one =_= it was really healthy until it jumped out of the tank and my mom found it in the morning.

Water changes are done weekly, around 25% everytime.

Catfish.. I have 2 bronze and 6 peppered ones.

I've had my goldfish for over 1 1/2 years, and I know everyone says they do better in cold water, but they've always seem fine with that temperature.

One thing I forgot to mention is I recently (recently as in around 1 1/2 weeks ago) bought a "pond plant" and asked the store if that would work in my fish tank. They weren't sure.. so I decided to try it. It didn't work out, so I took it out, the plant was only in there around 3 days before I took it out. After the plant was out, the pH dropped extremely low.

I just noticed my goldfish aren't eating either! They always go crazy for the food, but they've been really sluggish for the last couple days, and today they're not even eating the food at all. They eat it, but then spit it back out right away, and they NEVER do that!

Please help!

 

[fxie]

lack of oxygen? are your powerheads breaking the surface of the water? SAEs do best with a good current in the tank (hence why they hang around your powerhead) but that could mean they're not getting enough oxygen cause when they breathe in a current they use smaller holes in their heads.

I thought that I had enough oxygen in the tank, there seem to be lots of small bubbles in the tank because of the powerheads. I'll ask a fish store about that later, will take some pics of my tank and let him see.

Thanks for bringing that up!

 

[fxie]

SAEs have a poorly developed swim bladder. If they don't swim, they sink so they often rest on things, including the bottom. And full grown would mean about 6 inches.

These are one of the hardiest fish I know so I would be worried that they died so fast. They tolerate a wide range of pH, gh and temps. Since you don't say what "catfish" you have I hesitate to suggest maybe they could be the culprits.

oops.. okay, my SAE's are about 3.5 inches, so they're not at all full grown yet XD I'm so worried now... my boyfriend thinks that the plant that we had in there caused an excess of bacteria. We now have some brown algae growing, mostly on the rocks and some plants.

P.S. my boyfriend was logged under his login, but this is "Aeris"