Just so Ticked right now.

[nfored]

So once again my Oscar is not eating, for two days now. So I decided to check the water and %#$#$#^#$% if it is not 1ppm Ammonia the only thing I can think that has changed is the 10 feeders I feed them over a 3 day period. This is like the 3 freaking mini cycle my poor fish have had to go through.

I know these things happen but it makes me feel bad, when you try your best to care for them. I knew feeders had the ability to cause extra bio loads but I didn't keep them in the tank, and they where only alive for about 2 minute each of the two days I feed them.


I am also wondering if maybe the bio media is reaching its capacity due to the increasing size of my fish. I have 1L of matrix .5L biomax and then the rest is lava rocks. I always knew there was a potential for the to grow to large for the lava rocks. I guess I will start buying the matrix to store in the filter.

Then to add insult to injury last night I was doing my monthly filter maintenance; and I noticed the casing on the impeller shaft has cracked on my pump. So now it looks like its starting to maybe rust at the crack, and I can't afford to replace the pump or the shaft until next month. so now the fish are living in poison, they would be better off at pet smart.

Rant over.

 

[pacu mom]

What is preventing you from doing water changes? If my tank ever showed traces of ammonia, I would immediately change out enough water to the point that there was no measureable ammonia, and I would find the cause and change it if I could. In the last 4.5 years we've had two ammonia spikes. One was after a power outage, and the other happened after feeding the pacu excessive, unlimited amounts of watermelon. No more watermelon for our boys. If there is a power outage, we add more water to the system to submerge the biomedia in the wet dry filter. We also have a generator on hand that we can use in the event of a long outage. If my water parameters are bad, I take immediate corrective action so my fish don't suffer.

 

[mike b]

fish not eating in my experience is almost always water conditions so water changes youre going to have to do more frequent water changes until you get that pump fixed just my two cents

 

[cichlid2006]

Seachem Prime. Follow the instructions for detoxifying ammonia and nitrite, it is a larger dose than dechlorinating. If you dont have any or can't afford it right now then do you have any carbon?
That should see you through till you get some money for prime and more bio media.
Also, have you tried rinsing your bio media well and rinsing your sponges well to get rid of a lot of the gunk that builds up. That might be all it needs. Do a good gravel vac and move the decor to get underneath as you might have some large poop pieces or uneaten food lying under a rock or in a crevice.
Hope all goes well.

 

[nfored]

I have prime, and I highly doubt the pump has anything to do with the spike. as far as a water change who said i wasn't? My tap water has 1ppm ammonia so if I do 10, 20, 80 or 100% water change my ammonia wouldn't drop.

I think it could very well be the build up gunk. The caves I build present a issue with gunk because it gets stuck under them before it can get filtered out. I have a bare bottom so the only build up in my tank is under the rocks in the cave, any one have any ideas how to keep this build up from occurring?

 

[Allan01230]

Why are you using feeders?

 

[nfored]

Well I have been seeing a lot of aggression and it was suggested by someone else, that if you allow predators to be them selves with feeders it helps with tank mate aggression.

So i am rinsing the bio media and I belie the build up is the problem, just removing the media and placing it in a bucket of tank water has resulted in a tank so cloud you cant see a fish. The was lots of build up in the tank and in the sump. I have got all the sunken stuff vacced out, now I am using filter socks to filter the rest out of the column

As far as my spikes this is the first one I would say is unexpected or my fault, the first was when I had to remove bio media to seed another tank, the second was the addition of a drip system.

 

[nfored]

So now I have the lava rocks sitting in a waste basket in the tank, and the bio max/matrix in a bag in the sump after rinsing. I a have had to change filter socks twice in 6 minutes. I plan to let the filter socks catch all the floating junk then vac again and let the filter socks once again get the junk. then take out the bio media and rinse it once more

 

[FLESHY]

When I used to have freshwater monsters of my own, all the rock work got taken out once a week, all the fish were removed, and the gravel was siphoned until no crap came out. These guys are big, they are messy eaters, and they hurt water quality. Fortunately, like I outlined, that is easy to fix.

13 feeders sounds like a lot. Remember that as predators in the wild, their instincts tell them to gorge themselves when they can. I wouldnt be surprised if he is just digesting all those feeders you gave him. I also think that while predators should be allowed to hunt and given the opportunity to, that there are other things that should comprise the majority of their diet. Hope everything works out.

 

[alexmuw]

I think they meant use "dither" fish. I never use feeders for dither fish (nor do I use feeders as food). Get a fish that is too large for them to eat but still too small to cause any problems. (silver dollar tin foil barb, 2-4 inches).

Loss of appetite could be internal parasites (especially if no other fish are displaying this behavior). (internal parasites could have come from the oscar eating the feeders). Also, if you've always had 1 ppm ammonia (and I'm assuming you dose with some type of ammonia neutralizer) and your fish ahad appetites before (and after), then it still leads me to believe it's not water related.

As far as the pump, good luck! Always good to have a few backup filters on hand for occasions like that.