Snow White Ancistrus Problems . Relatively Urgent .

[Essjay]

Clean the filter when it's been running 6 weeks by very gently squeezing it in old tank water to remove any goo that's built up on the sponge.
The bacteria live in the biofilm on the surface of all those bubbles in the sponge.

Sponges ony need changing when they go into holes or won't go back into shape after squeezing. They last for years. When it does eventually fall apart, cut the sponge in half - not in the direction of water flow, across it or the water will just go straight through the gap - and replace half, then a month later, the other half.

If you do change the filter, put the current filter's sponge in the new filter. You can chop it up to make it fit.

 

[TomRadford12354]

Clean the filter when it's been running 6 weeks by very gently squeezing it in old tank water to remove any goo that's built up on the sponge.
The bacteria live in the biofilm on the surface of all those bubbles in the sponge.

Sponges ony need changing when they go into holes or won't go back into shape after squeezing. They last for years. When it does eventually fall apart, cut the sponge in half - not in the direction of water flow, across it or the water will just go straight through the gap - and replace half, then a month later, the other half.

If you do change the filter, put the current filter's sponge in the new filter. You can chop it up to make it fit.

Ok great advice so the sponge will last for a decent amount of time along as I clean it .
Ok so half old filter and half new . I have heard it before I think I might take steps to doing that .
So by washing the filter it doesn't remove the bacteria?


Thanks a lot

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

I think my main problem was overfeeding I get afraid that my gouramis where not eating a lot . when I did overfeed I did suck out the extra fish food . I mad sure not to keep the cucumber in the tank for more than 1 day just incase there was no mould or evidence of rot.

Don't be afraid that they won't get enough to eat, fish can go a surprisingly long time without feeding. Skipping a few days is not only fine, lots of people only feed 3-4 times a week since it's so easy to overfeed, and it isn't good for the fish as well as polluting the tank. The vast majority of people over feed their fish, and I've been guilty of that plenty of times too! Remember that a fishes' stomach is only the size of its eyeball, they really don't need very much food. Just sprinkle a tiny amount, watch them eat, and can sprinkle a tiny bit more if they snap it up quickly. Only feed as much as they can eat within three minutes. If a lot of it is hitting the substrate, you're putting too much in at once.

Your fish are also settling into a new environment, that can make some fish lose their appetite for a few days. The pleco especially might not be very hungry since it was so stressed and got some burns from the ammonia spike. It's okay if he doesn't eat for a few days, you can always post here and ask if you're worried.

Try to keep the tank lights dimmed if that's possible, or give them a shorter light period while they're adjusting and recovering from the spike. As tempting as it is to have the lights on for a long time because you want to admire them, try to limit how long you're leaving it on for. Do you have a blue or "night" setting on your lights? If so, switch to that for a hour before you put the tank to bed in the evening, and feed the pleco then. After the hour, remove the food, then turn all the lights off, including the room light if possible, or cover the tank so they have complete darkness. They need some full darkness to sleep.

 

[TomRadford12354]

Don't be afraid that they won't get enough to eat, fish can go a surprisingly long time without feeding. Skipping a few days is not only fine, lots of people only feed 3-4 times a week since it's so easy to overfeed, and it isn't good for the fish as well as polluting the tank. The vast majority of people over feed their fish, and I've been guilty of that plenty of times too! Remember that a fishes' stomach is only the size of its eyeball, they really don't need very much food. Just sprinkle a tiny amount, watch them eat, and can sprinkle a tiny bit more if they snap it up quickly. Only feed as much as they can eat within three minutes. If a lot of it is hitting the substrate, you're putting too much in at once.

Your fish are also settling into a new environment, that can make some fish lose their appetite for a few days. The pleco especially might not be very hungry since it was so stressed and got some burns from the ammonia spike. It's okay if he doesn't eat for a few days, you can always post here and ask if you're worried.

Try to keep the tank lights dimmed if that's possible, or give them a shorter light period while they're adjusting and recovering from the spike. As tempting as it is to have the lights on for a long time because you want to admire them, try to limit how long you're leaving it on for. Do you have a blue or "night" setting on your lights? If so, switch to that for a hour before you put the tank to bed in the evening, and feed the pleco then. After the hour, remove the food, then turn all the lights off, including the room light if possible, or cover the tank so they have complete darkness. They need some full darkness to sleep.

Good to know so feeding 3-4 times a week might be what I choose to do . I have actually lowered there light time on the tank and I will use the blue light like you have said . I will keep all that in mind

Brilliant advice hopefully it will get them on to the road for recovery .
Cant really thank you guys enough for what you have done and how much I have learned over my time on the forum . Definitely a great bunch of people on here

Tom

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Probably about a 40 % water change (bit odd know was scared to stress the fish .) yes I did the water change when I realised he wasn't eating just in case.

Not odd, water changes make a lot of people nervous at first But you don't need to be afraid of replacing tank water with clean fresh water. If you used your tapwater to fill the tank in the first place, then the main parameters are the same. As long as you use declorinator and make sure the temperature of the new water matches the temperature of the tank water, it's fine to change 50 or 75-80% of the water. Doing a 75% water change won't stress the fish out any more than doing a 20% change would And a larger change removes more nitrates, and is essential to do if you're getting a reading for ammonia or nitrites. It's important to remove those if they're showing up, so removing a big percentage of the water and replacing it with clean is much better for them than doing a smaller one. I change 50% of the water in my tank every 5-7 days, and others here do 75% changes, without problems.

No I haven't yet cleaned the filter as I though after a couple of days I wouldn't . I have researched and it said every 4 months or so to replace it and very 3 weeks for cleaning with Aquarium water .

That's good, I was just checking because sometimes beginners to the hobby over clean their filter, or rinse it under the tap, not realising that the chlorine in the tap water will kill their beneficial bacteria. I wanted to check that you hadn't done that and crashed the cycle, causing the ammonia spike. Happy that you knew to leave it alone for a while and to use tank water to clean it, @essjay has already helped you with the filter info, so you're all set!

Last piece of advice before I shut up and leave you alone, lol. Test your water first thing in the morning, and do a water change right away if you get anything other than zero. You won't have to test daily foreve,r don't worry, this is just while it's getting established and recovering from the ammonia spike. Once that's passed, weekly tests are usually enough.

But if you see something wrong in the tank or with a fish again, the first thing to do is test the water. Or do the water change first, then test the water you removed, since a water change won't hurt and time is of the essence if there is something wrong in the water. If the tests show zero ammonia or nitrites, and nitrates are below 20ppm, then you begin looking for other diagnoses and treatments. Hope the little guys make a full recovery soon!

 

[TomRadford12354]

Not odd, water changes make a lot of people nervous at first But you don't need to be afraid of replacing tank water with clean fresh water. If you used your tapwater to fill the tank in the first place, then the main parameters are the same. As long as you use declorinator and make sure the temperature of the new water matches the temperature of the tank water, it's fine to change 50 or 75-80% of the water. Doing a 75% water change won't stress the fish out any more than doing a 20% change would And a larger change removes more nitrates, and is essential to do if you're getting a reading for ammonia or nitrites. It's important to remove those if they're showing up, so removing a big percentage of the water and replacing it with clean is much better for them than doing a smaller one. I change 50% of the water in my tank every 5-7 days, and others here do 75% changes, without problems.


That's good, I was just checking because sometimes beginners to the hobby over clean their filter, or rinse it under the tap, not realising that the chlorine in the tap water will kill their beneficial bacteria. I wanted to check that you hadn't done that and crashed the cycle, causing the ammonia spike. Happy that you knew to leave it alone for a while and to use tank water to clean it, @essjay has already helped you with the filter info, so you're all set!

Last piece of advice before I shut up and leave you alone, lol. Test your water first thing in the morning, and do a water change right away if you get anything other than zero. You won't have to test daily foreve,r don't worry, this is just while it's getting established and recovering from the ammonia spike. Once that's passed, weekly tests are usually enough.

But if you see something wrong in the tank or with a fish again, the first thing to do is test the water. Or do the water change first, then test the water you removed, since a water change won't hurt and time is of the essence if there is something wrong in the water. If the tests show zero ammonia or nitrites, and nitrates are below 20ppm, then you begin looking for other diagnoses and treatments. Hope the little guys make a full recovery soon!

Ok I've got everything ready for tomorrow just in case I am not going to let the fish get any more ill then they are . I guess if in doubt do a water change .
Thank you very much I will make sure to post a picture after there speedy recovery

 

[Essjay]

so the sponge will last for a decent amount of time along as I clean it .
Ok so half old filter and half new . I have heard it before I think I might take steps to doing that .
So by washing the filter it doesn't remove the bacteria?

Sponges last for years. And cutting it in half is only when it does start to disintegrate and you need to get a new one. Changing half at a time means you still have the bacteria in the other half.

Washing won't remove the bacteria as long as you are gentle. When the filter is new, the biofilm is just starting to form. If you scrub it violently you might dislodge it, but gentle squeezing won't. Just enough to wash the goo out of the sponge.