need advice - something not right with tank

[freeskier]

something's not right with my 55g. they have not been eating with their normal enthusiasm. i skipped the regular 20% water change 2 weeks ago but did 2 last week. everything tests normal.

I did 50% yesterday when i noticed that my satanoperca had a little scab on the upper side of his head. this has happened before and it cleared up after i did several big water changes. also, there is something funky going on with one of my angel's tail: it looks spotty but i don't think it is ich. none of the fish are "flashing" which is a usual sign of ich.

this morning one of my geophagus was dead. all of the fish are staying at the bottom and look like they are gasping.


i'll do another big change when i get home; didn't have time this morning. again, the water tests fine, looks clean, and i haven't done anything out of the ordinary (other than skip a weekly water change). the tank has been established for about 5 months.

oh yeah, and i'm running an xp3 + a powerhead for added circulation.
i've tried to be descriptive to get good advice so let me know if i need more details. thanks for your help guys

 

[2004exrider]

I know you said you did your tests and they were fine, but what tests did you do? Hows your aeration? When you did a water change could you have maybe forgot to put in dechlor? But besides that if they are sitting at the bottom gasping it could be a few things you either need more oxygen in the tank, nitrites are to high, or they're in shock from when you did the waterchange (i dont know if you put warm water back in or not?). I hope that will help get you started.

Jimmy

 

[>:(]

How many fish are in your tank and how big are they? Also, when you say "the water tests fine" what are the actual numbers?

 

[freeskier]

I know you said you did your tests and they were fine, but what tests did you do?

amonia reads low, nitrites 0, nitrates low, ph 6.8

Hows your aeration?

output from the fx3 runs at the top of tank, powerhead runs along the gravel. i don't have an airstone but assumed that the circulation oxygenated enough

When you did a water change could you have maybe forgot to put in dechlor?

no

But besides that if they are sitting at the bottom gasping it could be a few things you either need more oxygen in the tank, nitrites are to high, or they're in shock from when you did the waterchange (i dont know if you put warm water back in or not?).

doing a 20% usually dropps my water temp 2 degrees. i noticed this time with 50% that it dropped about 7 degrees. could this be it?

I hope that will help get you started.

Jimmy

thank you

 

[freeskier]

about 10, none more than 4"

How many fish are in your tank and how big are they? Also, when you say "the water tests fine" what are the actual numbers?

 

[>:(]

Hmm. Ok, so we'll assume you have 10 fish each at four inches, depending on what they are, you may not have too many too big yet, but watch out. The inch per gallon rule isn't really a great rule to go by; it's a basic guideline, but you have to remember that certain fish make more waste than others (the infamous example: 10 one inch tetras =/= one ten inch oscar). I have a feeling you have at least a basic idea of what you're doing, though.

You said your ammonia reads low, meaning there is still a detectable amount in the tank. Ideally you want it to be zero, I'm sure you probably know that, though. Your nitrite is right where you want it to be. I say just keep up on your water changes and let everything stabilize. Does it seem like you could have started the cycle up again with some back to back waterchanges? Just keep an eye on it.

 

[freeskier]

Hmm. Ok, so we'll assume you have 10 fish each at four inches, depending on what they are, you may not have too many too big yet, but watch out. The inch per gallon rule isn't really a great rule to go by; it's a basic guideline, but you have to remember that certain fish make more waste than others (the infamous example: 10 one inch tetras =/= one ten inch oscar). I have a feeling you have at least a basic idea of what you're doing, though.

You said your ammonia reads low, meaning there is still a detectable amount in the tank. Ideally you want it to be zero, I'm sure you probably know that, though. Your nitrite is right where you want it to be. I say just keep up on your water changes and let everything stabilize. Does it seem like you could have started the cycle up again with some back to back waterchanges? Just keep an eye on it.

i say amonia is low because the test-strip reading never seems to exactly match the picture on the bottle so i can't figure out the exact reading. i wasn't too concerned until i lost a fish this morning. i am usually pretty good with the water changes (because i know i have a relatively high density of fish).

i am thinking maybe the poor water quality + the temperature shock + loss of bacteria in the big water change caused the death...? i'll keep up with 20%changes this week thanks for your advice

 

[deepblue101]

could be..