Sick-lids

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I had a similar problem recently in a well established tank when the powerhead I used to agitate the surface of the water failed. I had one dead fish, some gasping & others laying on the bottom. Absolutely horrific. So yes - I would definitely think it is an aeration problem.
In my case, I immediately did a water change & put my spraybars above the waterline to get some oxygen going. Luckily I had only one loss & the rest recovered in a couple of hours.
 
An overstocked tank can be helped with over filtering and adding an airstone. I had 6 adult oscars, 3 clown knifes all 12"-18", an 11" RTC and an 18" albino channel cat as well as 3 large plecos in a 125(was just temporary til I moved a couple to ponds and shipped a few out to customers) and they never had a problem. I had four large canister filters and 6' of air stones going in it though. I would try an airstone(around 18 inches with a large air pump) and that should help.
 
so you said your water parameters are fine, so you are saying you have absolutely NO ammonia in that tank? any small amount of ammonia is very harmful to fish-they are extremely sensitive to it. as far as your rock, i use river rock and boulder as well, and i just powerwashed it before it put it in the tank and its fine. when it comes to substrate, you need to stir it around with your fingers when you do those weekly waterchanges, or else toxic gases build up-then when you do stir it it releases it into the water-poisoning the fish..

best of luck to ya! i hope it all turns out okay!
 
20 fish of the size you describe is not overstocking your tank.
Your symptoms sound very similar to an experience I have had occur the past week or two and what I had occur about a year ago.
What was your NITRATE reading? Do you find your fish are also clamping their fins and tending to swim around rather haphazardly?
Remeber also that at the Hi PH levels for Malawi's you do not need much Ammonia for it to be toxic.
When you transferred the filters, did you do ant form of cleaning of them? How long had they been running for without a clean? If not cleaned too regularly you can have them releasing toxins that can be rather harmfull.
Glad to hear you did not have too many fish die.
When in doubt do a water change and then againg 2 days later.
:naughty::screwy::ROFL::headbang2:nilly:
 
Thanks to everyone for your replies. I can't reply to everyone individually (or this post would be massive!) but I appreciate it. Update - fish look fine now. 2 6" airstones added, added some more mature filter from a friends tank. All fish swimming well and eating as malawis do (lots).

However, all the water changes have led to a bacterial bloom and now the tank is super cloudy. Any suggestions for clearing this?
 
Glad to hear your fish are doing better. Just a little tip if you're going to use rocks from a local river (I'm assuming that you collected them yourself and they weren't store bought) Soak them in a 1 part bleach 3 part water solution for 24 hours, then boil them for at least an hour to be certain that any and all orginisims are removed from them. Better to be safe then sorry. Most of the rock in my tank are from a local river.
 
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