Hi everyone,
I'm new here so I'm not sure if this post should be here but this seems like the best place.
I had several small peacock eels in a 20 gallon to grow them out a bit while I waited to set up my 90. I did put some guppy fry in there as well to test if they would eat them (they didn't). I had another 10 gallon with additional guppy fry to grow out. My friend stayed over and brought her cat with her, the cat ended up urinating all over my wall and into my 10 and 20 tanks. No one was in the room until the next evening and the tank was cloudy. I immediately started pulling the fish out as I had no idea what it was at first, until I smelled the urine. The only place I had to put them was in a 2.5 gallon tank I was using as quarantine for 4 half inch(ish) bristlenose plecos. I managed to cram all the poor fish in the 2.5, except for one peacock eel who passed on.
(I was looking for a stand and was waiting for boxing week to buy a filter for the 90 to set up and cycle in the new year. )
After the incident I rushed out and got a stand as well as a filter for the 90 and set it up. I know you shouldn't add fish to an uncycled tank but I couldn't leave them all in the 2.5 gallon tank either. Luckily they all lived through the night together.
I ended up putting all the fish in the 90 together as I only had the small sponge filter available as used media as everything else had been contaminated, and I couldn't quarantine the plecos without it. The quarantine tank was fairly new as well with the filter taken out of the established guppy tank. I added the sponge filter and moss balls from the 2.5 to try and save as much bacteria as possible.
Now that the story is over, I am worried about my eels. There are 4 left, 2 of which I have not seen eat yet and the other 2 gorge themselves until their bellies swell. I suppose they are quite stressed. 3 of the 4 have lost a lot of colour and 2 of them have red cheeks now, I suppose that's from the ammonia burn? Is there anything I can do to ease new tank syndrome? I have never encountered this as I've never had to disassemble 2 tanks simultaneously before. The water was testing okay at first as it was a new tank and my test kit is now over so I dont have readings until Monday when i can purchase a new one. I have been doing 5 to 10% water changes if not daily then every other day due to a very busy and hectic work schedule.
I did lose one pleco and assumed it was due to the stressful move. I have not seen a lot of them and when I saw one on the tank glass I was inspecting it (I wasnt sure if they were eating so was attempting to see its belly), and it is riddled with ich. I cant believe I didnt notice at first but it blended really well with the tiny white spots they have on their backs, I have added 1 tbsp per 5 gallons of salt (done over about 4 hours) and have been increasing the temp to about 82 now since last night and plan to get it to 84. I am now also concerned the other fish will get it as they are probably all very stressed out. I am continuing to do 5 gallon water changes daily taking care to try and suck up any ich cysts that may be on the sand but ìs there anything further you guys would recommend to make this easier on them? Or do I just have to wait it out and hope for the best? After the move, the brand new tank and now the temp and salinity changes I'm surprised I havent lost more. I did add one of the filters after sterilizing it from the other tank to try and encourage as many spaces for bacteria to grow as possible without creating a whirlpool in the 90. The guppies are all of course fine despite being fry still.
Last question, will that dosage of salt be enough to kill the new snail population that came in with some java moss from LFS? And will the salt harm the eels? I dont want to medicate them as I know they're very sensitive and I probably should have posted before adding but now the whole tank is infected anyway and I figured it was the best thing to do but can start taking out water if i have to. Their stripes were dark but are also starting to fade as well and they are very pale but still come out and swim as much as they did before.
Thanks to everyone who read through all of that and thank you in advance for any advice.
I'm new here so I'm not sure if this post should be here but this seems like the best place.
I had several small peacock eels in a 20 gallon to grow them out a bit while I waited to set up my 90. I did put some guppy fry in there as well to test if they would eat them (they didn't). I had another 10 gallon with additional guppy fry to grow out. My friend stayed over and brought her cat with her, the cat ended up urinating all over my wall and into my 10 and 20 tanks. No one was in the room until the next evening and the tank was cloudy. I immediately started pulling the fish out as I had no idea what it was at first, until I smelled the urine. The only place I had to put them was in a 2.5 gallon tank I was using as quarantine for 4 half inch(ish) bristlenose plecos. I managed to cram all the poor fish in the 2.5, except for one peacock eel who passed on.
(I was looking for a stand and was waiting for boxing week to buy a filter for the 90 to set up and cycle in the new year. )
After the incident I rushed out and got a stand as well as a filter for the 90 and set it up. I know you shouldn't add fish to an uncycled tank but I couldn't leave them all in the 2.5 gallon tank either. Luckily they all lived through the night together.
I ended up putting all the fish in the 90 together as I only had the small sponge filter available as used media as everything else had been contaminated, and I couldn't quarantine the plecos without it. The quarantine tank was fairly new as well with the filter taken out of the established guppy tank. I added the sponge filter and moss balls from the 2.5 to try and save as much bacteria as possible.
Now that the story is over, I am worried about my eels. There are 4 left, 2 of which I have not seen eat yet and the other 2 gorge themselves until their bellies swell. I suppose they are quite stressed. 3 of the 4 have lost a lot of colour and 2 of them have red cheeks now, I suppose that's from the ammonia burn? Is there anything I can do to ease new tank syndrome? I have never encountered this as I've never had to disassemble 2 tanks simultaneously before. The water was testing okay at first as it was a new tank and my test kit is now over so I dont have readings until Monday when i can purchase a new one. I have been doing 5 to 10% water changes if not daily then every other day due to a very busy and hectic work schedule.
I did lose one pleco and assumed it was due to the stressful move. I have not seen a lot of them and when I saw one on the tank glass I was inspecting it (I wasnt sure if they were eating so was attempting to see its belly), and it is riddled with ich. I cant believe I didnt notice at first but it blended really well with the tiny white spots they have on their backs, I have added 1 tbsp per 5 gallons of salt (done over about 4 hours) and have been increasing the temp to about 82 now since last night and plan to get it to 84. I am now also concerned the other fish will get it as they are probably all very stressed out. I am continuing to do 5 gallon water changes daily taking care to try and suck up any ich cysts that may be on the sand but ìs there anything further you guys would recommend to make this easier on them? Or do I just have to wait it out and hope for the best? After the move, the brand new tank and now the temp and salinity changes I'm surprised I havent lost more. I did add one of the filters after sterilizing it from the other tank to try and encourage as many spaces for bacteria to grow as possible without creating a whirlpool in the 90. The guppies are all of course fine despite being fry still.
Last question, will that dosage of salt be enough to kill the new snail population that came in with some java moss from LFS? And will the salt harm the eels? I dont want to medicate them as I know they're very sensitive and I probably should have posted before adding but now the whole tank is infected anyway and I figured it was the best thing to do but can start taking out water if i have to. Their stripes were dark but are also starting to fade as well and they are very pale but still come out and swim as much as they did before.
Thanks to everyone who read through all of that and thank you in advance for any advice.
