Help a noob out.

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J

Jroehyn

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 5, 2011
53
0
0
Duarte, CA
I have a 125 gal tank with a 3" convict pair, a 3" oscar, a 3" jack dempsey, three 2" jags. ever since a moved them all from a smaller tank, they've been eating less and lost color.

the red tiger oscar lost its blackness and turned brownish gray. the jd and the convicts has lighter stripes. the tank was set up on monday, i added a couple of bottles of safe start, and didnt add the fish till wednesday.

the tank has two 200w jager heaters set at 80 F, 2 emperor 400's.

complete noob to the hobby and need advice.
 
as Laticauda asked, did you use the same filter from the other tank on the new tank or did you start it up with a new filter...
What size tank did you take them out of and what kind of filter (s) are you using...
 
no. it was a different size. added a couple bottles of safestart. supposedly had enough live bacteria to cycle the tank. they dont look stressed. they all swim around in a group except for the convicts which established a territory already. before they eat off my hand and now when i approach the tank, they move away. main issue is they're not eating as much
 
Get your Water tested.. and do a 25% WC today. Likely your haveing an ammonia spike which can do perminent damage to your fish. Safe start iir is a Bacteria in a bottle. Was the water dechlorinated as well? this may also be part of your problem.
 
You need to test your ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte. If you still have your old filter media, add that to the new filter.

I bet you are in need of a couple water changes. Loss of color and not eating as well is a HUGE sign of stress.
 
they were all crammed in a 20 gal tank before i moved them. the oscar and the jd were 1 1/2" when i got them and grew pretty fast. the jags are just recent additions. by the way forgot to mention a couple of 3" loisellei's on the tank. i know they will all outgrow the 125 but i have an empty 50 gal to move some of them when they grow. will sell a few too.
 
Right now you need to be worried about the water the fish in, and not what you plan on doing with them. I know that's an important issue, but bad water quality will lead to health problems, and you want to avoid that.
 
just did a quick test. ammonia is at .5. nitrates and nitrites are at safe levels. water was dechlorinated before the fishes were added.
 
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