Fish Glancing / Flashing

Sorry for the loss man I think has got to do with your water parameters and overstocking.

I can remember many many years ago when I had platies and mollies they die very easily for some reason.

 

Glad we can help.

 

I agree that you have too many fish for the size tank. It will cause high ammonia and nitrites and one of the symptoms of nitrite poisoning is when the fish bend over like yours have. If you like bettas (and who wouldnt) you can certainly keep a Betta in a 30l tank. There are some very nice setups like that.

Undergravel filters provide very effective filtration because they turn your entire gravel bed into a biofilter, so there is nothing wrong with a UGF (Mr. Viviers ). However, I don't think they work with plants. For that reason you may want to remove the UGF, but it's not urgent and would stress your fish even more.

 

Jen,

If it's nitrate poisoning, would it help at this stage to treat the water with Prime or should I stick to the heal all / rid all that I'm currently using?

Ps: I'm also very unsure if medicines could be or should be combined. Help on this would also be very much appreciated.

 

LOL :laugh: @Jenn I know it is a good filter but very old school and I also dont think it will work nicely in a planted tank. Yes rather try and get your fish healthy again. You can overdose plenty with prime if you want it it will remove some of the nitrites and ammonia. Can you try and take your tank water to your local fish shop so they can test it for you. Then us all will know what is the cause of this all.

Sure it can be ammonia and nitrites with the huge bioload you got in the tank, and one more thing those plecos are huge bio loaders.

 

hviviers75

Thank you very much for the information.

If I were to upgrade my tank to be able to accommodate my current collection and have a bit of space to add some more, what size tank would you suggest?

Ps: Love the Tiger Barbs, especially the ones with a greenish stripe that looks like it's wearing cammo!

 

Only a pleasure, glad to help out my fellow fish keepers.

Well firstly it all depends on the budget.

If you can get a nice 3 foot tank this is roughly around 120liters and in this sized thank you will be able to keep around 25-30 fish maybe a little bit more.
For this size tank you either need a hang on back filter or a nice internal filter, if you can afford a small canister filter then it will even be better.

Thanks they are AWESOME fish but need to be kept in groups 10-15 they can be kept with other fish maybe some rednose rummies etc.

Oh yes those are the green tiger barbs.

 

I hope I don't sound pedantic, but I can never see how a standard 3 fter is calculated to be 120 litres... I just went to remeasure mine to be absolutely certain - remember that the water doesn't go right to the rim, and that there is substrate to be subtracted... 90 x 32 x 30 (actual water height) = 86.5 liters.

 

LOL I just thumb sucked and I got a spare 3 feet at home 91x37x35 = 117 liters ,it has got a cracked base.

 

General Update

I doused the tank with prime and the fish seem to be doing much better tonight. Almost all of them are feeding! They seem to be attacking the cory's algae wafer even though the lights have been turned off.

I've installed a Dophin HS200 (closest I could find to the recommended H80) with an output of 150L/Hr in addition to the underground filter.

I will attempt the replanting of the still potted plants once the fish are to be back to their normal, healthy selves. Don't want to upset them too much. Would hate for my little cory julii to end up on my already long list of deceased fish. I really like them! I've become rather attached to my guppy males as well and I honestly hope they will live to see another day!

Question: Will the Dophin filer out the medicine that I've administered to the tank?

If there's anything I've missed I would appreciate a little tap on the shoulder.

Thank you once again for everyone's guidance and advice, it's highly appreciated! :love:

 

That is awesome news, I am glad. Just as long as you dont have activated carbon in the new filter. It is black little gravel like stuff. You can read on the box to see if it was included in the setup. Glad we all good help. Good luck

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

Hi there. It sounds as if you are on the right track. The Dophin SH200 (if thats what you have) is the new 'slim line' version of the H80. Its designed to take up less space on the outside of the tank, with the pump on the inside of the tank and a slimmer 'body' on the outside. It has a sponge on the water intake which is nice, it 'pre filters' the water and a lot of beneficial bacteria will colonise it as well. Inside it uses a single combination bio-plastic/floss/carbon cartridge which can be changed or rinsed easily. The carbon will remove some medications from the water but shouldnt affect prime. It should be replaced every few months which means you will lose the beneficial bacteria living there until the new one is recolonised, which is not so great. I would take the cartridge out completely and replace it with a new product called 'bio ceramic sponge' similar to ceramic noodles except they are small round pellets as opposed to noodles. Small as opposed to the bigger ceramic noodles will also work well(smaller is better in the limited space of the filter body). Seachem Matrix would probably be first prize but a bit more expensive. Just take the cartridge out and fill the chamber with the new media. Maintain by rinsing the sponge on the intake every 2 weeks in tank water(good idea to do as part of your weekly water change) The sponge pre filter will keep most of the gunk off the media(ceramic or matrix) in the actual filter body so it shouldnt need rinsing more than once every 6 months or so, again in old tank water. The ceramic/matrix media should last almost indefinitely as opposed to the cartridge needing replacing and should keep things a lot more stable. The best medicine for your fish is quality water ! Once the water is right stick to your routines and dont fiddle too much Hope this helps.

 

Your filter will not remove the meds unless it has activated carbon in it...

 

Morning!

It says "One standard size carbon cartridge to fit all sizes of filter" - but doesn't say anything else about carbon. I don't know if there's actually something inside the filter cartridge itself aside from the spunge, but there's no black gravel stuff that I'm aware of.

What does activated carbon do?

 

Thank you!

 

How many cartridges are inside the filter? Carbon removes medication in the water and also removes all impurities it cleans the water nicely.

 

What he said. It is effective for quite a short time - maybe a month. If carbon gets overloaded with impurities it can start dumping them back into the water. Therefore, if you use it, it needs to be replaced often. Aquarists use carbon mostly to remove any residual medication after treatment.

 

And to polish your water. AC makes the water crystal clear.

 

Morning Brent!

Thank you very much for the information. I inquired with the sum total of 3 pet stores in our area. The two larger ones do not stock the Seachem Matrix. The small, hidden little store that I was privileged to find, may have. I'm a bit unsure if it's actually the Seachem due to the price they have quoted me but I will go and have a look. It's definitely ceramic and not carbon though.

I was able to find an online store that stocks the Seachem Matrix at R66 for 250ml - which I presume will be enough for my filter. They also have 500ml at R111.

Just a last question - I have been using filtered tap water from the kitchen. The darling lady working at the small little store however told me that most filters also removes the beneficial additions from the water. Is that true and would it be better for me to use regular tap water treated with prime? What is the best way to prepare my water?

 

There's only one cartridge in but I have noticed that there are slots for more.

They advised me at the store to replace the cartridge once a month.