Tank Issues with New World Cichlids!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
(stray voltage?! what's that?)
I also think salt is a not the problem, but adding it does nothing, and is wasteful as decoy said, nitrates are a very likely suspect, especially for the oscar.
Stray voltage is a slight electric current from an ungrounded light, or other piece of equipment, could be a malfunctioning heater or anything that's plugged in.
Though it doesn't kill fish outright (because fish aren't grounded), can causes stress.
If you have a slight cut or scratch on a finger, and if you put the finger in the tank while barefoot, and get a slight twinge or shock(or have a heart attack), you have stray voltage.
Old malfunctioning or cracked heaters have often been the most common cause in my tanks.
I've taken to adding titanium grounding probes to my tanks to prevent it.
I have also found fish skittishness may be an indicator of stray voltage.
 
Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it. It is not any electric issue as I don't have my heater one during the summer and there is no other items in my tank besides filter input and outputs. It will be hard to thin my stock as I am attached to each fish but my oscar the most. I am going to increase my water changes to multiple times a week. On a side note, should HITH be treated with metrondiazale? Could it be a result of not enough vitamin C in the diet? I feed hikari cichlid gold but maybe I got an old bag or something. Thanks for feedback!

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But fish in a tank aren't touching ground. They're suspended in water. So electricity can't be flowing thru them. Like birds on a wire don't get shocked.


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ragin_cajun said:
But fish in a tank aren't touching ground. They're suspended in water. So electricity can't be flowing thru them. Like birds on a wire don't get shocked.


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Actually I dont think this is true Ragin because in many places around the world they fish through electro-shock by putting a probe in the water and producing a charge. Im pretty sure water carries electricity fairly well.
 
It is true that a "slight" amount of stray voltage won't kill fish outright, or have the same effect on fish it is does on a standing, grounded human, but it does seem to cause a certain amount of stress, which is not a good thing in the long run.
 
But, with an electro-fishing unit, a cathode and an anode are required to generate a very localized electrical field. If you just put one in the water, you don't get an electric field. You have to put both. And it's DC, and it's very strong. For "stray voltage" to be induced into a fish tank, something in the tank would have to be connected to ground (or neutral since it's all AC power). A wooden stand would insulate the water from ground. I think the tank glass would be a pretty strong insulator. And any electrical device you put in a tank that would connect to ground and induce stray voltage would, by definition, be inoperable. If, for example, your heater is working correctly, then it's not gonna be a very effective grounding rod.
 
I have had one fish with HITH (when I was not around to take care of my tanks for a couple of weeks a filter malfunctioned, and since I wasn't there no one noticed). When I got back I treated it by keeping the water really clean, and it did get better some, but it completely disappeared after I treated the the whole tank for parasites using API General Cure (Metron and Prazi) orally (I put one tsp General Cure in a cup of water and then soaked the food in it prior to feeding for a few hours). So I think Metron *in combination with clean water* works wonders. I am about the get an adult fish with a bad case of parasites and HITH, so I will be trying this treatment again soon. I would try it though. I think sometimes once HITH surfaces it gets "infected" so to speak and you need the Metron to get you over the hump, and then the clean water to keep it from resurfacing.

Empyreal said:
Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply. I really appreciate it. It is not any electric issue as I don't have my heater one during the summer and there is no other items in my tank besides filter input and outputs. It will be hard to thin my stock as I am attached to each fish but my oscar the most. I am going to increase my water changes to multiple times a week. On a side note, should HITH be treated with metrondiazale? Could it be a result of not enough vitamin C in the diet? I feed hikari cichlid gold but maybe I got an old bag or something. Thanks for feedback!

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Got it. Thanks for the reply. It just stinks oscars are really prone to it, especially it seems at a larger size. I am going to increase the water changes and if it doesn't help I am going to try the metro

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