Black-Tip Sharks

[Nekukurai]

Hi everyone!

I have a quick question before I go to work so I'm going to introduce myself here as well.

My name is Neku and I have what (my friends say) is a sick fish fetish. It started at a carnival when I was 12 and my friend caught a goldfish for me, who of course immediately died within days. I then decided on a betta, and then another betta, and the bettas ended up taking over my parents' entire basement.
6 years later, I begged my boss to let me install a tank at work. So I brought in my 22 gallon, and I now have 2 kissing gouramis, 1 blue gourami(the other one got sucked into the Aquatic Vortex of Death[the filter] ) and 2 black tip sharks that I recently added. I know the tank is soon going to be two small, but I have to convince my boss that he likes fish before I can get a bigger one. The catfish are not eating! They pick at the gravel now and then but they will not eat any dried food I through in there, everyone else ends up chowing down on it because they're not interested. I haven't tried live food yet, but they're only babies(only an inch and half) so what live food could I even get them that they could manage eating? And I don't want they're diet to consist of only live food.
Also, I was thinking about getting a few snails or african frogs to be my live vacuums, but I'm worried that everyone will end up eating them, or at least harassing them. Any suggestions for a tank cleaner that will not be eaten or bothered by these guys? And of course, if I get them they will not replace my regular cleaning schedule(at least once a week)

Sorry for the haphhazardly written post! I'm so late for work, aahhh!

Neku

 

[Oddball]

well i believe if we have frog for dinner neku it may be to the sharks.............
what im trying to say is that the cats may respond to a live offering and im aware of the following two species of frog:
A) the dwarf underwater frog who will turn into a catfish snak in no time
B) The xenopus frog which is actually a toad who will grow quite large and eat anything small enough to fit in its mouth, of course if u put this toad in to small he may fit into the catfishes mouth!

On the whole im unsure on the snail front, i've never had any experience with them. I can recommend u try either blood worm (live or frozen) or JMC protein pellets, that usually gets even the most unresponsive catfish feeding for me.

If the cats are a new accquistion i should think that they will take a little time to get acclimatised dont worry so much yet...........

Oh and no worries about the hap hazard post, as u got a hp hazard reply lol! hope u got to work on time

 

[rykitten]

Nekukurai!

I would go with sinking wafers for you sharks. Hikari makes a formula specifically for catfish and loaches. Mine also enjoy bloodworms. I think the sinking wafers are the best way to go as your fish are naturally bottom feeders.

 

[digital_run]

When you say black tip shark...is that the same as black finned shark...because if so..i can see a whole BIG problem in that tank!...if its a different species im sorry and just ignore me

 

[rykitten]

A black tip shark is a huge predator that grows up to 8 feet long!

I think he's probably referring to the columbian shark, black fin shark or Arius jordani. Neku said in his post that he knows his tank will soon be too small.

 

[Nekukurai]

Thank you everyone for responding!

Actually, Digital Run, there's a *big* difference between the black tip shark and the black fin shark. The black fin shark is an actual shark...I don't think I'll ever be able to afford a tank large enough to have one of those...unless I inherit sea world, lol. And rule of thumb: Never keep something that could probably swallow you whole. Anyway, The black tip shark is a catfish, Arius Semmani(sp?).

And even though I appreciate all your answers, they don't matter anymore. I came into work today and the catfish were sucked into the Aquatic Vortex of Death(the filter)

This freakin filter(penguin bio-wheel, I believe 125gph) has sucked up 1 1-inch blue gourami, 2 2-inch upside down catfish, and 2 1/2 inch black tip shark catfish. What is going on here?? Is this NORMAL?

I want catfish, damn it! I thought about getting some sort of net covering for the filter but I don't want it to interfere with the turn-over rate or the filtration.

And rykitten, I'm a she

Neku

 

[astroboy]

Well, first off, its very unusual for healthy fish to get sucked up into the filter. You can add a prefilter to stop it though. Just buy a sponge, cut a small slit into it and then stick it over your intake. I'm suspecting bad water or a disease.

Could you let us know more info on your tank? ANyting you can tell us will help.
Also, you will not need vacuun cleaners if you do not overfeed your fish. The cats will need additional sinking pellets to stay healthy anyways.

 

[Nekukurai]

Astroboy,

It's been about a year or maybe two since I ran my last aquarium, and I made the mistake of waiting 24 hours, not a week, to stock it. I am now using Cycle, though, and the temp fluctuates from 76F to 80F as the day goes on and it gets hotter at my work. I use AquaSafe and EasyBalance to treat the water. The water was cloudy the first few days, which is normal, but it's clearing up a lot since I added Cycle. I'm going to get some PH strips and test the water on monday, which is my day off. The catfish were extremely active from the time they left the lfs and put them in the tank(the same day), and all the next day. Two days after is when I came in and they were filter-food. They weren't sick or unhealthy at all! Just not particularly hungry. And the three gouramis are as healthy as can be, they're smaller than the catfish and they didn't get sucked up. . Either my catfish are suicidal or my filter has a sudden appetite for them.
A few years ago I had 2 catfish of the same kind, and I kept them for a good 3 months, in the same tank, with the same filtration system, and nothing happened to them. I ended up giving them away to my physics teacher who owned a 100-gallon tank, because I knew they got big and at the time I ended up not having the means to support them.
I'm getting frustrated, and it upsets me a great deal every time I have to pull my very crunched up catfish out of the filter. I don't want to get anymore until I figure out what's going on because it's like sending them to their doom! :

Neku

 

[CFC]

Oh dear, someones been listening to the crap that lfs workers give out adding products like cycle and easy balance is pointless, you may as well just pour distilled water into the tank and get the same effect. The only way to maintain a healthy balanced tank is regular maintainance with weekly water changes.

Black tip sharks or going by their scientific name Arius seemani are brackish fish that cannot be kept in freshwater for long periods, by the time they have reach 3 or 4 inches long they should already have been moved into a tank with a SG of at least 1.005. As they grow their salt requirements grow too until they eventually have to be moved into full marine conditions (SG 1.020). They reach a adult size of around 18 to 24 inches and require a minimum of a 80 gallon tank though in all honesty a 180 would be more suitable.

You 22 gallon tank is already quite heavily populated with the two kissing gouramis which grow to around 8 inches when full grown, i wouldn't advise adding any more fish until you have upgraded the tank.

Im not quite sure from your post as to how long this tank has been set up for, is it a old established tank which you have recently added new fish too or has it only just been set up? If it is the latter then simply leaving the filter to run in the tank for a week serves no purpose at all, you have to add a amonia source to get the nitrogen cycle going, this can either be a few small hardy fish like danio's or pure ammonia (fishless cycling). You need to moniter the ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte levels of the tank water with daily testing to let you know how far into the cycle you are, pH is the least of your worries when setting up a new tank.

 

[astroboy]

I made the mistake of waiting 24 hours, not a week, to stock it.

You've read up on cycling?

I am now using Cycle

It works as well as snake oil (doesn't do squat, but drains your money). While it does consume ammonia, by the time you buy it, its been on the shelf so long that the bacteria is dead. If they are alive, they're not the same kind as the ones that esablish an aquarium=no cycling. It requires constant replacement ($$$) and introduces nitrates into your tank=more water changes. If you can get your hands on biospira that stuff works well (so i've heard).

temp fluctuates from 76F to 80F as the day goes on and it gets hotter at my work.

Thats quite a large temp change to go through in one day. The temperature should be kept as stable as possible to minimize stress. Do you have a heater? It should help regulate the temp.

I use AquaSafe and EasyBalance to treat the water

IMO, dechlorinizer is all you need (chlorine and chloramines being the biggies). IMO, its best to minimize chemicals that you put in your water, let alone a fraction of them do anything at all.

I'm going to get some PH strips and test the water on monday, which is my day off.

don't forget to get nitrites, nitrates and ammonia. I recommend the aquarium pharmaceuticals freshwater master testkit. It covers the basic very well. I've never used strips before, but i've heard they are not as accurate as drops.

Either my catfish are suicidal or my filter has a sudden appetite for them

What kind of filter do you use? It sounds to me like a penguin 125. I run one on my 20g. IMO, its weak as hell and has a hard time sucking water up, let alone fish. Your fish actually got past the intake strainer and through the tube?

 

[Nekukurai]

The tank has only been running for a week, and I pride myself on keeping my aquariums clean, I don't just dump stuff in and let it sit. I said early that I had made the mistake of NOT cycling it before I added my fish to it(i.e., the first two catfish[upside down catfish] and 4 gouramis). I have read up on cycling, on ph, nitrite, nitrate, ammonia. I'm not as stupid as I sound, it's just been a long while since I've done my aquatic research.

I know the requirements of the black-tip sharks, this is why I gave my first two away. However, this time I will have the means to upgrade the tank before they get to adult size and that's why I got them. But like I said, it doesn't matter because they're filter-food and I'm not getting any more catfish until I figure out what's wrong with the tank. As far as over-stocking goes, I was already considering getting a bigger tank, but it was going to wait until they got a little bigger. For the time being, it will just be the 2 kissing gouramis and the 1 blue gourami, although since the 4th blue gourami was murdered by the Vortex, the other looks awfully depressed so I wanted to get him 1 companion of the same species.

As far as the temp goes, that may be a problem. The heat goes up because it's in a room that gets really warm during the day, so I may just turn the heater up to 78 so that it only fluctuates from 78f to 80f, would that be stable enough? I'm worried that if I turn the heater up to 80F, that it will get even warmer throughout the day and hurt my fishes.

My filter is the penguin bio-wheel 125, but it's really strong. Maybe that's the problem, that it doesn't have an intake strainer on the bottom of the pipe. But even so, they should be strong enough to resist the current, shouldn't they? I've seen them swim close to it and swim away from it. It's not like it sucks up everything in it's path...I don't even know how they got stuck up there. Maybe they tried to swim up the pipe?

Since I was dumb and didn't cycle my aquarium before stocking, will my remaining fish(2 kissing gouramis, 1 blue gourami) survive the first cycle? They've been doing very well so far, but it's only been a week..



By the way, I think eventually when I win the lottery(hah!) I'm going to have an entire room devoted to my fish. With those pipes that they have at the LFS that drain and replace fresh treated water constantly. I'll have a marine tank and a freshwater tank.
Or maybe I'll just buy seaworld.

Neku

 

[CFC]

Its doubtfull that your gourami's will survive the cycle, blue gourami's in particular are quite sensative to ammonia and nitrite.

I wouldnt worry about the fluctuating temperatures, in the summer i switch off all my heaters and allow the water temperature to fluctate with the temperature in the room as it mimicks nature more closely.

 

[astroboy]

Now that i think about it, i'm not sure the filter sucked them in. If it had sucked them in, they would go up through the tube, and get chopped up by the impeller. It definitely would have stopped the motor because the gap to get out of the impeller housing is tiny. Maybe they jumped out of the water into your filter right through your biowheel?

 

[Nekukurai]

I found them stuck in the pipe that sucks up the water, before it goes through the filter. And I guess they just couldn't get out and probably died from the water pressure.

In anycase, how do I set up a safe temporary home for my gouramis? I might have someone who can keep them for a while, but they have guppies in their tank. Although the gouramis are about the same size as their guppies, if not a little smaller. Would this be suitable? If not, how can I do a temporary set up?
On monday I'm going to drain all the water out of the tank, rinse the gravel out, rinse the decorations, scrub the tank down, bleach it, make sure all the bleach is out, and then do a fishless cycle.

Thanks everyone! It's a tragic, but learning experience.

Neku

 

[Nekukurai]

Good news everyone, finally!

I walked into work today and to my complete surprise, the water was clear! My mistakes cost me a few fish, but there are two surviving(1 kissing gourami and 1 blue gourami) and they are as happy and gluttonous as can be. The past few days I cut their food down to once a day, and very little, and then I fasted them yesterday, and when I left I turned the light off. I'm still going to test the water tommorow, and I want to add some java moss. I'm going to add 2 more companions maybe next month. I think I have finally battled the evil bacteria to the death!
Oh, I wanted to know..is there anything I can do to give the water a nicer, cleaner color? It's a little greenish from the easybalance, which I won't add anymore, and from the greenish decorations. Or will that just go with a few water changes over time? I'm not TOUCHING the water changing for a few more days until I'm certain that I've got a nice colony going.

Neku