Gill Posted May 19, 2013 Report Share Posted May 19, 2013 After a 5 days of doing 50 % WCs day on my 600L tank due to unexpected high ammonia readings ( I gave up testing using my kits and went to the local fish shop to ensure reliable readings )also lifting wood and rocks to locate any rotting matter which unfortunately included dead clown loaches stuck deep in a wooden cave. I finally think I have found the problem a clogged FX5 which I only cleaned 6 weeks ago had two Clown Loaches stuck up inside where the water comes back inside the tank. No wonder the filter was struggling . I think they must have gone up there during the purging ... Filter rinsed out with tank water and blocked cleared . All up I have lost 8 of them :-( I will continue to do WCs but the remaining fish look to be recovering fingers crossed... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calculator Posted May 19, 2013 Report Share Posted May 19, 2013 Good luck with fixing everything, you should probably add beneficial bacteria to make sure the blocked filter cycles again. Do you know why the clown loaches were dying originally? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted May 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2013 I have no idea only that there was one stuck in the wood I didn't realise that the cave went so deep ,I wonder if he got stuck and couldn't get out . The BN lives there and he's big . There is still a little ammonia but its much lower and the filer is pumping like mad I can see the bubbles pouring into the tank . I will have to keep a much closer eye on it . When I picked up the wood about 10 swam out of a crack I didn't even think 10 could have fitted in there .I have removed the wood for now ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aer0 Posted May 19, 2013 Report Share Posted May 19, 2013 Clown loaches like to hide in spaces you never would have thought existed, its just the way they are... is your ammonia level dropping slowly? if so your nitrite should start spiking (mid cycle) then nitrate... i'd keep up the water changes while this happens, be sure to add prime or similar each time to help that cycle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted May 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2013 Two more CLs gone , ammonia is reading at 0.25, just doing another WC and adding prime :-( my poor fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted May 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2013 It appears my tap water has ammonia in it !!! Has anyone in Howick recently tested the tap water for ammonia , ummmm I wonder if the test kit has expired Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godly3vil Posted May 20, 2013 Report Share Posted May 20, 2013 What temp and ph is your tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted May 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2013 Ranges between 26 to 27. I have tested the tap water and its almost the same colour as the tank water ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godly3vil Posted May 20, 2013 Report Share Posted May 20, 2013 26-27 is a bit low for clown loaches in my opinion dude, like discus they can survive in lower temps but prefer around 29-30c. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted May 20, 2013 Report Share Posted May 20, 2013 :iag: take in a sample of your tap water to your LFS, if you still get a positive reading contact your council asap, they tend to not like toxic chemicals in their water supply Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted May 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 21, 2013 More deaths almost all of the CLs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted May 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 In total 25 CLs have died in one week despite doing WCs and treating for ammonia. Absolutely gutted right now. LFS have not heard of fish finding their way up the inlet. What a terrible journey this has been. It has happened so fast . We are going to put some sort of net over the inlet to prevent CLs from getting in again, all we can come up with is that they snuck in there during the purging process. Got to get over the shock first but I will get some more eventually. Gill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godly3vil Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 I just made a spraybar for my fx5 dude, this would solve the problem of fish getting in the out flow pipes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted May 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 Good idea... thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calculator Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 That sucks, I feel sorry for you, hope you manage to work out what managed to kill them eventually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
disgustipated Posted May 22, 2013 Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 is it the tap water? or is there some item in the tank leeching bad stuff out Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gill Posted May 22, 2013 Author Report Share Posted May 22, 2013 All i have is wood in there , it has been in there for ages.Nothing is leading me to suspect it was the wood . I suspect it was the fish stuck up in the filter pipe . It was way up there and only came out when i flushed water through from the other end . The filter had been rinsed out with tank water 3 weeks ago . Weekly water changes ,Last week i noticed the fish spending more time at the top of the tank so i tested the water and the ammonia was up , started WCs, took water to test at LFS ammonia still a bit high , continued with WCs had a good look around the tank lifted all the wood etc, found a dead fish hidden deep in the cave ..., WCs WCs decided to check the filter again and we did a partial filter clean that's when the fish came out of the pipe... WCs added prime continued etc... A sad few days with three or four fish each day succumbing .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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