Gave Me A Fright...

[indigoj]

As some of you may have seen I posted some pics of my new Tyretrack Eel yesterday.

Well, a few of hours after that he was on his side gasping It was pretty late so did a 20% water change quickly and figured that was as much as we could do til morning.

Morning comes and he is upsidedown - still breathing but barely. Did another 20% change.

Tested the water and OMG - 0.5 Ammonia Even allowing that I use seachem prime that messes with ammonia readings I wasn't happy with it, I've been known to get a slight reading after water changes due to the prime (it turns ammonia into ammonium which still reads on the API test) so, another 50% change, vac and sand churn as well as checking the filter over, reading went back to 0 (tested 1hr after the change) Bizarre that there was ammonia at all, tank has been running 2yrs!

Eel - still upsidedown, behind a bit of wood and not really looking good at all.

Sadly we turned out the light and decided we'd done all we could. Went shopping and when we got back couldn't see him, I'm looking for a floating eel when other half goes 'Oh, look!' - he had made a miraculous recovery and was peering at us a bit bemused from a hollow in a rock

Now he's snuffling through the sand for bloodworm quite happily.

Fish !!!! Why do we do this? I do wonder sometimes.


(p.s. after the water changes my senegal bichir has gone into lunatic 'search for a mate mode' and has nearly knocked itself out on the glass.)

 

[Truck]

the new addition was more than likely putting more strain on the filter bacteria...which they couldnt keep up with so you get left over ammonia until the bacteria catch up

 

[mixmaster jay]

i had the exact same thing with my old fire eel but the water was perfect then lol

 

[indigoj]

the new addition was more than likely putting more strain on the filter bacteria...which they couldnt keep up with so you get left over ammonia until the bacteria catch up

Would that not have taken more than a few hours? That's what puzzled me, it was sudden rather than gradual.

Could an eel stirring up the sand have released anything nasty into the water do you think? I do rake the sand every couple of weeks but even so it does compact a fair bit between times.

Maybe it's an eel thing?

 

[Truck]

the new addition was more than likely putting more strain on the filter bacteria...which they couldnt keep up with so you get left over ammonia until the bacteria catch up

Would that not have taken more than a few hours? That's what puzzled me, it was sudden rather than gradual.

Could an eel stirring up the sand have released anything nasty into the water do you think? I do rake the sand every couple of weeks but even so it does compact a fair bit between times.

Maybe it's an eel thing?

sand compacting isnt a bad thing.

it could have stirred up some detritus and caused the spike...but my moneys on the new introduction.

 

[mixmaster jay]

i do my sand every week or my clarias does it for me lol

 

[always4lora]

you can get toxic build ups in sand if its more than a few inches deep, but raking it should sort this out

 

[Truck]

you can get toxic build ups in sand if its more than a few inches deep, but raking it should sort this out

hydrogen sulphide is one of the most lethal substances on eath
you get build ups of hydrogen sulphide but when they hit our oxygen rich water they go through a chemical reaction which makes it harmless

the equation goes like this:
H2S + 3/2 O2 > H2O + SO2

we know our water is full of oxygen other wise our fish would not be living in it.

as soon as the H2S hits the oxygen it is turned into water and sulphur oxide...the sulphur oxide is not lethal to fish but will rise to the surface and smell like rotten eggs.

the only problem that may occur is oxygen depletion during the chemical reaction...but the chances are highly unlikely...also the anaerobic pockets are good for removing nitrates, as they can convert nitrates into nitrogen which is harmless and will gas off.

 

[Nick16]

you can get toxic build ups in sand if its more than a few inches deep, but raking it should sort this out

hydrogen sulphide is one of the most lethal substances on eath
you get build ups of hydrogen sulphide but when they hit our oxygen rich water they go through a chemical reaction which makes it harmless

the equation goes like this:
H2S + 3/2 O2 > H2O + SO2

we know our water is full of oxygen other wise our fish would not be living in it.

as soon as the H2S hits the oxygen it is turned into water and sulphur oxide...the sulphur oxide is not lethal to fish but will rise to the surface and smell like rotten eggs.

the only problem that may occur is oxygen depletion during the chemical reaction...but the chances are highly unlikely...also the anaerobic pockets are good for removing nitrates, as they can convert nitrates into nitrogen which is harmless and will gas off.

im unsure as to whether this was copied and pasted but if it isnt answer me this.. (im usure myself)
where would the hydrogen sulphide come from if the owner of the tank has been doing regular maintenence and sand rakes?

 

[Truck]

you can get toxic build ups in sand if its more than a few inches deep, but raking it should sort this out

hydrogen sulphide is one of the most lethal substances on eath
you get build ups of hydrogen sulphide but when they hit our oxygen rich water they go through a chemical reaction which makes it harmless

the equation goes like this:
H2S + 3/2 O2 > H2O + SO2

we know our water is full of oxygen other wise our fish would not be living in it.

as soon as the H2S hits the oxygen it is turned into water and sulphur oxide...the sulphur oxide is not lethal to fish but will rise to the surface and smell like rotten eggs.

the only problem that may occur is oxygen depletion during the chemical reaction...but the chances are highly unlikely...also the anaerobic pockets are good for removing nitrates, as they can convert nitrates into nitrogen which is harmless and will gas off.

im unsure as to whether this was copied and pasted but if it isnt answer me this.. (im usure myself)
where would the hydrogen sulphide come from if the owner of the tank has been doing regular maintenence and sand rakes?

wasnt copied and pasted...the only bit i used was the equation from another site, the rest is my own work.
it wouldnt be present if it was regularly raked...im trying to make the point that its not really necessary to rake sand

 

[always4lora]

truckasauras123- thanks for educating me on that one

 

[indigoj]

Interesting. Thanks Truckasaurus.

Well based on that info I'd guess not the sand then...

I'm just glad that whatever the cause he's back from deaths door and making home in a hollow pipe

 

[0x0000ff]

Spiny eel's are very sensitive to sudden changes in temperature and chemistry and It's not uncommon for what you described to happen if you don't introduce them very carefully, although usually the acclimatisation period is less than 24 hours.

It will be fine, and once adjusted to your tank they are quite capable of withstanding sub-par water chemistry.



I have quite a lot of spiny's and when moving between tanks or introducing new specimens I put the eel in a clean bucket with the water it came/caught in and
set up a siphon from the new tank to the bucket using a tap to limit the water rate to about 1 drop every 10 seconds.

After about 2-3 hours the water level has usually doubled and I check the water temperature. If the difference is negligable (it usually is, I live in a very temperate climate) then at this stage i'll dose up with a bit of Melafix and introduce the eel to it's new home. If not it's moved into a fish bag which I float in the tank for an hour before releasing.



Other than that, i'm out of ideas of what could cause it. None of this is mandatory, however i've lost very few spiny's this way.

 

[0x0000ff]

Just saw your pictures in your other thread. Very nice eel.

It's Mastacembelus armatus. There are two spiny's that go by the common name Tire Track.


This is Favus:

This is Armatus:

The markings on both fish vary greatly from specimen to specimen, however it's fairly simple to identify them.

Armatus is also frequently called the Zig-Zag eel, which frustratingly is also used by multiple types of spiny.

 

[indigoj]

Thanks for the info - he does seem to have settled in nicely now. He's had a thorough explore for ways to escape so I'm glad the lid is a very secure fit!