What should i be looking out for? water problem

[batang_mcdo]

I have an arowana, 2 Datnoids and a red mammon in my 150 gallon tank.
My routine is weekly 30-40% water change, but my Red mammon seem to be getting sick before next water change, so i have to do a water change in the middle of the week.

he has clamped fin and gets extremely lethargic , He is back to his agressive self after the water change though.

what could be the problem with my tank or water?
tank is 150 Gal with eheim 2250 Canister filter filled with sintered glass.

I checked my water parameters during the time his fins was clamped and he was extremely lethargic,
0 ammonia and ph at 7.
what parameters should i be checking? immediately after water change he will be back to his old self, chasing my dats.

any ideas?

 

[joe jaskot]

My guess is that your tank is under filtered. The most a Eheim 2250 can pump is 300 gph. Not enough turnover for a 150 gallon aquarium.

 

[convict360]

My guess is that your tank is under filtered. The most a Eheim 2250 can pump is 300 gph. Not enough turnover for a 150 gallon aquarium.

This. Add some more filtration, then check nitrites and nitrates alongside your ammonia level. Watch out for nitrate creep

 

[Ihsnshaik]

Show us some pictures of your lovely fish! Do you match water temps? Water conditioner?

 

[batang_mcdo]

thanks Here's a picture of my tank with the arowana, 2 dats and the mammon



I'm unable to use a sump as this tank is indoors and our floor is wooden, I'm worried of the weight, Also not able to add another canister as its hard to drill holes in the tank for another canister

I'll test the water once i notice my mammon getting lethargic again, that should be tomorrow or sunday.

.

 

[Lepisosteus]

if you floor cannot handle the additional weight of a dump I would be more concerned as a sump will only add maybe 100lbs more then 2 canisters filled. It may not be getting sick. Try adding a hiding place for it, I'm thinking it's stress based

 

[batang_mcdo]

thanks, the Mammon is the alpha in the tank, he stripped the scales of the other IT and also goes after my arowana who just ignores him.
I am not sure if i found the problem,

here's the nitrate test, i think at 40 PPM?


is the ph low?



Our tapwater is 7.5 . So this might be low, it drops in less than a week.
what else can be used besides crushed corals to keep the ph steady?


here's how he would look before water change




really lethargic and slime seems to be shedding,
then this is how he would look like immediately after the water change





back to his normal self and he would go about harassing the datnoids again.

 

[convict360]

if you floor cannot handle the additional weight of a dump I would be more concerned as a sump will only add maybe 100lbs more then 2 canisters filled. It may not be getting sick. Try adding a hiding place for it, I'm thinking it's stress based

lol "dump".

sorry.

 

[convict360]

those look like crazy nitrates, those two little filters will not be up to task either; as stated before, you need a much more suitable filtration, even if you can only afford to throw in another 5 sponge filters (large ones), do that; and keep up the water change.

Also, the arowana looks to have outgrown that tank; just a thought

 

[duanes]

I agree with convict360, those nitrates are in the high stress area. And because you don't use substrate, and only a canister, your beneficial bacteria population may be very low.
If you are going to continue with a non-substrate/bare bones tank, you should probably be doing 30% water changes every other day.
And how often are you cleaning the gunk out of your canister?
A canister with lots of gunk can become a nitrate factory.
Most people think because water is clear, it is good.
But this is often not the case.
I shoot for a nitrate level of 2-5ppm in my tanks, but you'd probably see a noted improvement by bringing them down around 20ppm.