Cloudy tank, fish rolling
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Topic: Cloudy tank, fish rolling
Posted By: icedcooly7
Subject: Cloudy tank, fish rolling
Date Posted: October 01 2013 at 8:30pm
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HELP! A few weeks ago, I had a snail outbreak and they clogged up my canister filter and are destroying everything.I've cleaned the filter to increase the water flow, as this was causing a lack of oxygen. The fish were gasping for air. I managed to get the majority of snails out, but since then, I've lost two of my new clown loaches (had them for 2 weeks). We've installed a new air pump and a bubble curtain to make sure that there is circulation. I also bought a powerhead. The water has been cloudy and I thought they were okay until now. My 5-year-old african cichlid is now losing color and floating upside-down and sideways. My pleco was rolling around and thrashing tonight so we did a water change. My cichlid is barely staying upright. We did a 60% water change, but I'm still scared and I don't know what is wrong. All water tests showed that it was okay. Please help!
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Replies:
Posted By: DMower
Date Posted: October 01 2013 at 8:49pm
Get a salt water tank. Problem solved! this was a joke. hopefully you got that. I have no idea what to do to fix your problem. good luck.------------- 150 gal reef with 50 gal sump. Reef Octopus DCS-200 Skimmer. AI Sol Blues. |
Posted By: ReefdUp
Date Posted: October 01 2013 at 9:03pm
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Be nice...fish are friends! But yes, I'm afraid many of us aren't well-versed in freshwater husbandry as we focus on saltwater aquariums here. I did freshwater for decades, but I barely remember any of it. Hopefully one of our dual-specialists will chime in. Can you tell us exactly what the water tests showed? Are you using tap water? If so, did you use a water conditioner? Are any of the fish gasping at the surface or scratching? Or...are they just losing color and floating? ------------- www.reefdup.com Diving since 2009, reefkeeping since 2007, & fishkeeping since 1987 200g, 75g, & 15g Systems PADI Advanced Open Water |
Posted By: icedcooly7
Date Posted: October 01 2013 at 9:22pm
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Thanks, ReefdUp. The pleco and the remaining clown loach (who I now suspect may be a murderer) seem to be doing okay. Sadly, my cichlid is laying belly up, but still alive. The tests showed: Nitrate - 0 Nitrite - 0 Hardness - 300 Chlorine - 0 Alkalinity - 180 pH - 7.8 Ammonia - 0 I really appreciate your message and hope that everything will be okay. It may just be time for my cichlid to go since he is 5 years old. We did use water conditioner on the new water (prior to adding it back) and it was the same temperature. The fish are not gasping at the surface anymore, but they were a few days ago before the addition of the new air pump and cleaning all parts of the filter (not the media).
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Posted By: phys
Date Posted: October 02 2013 at 12:42am
| I think you solved your problem already... There probably wasn't enough oxygen as you stated. Your parameters all look fine for the type of fish you have. If your water is stagnant, it definitely will not be good for your fish. As for the snails, I assume they're MTS... If you get a couple assassin snails, they should help keep the population down or gone. It wont hurt to do another 25% water change. Sometimes stuff can build up in your filter that will get out into the water. So i would clean the filter soon too... |
Posted By: fishyman19
Date Posted: October 02 2013 at 12:03pm
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Hey Ice! Sorry to hear about your tank. I did Planted Freshwater tanks for about 20 years before I got into saltwater a early last year, and experienced the same kind of issue on a few occasions. From what you have described I agree with phys. I would personally take apart the canister filter and go to town cleaning it. The snails may have caused a serious back up and all the crap the filter was taking out may have been pumped back into the tank. That could of been the reasoning for your sudden death in many fish. The air problem is easy to fix too. What kind of return do you have on the canister? How big is your tank? Looks like you went ahead and took care of everything which is great. Freshwater tanks can be pretty cool. ------------- 90 Gallon mixed reef. Wife's 12 gallon nano cube mixed reef! |
Posted By: Will Spencer
Date Posted: October 02 2013 at 2:13pm
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I would suggest another water change, but don't discard the old water. Use that water to clean your filter media. Basically fill a bucket with old aquarium water and clean the detritus out of the filter media. Don't clean the filter media in tap water unless you treat the water first as the chlorine will kill the beneficial bacteria. (That is why I say use the old tank water.) Clown Loaches are snail eaters but likely can't keep up with an explosion of tiny snails. They don't eat the shells they just suck the critter out of the shell so a larger loach may not be of much use on a tiny snail anyway. They are also just like any other fish in that they will pick at and eat a dead carcass or even a sick and dying fish. It is possible that your Loach is killing fish, but more likely it is just taking advantage of the food source a dead or soon to be dead fish provides. I also suggest you add an airstone to the air pump tube if you haven't already done so and make that a permanent part of your aquarium. |
Posted By: icedcooly7
Date Posted: October 02 2013 at 11:27pm
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Thanks, fishyman and Will! I've cleaned that canister out thoroughly twice. I couldn't believe how much snail slime was in the in and out tubes. I had to use a high pressure nozzle attachment on the garden hose to get it out last week. I was not aware that tap water removes the beneficial bacteria so I definitely screwed up by going to town on the fine filter- thanks for that tip, Will. Sadly, Stewart the cichlid perished last night, but the others are doing great. Now all I have is a cloudy tank and a blank canvas, but all seems like it will balance out once I clean the canister again. It means so much to me that everyone gave such helpful advice and I wish you all happy fish-keeping! |
Posted By: Akira
Date Posted: October 05 2013 at 4:42am
| Sorry for your losses Ice !!!! Hope all works out for you . Now you have discovered the best place for info if you ever decide to make the leap to the salty side of aquariums . Good luck and let us all tempt you to the other side ..... LOL |