FindingNemo Posted May 18, 2005 Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 Ok i have a problem now. I cleaned my filter and changed 20% of my water and the next morning i had to dead Gourami. I had 4 in total a Gold one a Blue one and a pair of Reddish ones. The reddish ones have passed away. After the filter clean and water change they spent the day at the top of the tank gulping air and struggling to do anything. By the next day there gone. What have i done wrong? All the other fish in the tank are fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 How did you clean the filter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FindingNemo Posted May 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 I removed it from the tank and rinsed it under running water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Angl Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 The fish died because cleaning the filter in chlorinated water kills all the good bacteria which breaks down the ammonia / nitrites and the chlorine would have helped too. The best way to do it is by filling a bucket from the tank that the filter came from and rinsing the filter material in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FindingNemo Posted May 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 Ok but if thats the reason how come my water changes havn't done any harm. Because ive done a few 20% changes direct from the tap without a problem although this was the first filter clean. I have read a few threads on here that say Gourami are hard fish to keep. Would the fact that my Siamese fighter spends a lot of time chasing them have anything to do with it. IE: were they just stressed. The thing is im unsure if i should get more Gourami. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Modern Angl Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 when you do the water changes, are you adding in anything to remove the chlorine from the water? e.g. Aquaplus or something similar? The addition of the filter being so thoroughly cleaned to the water change and the stress from being chased by other fish might have been the straw that broke the camels back as they say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FindingNemo Posted May 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 Bugger! I've never added any chemicals to the water. I shall start doing this immediatly. PS One of the Gourami was playing possum but seems very sick. Lays on the bootom and then swims to the surface flat out for a breath and then drops to the bottom like a stone. Ive now isolated him but should i just put him out of his misery or wait. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
me love fishy Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 How long have you had your tank? Cos you also need to add some stress zyme or cycle to the water to help keep good bacteria in the tank. I am too much of a wimp to put any of my fish out of their misery :oops: , so can't help you there, I have seen very sick fish recover and also fish that didn't even seem sick dead the next day, so your choice really. But definitely get the stress zyme and aquaplus or similar from your lfs and add to your water as soon as you can. You might want to take a sample into the lfs and get them to test it for you first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FindingNemo Posted May 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 Ive had this setup about a month only. However 20 years ago i had a tank with 30 tropical fish in it for years. Never added a thing to the water then and never lost a fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted May 19, 2005 Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 It all depends where you live and I understand ChCh water is fine without adding anything to it. I don't add anything else when I do water changes as we don't have problems with our water supply either. Some gouramis, especially the dwarfs, seem to be of poor quality these days and not hardy at all. It seems odd to me that the only fish affected were the gouramis which makes me think it may have been more the fish rather than the water change. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FindingNemo Posted May 19, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 19, 2005 Yes and both the Gouramis were purchased at the same time from the same shop, and 2 other gourami purchased elsewhere on the same day are fine.(touch wood). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scalare Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 Hi your tank is up and running for one moth. howe big is your tank and howe many fish do you have (and what soort) in it at this moment. have you done any watertesting. It takes a whyle before the tank creates it's own bacteria you can use things like cycle ore stress zime to boost your bacteria's in your tank. And dont put to many fish in your tank at ones this gives to mutch wast and there are not anough bacteria to breack this down what means there is gone be a peak of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate in the tank and the weak fish go first. I dont know if you have done this but it is better to introduse a couple fish at the time. Buy a few and wait a week and do a water test if this is clear add a few more. Fore removel of things like chlorine you can use aqua plus ore stress coat it nutrlizes chlorine havy metal and it puts enzymes in to the water fore less stress. And like caryl said the dwarf gourami's (if you have these ) are a lot weeker then they used to be I think that the gen pool is to small and they shut get some new blood in frome oversea. your pet store can do a full scale watertest of your water fore you I hope this is of some use to you scalare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FindingNemo Posted May 20, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 Yes all the advise has been of great help. My tank is huge 66 gallons and i waited a week before adding 2 platys that both survived before adding more fish each week. In this order 2 Discus and 11 neons. Then the 4 gourami and a Fighter.ive lost 1 neon and the 2 gourami only. And now ive added 6 more Discus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FindingNemo Posted May 24, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 Further to the filter clean, as i purchased this tank and filter secondhand ive a couple of questions regarding the filter. When i took it apart there was a foam filter surronding four plastic tube sections. The thing is am i suposed to have media or charcoal inside these plastic sections as they were empty at the time? Oh yea its a Fluval 4 internal filter. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgie Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 Hi, I'm not sure about the filter question but i have dwarf gouramis too and they seem pretty hardy because i clean my filter with tap water and usually do 50% water changes and it doesn't stress them at all. I also have a fighter in with them and it does chase them around a bit but it shouldn't be that bad. My gouramis are bigger than it and every time it gets near the fighters tail the fighter zooms off then comes back and chases the gourami. I've had know problem at all with these except that one of them doesn't like the flakes so i feed them blood worms and they can't get enough of it because it is gone in a matter of seconds. i think that the best fish for keeping in gourami tanks are corydoras, loaches or plecos because they clean the tank very well. this should stop the build up of algae and anysort of bacteria in the tank giving them a good enviroment. Holp that helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted May 24, 2005 Report Share Posted May 24, 2005 IMHO you have far to many fish in your tank, I think your filter being so new would have only just been keeping up (and I'm surprised it was), when you gave it the clean pushed it over the top. 8 Discus in a mature 250 liter tank is alot, let alone a new one. They are very messy fish and require good water condishions. Also are you running the temp high for the Discus? They like 28-30 degrees but at this temp the oxygen level in the tank will be lower. You could try directing your filter outlet to toward the surface which will break up the surface putting more oxygen in the water, An air pump will also break up the surface and do the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FindingNemo Posted May 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 Sorry my size is wrong its 360 litres and theres lots of room for fish. I didnt ask for critisism i asked for instructions on a filter. The Discus are doing fine and yes the temp is at 29 degrees. I'm oxegenating the tank and it has a Fluval 4 filter which is powerful. The chap i bought it off hadnt cleaned the filter in a month and i didnt clean it before i set it up as i wanted the bacteria in the tank. It was a few weeks before i put the Discus in and there happy as. I only wanted to no if the 4 plastic filter sections in the filter are supposed to have extra filter material in them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 You have mistaken helpfulness for criticism FindingNemo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
morgie Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 hey, Suphew was just trying to help you Findingnemo. If the discus were kept in a tank that size, which you posted, it may have led to deadly consequences. You did correct the tank size so problim solved but remember that this site is for helping people and not for criticism. Hope that helps with the misunderstanding Morgie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FindingNemo Posted May 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 Yea but i still want an answer. Are the 4 plastic tube things in a Fluval Filter for extra media? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suphew Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 Yes they are for media, ceramic nodles or similar, If you dont have media in the trays then you have almost no biological media in your filter, the sponges are in there mainly as mechanical filter to stop the bigger chucks of stuff blocking the pores of the biological media. The lact of media could explain your problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FindingNemo Posted May 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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