Barracuda-m Posted October 14, 2009 Report Share Posted October 14, 2009 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbruun Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Sounds like you need more surface agitation. If they are gasping at the surface then they are short on air. Your fluval output should be at the surface agitating it. Otherwise get a bubbler. The HOBs always doing surface agitation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barracuda-m Posted October 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Sounds like you need more surface agitation. If they are gasping at the surface then they are short on air. Your fluval output should be at the surface agitating it. Otherwise get a bubbler. The HOBs always doing surface agitation. I am running the same type of filter on 2 other tanks, and everyone's fine. I just don't get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbruun Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Differnet stocking in the other tanks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darkangel Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 I had the same problem when I switch to a canister filter only. What I did was plumb a spraybar to the bottom of the tank, and pointed it up so it pushed the water upward along the back glass causing a rolling motion of the water.That cured my problem (I hate bubblers). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmpteki Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 ...did you check any of the water parameters? If the city water is substantially different than last change; bad things can happen fast, lost a tonne myself one spring due to a flood altering local water chemistry. I have a couple tanks with just HOB, one with HOB and cannister, and one with cannister only...fish seem fine in any of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Is the 55 a deeper tank than the others? Deep tanks run the risk of low oxygen usually because the lower levels of water aren't pushed around the tank . Your HOB was probably plunging enough to get this done for you . Another solution might be to add a powerhead to move the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barracuda-m Posted October 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Is the 55 a deeper tank than the others? Deep tanks run the risk of low oxygen usually because the lower levels of water aren't pushed around the tank . Your HOB was probably plunging enough to get this done for you . Another solution might be to add a powerhead to move the water. 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CORVETTE Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 You could also add a power head to agitate the surface more to add current. I recomend the seio power heads for price and long lasting my korilla power heads lasted half as long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 I have the sparybar from my Eheim 2213 in two parts. The first half of the output is pointed across the top of the tank, aggitating the surface. The second half is pointed toward the bottom front of the tank, mixing tank water vertically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted October 16, 2009 Report Share Posted October 16, 2009 Get an easy cheap DIY spraybar for your canister and any further problems will be avoided in that area. The Bucket idea is an okay one but be sure to re acclimitize the fish to the new water if you do need to do a major water change or move them especially if they are in a bucket and the water cools in the bucket and the tank water is warmer. (just like you would do with new fish in the bag) I lost some fish really really fast in a bucket incident and i even had my internal filter inside the bucket. Surface movement is not enough when there are too many fish in a bucket. Put in a bubbler at the very least or use more than one bucket. Be sure the bucket is strictly for fish use only as chemicals from cleaning and other things can leach out into the fish water and kill them. I hope that might have everything covered. One last thing is you said you painted behind the tank. Well Paint fumes are Toxic and that could have been a factor. With a spray bar and sealing the tank with saran and keeping it as closed a system as possible will limit any chemicals from entering into the tank. The only difference between an HOB and a canister that really seams to be your concern is how the water is agitated. I have a Stingray filter and it has it's output on the top that similar to any powerhead. I Love it because if you put it at the right levil it'll spray the water across the surface but just below enough so that you don't hear a thing. I'm sure you can do the exact same thing with a spraybar. Good luck L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted October 16, 2009 Report Share Posted October 16, 2009 One last idea. Instead of using a regualar bucket Use a Rubbermaid Container. It also can double as fish stuff storage. Hope this helps L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted October 16, 2009 Report Share Posted October 16, 2009 I do think the fish may acclimatize to lower oxygen levels, I would be concerned that this might keep them under some constant stress. Are they looking like they are still mouth breathing? If not you might be just fine and things settled down for you. As for returning fish to a tank that might be a bit warmer, IMO it's fine. Where I've seen problems is when introducing them to colder water. When I transport fish I want to get them out of the bags asap. I add them straight to the tanks if their bag water is a bit cooler, no floating either. I haven't lost any fish doing this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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