paul_r Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 HELP! Last night i released my 3 male and 5 female Notho's into my new 30l tank which is set up specifically for breeding. Ive had tank cycling for about a week, doing water changes every night and last night before i put the killies into their new tank took out almost all water from the tank and filled it up with water from their old tank, checked ph, set temperature and then transferred my nothos into their new tank, floated bag etc then released them. Everything was going fine, fed them some blood worms and a bit of flake and they ate it alright. Just woke up and went to check the tank, 2 males and 3 females were dead at the bottom of the tank. 1 of the males kept loosing his balance and turning upside down. My last 2 females seem to be doing alright. Has anyone experienced this or could maybe tell what has gone wrong. The tank temperature is 22 degrees, ph of 7, has a few plants, unsure of names. Has a carbon filter hooked up to air pump for bubbles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 Hey Paul, you say you had it cycling for a week. Can you please explain how you did this?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_r Posted July 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 sure thing. 1) bought tank off a friend with stones in it. soaked in boiling water then rinsed, done this maybe 5 times. 2) Filled tank with 50% tap water and 50% from the killis old tank, set heater at 22 degrees, also added in some stones, plants and snails from old tank. Had carbon filter going since i put water in tank (which was brand new). 3) Done about 8l water change every night from tap. 4) just before putting the killis in new tank i took out 95% of water from their new tank, was only enough left to cover the stones. Then filled the tank with water from the killis old community tank, which all fish (including all my killis) have lived in fine with no losses for approx 4 months. Waited until temperature was at 22 degrees. 5) Put the nothos in bag, floated for approx 30 mins, then let go May have done a few things wrong as ive never cycled a new tank before, have just tried to follow what others have posted as i wanted to be careful with the killis since i am going to have a go at breeding them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 Exactly what sort of filtration are you running on this tank? ie, sponge filter, under gravel, cannister, internal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_r Posted July 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 to be honest im not sure of the exact name, i will try best to explain it. It is an internal filter, has some cotton at the bottom and carbon filter at the top, has hose from air pump going through bottom to cause the water to circulate and be filtered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 ok, it is known as a box filter. You would have probably been better off putting this in one of your existing tanks for a couple of weeks to get the nitrifying bacteria going first, then putting it into your new tank. Just putting old tank water into a new tank with a new filter will not set the process off automatically. If you don't have any fish in the tank when you do this, it is probably not worth doing the nightly water changes, as this is done to keep the ammonia levels down and keep the fish more comfortable, should you be using some to cycle the tank. Some fish can handle ammonia better than others, and I would hate to think what some of my poor fish have had to put up with at times when I swap tanks around! HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_r Posted July 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 Ah thanks for that. Cycling is all new to me and have never done it before, in the past had just cleaned out the tank and put in all new tap water, had never lost a fish doing that. Its one big learning process i guess, although after having tropicals for 2 years and only loosing one fish then loosing 6 in 12 hours is a bad experience. Im going to be setting up some more tanks in the future so will use some guppies to help the process along. Will also get some more of those box filters set up in my other tanks so they are ready to go when i get more tanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 Remember Paul that it is useless putting a box-filter into a tank to get "seeded" that doesn't have any fish. Other than the tank not having been cycled, I can't see anything that you have done wrong. Watch out for the water system in town with the "fresh" in the river, the council will up the chlorine. Make sure that you have had it in some drums for a couple of days, preferable with an air-stone going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 Alan, would he be better off getting sponge filters in the future, rather than box filters? Do Killie fry graze off a sponge filter? The Charcoal probably does nothing after a week or so, anyway. When you have completely changed the water in some of your tanks as you said you had before with no losses, this was probably because the filter was still active, 10% water changes more often are probably preferable, as this is not changing the water parameters greatly. Sudden changes are what upset the fish, they can handle gradual changes better, so if your ammonia is high, swapping out all the water is probably worse for the fish than doing a couple of 40% water changes over a few days. Guppies are hardy little beggars, some of mine are happily swimming around in a cycling high Nitrite tank at the moment, pigging out and the males are still chasing the females! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 I don't believe that he had any ammonia. Paul had nothing to start the cycle with and keep it going. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_r Posted July 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 Yes it is a very strange thing to happen, i have absolutely no idea what was wrong, and i have nothing to test the ammonia, my 2 remaining females seem to be doing OKAY, mainly hiding in the java fern and between the rocks in tank. however im keeping a close eye on them to see if anything abnormal is happening. One thing that i have noticed is that the water is a little cloudy, was perfectly clear when i took it from the community tank they used to live in. I believe that they would be dead by now if something was up, as the first 6 died within 8 hours of being put in tank. Could possibly be due to stress of moving. went from heavily planted community tank at 25 degrees with very little light to the breeding tank with a little bit of duckweed and java fern floating on top. Any suggestions on what i should do before putting more fish in the tank, i am not going to let a few deaths stop me from breeding my first killis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 I have lots of tanks with no airstones and no filters and the killies in them are OK. It is about balance. You either have bacteria putting the nitrogen through the cycle or you remove it with water changes. I feed heavily and remove the excess and water change about weekly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted July 1, 2007 Report Share Posted July 1, 2007 I don't bother about cycling either and have had no adverse effects. I'm using Auckland water too :roll: yes, very strange about the deaths. I use box filters and find that they work for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_r Posted July 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 Just woke up this morning to find my last 2 females upside down at the bottom of the tank. Ive never bothered with cycling a tank before, i didnt even know what it was until about 2 weeks ago. Just thought that since i had some nice killis id try do everything properly to have them breed succesfully. Since i do still want to use this tank for breeding nothos would anyone recomend any steps i should take before putting in any more fish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted July 2, 2007 Report Share Posted July 2, 2007 I would chuck the contents, clean with salt paste and let stand for an hour then rinse in clean water and stand in the sun till dry then start again. Killies are worth it. You might be best to start with A.gardneri or something a bit hardier as the nothos tend to get velvet and it is more likely to crop up with a change of conditions. You see your results a bit quicker also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.