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Tank Crashed


whistlin'

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Hi Guys,

As stated in my previous Topic I bought a 2' tank to rear some P. Lombardoi fry.

I filled the tank by siphoning off the water from my community tank added some limestone rocks and once the water temp was right added my female Lombardoi.

To my amazement there were 2 extra fish swimming in the tank within a couple of hours.

The next morning there were another 20+

The next morning they were dead.

The next morning my female was dead!

I checked the ph it had risen from 8 to 8.2.

Should i have let the sponge filter mature first? The guy at the pet shop said that there should be enough bacteria in the water that it should be o.k.

I have now filled my tank and maturing it as I did my 4' tank. I have 2 BN's and a couple of snails which hopefully survive.

If anyone has any tips I am all ears.

Cheers,

Whistlin'.

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strange, the PH rise really shouldnt have killed them cuz my lombardoi seem to take anything. Was it a brand new tank? did you clean it before use? Fairly strange for them to die after night. Did you notice any abnormal behaviour?

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Yes mate, a tank will take 3 weeks (2 weeks minimum) to cycle. On day 7 and 12 you will get ammonia spikes. It is a common mistake for begginers. It is a must to develop some knowledge of the nitrogen cycle as a begginer.

I have written an article here: http://www.cichlids-aust.com/articles.html (scroll down untill you see my article

Once you have a general knowledge of how the nitrogen cycle works you will understand why your fish died. It's pretty easy to read. If you have any questions PM me or reply here. The forum is a great source of information so any questions you may have regarding your fish are welcomed.

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Thanks Adelaide Ant.

I have a good understanding of the Nitrogen Cycle. The guy in shop stated that the bacteria present in the tank water should already be able to accomodate the rise in ammonia and nitrites.

Apparently not and my lack of patience has probably killed the fish. Does this sound like a good summation?

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Ant, there is NO WAY the nitrogen cycle would be to blame in an overnight tank crash, where the fish involved would not have eaten for at least a couple of weeks.

No waste = no ammonia dntknw.gif

Not only that, but the load produced by a single female mbuna and 20 newly released fry would take an age to contaminate the water enough to kill the fry (let alone a healthy female.

The pH swing doesn't seem enough to knock out the female, the fry maybe in their new born weakness but not a healthy adult.

I am definately of the opinion something has contaminated the tank - what did you use to clean the new stuff? Did you run water through hoses or buckets that might have contained something nasty?

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Apparently not and my lack of patience has probably killed the fish. Does this sound like a good summation?

I think the miss information was the problem mate, whilst some bacteria is present in the water there is nowhere near enough. If you were to have used pre existing filter sponge that may have been a different story. Majority of bacteria is attached to any surface area in an existing tank (i.e. Sponge, bioballs). I am currently cycling a 2ft to house some fry. I am using an air driven sponge filter for mechanical filtration and a traditional corner filter filled with crushed marble to buffer PH and for some biological filtration. The only shops i trust for information in SA are Reynella Aquariums and Aggies Aquariums.

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Did you add all the yummy chemicals to the water to 'treat' it? like anti-chlorine etc. When i set up my new tank a few weeks ago, there was a massive amount of chlorine in it (i didnt know, i was sick at the time so couldn't even smell it blink.gif ) luckily lombardoi can take a fair beating, and when i realised something was wrong i took her out straight away. Are you sure you did not notice any hard breathing?

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Nah, I used the same hose and bucket I use to clean and add water to my other tank. I only rinsed the new tank out with water before adding the other tank water.

I have 2 BN's in there currently and are doing fine.

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Not a problem duck, i see your point. My point is still valid for cycling a tank because that would not have been enough time in the first place. Perhaps it was the limestone that caused the problem, could contain impurities? Or maybe the tank water that you placed in there contained ammonia or high nitrates or nitrites?

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oh by the way if you live south of adelaide that could be your problem, the water is unusable majority of the time. Need to prep the water 3 weeks in advance.

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I don't disagree Re: The importance of cycling, just the timeframe rules it out IMO

Not a problem duck, i see your point.

Totally agree, i was a little quick to jump the gun on that one.

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I'v got the same limestone rock collected at Rapid Bay in my main tank and everything seems to be o.k. I live in the north east burbs. is the water that different from nth to sth?

The nitrates in my tank maybe high, but the water is crystal clear. That might be a reason for the fry to die but not the 10cm Lombardoi which came from the same water to begin with.

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Water in north east suburbs should be fine, especially if you haven't noticed a problem with the water in the past. The water south (Mt Bold Res, Happy Valley Res) is disgustingly high in Chlorine and silica and god knows what else. Water far south where i am is awesome (Myponga Res).

My suggestion is now to empty the tank and start again, let the tank cycle and settle down for 3 weeks, add a little food every day so there is some waste in the water to kick start everything. If the PH levels remain stable and there is no ammonia it should be safe for use. I do apologize if i've repeated any information you already know, just rather be safe.

Anthony

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Normally just having been moved a fish would not release any babies - I'm leaning towards a contaminant poisening the water. Difficult to see where from as you used water from your community tank, hence rules out a lot of causes.

Could be something that was in the tank, sprayed near the tank, the rocks as suggested could be the cause.

I am ignoring the fact that the bristlenose are still alive as they are near impossible to kill LOL.gif

I reckon I would rise the tank out a whole lot of times just to be sure, and consider chucking the rocks.

JMHO

Steve

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If all the water came from his 4ft tank can't se a prob but did all the water come that way or just part of, water down your way is quite hard in some areas, not to mention the high amounts of chlorine in sth aus.I always put in a throw away fish in for a day or so in a new tank.You may never know what killed your poor lom, maybe the rock??, limestone rock can kill. Had you had the rock in a tank before?? Best of luck. thumbup.gif

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Thanks for all the great responses legends! The rock is the same in my main tank, the sponge from the filter was bought new as a package and the water temp was 26 as in the main tank.

I started from scratch Friday last week and as said the Bristlenose and the snails are still kicking. The ammonia levels were rising a couple of days ago. I think patience is the key.

And by the way the new Lombardoi females are less than attracting the eye of the male. So I could be waiting a while anyway. Maybe he is still in mourning over his true one love. I DOUBT IT THOUGH!!

Cheers,

Whistlin'.

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