CSnyder00
Bearded Wonder
So folks, I think this is officially the worst day of my fish keeping life, and maybe my life in general.
I had company coming over today and I have known this for the last few days. I did water changes and pre-scooped the plecos this company was buying from me into a 10 gallon tank and did a water change in the 30 gallon the plecos and dempsey fry are being held in. Did almost an 80% water change, which is common in that tank, with no issues.
Today I needed to clean the 75 gallon tank that houses my Tangs (Ocellatus Gold, Julidochromis Dickfeldi, and Synodontis Petricola) because I have noticed a higher amount of algae and my nitrates have been high. I've had the inhabitants in this tank for a number of months and have done major (50+%) cleanings on this tank before without issue. Today when I took down the rock wall, the stuff (poop, old food, etc) behind it was especially bad. Bingo! Now I was sure I knew why I was having algae and nitrate problems. I did what any good fish keeper would do and cleaned it all, including stirring the sand (Again, have done this before in this tank without issue). I got down to about 20% of the water left, which I figured was sufficient and then started filling up the tank. I realized I hadn't gotten a few chunks of gunk, so I syphoned off those as well and then continued filling the tank. As I got about 80% of the way filled, I realized that there was a problem. The fish had labored breathing, and one of Julies started to go belly up. I went into emergency mode and started doing everything I could think of. I adjusted the temperature of the water up, because it measured 4-5 degrees low. I turned bubblers on, added extra water conditioner, I did all I could.
Before you finish reading and call me a complete idiot, keep in mind I have done 60% or more water changes on this tank and many others without issue. I know these fish tend to be sensitive, but in an established tank with water they have been acclimated to, it has never been an issue.
I pulled everything back out of the tank and moved the survivors to the 30 gallon that is kept at around the same temp as this tank that had a water change yesterday.
Well, when the dust settled, I lost all 8 of my Julies, 9 out of 10 of my Ocellatus Gold, and 5 out of the 10 Synodontis. As we speak 8 hours later, I'm still seeing some issues with the few remaining Synos even after being in the other tank for hours. The last Gold shellie is doing fine. The pH in the tap and in the tank are obviously similar, and the pH in the 30 gallon is no different. I have no idea what happened, but I can imagine the pH swing or the temperature could have done it, but who knows now. I matched the temp in the tank with the temp coming from my python while filling. I measured and it was 75 degrees, which is colder than the 80 the tank is kept at, but it wasn't that low. I kept the filter pads that were in the filters so that the bacteria wasn't too depleted. I was too worried about the fish to do an immediate test on anything else in the heat of things.
This all comes a week after I sold my favorite Jacks. My second 75 gallon tank left yesterday. I am seriously having a bad day. Combine that with my father-in-law going into the emergency room for shortness of breath in the middle of this and the Patriots coming back from a ridiculous deficit to win yet another freaking Super Bowl and I'm in bad shape. I want to quit altogether, which isn't wise. But I'm so disgusted. I know what I did wrong, and it sucks. I can't save those fish. I was helpless while I watched them die one by one. And now I'm $200+ dollars down on fish. I don't know what to think at this point. The filthiness of the tank because of the rock wall really is the thing that put me in a predicament. I had to get rid of it, but that made me take the water down lower than I wanted to. I won't ever build one that high and long again. I'm going to keep it modest. I won't ever do such a complete water change with fish that sensitive ever again. I'm just very upset with myself. I know I'll do better the next time, but for those fish, there won't be a next time. I feel so bad.
Anyway, now I have to go looking for fish again in the hopes that I can find what I used to have. Dave has the Golds, which I will probably add back in once I test the water and make sure nothing else is wrong. I'm not sure I'll do Julies again because, to be honest, they were never really my favorite. Don't get me wrong, they were cool, but had little personality. If I do the Golds, I will want tank mates with them, so I will need suggestions on tank mates. The Julies did well, but I want something better. Maybe some Calvus? I'm not sure. I just know today hurts, and I never want to have another day like it.
Some encouraging words would be nice. Tough love also accepted.
I had company coming over today and I have known this for the last few days. I did water changes and pre-scooped the plecos this company was buying from me into a 10 gallon tank and did a water change in the 30 gallon the plecos and dempsey fry are being held in. Did almost an 80% water change, which is common in that tank, with no issues.
Today I needed to clean the 75 gallon tank that houses my Tangs (Ocellatus Gold, Julidochromis Dickfeldi, and Synodontis Petricola) because I have noticed a higher amount of algae and my nitrates have been high. I've had the inhabitants in this tank for a number of months and have done major (50+%) cleanings on this tank before without issue. Today when I took down the rock wall, the stuff (poop, old food, etc) behind it was especially bad. Bingo! Now I was sure I knew why I was having algae and nitrate problems. I did what any good fish keeper would do and cleaned it all, including stirring the sand (Again, have done this before in this tank without issue). I got down to about 20% of the water left, which I figured was sufficient and then started filling up the tank. I realized I hadn't gotten a few chunks of gunk, so I syphoned off those as well and then continued filling the tank. As I got about 80% of the way filled, I realized that there was a problem. The fish had labored breathing, and one of Julies started to go belly up. I went into emergency mode and started doing everything I could think of. I adjusted the temperature of the water up, because it measured 4-5 degrees low. I turned bubblers on, added extra water conditioner, I did all I could.
Before you finish reading and call me a complete idiot, keep in mind I have done 60% or more water changes on this tank and many others without issue. I know these fish tend to be sensitive, but in an established tank with water they have been acclimated to, it has never been an issue.
I pulled everything back out of the tank and moved the survivors to the 30 gallon that is kept at around the same temp as this tank that had a water change yesterday.
Well, when the dust settled, I lost all 8 of my Julies, 9 out of 10 of my Ocellatus Gold, and 5 out of the 10 Synodontis. As we speak 8 hours later, I'm still seeing some issues with the few remaining Synos even after being in the other tank for hours. The last Gold shellie is doing fine. The pH in the tap and in the tank are obviously similar, and the pH in the 30 gallon is no different. I have no idea what happened, but I can imagine the pH swing or the temperature could have done it, but who knows now. I matched the temp in the tank with the temp coming from my python while filling. I measured and it was 75 degrees, which is colder than the 80 the tank is kept at, but it wasn't that low. I kept the filter pads that were in the filters so that the bacteria wasn't too depleted. I was too worried about the fish to do an immediate test on anything else in the heat of things.
This all comes a week after I sold my favorite Jacks. My second 75 gallon tank left yesterday. I am seriously having a bad day. Combine that with my father-in-law going into the emergency room for shortness of breath in the middle of this and the Patriots coming back from a ridiculous deficit to win yet another freaking Super Bowl and I'm in bad shape. I want to quit altogether, which isn't wise. But I'm so disgusted. I know what I did wrong, and it sucks. I can't save those fish. I was helpless while I watched them die one by one. And now I'm $200+ dollars down on fish. I don't know what to think at this point. The filthiness of the tank because of the rock wall really is the thing that put me in a predicament. I had to get rid of it, but that made me take the water down lower than I wanted to. I won't ever build one that high and long again. I'm going to keep it modest. I won't ever do such a complete water change with fish that sensitive ever again. I'm just very upset with myself. I know I'll do better the next time, but for those fish, there won't be a next time. I feel so bad.
Anyway, now I have to go looking for fish again in the hopes that I can find what I used to have. Dave has the Golds, which I will probably add back in once I test the water and make sure nothing else is wrong. I'm not sure I'll do Julies again because, to be honest, they were never really my favorite. Don't get me wrong, they were cool, but had little personality. If I do the Golds, I will want tank mates with them, so I will need suggestions on tank mates. The Julies did well, but I want something better. Maybe some Calvus? I'm not sure. I just know today hurts, and I never want to have another day like it.
Some encouraging words would be nice. Tough love also accepted.
