mhancock
Fishaholic
I've been keeping fish for many years, and have never experienced anything like what has happened this week. It is of course very upsetting.
My tank is 4 foot, with plenty of plants and an external filter. I introduced some clown loaches, but they were incredibly shy - much more than I would expect. They didn't even come out for food, but I was not too worried as there were plenty of snails for them to snack on. After a bit of reading, I ordered some floating plants to keep the glare of the lights (on a timer) down a bit, and that made little difference. I then switched the lights off altogether for a few days - by this point they'd been in the tank for 10 days or so.
I then found that one had died, then a couple of days later a few fish had died (cardinals). There was an oily layer on top of the water, which presumably was preventing oxygen getting in. I've never seen anything like it, but have read now how easy it is for oil to get into the water. I've no idea how, the only I can think of is sun lotion but that's a bit of a long shot. I also decided to check the temperature, which was only 24o - it turns out that the heater was calibrated wrong.
Stats:
N03- 25
N02 - 3
GH - 8
KH - 20
pH - 7.5
Cl2 - 0
I have now:
N03- 0
N02 - 0
GH - 8
KH - 20
pH - 7.5
Cl2 -0
I'm presuming that there was a bit of cycling going on and will keep an eye on that, and treat the tank as a brand new one in terms of adding stock back. Of course I should have checked stats when the first fish died - I'd just put that down to the stress of being changed tanks.
There is a small pleco, and three tetras plus maybe two clowns that were still alive when I did the water change (but I cannot now see).
Be grateful for any advice - and wondering if there is anywhere else that the oil could have come from?
My tank is 4 foot, with plenty of plants and an external filter. I introduced some clown loaches, but they were incredibly shy - much more than I would expect. They didn't even come out for food, but I was not too worried as there were plenty of snails for them to snack on. After a bit of reading, I ordered some floating plants to keep the glare of the lights (on a timer) down a bit, and that made little difference. I then switched the lights off altogether for a few days - by this point they'd been in the tank for 10 days or so.
I then found that one had died, then a couple of days later a few fish had died (cardinals). There was an oily layer on top of the water, which presumably was preventing oxygen getting in. I've never seen anything like it, but have read now how easy it is for oil to get into the water. I've no idea how, the only I can think of is sun lotion but that's a bit of a long shot. I also decided to check the temperature, which was only 24o - it turns out that the heater was calibrated wrong.
Stats:
N03- 25
N02 - 3
GH - 8
KH - 20
pH - 7.5
Cl2 - 0
I have now:
- Done a 90% water change (thank goodness for Prime)
- Installed TWO heaters, both set at 26o
- Installed two air stones
N03- 0
N02 - 0
GH - 8
KH - 20
pH - 7.5
Cl2 -0
I'm presuming that there was a bit of cycling going on and will keep an eye on that, and treat the tank as a brand new one in terms of adding stock back. Of course I should have checked stats when the first fish died - I'd just put that down to the stress of being changed tanks.
There is a small pleco, and three tetras plus maybe two clowns that were still alive when I did the water change (but I cannot now see).
Be grateful for any advice - and wondering if there is anywhere else that the oil could have come from?
.
