what kind of wood is it? i have mopani in my tank and i got it from another member on here who had it in his tank for almost year and now its been in my tank for almost a year and it still leaches tannins, when i first put it in my tank it would leach really badly and would turn my tank water a dark reddish color but its just tannins its nothing bad for the fish, and they actually like it because it helps to buffer the water to a lower pH. some people actually purposely add these tannins to their tank. but what are your water parameters (actual numbers) and how often do you water changes? it definitely sounds like some kind of infection or swim bladder problem if he isnt swimming properly, there is a difference between fish swimming and shaking and "dancing" when breeding, etc and then being sick and not being able to keep themselves level which it sounds like what is wrong with your con
Convict problem
- Thread starter tommyd
- Start date
it could be an infection of the swim bladder or a bad case of indigestion. Exotic goldfish commonly get this problem when they eat the wrong time of food and their swim bladder goes out of wack.
Wouldn't the driftwood lower the pH level pretty quickly? that could have caused an internal infection.
Wouldn't the driftwood lower the pH level pretty quickly? that could have caused an internal infection.
normally since its a natural buffer it would slowly lower it only to a certain point and then keep it level at that point. its usually when you use chemical buffers that problems arise with pH but yeah i guess its possible though i somehow doubt that is the issue since he said he has had the wood in there for several weeks so if that were the problem then i would think he would have gotten sick then......Syberfish;4296396; said:
I had 2 convicts who had fry as well, The male was defending them against my Midas but my Midas attacked him really aggressively, so he started to swim weird. So it could be from a fight. Well anyway, he couldn't protect the fry anymore so next day they were dead, and another day later the male was dead as well.
I would advice to watch if he can still protect the fry, if not you could also quarantaine the entire "family".
The tannins are from your driftwood. I have my driftwood for more then a year in the tank and my water still gets yellow after a few days. I used to put carbon in my filter, but my Green Terror got hith, read some topics on here that it could be related so I removed the carbon.
I would advice to watch if he can still protect the fry, if not you could also quarantaine the entire "family".
The tannins are from your driftwood. I have my driftwood for more then a year in the tank and my water still gets yellow after a few days. I used to put carbon in my filter, but my Green Terror got hith, read some topics on here that it could be related so I removed the carbon.
Sounds like a swim bladder infection. If you have a hospital tank or bucket treat with 1 tsp of pre desolved Epsom salt per 5 gals of water let the fish soak in the bath for 15 mins. You can do this twice in one day about 8hrs apart. If the fish is still eating feed some skinned green peas also, which is good for them and breaks up any intestinal blockages. Once he is back to normal make sure some veggies are a regular part of there diet.
Tannic Acid leeched from drift wood is normal however it will continue to slowly and depending on the size of the tank and the amount of driftwood not so slowly drop the ph. The ph should be monitored it's not a good idea the let the ph drop to 6.5 and then do a 50% wc from the tap that is 7.2 as an example. The yellow color is normal some people like it some don't. I would do frequent smaller wc's in your case untill most of the tannins leeach out to prevent large flucuations in the ph.
Tannic Acid leeched from drift wood is normal however it will continue to slowly and depending on the size of the tank and the amount of driftwood not so slowly drop the ph. The ph should be monitored it's not a good idea the let the ph drop to 6.5 and then do a 50% wc from the tap that is 7.2 as an example. The yellow color is normal some people like it some don't. I would do frequent smaller wc's in your case untill most of the tannins leeach out to prevent large flucuations in the ph.
If you use carbon in your filter that is why now after a few weeks you're getting amber water. The carbon is fully saturated and before was removing tannins from the water, but now its not. Replace the carbon and the water should clear up.
Fast your fish for a day or two and see if his swimming improves. I have had several fish get swim bladder problems from over eating. You can also try skinned peas to help clear their systems.
Fast your fish for a day or two and see if his swimming improves. I have had several fish get swim bladder problems from over eating. You can also try skinned peas to help clear their systems.
I would add, the use of carbon will remove the discoloration in the water it will do nothing to the ph. I do not use or recomend the use of carbon unless removing meds from the water and then only for a day or two. Frequent wc's will remove the discoloration and tannins better than the use of carbon and will keep your syatem in overall better health.
if you didnt let your driftwood soak out all the toxins in a tub of water the leaking toxins could be messin with ur convict. you have to let your driftwood soak until the water your soakin is doesnt turn a tea color anymore then its all clear. or at least thats what i did an thats my opinion in why your convict is actin wierd.
As I stated above frequent smaller wc's until the tannins are leeached out. 25% 3 times a week will do it. It may take a month or two before you notice a the amount of tannins decreasing to the point where it's no longer nessisary to keep changing the water as much. If you remove some or all the drift wood you could soak it in a tub outside replacing the water daily for a couple weeks to speed up the process. I doubt the problem you are having with you Con is related to the tannic acid. I would treat as I reccomended for the bladder infection and feed the skinned peas.
