Barracuda-m

Its just as deep as one other tank I'm running. Only one fish seems to not be liking the change now. The rest have adjusted. Only 2 have died. Do you think maybe they were just used to the extra oxygenation, and taking it away caused problems? They've regained normal colr and are hanging out wherever they usually do now.

I am running the same type of filter on 2 other tanks, and everyone's fine. I just don't get it.

hi everyone! I'm running this particular cichlid tank for about 4 years now. I've always had a HOB filter, and a while back, I switched to a Fluval 405. Turns out my fish die if theres no plunging water, as provided by a HOB, so I always run both. If I'm doing major maintenance, and have to put them in a bucket, I have about 5 minutes until they start laying on their sides. Yesterday, I decided to just run the Fluval, after moving the tank to paint my walls. I did a major water change, and put the fish back in. two of my fish have since died, and several were gasping at the surface this morning. My other tanks aren't like this. Has anyone encountered this before? Do you think it's an illness that's passed to all these tankmates? I've decided that whoever dies, dies. I don't want to run a HOB anymore.

I've had a couple of P. Nyererei in my tank for two years or so, and one of them has looked on the brink of death for 18 months or more. Nobody bugs her, really, and she eats just fine. She just floats vertically all the time, and her fins look like crap. When I do a water change, it's even worse. She sometimes lies on the bottom of the tank, on her side. Looks like she's dead til I feed her, then she swims merrily to the top, eats, then goes back to half dead. I quarantined her in a hospital tank when she first "got sick", treated her with Maracyn, nothing changed, so I put her back in "gen pop" a week later. She stayed the same, and none of my other fish are affected. Does anyone know what could possibly be wrong? When people come over and check out my tank, they tell me I have a dying fish, and I should take her out. I'm tired of explaining that she always looks/acts like that.

update: absolutely everyone is completely back to normal. They all just ate, and the tank is very active right now. My male Ahli, who I was super worried about, has clear eyes, and full color has returned. My nyerereis have both colored up again, and the electric yellow has lost the "dirty smears" on his face. It's like the attempted suffocation never happened

hi thanks for the responses The fish in that tank are listed in my signature, minus 2 hybrids right now. I vacuum my gravel (crushed quartz) twice monthly. I keep the gravel shallow because they're just going to move it all around anyways. I replace no less than 30% every 2 weeks. I haven't had any new fish for quite a while, and have been using the same filtration for over a year. The gasping happened within hours of removing the HOB. Since re-running the HOB, they've all pretty much recovered. The male Ahli still looks a little wonky, but much better than he was.

hi everyone I did my usual 30% w/c this morning on my 55 gal malawi tank, and went about life as usual. I'm running a Fluval 305 canister filter as well as a penguin 250 HOB for a little extra movement. I decided I'd like to have silence for a while, not hear running water (I quit smoking 18 days ago, and am still a bit edgy. silence is golden right now) so I removed the HOB. I usually do a water change one week, and filter maintenance the next. I've been doing this for a couple of years, and never had a problem. I checked on my fishies 30 minutes ago, and the ones that were able were at the top, gasping for air. A few of my electric yellow/fuelleborni hybrids died, and my big male blue Ahli has periods of lying on the bottom on his side, then flopping up to the top to breathe a little bit. I immediately put the Penguin filter back on, and everyone perked up a little. Some are acting normal again, although all look like crap. I tested the water with my useless little test strips (I loaned my "real" test kit to a friend, who never returned it) and it shows elevated nitrate (100ppm) and 1ppm nitrite. ph is around 7, low alkalinity, and very hard water. (I hate these little strips) I do water changes every 2 weeks to 18 days, and change the filters alternately. Is this an oxygen problem? Most of my fish are swimming normally and doing their thing now, so they're improving rapidly. What else should I check for?

hi everyone he died just now. thanks for the input anyway. Everyone else seems just fine, though. (thankfully)

Hi I did a 30% WC last night, and treated the water with Prime before it was added, added a little salt, and replaced it. I always do it this way (well, I only use salt every second WC) I woke up this morning to find 3 little tetras dead, stuck to the filter intake, and my silver dollar is COVERED in microbubbles!!! I know thats bad. The water wasn't cloudy when I put it in, I let it sit for an hour first, and stirred it a couple of times. How do I get the bubbles off of him? He seems to be the only one affected by this. (Another fish showed a few bubbles on one side today, they have since disappeared, as he likes to swim in the heavily planted part of the tank)

hi all I'm posting for a friend. Some of her fish started looking sickly/acting wonky so she put them in a hospital tank. She did some water tests and saw that everything was pretty much in order except for kH (?) Turns out, her tank is depleted of calcium and magnesium. She did a water change, and cgecked her canister filter, and saw that it was full of snails. Do snails deplete minerals in a tank? What else would cause this?

I've had this guy (2nd hand) for a few months now, and I still have no idea what he is! He's about 3-4 inches long, quite shimmery. The picture doesn't do him justice. Any idea on what he could be? The previous owner called him a baby barracuda.....

I have a Penguin 350 filter running, rated for up to 75 gallons (on my 61 gallon, I used 2 of them, with great results) I used this filter for this tank for years, and never had a problem til I changed it to a community tank. I know I have a lot of bottom feeders in there, but the "regular" fish in there are tiny, the tank looks empty! hehehe

I tried it, the water isn't green at all.......I'm gonna wait a couple of days (it usually gets really gross after 3-4 days post w/c) and see if it improves. I changed the filters and vacuumed the gravel thoroughly.

hi, thanks for all the responses! The wood in question is well over a year old, and has leaked nothing for about 7 months. It was boiled dozens of times, and soaked for weeks before, and I set it up in a different tank for a while, there was no color leeching. I changed the water again last night, so the water is nice and clear today. Let's hope it stays that way this time! lol If it gets nasty again, I'll be sure to take a snap before I clean it. The crud doesn't look anything like pleco poop, I have 9 plecos in total, 3 in each tank, and I have no problem with any others. (One pleco in my cichlid tank is 16 inches long, I know all about poop now......heheheh) This stuff is really dark, almost black, and fine, like dust. This has been going on for months and months, I just can't get this tank to stay nice! If anything happens to the occupants, I'll turn it into a cichlid tank again, and be problem free once and for all......

Hi everyone I have a 29 gallon community tank with 3 bushy nose plecos, 2 upside down catfish, a synodontis, a ropefish, a gourami, 3 danios and 3 tetras. It's been up and running for 6 months or so, before that, I used it as a cichlid grow out tank for a couple of years. I have one piece of older, established driftwood in there, one of those "onion" plants, and an anubia. I have to do a 30% w/c every week or I can't see to the back of my tank!! The water turns a murky brown, yet the glass is clean. Every time I vacuum the gravel (weekly), theres a RIDICULOUS amount of brown crud coming up through the gravel. I changed it to new gravel about 6 weeks ago, and it still gets bad. The water in my water bucket is as dark as strong coffee, with grounds (yuck) I'm running more than adequate filtration (rated for up to 60 gallons) and obviously, the water is fresh. I have a 55 and a 61 gallon as well, and have no trouble with them at all. Why oh why is my community tank so nasty???? Any suggestions/ideas?

hi all All summer, when I'd do water changes, instead of dumping the dirty water down the toilet, I'd haul the buckets outside, and water my peonies, lilac trees, and whatever else I had growing in front of my house. All of the sickly plants I got from superstore absolutely THRIVED!!! Everything elses color improved, and my flowers spread everywhere and looked fantastic. A couple of weeks ago, I decided to use the dirty water from my community tank (lots of driftwood, heavily planted) on my houseplants, and they all look fantastic! Does anyone else do this? I'm delighted that I can reuse this stuff for the greater good of my greenery

I just finished doing my weekly water change/tank cleanup and as usual, I have an abundance of snails. I was plucking them out, and putting them in an empty bucket. When I was done, and putting my stuff away, I noticed that several of the snails (there were no less than 50 in there) were bloody. They're all the same type, but some were "bleeding" and the rest weren't. I'm talking about a dime sized pool of blood underneath them. Why is that? Are the little buggers sucking on my fish?

not particularly. It's more for me than anyone else. They really like the big cave my husband made (biggest on the far left, full of holes). They're all about the caves!

I actually like the look more than I thought I would. The lights are 2 different colors, but that'll be remedied as soon as I get time to go get bulbs. I like the bluish ones waddya think?

hi I got a fluval 404 at a garage sale for $30!!! Sounds too good to be true? It is!!! I don't have the mounts for the hoses. I have the output attachment, and the tube for the intake, the hose, and all the required rubber ends, but there's no way to mount them on my tank. I have one suction cup (whoopie!) and thats it. Any suggestion on where to get the needed attachments, or how to home-rig it myself. I'm new to Fluval.

I'm still considering getting the really sick ones. I'm having a garage sale tomorrow, and don't have time to get another big tank. I'm gonna move some fish around (I have a lot of tanks) and their permanent winter home will be my 230 gallon (thanks again, neely!) I've already notified my husband that he's digging the hole for the pond I'm making for them in my backyard. (heheheheh) dammit, now I've lost my big tootsie roll! (I was snacking on one when I started reading the replies, I truly have no idea where it went........) If I can get her to wait for a week or so, I'll go get the others then.........I think......

hi everyone I noticed on a local message board that someone was giving away large goldfish. I didn't know how large, or how many, so I called to come see them. What I saw almost made my blood run cold. She had a mid sized tank (40 gal or so) in her living room, and the water was a thick, dark brown. You couldn't see anything inside unless it came to the front glass. There were 2 ratty Walmart Whisper filters stuck to the back, with absolutely filthy media bags inside. She also had airstones with miles of tubing running through the tank. And now for the fish. There were 7 HUGE goldfish in there. I'm talking the size of nerf footballs (6 inches or so without their tails) They have lived there since April, when they were moved from a pond, and they also had tankmates! A Pleco, which was no less than 16 inches long, and from her estimation, 75 convicts!!! I saw a lot, but not all of them came to the front, so I have no idea how many exactly, I'm sure it was way too many for a 40 gal. She told me the nasty water was crystal clear 3 days before that, when she cleaned the tank. I decided to take some fish off her hands (after a friend checked them for any horrible diseases). The lady took a pot from her cupboard, and started scooping filthy water from the tank, into a bucket I brought for that purpose. Then she caught 4 of the fish in a tiny net, and dumped them in my bucket. I could only take 4 because the bucket would only hold that many. She then refilled the tank with untreated tap water (using her kettle) all the while explaining that she'd been fishkeeping for 30 years. The remaining goldfish looked pretty sore from the crappy water conditions, so she went to her cupboard again, took out a big container of table salt, and poured it RIGHT ON THE FISH!!!! They freaked out, obviously, and I said"well, that sure perked them up". She said it's the best thing for them. She's been doing this for years. Talk about tough fish! My friend wanted a convict, but decided against it when she saw the travesty that was the home tank. The crazy lady thinks I'm coming back for the other 3 nerf goldfish today, but no way. I took the fish home, my mind reeling over the crazy fish lady, and put them in my kiddie pool in my yard (4'x7'x9"). The freedom and clean water they were treated with must have been like being freed from concentration camp. They seemed quite happy, exploring the pool. It started getting chilly out a few hours later, so I put 2 in a 40 gallon downstairs, and the other 2 in a rubbermaid container until I set up another tank for them. (I have 3 empties, one will be adequate for them for a short time). Looks like I'll be getting a new tank soon! All now have clean water, much more room to swim around, over-filtration, and someone who cares about them. I'll post pictures if they survive the weekend

hi all! I'm planning on getting some more plants for my 29 gal community tank, but the LFS here is notorious for snail-infested plants. I have 4 bristle nose plecos, a large ropefish, a med sized synodontus, 2 upside down catfish as well as an assortment of danios, tetras and dwarf gouramis. Would the fish be affected if I treated the plants with had-a-snail (in a separate tank) a week or so before I planted them in the main tank? I really want new plants, but the snails I can do without.

I just got an irridescent shark from someone who sold their tank, and the new owner didn't want him. He's a big boy, no less than 8 inches long, and nice and fat. He was previously living with a GIGANTIC fancy goldfish (big as a football, I kid you not), some smaller sharks, some tetras, ropefish and plecos. (quite the mishmash of tankmates) I don't have my big tank set up yet, would he be ok with my cichlids for a day or so? The biggest cichlid I have is an electric blue ahli, and he's about 2/3 the sharks size. Even if he's tormented by the cichlids, he's plenty big enough to take care of himself, and if he annikilates some cichlids, so be it. Life with cichlids has to be better than life in a big bucket.

Try some Garden Centers. I just gave away 45 garbage bags full of the stuff! The previous owners of the house thought it would be a great idea to use it as ground cover. I did not agree. 2 Square meters costs about 15 bucks.