is my office tank doomed? Piggy fish lose their appetites there.

[giar]

Sup fellow fish keepers..

So i have 2 aquariums.

1 is located in my living room
1 is located in my office

I only have ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and TDS test kit.

The tank in my office was only housing 1 king red arowana. The other tank was with a red aro but with some tank mates; pbass, rays, oscars, bichir, and CKF.

First i figured the king in the office wasnt eating much, so i decided to switch his tank with the aro in my house, so i could take a closer look of the king, feed him more and pump his body.

After a while i noticed the king gained a lot of appetites and hes becoming a lot more active than when he was alone in my office. However, now after one month, the other aro in the office is not eating as much as he used to be like when he was in my house.

Then i thought maybe because he doesnt have any tank mates, he loses his sense of competition for food.

Then a week ago, i moved my peacock bass to the office, but now the pbass are also not eating as much as they used to be in their old tank, and the aro is still not eating much.

So any ideas whats goin on here?


Tap Water quality in both my office and home is about the same :
0ppm amonia
0ppm nitrite
40ppm nitrate
Ph right out from tap 6.3-6.4
True ph 7.1-7.2

Water quality in my office tank
0 amonia
0 nitrite
40 nitrate
TDS stays at 130-ish
I use 4 filters with auto drip system, with drip rate about 3GPH, wc 75% once a month, 9x turnover rate
Tank size 285gal, with uv sterilizer, 2 fluval fx6, 1 eheim 2264, 55gal sump with 1320 gph pump

Water quality in my house
0 amonia
0 nitrite
40-60 nitrate
TDS 130-160
3 filters (2 fluval fx6, 1 eheim 2260), 6x turnover rate, 285gal tank, WC 1-2x 50% a week.

 

[philipraposo1982]

Not enough water changes at work.

 

[giar]

3GPH drip is 72GPD or 25% of tank volume of new water everyday.. i thought with drip 1x a month 75% WC is enough?

 

[giar]

In terms of bioload, the tank in my house supposedly have more bioload since i have aro, ckf, rays , bichir and oscars there.. while in the office just pbass , and aro

 

[philipraposo1982]

I missed the drip system, my bad.

 

[Poly Pinni]

Is there much difference in activity levels around the two tanks?

 

[Drstrangelove]

3GPH drip is 72GPD or 25% of tank volume of new water everyday.. i thought with drip 1x a month 75% WC is enough?

Imo, the amount of water one changes is not the issue. A 5% weekly WC in a 75 gallon with 1 guppy is likely excellent. A 90% change weekly WC in a 300 gallon with 10 1-foot fish is likely horrible.

One has to look at water quality, 40-60 nitrates is an indicator of insufficient water quality. More or larger changes, fewer or smaller fish, lower protein food, some type of nitrate reducer or all of the foregoing is needed.


As far as the two tanks are concerned, no one knows the size of the tanks, the lighting, the amount of activity around the tank, the amount of noise around the tanks, the decor of the tank, etc., so it's all a guess.

If I guess that the office tank suffers from too much light, poor decor, too much noise, too much activity, too much sound, and is too small, that explains it.

 

[giar]

Light - i off the light ater office hour
Poor decor - asian aro dont need decor i guess?
Too much noise - this is possible
The activity - this is possible
Too small - no, tank is 200cm L x 90cm W x 60cm T

Nitrate not really an issue.. after 3 weeks without WC i just tested it again just now it reads about 20ppm nitrate.. i added a bunch of plants in the sump.. nitrate from tap is 40ppm after all.. i could keep it to About 20ppm after one month without WC with just plants + auto drip is good enough i believe.

The noise and the activity cant be helped.. it is in the office after all.. any suggestions?

 

[giar]

Asian aro is best kept without decor and with bare bottom, mine is with tile bottom

 

[giar]

Is there much difference in activity levels around the two tanks?

The noise and the level of activity around the tank is the diff..

I guess this is the problem?

At home, we only have like 6 people moving around the tank

Office i have about 30 employees walking around near the tank coz it is in the main office