What Should I Do Now?

[thisguyek]

Well after quite the battle with my 55 gal tank, I'm finally down to my Pleco. Everything that I've tried to keep has passed on with little sings of what was wrong...

My questions is: should I soak everything down in super hot water and start a new cycle, or should I buy a couple goldfish and let it run for a month or two and see what happens?


there's quite a bit of background with this that i dont feel like typing out at the moment, so if anyone is looking for more information... let me know what you would like to know and ill tell ya! the jist of it is all of my tests have been consistently normal, but my fish keep dying. I'm guessing its some sort of bad bacteria or parasite or something...


any advice appreciated!

 

[nurglespuss]

Personally,

I would get rid of the decor, substrated etc.

Give the tank a good clean down with a weak bleach solution (jsut be sure to swill/dry it thoroughly afterwards)

Give all the equipment a good wash too.

Get a'hold of some mature media from someone else to kickstart your filter, and add something small (like a platy, a couple of white clouds etc.) to keep the filter going. (you can do fishless cycling, but I personally don't trust it).

Wait at least a month, and if everything is checking out as per normal, ad another few small fish.

Keep going until stocked.

Hope that helps.

 

[Proxo]

I'd personally suggest with my noob knowledge of fish keeping to try something a little different (harder?) as if i remember correct your pH is high.
Tanganyika, malawi maybe? I think common plec is fine with them too (sure it was a common plec you have).

Or the above as nurglespuss said

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Yeah, I agree, it was probably your parameters in terms of ph, gh and kh rather than your ammonia and nitrites that caused the problems, but I dont know the details so cant really comment.

What was your stocking

 

[Mammabe1]

Well after quite the battle with my 55 gal tank, I'm finally down to my Pleco. Everything that I've tried to keep has passed on with little sings of what was wrong...

My questions is: should I soak everything down in super hot water and start a new cycle, or should I buy a couple goldfish and let it run for a month or two and see what happens?


there's quite a bit of background with this that i dont feel like typing out at the moment, so if anyone is looking for more information... let me know what you would like to know and ill tell ya! the jist of it is all of my tests have been consistently normal, but my fish keep dying. I'm guessing its some sort of bad bacteria or parasite or something...


any advice appreciated!

Hello,

Sorry to hear about all the trouble you have had. I was thinking the same thing in regards to PH level... Where I live, the water is hard so my PH level is 8. Certain fish cannot live in such a high PH Level - especially fish from tropical islands like angels... I couldn't understand why my Mollies were thriving but everytime I added a few Angels, they would die - unfortunately, until I realized that Angels require very soft low PH levels.... so, for me - that was the problem. This also happened with 5 neons I added, they all died within a week.

I started looking into it more to understand why some fish do well why others keep dying and that was what I found out...so, if I was you, I would try
the hardier fish that like high PH levels (Mollies, platy's or even goldfish) and see how they are.. I would do so without scrubbing everything done and
please do not use bleach - just in case....

Good luck whatever you do! Keep us posted.

B

 

[nurglespuss]

Why not use bleach? Its a proven method of cleaning a tank, and provided its a weak solution, and well swilled afterwards no harm will come of it...

 

[thisguyek]

thanks for the replies!

My stock has gone from neons, to zebra danios, to angels, to guppies, to platies, to tiger barbs..... I moved some guppies and platies to a 10 gal tank (as my sig. states) after doing a thorough scrub down of a hot water/salt solution. Everyone seems to be thriving in that tank.

nurglespuss: Would the hot water and salt bath work just as well as the bleach solution? I've heard mixed reviews on that and I guess id like to play on the safer side, with all due respect


I ordered some cichlid stones and a nice large piece of driftwood to do a rescape. (finally got the wifes permission proxo! lol) I'm hoping that the driftwood helps soften the water up a bit. Going to try to keep a few more live plants as well to help with filtration.

Does anyone know if my pleco alone would be enough to keep my filters going if i decided not to completely clean my tank? it's about 7" long or so...

 

[KkAaNnEe]

What are cichlid stones, if you mean ocean rock or anything or sorts that will do opposite of softening...

 

[golfzzin]

If it were me, and as much as a pain it would be, id strip it down and start again, will be better in the long run

 

[Jinty McGinty]

Just wanted to say good luck with it!!

I'd go with a bleach clean myself (from an ocd point of view)

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

If your filter bacterial colony is still healthy after your sad losses, you currently may have slightly more bacteria than in needed to process your 7" pleco's waste. As days go by, unless you began feeding your pleco more than you used to, the bacterial colony will gradually reduce to a level needed to cope with the normal requirements of the pleco.

Must admit I really do not envy your dilemma about what to do right now, because the cause of death of your other fish is still a mystery, I believe. As said above, stripping the tank down could be a safer way forward, including a new fishless cycle with fresh filter media after cleaning out your current filter (in case there are bacteria/parasites in the old media that were the cause of death for your other fishes). But in the meantime, you would need a way of safely quarantining your 7" pleco in the meantime.

Besides Rift Valley Lake fish that will do well in your hard alkaline water, there are some African riverine fish (eg. Pyjama Synodontis; S. brichardi; S. decora; S. casuarius) along with Central American (eg. Blind Cave Tetra; livebearers; not sure which cichlids would suit a 55g) and Porthole Catfish... To name but a few.

 

[thisguyek]

What are cichlid stones, if you mean ocean rock or anything or sorts that will do opposite of softening...

theyre just synthetic hollow stones. I forget what theyre made of, but theyre not real rock.


I know its not ideal... but would something like a 5 gal bucket be alright for my pleco for a day? of course id put an air stone it. I don't think Ill be doing a bleach rinse.. but like i said hot hot water and let it soak for a day. Fill it back up then the same day. any opinions on that route???

 

[KkAaNnEe]

Yes fine

 

[Mammabe1]

Just wanted to say good luck with it!!

I'd go with a bleach clean myself (from an ocd point of view)

Maybe it's just me because I am old - and I mean OLD school..
In regards to using bleach... salt does work find too!

B

 

[thisguyek]

well i officially started the overhaul on my tank tonight. Moved the plec to his temp home and gave the gravel a good thorough clean down. Currently filling up the tank with the hottest water my tap will allow... which looked like it was around 110 or so. dumped a helping of salt in as well. all of my plants, filter media, and new decor is currently soaking. In the morning, ill take everything out. rinse the decor, and drain the tank once more, cleaning gravel again. Ill probably fill it up again with the hot water as the water heater should be full again. rise all the salt out. Then tomorrow night ill fill it up with ideal temp water and hopefully before i get to bed ill have my pleco back in the tank.

I was wondering if my pleco would be enough to put my tank back into a cycle... Should I add something else along with it??