help me... i need help so fast :(

[mattrox]

Copper cold water pipes are usually not so much of a problem. It is when you have copper hot water pipes and bring your pwc water up to temp with hot water that problems can occur.

Don't worry about a high pH too much. Concentrate on getting your tank settled.... WHat value of pH do you have anyway?

And the tank is roughly 50 U.S. gallons.

 

[DeFeKt]

not usually no, but if they're decayed cold or hot, u have a huge problem that needs to be addressed by the council or home owner..just a thought anyway..

 

[purple]

WELL..... well.... welll..... now this is very interesting

OK... well firstly no i dont live in a fibro home defekt it is made of brick and btw i am in sunny qld.

Now, what has happened over the last few days is nothing... no more losses the ph is now finally accurate and the fish that were looking a bit unwell have made a good recovery... all in all i lost 6 including my goldfish.

What i found very interesting was the talk about copper pipes and coins. My tank has a hood and glass top so the fly spray isnt an issue, however, i found something in the gravel yesterday... i was sitting staring into the tank and checking out all my babies when i noticed a coil of metal just sitting there!!! covered in RUST!!!! it was about 3cm coiled and old and rusty and just there!!! i have no idea how it got in there... or for how long it was there but i am assuming it was in the new gravel i added and it escaped my attention when i washed it.............. NOW, what do you think ????

 

[greenmaji]

the rust would be iron and I dont think that would cause your ph to go up.. anyway.. Ph is not something a beginner should be tinkering with.. actually experienced hobbiests dont tinker with it at all.. that should tell you something.. as long as the water is not Draino your ph is not way too high, you didnt slip some draino in there did you?lol, so please stop with this lowering the ph business. how high is this ph number that your lowering anyway.. I have kept soft water fish..ie angles in water that had a ph of 8.7-8.8 beat that..LOL, you wouldnt like the hardness numbers either by the way, they did fine.. no illness at all.. granted I wasnt spawning them but that isnt the point they didnt get sick and die on me.. that is the point..enough of this rant..
glass hoods dont keep something like fly spray out of your tank by the way.. it will get into the water period, it is dissolved into the air.. unless you have a hepa filter setting near by.. so dont use it around the tank..ok..

 

[purple]

Oh far out greenmagi.... your horse may be way to high for you and you may fall off so watch it

For ONE because there are things i dont know the name of and because i came looking for help you keep referring to me as a novice who shouldnt be messing around with fish in the first place.... gosh, one would almost think you use your superior knowledge to put people down and make them feel foolish in this forum rather than actually help anyone!! maybe you should learn a bit of diplomacy i say that with a smile.

AND why dont you learn to read properly i didnt say i had a glass hood i said i had a HOOD and a GLASS top... a glass top... then a hood made of solid wood.... and incidentally i am not stoopid enough to use fly spray around any fish tank in the first place!!



There seem to be some really nice and helpful people on this forum .... thanks to them for helping me

 

[purple]

NOW.... helpful people.. i am trying to think of what actually caused the problem in the first place.

Constant water changes and broad spectrum meds without the carbon seemed to be the healer.

As i have said, the amonia levels were always clear the only thing that wasnt constant was the ph which is now ok. The water temps were always constant on 26.

I had discovered the metal coil in the water covered in rust which apparantly wouldnt do much to the environment anyhow (thanks greenmagi )

I did however.... add a common pleco to the tank a day before the sh!! hit the fan.... i had completely forgotten this until i saw it the other day... so that can be now added to the equation. I haven't taken it out because all seems to be well now.

COME on guys.... throw some ideas at me as to what could have caused the outbreak of deaths. Throw them nicely without force puhlease.......

 

[greenmaji]

It might have been a combination of things that brought the rant on but your right it was a bit forceful..ph needs to be stable.. thats it.
big fluctuations in PH could have caused this belive it or not..

 

[purple]

I believe it greenmagi i so want to rebuild my tank now but am hesitant without knowing exactly what the problem was.. and sorry about the horse being to high comment

 

[DeFeKt]

... i was sitting staring into the tank and checking out all my babies when i noticed a coil of metal just sitting there!!! covered in RUST!!!! it was about 3cm coiled and old and rusty and just there!!!

I'd put money on that being ur problem.
Any sort of Corrosion is BAD. espicially the oxides that form on metals and alloys such as copper, steel, aluminium, cast iron etc.
Iron is not to bad, but the Oxide is.
(I'm a Metal Engineer/Fabricator/Welder by trade)

Oh far out greenmagi.... your horse may be way to high for you and you may fall off so watch it

and LOL @ THAT!!

 

[dream_bc]

Yup I agree there are too many factors to nail this one down.

If you want to rebuild your tank now, just do it slowly so that if something goes wrong you know where to point the finger.

What type of fish are living in your tank now? Any thought on what you would like to buy to put in there? And just as a warning. Everyone on this board has very different opinions as to what can live with what and you will probably get a couple people telling you that such and such cant go with such and such. Thats just a heads up. If everyone here knew what was getting along in my tank I think they would faint (For the record I am adding that goldfish are not a good idea)

 

[dream_bc]

.as

 

[BillD]

I disagreee with only 20% to 25% pwc is enough when you have high levels. I generally do much larger (50% to 75%) changes then that. I have never had problems from changing to much water, but have from not changing enough. I also never test.

 

[purple]

Hi defekt thanks for that, the logical side of my brain was telling me that corroding metal could atually cause a bad fish reaction.

Hi Sherrilee, i have added some fish and actually do want some advice about it.. I added two electric yellow cichlids and a Lombardi, i have some tetras a rather large angel (who was a survivor from the original problem) a clown loach and a common pleco.

What is worrying me a little is yesterday i saw the Lombardi and one of the yellows fighting over a tetra. They had it in their mouth and the yellow did win the fight and swam around with this little tetra in its mouth for a good hour or so before letting it go (it was still alive and is still alive now).

I realise that these fish will grow and consume other fish and i just figured it as part of a natural process, wouldnt hurt me to much to lose a few tetras BUT now i am scared they will grow and eat my angel :?

I dont know that they will, but i still have my old tank and will set it up for the angel at the first sign of trouble i guess.

I admit though, i am really in lurve with the Lombardi and those two spunky little yellows

Everything is perfect again in my tank btw.... two weeks now and no losses.

 

[dream_bc]

Hey Purple!

I have never owned a Lombardi so I actually wont be able to help you too much with him. As for the cichlids...
definitely watch out for your Angel fish if you are worried about him. There are some gorgous cichlids out there but they will definitely eat your fish.

Rather then moving your angel fish, maybe if they get bad you can start a cichlid tank, it sounds like the Lombardi would handel himself good in there.

If your cichlids do take out your tetras and you move your angel fish, then if you go buy more fish, you might want to stick to more cichlids.

The first cichlids I ever bought never touched any other fish in my tank, so maybe you will get lucky and have a happy tank! If you want to add more now, just an FYI, clown loaches like a friend. I have two weather loaches, they are great too. They look kind of snake like and are really friendly.

Sherrilee

 

[purple]

aww.. thanks sherrilee, do you think clown loaches will get along with cichlids?? cause if so i will get a friend for my loner

 

[dream_bc]

Im not 100% sure, but personaly, Id do it.

 

[oscarbreeder]

I would suggest doing alot of research on the type of fish you want instead of just going out and getting a fish. Yellow labs are African cichlids from lake Malawi and require totaly different water perameters then your other fish.

Not trying to sound nasty here just a heads up...

 

[purple]

No worries i have the water at a 7.5 ph level ph which is the lowest for the lombardi and yellows and depending on which web site you are looking at pretty ok for the clown loach.. would it be beneficial to maybe lower the ph just a little bit?

 

[BillD]

In my opinion it is best to stay away from playing with pH. It is better to maintain a steady pH, what ever that may be, rather than trying to alter it and then trying to maintain a steady, unnatural pH for your water. There are some cases where you might need to, but for the vast majority of cases, it is better not to start.