Help!!! Perimeters out of control

[cmac78]

I have a 125 setup with fluval fx5 and hob filter... In the tank was 18" silver arawana (dead now), 2 18" tiger shovelnose, 2 12" oscars, 18" clown knife..and 18" pleco...did about 25% water change and had an ammonia spike...lost my arawana ..ever since I've checked perimeters and they are all high...quit feeding cause they weren't eating and breathing heavy..then my tiger got hungry and tried to eat clown knife..now my knife fish is beat up and the perimeters are going crazy now they r all high..what do u recommend..knife fish is struggling and bad water is not going to help...my tank has been setup for over a year..

 

[Teakwood]

I have a 125 setup with fluval fx5 and hob filter... In the tank was 18" silver arawana (dead now), 2 18" tiger shovelnose, 2 12" oscars, 18" clown knife..and 18" pleco...did about 25% water change and had an ammonia spike...lost my arawana ..ever since I've checked perimeters and they are all high...quit feeding cause they weren't eating and breathing heavy..then my tiger got hungry and tried to eat clown knife..now my knife fish is beat up and the perimeters are going crazy now they r all high..what do u recommend..knife fish is struggling and bad water is not going to help...my tank has been setup for over a year..

Lots of water changes and use prime, read the bottle it has instructions on how it can help detoxify nitrites also. Treat in like a fish-in mini cycle I suppose.

 

[cmac78]

Ok...Ima try that...wish me luck

 

[Candiceg]

Teakwood is right water changes! But I would think about rehoming half of them. Too many that's why your parameters are out of whack.

 

[Teakwood]

Ok...Ima try that...wish me luck

Good luck!

 

[cmac78]

I've done 25% daily...still having spikes. Only have 96 inches of fish in 125 gallons of water, thought 1 inch per gallon was ok...they grow rapidly though...in the process of getting bigger tank..400 gallons. Kinda hard to rehome considering there size...had these fish for 2 yrs..went from 55 gallons to 90, now in 125, waiting for Christmas I'm getting 400 gallon...the growth rate is rediculus..having to go bigger again...hopefully this will be permanent home...just don't want to loose no more...done lost my arawana...they were healthy as could be before the water change then all hell broke lose....Idk.

 

[Candiceg]

Good luck with your fish. 1 in per gallon is a myth. You have to take into consideration the huge bio load of your extra large fish. 125 in of minnows is a lot different then 125 in of oscars and plecos. Otherwise they will get stunted. That's great you have room for a 400 gallon tank. They will be so happy. What is the ammonia level now? I would probably do a 75% wc right away then retest.

 

[cmac78]

Scared to do 75% water change...that will take all BB that I have out...I think that's what started this...my tank was fine till I did routine wc...only bout 30 to 40%..that's when perimeters went crazy...I'm gonna go try that prime first to try to build BB back up I'm guessing...water changes only bringing them down for a short period then back up it goes.

 

[Teakwood]

Scared to do 75% water change...that will take all BB that I have out...I think that's what started this...my tank was fine till I did routine wc...only bout 30 to 40%..that's when perimeters went crazy...I'm gonna go try that prime first to try to build BB back up I'm guessing...water changes only bringing them down for a short period then back up it goes.

You will probably need to do daily water changes to keep the levels safe, the good thing is since all the numbers go back up you still have good bacteria doing its job. It could have been a silly issue like for getting to put in dechlorinator or changing to much filter media at once or something that caused the spike. Look up fish-in cycle and do daily water changes to keep levels down as much as you can. There isn't much bacteria in the water, its in the filter media so if you shut off your filter during water changes, add dechlorinator then add the water(or what ever your method is) then wait 20ish min to turn the filter back on so all the water is dechlorintated before running through your filter. You should should be fine. Definitely get the numbers down the bacteria will be fine.

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Water changes only help your parameters they don't harm your filters bacteria. You need to do large water changes. Not doing enough of them in a way overstocked tank is the cause. How many water changes had you done during the last year before all this started?

Remember, if you're adding tap water directly into the tank you need to add enough water conditioner for the whole 125 gallon tank, not just the amount needed for the new water. That can be important. A second filter would be a good idea. With that much biomass it can only help the system.

 

[Candiceg]

You BB Lives in your filters not much in the water at all. Don't be scared. Right now your water is toxic. Last week I did a 100% water change in both my tanks because I wanted to rearrange furniture. I think your tank crashed because your BB could not keep up with the huge bioload your fish produce. Just be sure to use Prime. Have you tested the levels yet?

 

[cmac78]

I have did atleast 50 water changes in the last yr... I appreciate all the info..Ima just keep doin water changes daily with the prime..have to go to petsmart and get some prime...I use just stress coat from Walmart....ordering a gallon of prime now.....never used prime...hope this helps my problem..once again thanks...

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Prime really is the best. 50 water changes is pretty awesome. That's very good to hear. I go 75% water changes all the time (like yesterday) and even with sensitive shrimp everything turns out fine.

For a tank as large as your next one Seachem Safe is a good alternative. It's just a super concentrated dry version of Prime. People use it as a far cheaper Prime product for ponds and large tanks. You'll be great with the liquid for your current tank but for a 400 you'll save a ton of dough and be using the exact same treatment chemicals.

If you have any old pictures of your fish could you post them? Not many people have such epic animals in their tanks where I live. It'd be awesome to see them.

 

[cmac78]

Arawana bout 3 months ago

 

[cmac78]

Tiger shovelnose eating my jack dempsey ...this fish is a beast

 

[CorallineAlgae]

Amazing camera work. Thanks for posting. That arawana reminds me of Trapjaw from He-Man.

 

[Candiceg]

Wow great pics those fish are huge

 

[cmac78]

This is the damage on my clown knife when the tiger tried to eat him..they r seperated now