My experience so far dealing with tragedy in my 145 l fish tank and the recovery process

[Blackwater guru]

These past few months for me as an aquarist have been both interesting and depressing to say the least because for once I finally had success keeping floating plants and bottom plants for the first time in a long while which is something I have experimented with for a very long time during the 1 year and a half I have been keeping my 145 l freshwater south american native fish only tank which is also my first and only tank so far during which time I tried using things like driftwood pieces ,embedding plants into driftwood ,roibos tea for tannins, a light controller which I got rid of eventually and trying out silver tip tetras which ended up being kind of a disaster because they were rather agressive.

The sad part for me recently has been where I just lost fish for seemingly no reason at all except maybe age or issues related to my undergravel filter.

I lost the remaining marbled hatchetfish in my tank not too long ago but there is also the fact the remaining little guys besides the one that died after it jumped out of my tank had been around in my tank pretty much since the beginning and from what I read online in captivity a marbled hatchetfish lifespan may be as short as 2-4 years so maybe it wasn't that suprising.

A while back I found a dead decomposing cardinal tetra which I honestly have no idea as to why it died because I have never used testing kits in this tank nor have I ever had to use any testing kit for anything besides the ph to find success as a fishkeeper and now there are 10 cardinal tetras or so left from the original 15 and these tetras are according to my lfs website actually wild caught just like my hatchetfish were which does mean they are more sensitive to water quality changes and they could have been older already by the time I got them and now I may never know the truth.

Also lost a few corydoras duplicareus catfish which hit me hard because I always found them to be super cute especially when there was 6 of them when they were snuggling on top of each other in a corner and now I have 3 of them

My 15 rummy nose tetras have been doing better and most of them have very vibrant red noses as they should have in a healthy rummy nose tetra.

My latest problem came recently in the form of a swim bladder issue with one of my rummy nose tetras where I could see it was breathing and reacting to my hand movements in the gravel but otherwise it was weak and I was sure it was not going to survive for very long unless I did something and something I did because I proceeded to move the plants and some rocks away from the undergravel filter because I suspected the roots and the rocks must have been hindering or blocking the undergravel filter causing water quality issues and sick fish and pulling up the plants my suspicions were indeed confirmed because they were rather long and they appeared to have gunk stuck to the roots.

I even got myself some lineseed oil to prepare for having to euthanize the poor thing if it failed to get better.

I then proceeded to feed my fish once every evening with a single bottom feeder tablet originally intended for my cories as to help the little one eat even with it's swim bladder issues because it would frequently lay on the bottom looking dead but moving quickly when I stirred the gravel and I did this everyday to check whether it was alive or not and eventually I did a regular 25% water change and thorougly cleaned the undergravel filter area and the rest of the tank with my gravel vacuum to make sure my little friend was going to recover and recover it did .

Every little fish started feasting on the cory tablets and eventually the little sick rummy nose tetra started eating together with the other fish even if it took a while for it to happen and now it follows the stim even if it occasionally looks like a drunk fish that has had too much booze and now a week later I could not have been more happier with the difference in health of this little fish compared to when I first encountered the disease.

Being an aquarist can make one quite emotional at times because of things like this and it truly requires a strong personality and a strong heart to pull one self through the emotional rollercoaster of a hobby that is fishkeeping.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Sounds generally good overall, however...

The sad part for me recently has been where I just lost fish for seemingly no reason at all except maybe age or issues related to my undergravel filter.

There's ALWAYS a reason and whilst a poorly maintained UGF would contribute, so could a host of other reasons other than simply 'age'. Now if you'd got into the habit of testing your waters, then those reasons may have become more apparent.
For example, issues with your UGF would have become more obvious, before things got serious enough to affect your fish.
A nice and large tank such as yours will be more resilient to toxins in the water, but when they do occur, if not caught in time, can soon become disastrous.
We also differ in our definitions of 'success as a fishkeeper' when you've had as many unexplained deaths as you have, losing half or your Corydoras and 30% of your Cardinals. Hatchets are known jumpers, so I'll assume your leapt when the lid was off, during maintenance.

Hopefully, the lesson of 'eventually' doing water changes and keeping your UGF cleaned every so often, as well as the substrate, will level out that emotional rollercoaster and allow you to enjoy a more relaxing time with your aquarium.

 

[Blackwater guru]

Sounds generally good overall, however...

There's ALWAYS a reason and whilst a poorly maintained UGF would contribute, so could a host of other reasons other than simply 'age'. Now if you'd got into the habit of testing your waters, then those reasons may have become more apparent.
For example, issues with your UGF would have become more obvious, before things got serious enough to affect your fish.
A nice and large tank such as yours will be more resilient to toxins in the water, but when they do occur, if not caught in time, can soon become disastrous.
We also differ in our definitions of 'success as a fishkeeper' when you've had as many unexplained deaths as you have, losing half or your Corydoras and 30% of your Cardinals. Hatchets are known jumpers, so I'll assume your leapt when the lid was off, during maintenance.

Hopefully, the lesson of 'eventually' doing water changes and keeping your UGF cleaned every so often, as well as the substrate, will level out that emotional rollercoaster and allow you to enjoy a more relaxing time with your aquarium.

My hatchetfish jumped out during feeding time and not during maintenance and I kept floating plants when it happened because I know it decreases the risk of them jumping out.
And some of those deaths could attributed to the time I kept silver tip tetras because they would viciously bully my other fish to death and others in their group.

And yes losing fish like this could not exactly be seen as successful and sometimes it takes trial and error to learn from mistakes.

Anways I typically clean the gravel and do water changes once a week and I especially focus on the undergravel filter because I know how important it is to keep it clean to avoid water quality issues.

I will eventually buy a testing kit for my tank eventually.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

I will eventually buy a testing kit for my tank eventually.

I'm curious...why not immediately?
They are readily available and not too much money, especially when you consider the savings made on having to replenish your fish stocks.

And yes losing fish like this could not exactly be seen as successful and sometimes it takes trial and error to learn from mistakes.

I prefer to take advantage of the learning opportunities presented by the mistakes of others, rather than the 'trial and error' approach myself.

 

[Byron]

Lots of issues in the initial post, but I will only comment on two of them. The first is the undergravel filter. I used to use these, but stopped. I really do not like the fact that the filter is permanently in the tank and cannot be removed/closed down. Any internal filter, sponge or motorized, and any external filter (canister, etc) can be shut off if needed, and removed, without any direct impact on the water quality. This is impossible with a UG. So any issues remain in the water the fish live in. Anaerobic activity in an external filter can be corrected by cleaning it before reconnecting it, but you cannot do this with a UG.

The second issue is lifespan. Most sources give 2-5 years for Carnegiella strigata. My last group of this species certainly lived for 7 or 8 years. Parcheirodon axelrodi, the cardinal tetra, often lives for 2 to 4 or 5 years in most aquarists' tanks (judging by posts in forums anyway), and it is true that this species, like many other blackwater tropical species, is primarily an annual fish in the wild. But given the proper environment in an aquarium--and very soft and acidic water is all-important here, along with no bright light--this fish will easily live past ten years: according to one of the greatest characin authorities of the late 20th and early 21 century, Jacques Gery. The environment in the aquarium--which involves water parameters, aquascaping, lighting, filter flow and general maintenance issues--is definitely key to longevity for any species. I've no idea what any of these factors were like in your aquarium since we have no data, but it is worth considering. Also, wild caught fish do tend to live longer and be healthier in aquaria than most of the commercially-raised fish, obviously assuming we provide the environmental conditions they need.

I do not regularly test my tank water, and haven't for a few years now, but this is because I know what it is in terms of parameters (GH, KH, pH and temperature) and conditions (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate). The nitrate and pH for example, when I was testing weekly for several months and then sporadically for a few years, never varied but remained identical for all those years. That is stability, and stability is due to the proper stocking, aquascape and maintenance. I'm not suggesting any of these were your issues, but regular testing can tell you just how stable the biological system is, and eventually you can forego the tests with confidence.

 

[Blackwater guru]

Lots of issues in the initial post, but I will only comment on two of them. The first is the undergravel filter. I used to use these, but stopped. I really do not like the fact that the filter is permanently in the tank and cannot be removed/closed down. Any internal filter, sponge or motorized, and any external filter (canister, etc) can be shut off if needed, and removed, without any direct impact on the water quality. This is impossible with a UG. So any issues remain in the water the fish live in. Anaerobic activity in an external filter can be corrected by cleaning it before reconnecting it, but you cannot do this with a UG.

The second issue is lifespan. Most sources give 2-5 years for Carnegiella strigata. My last group of this species certainly lived for 7 or 8 years. Parcheirodon axelrodi, the cardinal tetra, often lives for 2 to 4 or 5 years in most aquarists' tanks (judging by posts in forums anyway), and it is true that this species, like many other blackwater tropical species, is primarily an annual fish in the wild. But given the proper environment in an aquarium--and very soft and acidic water is all-important here, along with no bright light--this fish will easily live past ten years: according to one of the greatest characin authorities of the late 20th and early 21 century, Jacques Gery. The environment in the aquarium--which involves water parameters, aquascaping, lighting, filter flow and general maintenance issues--is definitely key to longevity for any species. I've no idea what any of these factors were like in your aquarium since we have no data, but it is worth considering. Also, wild caught fish do tend to live longer and be healthier in aquaria than most of the commercially-raised fish, obviously assuming we provide the environmental conditions they need.

I do not regularly test my tank water, and haven't for a few years now, but this is because I know what it is in terms of parameters (GH, KH, pH and temperature) and conditions (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate). The nitrate and pH for example, when I was testing weekly for several months and then sporadically for a few years, never varied but remained identical for all those years. That is stability, and stability is due to the proper stocking, aquascape and maintenance. I'm not suggesting any of these were your issues, but regular testing can tell you just how stable the biological system is, and eventually you can forego the tests with confidence.

Originally I was very much considering not using an undergravel filter in my tank because I was aware of these issues but I was very much forced/persuaded into using one by my dad after having a stupid heated argument(that ended with me in tears) with me about this because he was told by the guy working at my lfs(who had keeping fish in these types of tanks for decades) that it's a suitable option for a beginner and after that my dad became very stubborn about this refusing to let me use any other type. He also said I would fail to take care of a tank with anything else besides an ug filter. I have been talking sometimes about wanting to buy one of those testing kits because I know how important they truly are but he would always tell me it's not needed which now that I think about it's kind of bs(I am 20 years old and an aspie and he still has this control of me like this which is just depressing and I hate myself because of it and how it affects my fish).

I have tested the ph several times and the tap water which is neutral or 7.0. and the tank water which is usually 6.5.

Once I move away from home which won't be very long from now I will eventually get a new tank that I myself can truly call my own where I buy my own testing kits ,the proper equipment and to never use an UG ever again and to stick with the many other types available on the market.

People really stink sometimes and even if they mean well they can do more harm than good.

I will upload an image soon to show how my tank looks at the moment.

Sorry if I did not write about this earlier.