SERIOUS TANK ISSUES

[FighterFishy]

Hi all


Have a serious problem with my tank.

I got my tank as a newby back in june and didn't have a clue brought all the wrong fish and have had a lot of problems.

Basicaly i have lost a lot of fish over this period of time which i put down to being a total cr*p fish keeper. Things had settled down till just before xmas as i found this site and started to get clued up about things (and realised just how wrong i had been doing things) when my angel got pop eye. He is on the mend but still not right (on melafix/pimafix) Was watching them last night when my gorgeous rtbs just suddenly died. I left him and watched him for a few moments but he was dead, even the plec tried to have a munch on him so i wisked him out. Now i ask there was no obvious reason for his death he was not attacked and was easily one of the biggest fish in the tank.

I'm really fed up of getting things wrong and killing off my fish any ideas on how i can find out whats going wrong in my main tank ??


I have 3 fighters and they have been so much more successful as i researched them and have some knowledge on them it's just my other tank that has gone wrong.

Please help if you can. (p.s can't post water as am out of kit)

 

[Angry_Platy]

I am assuming you knew nothing about cycling when you first got the fish....and that you had fish in the tank from day 1.

If your fish went through cycling then they will be affected. They may survive the cycling but it leaves their immune systems weakened and open to infection. This means as soon as anything minor goes wrong with your tank i.e. not adding water conditioner for example, your fish will be prone to anything that is in your water. So normally a fish would survive an outbreak of ich, in your case they may not....

Does that make sense?

What size tank do you have and what other fish are in there?

Lastly...you are not a bad fishkeeper. Everyone has to start somewhere and we have all made mistakes....not through stupidity just through lack of knowledge. It is good that you found a place such as here to ask all your questions etc.

Are you able to take your water to the LFS for them to test it for you? I am curious as to what the params are.....

HTH

 

[OohFeeshy]

Don't feel bad about your fish dying. I've somehow managed to kill two guppies within 2 days of getting them, but since I haven't done anything wrong (I did cycle before you ask), I assume they had something befor I got them.

 

[FighterFishy]

I can take it at the weekend as they shut before i finish work. Basicaly yes you got it bang on what with bad advice from lfs it's all gone pear shape from day 1.


its 3 ft with a weird mixture of fish please dont shout as i know it's wrong BUT luckily they have never faught between themselves


1 spotty cat fish
3 upside down cat fish
1 common plec
2 yellow 2 orange mollies
1 black mollie
1 weird eel type thing with a hoover as a nose (havn't a clue what it is it was brought for me)
4 neons (huge nearly the size of the mollies)
1 silver shark


It isn't over stocked and have put some melafix in the tank incase there is something wrong which isn't obvious. Am just so gutted about loosing my rtbs (and no it never faught with the silver shark)


How long can i leave it before i can buy another rtbs ??

 

[OohFeeshy]

Well first I'd find out what your fish are. Maybe take some pictures and put them on the Oddballs section?

 

[FighterFishy]

That would be good in theory but he rarely comes out of the gravel he's a weird little thing but will try and tempt him out later

 

[FighterFishy]

i got it ! picture here and in oddballs

 

[sylvia]

Looks like a halfbeak. Not sure though - do you have any pics where the whole fish is visible - I mean where it isn't on the gravel?

Seeing as you know your original selection of fish was not the best, I will not mention the bala and common plecs. None the less, I would urge you to not replace the RTBS until you have re-homed these. That way you don't run the risk of becoming over-stocked too soon. BTW, the issue with your selection is not fighting - it's the size those fish get to and their requirements as a species.

 

[Joviella]

Your fish looks like a horse faced loach to me. HTH.

 

[sylvia]

Yeah actualy - it does. Didn't think of that.
I didn't think I could see the long jaw of a halfbeak in that pic...

 

[FighterFishy]

It doesn't come off of the gravel actually it rarely comes out of it. that is the only picture i have ever managed to get of it.

size doesn't worry me as will buy a larger tank as these grow but most of these were older fish (apparently according to lfs) and wouldn't of grown much more plus the plec has a home should he get too big in my uncle 6ft. Should i buy i larger tank now ???


reading that back i'm not sure if i am making sense.



Anyway other then my poor choice of fish is there anything i can maybe do to my tank to make it a bit more safer for the remaining. ? I do not want to loose any more if i can avoid it.
Melafix still being added just to be safe

 

[Leslie]

It's really tough to say what's going on in the tank without knowing what the water parameters are. A couple of things that would help are letting us know how often are you doing water changes, how often are you cleaning your gravel and filter media, and how much and how often are you feeding.

Also, the less medication you use the better as they can cause much more harm then good if not needed.

PS - Definitely looks like a Horsefaced Loach IMO

 

[Ferris]

I don't see a problem with your fish selection, the only thing I would say is that mixing a RTBS with a silver shark is risky. RTBS can be very agressive and would probably not tolerate a silver shark. I tried it and had to move the silver sharks (2) as they were constantly chased by the RTBS. They were actually safer in my African Cichlid tank, which is saying something.

 

[FighterFishy]

Have lost my big angel


I think it's time to give up and just keep my bettas

 

[WILDER]

Sorry for your loss, it's hard when you lose fish but hold in there, as it takes ages to learn everything and do it right, don't give in yet.