Thanks Nick, Added 4 1/2 cups of aquarium salt last night along with some "cycle", and the temperature is on its way up to 29 degrees. Any other suggestions that may help, will be leaving the lights off after today also not 100% on the velvet as yet. Planning to keep the tank at this temp etc for 10 days, are the fish gonna cope?
Weird Behaviour
- Thread starter Space_cadet001
- Start date
It sounds like your tank isn't cycled. If you can find some Biospira BUY IT. It shortens the amount of time your biologial bacteria take to form. Your biological bacteria are what remove toxic waste from your tank. Normally the cycle takes up to 6 weeks, which can be very stressfull or even deadly for your fish. Biospira can shorten it to as little as a week.
You should also invest in a liquid master test kit (I use API) to test ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. Ammonia and nitrites should not be present and if they are should be kept below .25ppm through water changes until your cycle is complete and levels are at 0ppm. Nitrates should be kept below 40ppm at least. With discus I would actually keep it 20ppm or lower, but unfortunately there's a good chance they will not even make it through your tanks cycle.
An ammonia detoxifier such as Prime, ACE (Ammonia and Chlorine Eliminator), Amquel, or Ammo-Lock can also be used to lessen the chance of ammonia or nitrites in your tank harming your fish.
You should also invest in a liquid master test kit (I use API) to test ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. Ammonia and nitrites should not be present and if they are should be kept below .25ppm through water changes until your cycle is complete and levels are at 0ppm. Nitrates should be kept below 40ppm at least. With discus I would actually keep it 20ppm or lower, but unfortunately there's a good chance they will not even make it through your tanks cycle.
An ammonia detoxifier such as Prime, ACE (Ammonia and Chlorine Eliminator), Amquel, or Ammo-Lock can also be used to lessen the chance of ammonia or nitrites in your tank harming your fish.
Space_cadet001;1267523; said:
IMO your fish should be ok at that temp for the period of treatment. Remember that higher temperatures mean less dissolved oxygen so make sure you provide plenty of aeration with airstones and water surface movement.
ShadowBass;1267906; said:
Monitor your water for ammonia and nitrIte and perform large water changes as necessary, if your tank is still cycling that may mean daily! Obviously replace the salt you remove with the water at the correct ratio. Vacuuming the gravel at the same time will also help to keep the numbers of parasites down and remove any rotting waste.
I would stop feeding also, until pollution levels are manageable, then increase feeding gradually.
Good luck.
rmbaker77;1269549; said:
Too true!
High bioload + uncycled tank + disease = a nightmare combination
Any suggestions on the easiest/quickest way for me to do water changes? Goddamn this is gonna be a big job! I have added a biological booster (cycle; is the most common and recommended in Aust) and since treating the tank with salt and cycle the fish have stopped itching as frequently, i lost one of the green tiger barbs to the ich (no surprise, he was covered in white spots) and before i treated the tank the male discus was seen to be quite dark frequently but now since treating he has returned to a healthier colour. Will be only feeding bloodworms once daily and a couple of algae discs for the bottom feeders, put a couple of live plants in the other day but they are getting eaten alive! Really not wanting to lose too many fish as i have spent close to $1000 on the fish alone! I'm thinking i may need to transfer to another tank temporarily but only have a 2'x1'x1' otherwise at the moment. There is a bubble wall in the big tank and also a diver helmet with coloured light ball thats providing aeration. Thanks for the interest guys, still fairly novice at this fish game!
Space_cadet001;1271892; said:
IMO = In My Opinion.
The easiest and quickest way for you to do water changes would be with a Python. It sucks the water out of the tank and you can also refill with it after adding dechlorinator directly to the tank. Prime is a good dechlorinator to use because it also detoxifies ammonia and nitrites.
ShadowBass;1272531; said:
Yep. Some people make their own DIY pythons (google it) relatively cheaply.
My approach is slightly different and a bit more complicated. I use a large bore tube and syphon directly out of the window or door onto the garden or down a drain. I then refill from a large water butt (200L) which I fill with water at the correct temperature and treat with Seachem Prime. To get the water from the butt to the tank I have a submersible pond pump (sat in the bottom of the butt) with a long length of pond hose attached to it.
Takes a bit of organising and sorting out, but once you have a system set up it makes life a lot easier and in the long run, with a good water changing regime your water quality improves and so does the health of your fish.
As far as the fish are concerned, IMO it's best to leave them in the bigger tank. In a smaller water volume it's easier to do water changes and cheaper to treat with medications but much more difficult to maintain good water quality. In a larger volume of water the pollutants will be more dilute. I suppose if the smaller tank is fully cycled/mature then it could support a few of your fish which would relieve the load on the bigger tank but it could just complicate matters. Moving the fish to other tanks is an option but of course any disease would also go with them!
It sounds like you stocked your tank too quickly before it had time to cycle. Ammonia and nitrIte has then reached high levels causing stress to the fish which in turn has made them vulnerable to disease. Now you just need to do your best to keep the water pollution levels down and wait for the beneficial bacteria to multiply and the ich treatment to work. You may well lose some fish, but hopefully the majority will survive.
Good luck
Alright i have one of those gravel cleaner things, just need to attach a longer hose to be able to syphon it to the drain. Was thinking of treating the water in one of those big plastic bins, Is it o.k to use hot water out of the tap (instantaneous hot water system not the type that sits in the hot water tank) wait till it goes down to the right temp? And instead of using submersible pump i was thinking of taking the inilet of one of the canister filters out and putting it in the bucket to suck the water in the tank through the filter. If anyone knows of any issues with this let me know.
Now i've only just noticed one of my silver dollars is missing one of his side fins completely (doesn't seem to bother him) but he has what looks to be like a pimple or whitehead on his body near his rear fin, only it's completely silver unlike the pimples we get. Has anyone come across this before?
Ps. Thanks guys for keeping an interest in this thread
Now i've only just noticed one of my silver dollars is missing one of his side fins completely (doesn't seem to bother him) but he has what looks to be like a pimple or whitehead on his body near his rear fin, only it's completely silver unlike the pimples we get. Has anyone come across this before?
Ps. Thanks guys for keeping an interest in this thread
