Filtration and Aquarium help?

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Gargantuan Guppy

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Feb 5, 2010
27
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anacortes, WA
Hello MFK members, i recently lost my 14 inch shovel nose catfish to poor water conditions.. and now I'm trying to get the water conditions to acceptable measures.. anyhoodle maybe theres something i should be doing more often? anything specific i should be adding to the tank to help it become livable for fish? i have a 75 gallon acrylic aquarium running on a fluval fx5, i have a large sponge on the filter and the cartridge filled with bio-balls and a bag of purogen.. the tank itself contains a LFS purchased log of some sort, and approximately 3 or so java ferns which for some reason hasn't been growing that much.. the majority of the gravel has been taken out of the tank.. i recently made a 75% water change after i noticed, well, that my fish was deceased.. after previously making a small 25% water change.. my readings currently for the conditions of the water are around 40 in nitrates.. 0 in nitrites.. general hardiness 15-30, carbonate hardiness 0, and the ph is somewhere between 5.5-6.0.. my first impression that something was wrong was when i noticed that there was a sudden outburst in the growth of planaria in my tank.. my first thought was to find a specific method in treating this issue.. but the main problem was that there was a large amount of ammonia in the water since a great deal of the food i fed my fish got lodged in areas of objects i had in the tank that i never thought to syphon out.. my problem now is the acidity in the water, the planaria are still present, and the plants aren't growing to anything noticeable.. anything i can do to help change my current situation to a more positive outcome? also should i change my 8 month old sponge? or is there a legitimate way to clean this thing..
thankyou :confused:
(also just added 5 tiger barbs to the tank, would like to continue adding more when water conditions are more appropriate)
 
Need to get that ammonia under control. Also it seems you over fed your fish which caused food to become lodged causing the spike in ammonia that killed your fish and the planaria is there because there is excess food. Basically it's all a result of excess food in the tank not getting cleaned up.

Solution: I'd do daily 20% gravel vac water changes every day until the planaria is gone. For the tiger barbs you currently have, do 2-3 small feedings instead of 1 large one and watch them eat. If they aren't eating everything you're putting in the tank vac the remaining up and make a mental note to feed lighter next time.
 
@Aqualoon: thank you for your advice, i will better equip myself in cleaning my tank.. and do daily water changes to help prevent the planaria from prospering, it is indeed my responsibility.. and after feedings ill measure whats best for my tiger barbs and clean up the extra food if any..

@duanes: well i was making 25% water changes every two weeks.. as to what was told by my LFS.. because of the sponge filtration being present and having the purogen in my filter.. although i should have syphoned out the excess food that got lodged and the waste that my fish produced that also became lodged.. the fluval fx5 has a powerful head on it.. so the current of it caused a good amount of shiz niz to get lodged in areas that were not visible to my eye.. i should have lifted the objects to syphon out the gunk.. there is no "my bad" in the fish hobby, especially when the fish itself was close to $120.. my knowledge is getting better though on what to do now, but i would like to learn more about what i can do to prevent these type situations.. tips are always nice
 
Basically you's have to step up your water changes to a greater water percentage or get some bottom feeders. You can add more filtration but your nitrates well remain the same if you keep your normal feeding routine...................
 
thoroughly research the fish you add to your tank.. a TSN is way to big to go in a 75 for life. Water changes should in general follow how fast your nitrates rise.. not a time. But generally this is once a week or so. But your nitrates will tell you if your doing enough. your PH so low makes me believe your ammonia is likely threw the roof.

It will likely take a month to straighten things out.
 
@BODYDUB: thank you, that is helpful :popcorn:

@MonsterMinis: yeah i would have to agree with you on that one, i purchased the little guy when he was about 7 inches.. and planned on selling him to another fish hobbyist when the time came for the young adult shovel nose to head towards bigger waters.. since my tank is decently sized and has a good width on it.. but having a 3 ft shovel nose catfish in a 75 gallon aquarium is indeed a bad idea.. and thank you for that info, never have i been told on how water changes should be met on how fast the nitrates rise..
and your probably right about it taking about a month to clear up.. tiz unfortunate.. :(

(anymore tips?)
 
Feed less often, once a day or once every other day.
Change your substrate to sand, so there will never be any lodged food particles.

Planaria are beneficial organisms. They help you clean up your excess food. They help your fish.
But they're also indicators of filthy water.
Your tank is back to normal as soon as your ammonia goes down to zero.
Just do daily 50% water changes until the ammonia is gone.
 
25% every 2 weeks is not enough with a fish that size in a 75gal. I'd do a 25% change every 2-3 days, no matter how much you filter, especially if you like to overfeed. You should be vacuuming at least every other one of those water changes. And this is not temporary, this should be standard practice, and may need to be upped as the fish gets larger.
 
@sandofarms: yeah i agree with you, but wouldn't sand just get caught in the filters sponge? the head on my filter is pretty strong..
(although sand would look nice in my aquarium):mwave:

@duanes: understood, that would seem to be needed with a fish that eats quite a lot.. this has been my first large catfish that I've kept, and I'm now understanding how necessary it is to check the water every week and do water changes throughout the week.. i wish i had enough experience with a large fish previously before my TSN.. but instead i had exodons which.. are actually still thriving from my three years of keeping them.. but they were kept in a 30 gallon.. so ill add the MFK members knowledge on how to take care of specific fish and fish in general properly.. Thank you
(anymore tips?):goldfish:
 
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