Convict problem

[ymolina]

i didnt know if it would be related or not but thats why your water is stained. pull the driftwood out an soak it an it will help your water color alot

 

[Amphilophus88]

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.

Leeching out may take forever, at least I got my driftwood for a year and my water is till getting yellow the second day after waterchange.

 

[ymolina]

how big or dense is your wood? mine took a month an it was i think 5 lb chunk

 

[Amphilophus88]

how big or dense is your wood? mine took a month an it was i think 5 lb chunk

It's a pretty big piece of driftwood and also quite dense, it weights a lot.
I also had another big piece that wasn't so heavy and that one didn''t leech tannins for that long

 

[clarius catfish]

Hey,

My male convict has been acting strange. Him and his mate just had a batch of fry and he is defending them fiercely as good parents. But he seems to be swimming erratically. Also, his front end seems to float higher than his back end so that he's swimming at almost a 45 degree angle. When not swimming, he sinks to the bottom amidst his fry. I am guessing some sort of infection? I would quarantine him, but I'm afraid the female won't do a sufficient enough job in protecting the offspring. Should I worry? What should I do about his condition? He's in a 100 gallon with a Green Texas, a Jack Dempsey, channel cat, pleco, and a LMB. The tank is heavily planted and contains driftwood. Also, the tank is a strange color, amber almost. I know this is probably from the driftwood, but the wood has been in there for a good couple weeks and only now has the water changed colors. would it still turn the water that color?

Thanks,
Tom

i cant believe you have those fish in a tank that size channel catfish can grow to 4 foot and that is way to big for your tank.http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/catfish/channel.php
anyway i had the same problem with my convict cichlid and after a week or so i just stopped. i can not be sure on your one as i do not have a photo

 

[tommyd]

i cant believe you have those fish in a tank that size channel catfish can grow to 4 foot and that is way to big for your tank.http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/catfish/channel.php
anyway i had the same problem with my convict cichlid and after a week or so i just stopped. i can not be sure on your one as i do not have a photo

Thank you for your concern, however I am not as naive as you appear to think I am. My father has a 500 gallon tank in his basement that is completely empty, in which the channel cat will go when he reaches a size that I deem too big for my tank. And after that, if he lives that long, he will go into an indoor pond that my cousin owns. 1200 gallons enough for him and a few oscars? I have kept channel cats before, only selling them because I wanted to go in a different direction with my stock. Again, thanks for your concern, but I know my fish and I know when to call it too large for my aquarium.

 

[tommyd]

And as for the convict, I have opted to wait it out. My LFS (Aquatic Wildlife) suggested I purchase and use this stuff called Microbe-Lift Herbal Actives: Artemiss. I have been adding this to the tank and it seems to have cleared up my LMB's infection too.

 

[tommyd]

Bump. The poor guy still hasn't recovered and I've gone through the entire bottle of medicine. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. He now eats out of my hand and I'm quite fond of him.

 

[sfdvlam]

Let us know if your convict ever recovers. I don't have much experience with convicts so can't comment much. However, I do have the log and it is leeching tannin as well. I have had it for 3 months now and It was really bad at first but now I kinda like the color, a light tint like tea color. I suppose it does look somewhat realistic and can't be 100% the way we want it all the time..

 

[Aquanero]

I never heard of the stuff you used so I can't comment on it's actual effectivness. If he is eating feed him some skinned peas to clear his digestive tract. If you are still concerned about the wood just remove it. What is exactly going on with the convict?