HELP!! Milk in FW aquarium

[Kribensis]

I have weighted years to get back into Fishkeeping. And to get my Kribensis Cichlids. Well I found one guy that had 4 boys for sale and then I found a pet store that had 2 girls. No more around. I have about 10 fish in my 125g aquarium. And my daughter thought it would be good if the fish had some of her milk. So, as I was in the garage and mom was doing dishes. I came inside and found a cloudy 125 gallon aquarium and all the Kribensis and Angle Fish were hiding. I cant get any Carbon till I get off work tomorrow.

Are my fish going to die?

I have a Java Furn plant and a Sward Plant and a total of 6 Kribensis, 4 of them have pared up this past month and picked a flowerpot as there own. I cant get mad at my daughter because she thought she was being nice. But im kicking myself for not putting the lid down on the tank. I have a Rena xp4 and a Marineland Penguin HOB filter. The Penguin filter I mostly use as mechanical filtration and the Rena XP4 has the ceramic rings and Bio stars.

WHAT CAN I DO? I feel like crud that my fish are breathing something that dont belong. And I thought the little bit of Algae I scraped off the walls was a issue. I did a 15% water change, as I was going to work on starving the algae. But now I got milk. When I get off work tomorrow I will pick up some carbon and a real filter cartarage for the HOB filter. Are my Kribensis going to die? I was hoping to show my wife and daughter how fish make babys

 

[Kribensis]

Not to sound too blunt, but please. No jokes. I already heard all the jokes from my wife and friend. I have always taken pride in the care for our fish. 0.0 across the board and 8.0 - 8.3 or something like that all the time. Now none of the fish are coming out. And if there were any eggs in the 2 pares that pared up together. Im sure milk on the eggs wont give them strong bones. haha Please help. Thanks and sorry for sounding rood.

 

[Rivercats]

Honestly this is a new one for me and I've been in the hobby for over 30 years. By chance was it skim or low fat milk since both are mostly water? Plus at least you have a 125g so if she poured 6 ounces in that is going to get diluted pretty much even if it was whole milk. I know it's not good for them (no bone jokes) but I "think" being diluted by that much water will render it pretty harmless to the fish. I don't know this for sure but that is my most educated guess.

 

[Kribensis]

By chance was it skim or low fat milk

My wife said it was 2% Milk

My wife was asking if I had anything to treat the water. I laughed out loud. I told her salt and natural water chemistry is the only thing they sale chemicals for. Not Milk. She asked me about that black rock stuff and I told her tomorrow when I get off work I will stop by and grab a bag for the Rena xp4 and the HOB filter. My wife will feed them 2 times a day, once in the morning and once at night with flake food. But I will always give them a cube of that frozen baby shrimp. And every fish in the tank come out from hiding. But this time the Jaws Angle fish(who eat like Oscars or sharks) did not even go to the top. what so ever. Milk in a tank. I have never heard of it either. Well, I hope my kribensis fish make it ok. ''

I just read that there can be a bacteria spike in the tank. Any advice on anything I should pick up at the store?

All I have is Water treatment by that API outfit, and epson salt my brother told me was just like aquarium salt. But Ive been to chicken to use it. And just last week I noticed one krib had red purple and almost blue on her belly. She looks like she was going to pop. I hope the current water condition dont mess that up. Dang kids. She loves the fish also, so I cant act too upset or talk about what may happen. dont want to get her upset.

 

[Wyomingite]

I'd do another 50% water change immediately. Water changes that large will not hurt, that's my standard for my mbuna tanks. Just make sure to keep the temp close and use a dechlorinator. Theoretically, that will dilute the amount down to 3 oz. If ya have an air pump and airstone, I'd also add it in to make sure the dissolved oxygen in the water stays high. I have no idea how much D.O. the bacteria utilizing the milk will uptake, but decay will likely start immediately. It may be an unecessary precaution, but better safe than sorry.

Since milk isn't toxic, I'm not sure ya have much to worry 'bout, but anything ya can do now to minimize the effect of the added organic matter and decay that the milk will add will be a big help.

Best of luck!

I had two cats actually jump into my 225 years ago, and my eldest daughter tried to share her gummy bears with Piggy the Oscar when she was 3 (she's 19 and we get a good laugh outta it now). Had a buddy in college who had a tank, threw a party, and one of the guests decided the fish needed to get drunk, too. That didn't turn out so well, think the fish had a higher blood alcohol content than most of the guests. As much as yer worried right now, in a coupla years you'll smile and remember how yer daughter wanted yer kribs to grow up with strong bones.

WYite

 

[chew valley]

Think it will be fine if you just do 2-3 water changes.

 

[Cichlid-dude]

Agreed, do a large water change and they should be fine. My kid dumped a whole jar of instant coffee in my mbuna tank and i had no losses. Good luck!

 

[Kribensis]

Thanks guys/gals. I myself never dreamed of dealing with milk in a tank. Wow coffee... Really? I'm glad my kid ain't the only helpful one. Hahaha at that time I was starting to do dayley 10% water changes to help starve a little algae. AMD now I got algae and milk. If the 2 couples(kribs) had eggs in there upside down flowerpots. U think the eggs may make it? I have no idea if there are eggs. Just noticed the 2 girls will stay in the pots as the 2 guys do the face jerk faceofd thing to eachother.

I'll get the carbon after work today and do another water change. Thank you everyone for the promot reply's. I was already posting adds for wanted kribensis on craigslist and the sales section of this forum. Again I can't thank u all enough.

 

[Wy Renegade]

I sincerely doubt that that small of an amount of milk in that large of a tank will have any harmful effect on either the fish or the eggs. As stated, I would do a 50% water change ASAP, and another 50% waterchange in 24 hours. If you feel the need, by all means run the carbon, but I doubt you really have much to worry about.

 

[Kribensis]

For such a small amount of milk. It can sure cloud water pretty good. Kribs are hard to come by. And then to find male and female. I guess because they are so shy they are not a great hit. My first 4 boys came from a normal guy whos fish had eggs, and then the 2 girls came from a pet store about 45min away. So thanks for putting my stress at ease.

 

[Wy Renegade]

Funny isn't it? For a fish that has soooo many offspring at one time, they sure are hard to come by.

 

[Freakgecko91]

In my area I can find them fairly easily, even other pelvicachromis species, interesting how that is I searched 8 months to find my keyhole cichlids, yet they are super common in other parts of the country

As for the milk, water changes are your best bet. I hardly doubt it will hurt them.

As for the daughter, the best thing you can do is include her in the tank maintainence. I regularly allow my 3 year old niece to feed my fish, and let her watch them as long as she doesn't touch the actual tank. She knows that she's only allowed to feed them when I'm with her. The best thing you can do is educate her on what is good for fish, and what isn't. My niece even has started pointing out fish I have at other stores, especially angel fish, her favorite.

 

[Hobgob]

Lol I have an unlimited supply of kribs if anyone wants any... Just have to wait for them to get bigger but my main breeding pair is going to be going soon. And I only have one albino female krib who hasn't paired up yet but I have two males I was thinking of putting in with her.

As for the milk like said above water changes do a huge water change and then do another. Wait a bit and do another... Ive never had milk in my tanks before but that would be what I would do

 

[Kribensis]

Well just as a heads up. I have 0.0 across the water tests, ph is holding at 8.0 water cleared up bu this morning. Did 2 20% water changes. One last night and one tonight when I got off work. Dis a full cleaning to our Rena xp4 filter, added polishing pad, super polishing pad, carbon, and gave a double dose of that API stress coat +. I have not tested the nitrates yet. Just realised that.

 

[Wyomingite]

From the tone of yer post, I'm assumin' no deaths? Everybody startin' to perk up? Sounds to me like yer outta the woods.

WYite

 

[Kribensis]

And the kribs being the most shy fish. I think them coming to the front glass begging for frozen baby shrimp is my beat sign. Wow, never thought I'd get so scared over losing fish like that. My wife said "ahhhhh" and laughed at me now that everyone is running around again. Water still don't seam as clear as it should to me. But I know it will get better. Tank you everyone for all your help, insight, and support on our Milk issue. Thank you all

 

[Hobgob]

You should try hatching some shrimp for them. My kribs love it, especially the fry

 

[Kribensis]

You should try hatching some shrimp for them. My kribs love it, especially the fry

How do I go about that. Is love to feed them better food then the frozen baby shrimp cubes.

I know this is going a bit off topic. But it looks like my water and fish are doing a lot better. One of I guess girls with the real red and purple belly's have one side with her dark colored belly and on the ther side its real dark but she has a strip of black vertical from the belly to the top fin. Is that normal?

 

[Hobgob]

How do I go about that. Is love to feed them better food then the frozen baby shrimp cubes.

I know this is going a bit off topic. But it looks like my water and fish are doing a lot better. One of I guess girls with the real red and purple belly's have one side with her dark colored belly and on the ther side its real dark but she has a strip of black vertical from the belly to the top fin. Is that normal?

The veryical strip comes when they are stressed. The horizontal line with disappear and the vertical ones come out. I always thought they looked like dots... And you can you to a lfs and buy a hatchery or just make you own. All you need is a pop bottle, air pump, salt, and eggs. If you google how to make you own brine shrimp hatchery you will get tons or ideas. Put in one tablespoon of salt per quart of water. One quart is basically a liter so you can just put in one tablespoon per liter. You need a light on your hatchery. The light will heat up the water do they hatch faster. They are also attracted to the light...

 

[Kribensis]

Off topic. Anyone have int insight into breeding kribensis? Out of the 6. I think I have 2 paired up couples. Meaning 2 different girls that have there favorite flowerpot and 2 boys that I saw facing off at eachother.