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Hey, fish thread. My tank's been doing pretty well until a month or two ago when I had some fish seemingly randomly die on me over the course of a few weeks (one x-ray tetra, two bronze corys, and a kuhli loach). No symptoms or anything wrong with them or the other fish that I could see when I found them, they just died. Then about a week or two ago I saw another cory with what looked like hemorrhagic septicemia and extremely ragged fins, so I moved it to a hospital tank and treated with triple sulfa since that was what I had at the time and the fish was still pretty active and eating. I did order some Kanaplex from Amazon, but unfortunately the fish didn't make it after a few days with no change in symptoms. The day it died, it had gray patches on its body and white fuzz on its tail. Didn't see any other affected fish in the tank until last night when I found another dead kuhli loach and the remaining two kuhli loaches with really obvious ulcers on their bodies, one much worse than the other. I took some photos (linking because they're kind of gross): http://i.imgur.com/SC6MHrs.jpg and http://i.imgur.com/k0Kh2sR.jpg The white area has grown a huge amount since last night - it started off as a small white dot in the middle of a red oval and has since grown to cover the red area almost completely, except for the new redness I'm seeing now that wasn't there this morning. The other fish looks the same, though. I immediately moved both of them to another tank, started treating with Kanaplex, and also ordered Furan-2, though I won't get it until Monday or Tuesday, which sucks. I thought maybe it could be columnaris due to what happened with the cory, but I've never had to deal with it before, and Google is saying lesions like this are more likely with aeromonas bacteria (also never dealt with it before, even though I guess the antibiotic treatment would be the same for both?). Anyone have any experience with this and know of anything else I could do aside from the antibiotics and frequent water changes? I'm guessing I'll have to treat my entire tank now anyway, but I kind of want to see how the loaches do first before I start dumping a bunch of stuff into the water without knowing if it's going to help or not. Then again, I really don't want more dead fish, so... yeah, don't know what the best course of action is there. I'm actually pretty sad about these guys because one of the kuhli loaches was one of the first fish I got when I first started seriously getting into the hobby about 6-7 years ago, and I got the cories a bit later. I got a second loach as a friend for the first one once I realized they didn't like to be alone, and the last two loaches are their babies so I got a bit attached to them since they were a family  Poor fish.
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Apr 12, 2014 01:36
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Fusillade posted:I do have pics of the other show entrants too, but I suspect you're interested in Orson. This isn't the best pic, but the others do not have him in scale with anything. I showed him in a standard 5 gallon tank (I will do a 10 next time!!!), which is 8" wide by 16" long. You can see the other edge of the tank on the bottom of the photo. I didn't photograph him with a tape measure, so "noticeably longer than 8 inches" will have to do for his official size. I had a very small Raphael cat in my community tank when I was little. Remember the Tetra sinking pellets that looked like hockey pucks? I think they were called Tabimin or something like that. He could eat a whole one even though it was about the same size as his head, and you could hear him crunching on it. I bet Orson is a noisy eater 
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Apr 12, 2014 02:52
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Goldmund posted:Got home from work today, and my 3 year old OB peacock was dead. He was probably my favorite fish too. Sorry, that sucks. Always hard losing a fish like that out of the blue.
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Apr 12, 2014 02:53
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Thanks Dantu. Losing fish is inevitable in this hobby, but it still sucks when it happens. I've been on a quest to grab a photo of my bristlenose pleco for a while now, but he has the uncanny ability to disappear as soon as I get my camera out. This morning I finally managed to get a single photo off before he vanished, hoping to get some better ones soon.  DSC_6862.jpg by meramsey, on FlickrTook a few more while I had my stuff out. I didn't have the filters off for long enough so the water doesn't look as clean as I'd like, but I'm too lazy to go in and spot remove all that crap.  DSC_6867.jpg by meramsey, on Flickr DSC_6869.jpg by meramsey, on Flickr DSC_6878.jpg by meramsey, on Flickr DSC_6877.jpg by meramsey, on Flickr DSC_6881.jpg by meramsey, on Flickr DSC_6891.jpg by meramsey, on Flickr DSC_6889.jpg by meramsey, on Flickr DSC_6892.jpg by meramsey, on Flickr
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Apr 12, 2014 17:19
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Great pictures of great looking fish.
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Apr 13, 2014 04:48
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Been looking on some sites trying to find out for sure what kind of pleco/algae eater we've had for several months. He's currently in a 55g with tetras, mollies, platies, etc. We have setup a new 55g that has just a white severum, mystery snails, and marbled crayfish. Eventually we are hoping to add a loach and a Jack Dempsey to the tank. What are the thoughts from everyone on putting the unidentified pleco in the more aggressive tank? I've heard that they won't bother plecos, but better safe than sorry. Thanks for any advise!
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Apr 15, 2014 01:19
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So I'm having a hard time planning out my new 40G Breeder tank. I have the substrate, canister filter and light, co2 and ferts already but can't decide whether to go with more of a rockscape, or wood scape. Below are a few examples of tanks I like, I'm just having trouble visualizing something I would create in my head. I clearly like vibrant lush tanks, and plan on doing a dry start. The other question is how would having the extra depth of the 40gb affect the tank, if anyone has scaped one before. Sorry I don't have a more specific question or scape to critique, my last tank I set up in a rush and I really want to plan this one out right and go slowly. http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2013/show621.html  
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Apr 15, 2014 01:55
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After 6 months of growing my baby tears emersed under a fugeray led I decided to try to speed up their growth by sticking a 2 bulb t5 ho fixture on the tank instead. 48 watts on a 10 gallon...... I figured the plants would appreciate the extra light. They did not. Only tried it for a little over a day, and I already see some yellowing on the baby tears. Abort. Please forgive me, little plants, and bounce back quickly.
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Apr 15, 2014 02:20
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Quick question about ich treatment: I've got a little platy who has a few visible signs of ich. Thankfully we caught it on day 1 and after a round of medication, he's perking up a bit. However, the directions on the bottle state that I need to remove the carbon from my filter so that the treatment doesn't get absorbed. My filter is an all-in-one, so by taking out the carbon, I'm also taking out everything else, too. All that's left at the moment are the ceramic noodles and the sponge. Is that going to be sufficient to keep my tank happy, or will it cause more problems than it's solving? Subsequent to that, will keeping the cartridge out of the tank mean that the bacteria in the filter will die off? Without water flow, or a source of food, I'm worried that I'll be putting a semi-effective filter back into the tank when the round of medication is over (likely 6 days from now).
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Apr 15, 2014 02:44
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What filter are you running? Typically the ceramics are the bio filter and the sponge is the mechanical, so it doesn't really sound like an all in one setup like the Aqueon filter line for example. Assuming I am not misunderstanding your setup, you should be fine. Carbon is the least important part of a filter, and arguably actually potentially harmful. A lot of people don't run carbon and instead replace it with filter floss
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Apr 15, 2014 03:23
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Wolfgang Müller posted:Been looking on some sites trying to find out for sure what kind of pleco/algae eater we've had for several months. He's currently in a 55g with tetras, mollies, platies, etc. Even better, you actually have a Synodontis eupteris -- called the featherfin catfish or the featherfin squeaker. They are good cleanup crew, but really aren't algae eaters. The largest they'll get in a 55 will be like... 8 inches tops. He definitely will be fine with the severum, although I'd be a little concerned about any baby juvenile crayfish. What species of loach are you thinking of? I'm asking because severums themselves can get the size of a small dinner plate, I would worry about the space and livestock combo.
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Apr 15, 2014 03:45
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Slugworth posted:What filter are you running? Typically the ceramics are the bio filter and the sponge is the mechanical, so it doesn't really sound like an all in one setup like the Aqueon filter line for example. Wool Carbon Sponge Ceramic Sluice In that order. At the moment, the wool and the carbon are out, since they come as a package. My plan at the moment is to get some replacement wool, cut loose the current layer that I have, and perhaps lay it over the new layer to try to transfer as much good stuff as I can over? I figure that's the best way to recoup my losses without ruining the medication. Far as I can tell, the only effect that removing the wool has had is that some larger particles are passing through unfiltered. The fish seem okay.
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Apr 15, 2014 03:55
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Wolfgang Müller posted:Been looking on some sites trying to find out for sure what kind of pleco/algae eater we've had for several months. He's currently in a 55g with tetras, mollies, platies, etc. In my experience a Jack Dempsey is probably going to be too aggressive for a severum to deal with. You might luck out, but I'd recommend against that mix, curious as to what others think.
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Apr 15, 2014 11:20
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Spikes32 posted:So I'm having a hard time planning out my new 40G Breeder tank. I have the substrate, canister filter and light, co2 and ferts already but can't decide whether to go with more of a rockscape, or wood scape. Below are a few examples of tanks I like, I'm just having trouble visualizing something I would create in my head. I clearly like vibrant lush tanks, and plan on doing a dry start. The other question is how would having the extra depth of the 40gb affect the tank, if anyone has scaped one before. Sorry I don't have a more specific question or scape to critique, my last tank I set up in a rush and I really want to plan this one out right and go slowly. IMO, in rockscapes, the focus should be on the rocks, with simpler planting designs, where in wood, the wood should be an accent to the plants, and plant choices can be more diverse. Myself, I find a good rockscape to be astounding, but when you lay it out, it should already look impressive before you've ever added water.
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Apr 15, 2014 14:57
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Dantu posted:In my experience a Jack Dempsey is probably going to be too aggressive for a severum to deal with. You might luck out, but I'd recommend against that mix, curious as to what others think. I have a bunch of convicts in the same tank with a pleco and nobody's touching him. Obviously convicts != Jack Dempsey and this is super anecdotal.
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Apr 15, 2014 15:14
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I think my tanks may get some benefit from having a colony of Malaysian trumpet snails growing in each one. Where do you guys recommend I pick some up? I haven't seen them at any LFS in my area so I may be limited to an internet purchase.
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Apr 15, 2014 16:36
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Dantu posted:In my experience a Jack Dempsey is probably going to be too aggressive for a severum to deal with. You might luck out, but I'd recommend against that mix, curious as to what others think. My old gold severum dealt with some nasty cichlids during his days, and he never once was targeted by any of them. Obviously it depends on the fish, but if the tank is well decorated and large enough I think he could try putting in a smaller Dempsey to see how it does, on the condition that he can take it back to the store if it is too aggressive.
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Apr 15, 2014 16:43
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Neitherman posted:I think my tanks may get some benefit from having a colony of Malaysian trumpet snails growing in each one. Where do you guys recommend I pick some up? I haven't seen them at any LFS in my area so I may be limited to an internet purchase.
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Apr 15, 2014 18:41
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Fusillade posted:Even better, you actually have a Synodontis eupteris -- called the featherfin catfish or the featherfin squeaker. They are good cleanup crew, but really aren't algae eaters. The largest they'll get in a 55 will be like... 8 inches tops. He definitely will be fine with the severum, although I'd be a little concerned about any baby juvenile crayfish. What species of loach are you thinking of? I'm asking because severums themselves can get the size of a small dinner plate, I would worry about the space and livestock combo. Thanks for the quick ID! After googling around, I think I'll like the featherfin more anyhow. Speaking of the Marbled Crayfish, we weren't told at the time we bought her that they don't need a partner to reproduce, and the original started cloning like crazy and taking over the other more peaceful tank. I'd read that they were good feeders for larger fish, even though I don't like the idea of it. But we also can't let them take over the other tank. I couldn't believe how one turned to at least 10 in a few months. We were thinking a clown loach, but we're open to any ideas if you have any recommendations! Dantu posted:In my experience a Jack Dempsey is probably going to be too aggressive for a severum to deal with. You might luck out, but I'd recommend against that mix, curious as to what others think. Chichevache posted:My old gold severum dealt with some nasty cichlids during his days, and he never once was targeted by any of them. Obviously it depends on the fish, but if the tank is well decorated and large enough I think he could try putting in a smaller Dempsey to see how it does, on the condition that he can take it back to the store if it is too aggressive. Thanks for the feedback! Do you guys have another idea for the tank? I'll try and get some pictures up, but it's a 55g with two large pcs of driftwood and a few plants. We're going to add some stones eventually. Any ideas are welcome!
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Apr 15, 2014 19:11
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Be aware that a 55 is not that large. You can do a severum OR a jack dempsey but both as full adults, not gonna happen safely. Clown loaches need to be in schools, are prone to high stress (which means ich) and get too large for a 55. What fish are in the tank right now?
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Apr 15, 2014 23:19
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Cowslips Warren posted:Be aware that a 55 is not that large. You can do a severum OR a jack dempsey but both as full adults, not gonna happen safely. Right now there is just the severum (1.75"), the featherfin (3.5"), and the crayfish (3"). The crayfish is the only adult right now.
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Apr 15, 2014 23:35
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Wolfgang Müller posted:Right now there is just the severum (1.75"), the featherfin (3.5"), and the crayfish (3"). The crayfish is the only adult right now. Yea if you only have a 55 then the severum should just be your centerpiece, and he may end up a little crowded. Maybe throw in some other small SA cichlids to give the tank a little pop. If you had a slightly larger tank I would recommend green terrors or blue acaras. Despite the terror moniker they actually got along great with my severum.
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Apr 16, 2014 00:03
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Wolfgang Müller posted:Right now there is just the severum (1.75"), the featherfin (3.5"), and the crayfish (3"). The crayfish is the only adult right now. Yes, but in theory you stock your tank with what animals will fit in their adult size, not just current one. I've seen marbled crays at almost 5 inches, but those ladies might have been freaks.
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Apr 16, 2014 00:15
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Chichevache posted:Yea if you only have a 55 then the severum should just be your centerpiece, and he may end up a little crowded. Maybe throw in some other small SA cichlids to give the tank a little pop. If you had a slightly larger tank I would recommend green terrors or blue acaras. Despite the terror moniker they actually got along great with my severum. I was googling around for certain types of small cichilds, would "dwarf" cichilds be a decent choice? Or maybe a rainbow cichild? I know enough to be dangerous when it comes to aggressive fish so I appreciate any feedback! Cowslips Warren posted:Yes, but in theory you stock your tank with what animals will fit in their adult size, not just current one. I've seen marbled crays at almost 5 inches, but those ladies might have been freaks. Do you know how the marbled crayfish population usually works in a tank? Do most people let more aggressive fish eat the young? I hate that, but they reproduce so fast...
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Apr 16, 2014 01:42
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Wolfgang Müller posted:I was googling around for certain types of small cichilds, would "dwarf" cichilds be a decent choice? Or maybe a rainbow cichild? I know enough to be dangerous when it comes to aggressive fish so I appreciate any feedback! If you get dwarf cichlids you should put more decorations in the tank so that they have places to hide. I love German Rams and the like, but I don't know how they will do with a crayfish in the tank. I'm sure they're fine with the severum for now, but I also don't know how that would work out once the severum reaches its full size. I don't think it would bother the dwarves, but I don't know for sure.
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Apr 16, 2014 02:29
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I have kept a severum and a jack dempsey together before with other Central and South American cichlids. Both do fine provided they are the same size. Out of the two, severums are more interesting, and have a pretty gentle personality. They will holdtheir own without usually starting anything, once again with fish their own size. I agree that the one would be a centerpiece of a 55, but they would wind up bullying anything they are much larger than - like dwarf cichlids. Re: ich and filtration, the main reason they ask you to remove carbon is because it will absorb the active ingredients formalin and malachite green, which also can affect your beneficial bacteria) If your fish can take the temperatures, i would suggest just treating the tank with heat (85*F) for two weeks to speed up the parasites' life cycle (it also will eventually kill them), while running an in-tank UV filter in combination with 1/2 daily water changes to remove the free-swimming ich parasites.
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Apr 16, 2014 10:14
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We've got a newish (1-2 months?) fish tank at work and yesterday the aquarium shop guy came by and did a partial water change. Today all fish started swimming to the surface, and some have been darting/tumbling around sideways, some seem to be dead. The test kits show that all parameters we tested (pH, ammonia, nitrite/nitrate, hardness) are normal. Temperature is about 80F - is there anything we can do? Aquarium staff aren't particularly helpful and the one tank maintenance guy is unavailable. My workplace is a bio/chemistry lab by the way, so we might have access to some instruments/emergency magic chemicals, but nobody here has an idea where to start! 
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Apr 17, 2014 02:28
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Swimming at the surface seems to indicate an oxygen issue to me. How's the tank water being aerated? Are there live plants or a bubbler? An air pump would one place to start. Do the fish require special water, and is the aquarium guy the only person doing water changes?
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Apr 17, 2014 02:33
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SynthOrange posted:Swimming at the surface seems to indicate an oxygen issue to me. How's the tank water being aerated? Are there live plants or a bubbler? An air pump would one place to start. Do the fish require special water, and is the aquarium guy the only person doing water changes? It's a fresh water tank, and there are plenty of plants in there. No bubbler, but a pump (?) and the aquarium guy that set it up said the water movement should be enough to aerate the water? He was on the phone with one of the guys here just now and said that it could be some kind of toxicity in our tap water. I don't know much about fish but that almost sounds like a mystery excuse. It's such a sad sight to see the fish struggle and die. Photo for reference Edit: We've put some of the struggling fish into a bucket of conditioned water from the "filtered" tap and they recovered!  After changing 50% of the main tank to filtered water, the fish started to look much better, and then the aquarium guy finally arrived too. Death toll is 3 discus and 2 smaller fish - but it's at least nice that we were able to salvage the others. We'll probably start using filtered water from now (or even switch to using (deionised) MilliQ water with salt additives). They've also discussed getting a bubbler... let's hope that'll fix the issue whichever it was!
plasmoduck fucked around with this message at 03:59 on Apr 17, 2014 |
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Apr 17, 2014 02:53
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It almost sounds like he didn't dechlorinate the new water 
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Apr 17, 2014 04:19
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Good to hear. A partial water change is pretty much the only thing to do with a mystery condition. I've definitely seen a few posters here lose fish due to disrupted water supplies, so it's not unheard of. The tank shot looks a bit cloudy. Were you using a flash while taking it?
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Apr 17, 2014 04:22
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Always just kind of laughed at the thread title, never had a problem with snails of any kind. Left for 5 days and somehow >100 of them magically appeared in my 5 gallon shrimp tank. I have utterly no idea where they came from. The last time I planted anything from the LFS was over 3 months ago, so maybe an egg slipped through and took this long to reproduce without me seeing it wandering around the tank? Just *poof* you've got snails. Good excuse to get a few assassin snails at least. None of the LFS have any in stock, so I had to ebay it (buying live animals from ebay is still a weird experience for me, but great prices). I'm assuming the snail population will sustain it for a while, but should I start up a snail breeding tank to provide it with food in the future? Or is there an alternative for the assassin when it noms all the ones currently in there?
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Apr 18, 2014 17:07
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Fejsze posted:I'm assuming the snail population will sustain it for a while, but should I start up a snail breeding tank to provide it with food in the future? Or is there an alternative for the assassin when it noms all the ones currently in there?
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Apr 18, 2014 17:27
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I also got a couple of assassin snails for my snail problem, and they murdered everything in the snail tank, but they seem pretty happy now living off of algae and stuff now that they have to be vegetarians.
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Apr 18, 2014 18:36
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Medicinal Penguin posted:I also got a couple of assassin snails for my snail problem, and they murdered everything in the snail tank, but they seem pretty happy now living off of algae and stuff now that they have to be vegetarians. Same here. Though they also eat fish eggs.
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Apr 19, 2014 01:58
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How many assassin snails do I need patrolling a 15 gallon to keep it clear of snails. I only got 1 so far and I've had it a month or two. Can't tell if it's making any sort of dent on the population. I could also just be impatient. Here's another picture of my weird rocket ship goldfish. Vroom vroom. 
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Apr 19, 2014 06:58
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Lacrosse posted:How many assassin snails do I need patrolling a 15 gallon to keep it clear of snails. I only got 1 so far and I've had it a month or two. Can't tell if it's making any sort of dent on the population. I could also just be impatient. Since I haven't gotten mine yet, I can't speak with authority, but from the reading I did, I found that the recommendation seemed to be 1 assassin per 5 gallons. Also, thanks to the other posters for the info on the assassins. I'm looking forward to having my tank look like a shrimp tank again and not a snail hatchery.
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Apr 19, 2014 17:27
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I have 2, and they genocided my 10 gallon in a couple of months from dozens-hundreds of multiple varieties of snails.
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Apr 19, 2014 21:11
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Short video I made to test out my phone, showing off my turtle tank (which is functionally more of a fish tank with a turtle in it). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAi6dZwylUc And no, Stinky doesn't bother with the fish. Anything with the ability to swim away is just too much work.
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Apr 21, 2014 15:40
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I can't remember the last time I saw a pond snail and I have stable assassin populations in all 3 tanks.
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Apr 21, 2014 16:07
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