something is wrong with my white tip catfish sharks

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i3k

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
May 1, 2003
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902
Location
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well I'll try to make it brief...i got 4 white tip sharks in my tank along with 1 Gourami and 2 plecos...I've had 2 of the white tips for about 2 years now and the other 2 for about a year...never had any problems with them except occasional ich attacks, but those were not a big deal some aquarisol would always cure it...haven't had any problems with them lately at all...however, about 6 days ago i checked the pH level of my water and it was pretty low test was beraly yellow...even though the fish showed no stress signs or any problems...i decided to start changing the water 5 gallons a day to raise the pH level back up...after about 3 days of changing water the 2 of the white tips started acting a bit weird...they started swimming up to the top of the water for a split second and go back down and they will do this for couple of minutes...i never seen them do this before they always would swim on the bottom unless there was food on top even if they were really hungry they would never swim up top...but that is not what worries me...at night when the lights go off i can see the same two white tips will look like they are hanging from a Christmas tree looks like they standing on their tails and bellies against the glass...also during the day the same two white tips will sometimes go crazy splashing all over like something is irritating their skin or maybe internally...the only thing i would add to the water when I did the partial changes is ammolock 2 and one tablespoon of salt per 5 gallons of water to make it brackish...can the sudden shift in pH level irritate the fish? and make them behave such way? this has been going on for about 3 days and i continue changing 5 gallons every day and add quickcure...so far they are still acting up...i watch them every day to see if they show any other signs of stress/illness...they eat real well all day...none of the fins are clamped against their bodies they swim around and look real healthy other then the weird behavior throughout the day and the way they hang at night...lol i know i promised to keep it short but i want to give as much detail as possible because no one has been able to help me so far from other forums....here are some details on my aquarium if this might help...

45 gallon acrylic
brackish water
Temp: 80 degrees
Power filter for a 60 gallon tank
The aquarium is well aerated

Please email me at giassL3ong@aol.com if you have any advise.
Any help is appreciated.
 
...can the sudden shift in pH level irritate the fish?

Yes, ph should not be changed more than .1 per day.

The aquarium is well aerated

How, the behavior and the low ph would indicate the presence of low oxygen and high CO2. Try increasing surface agitation. By making the water brackish, it will hold less oxygen and more surface agitation and flow are required.
 
Well, I lowered the temp. to 80 degrees and I stopped adding quickcure to my water when doing partial changes. I now only add stress coat, salt, and IntensiveCare "IC" by Aquatronics which releases oxygen. The whie tips are still swimming up to the surface but not as much and they dont hang in the midrange as much. Its been about 6-7 days now since I started changing the water and little progress so far. What is the next step? what is the best and easiest way to increase your surface? and should I stop adding salt with partial water changes for now? lower my PH? thanks for your help.
 
One more quick question...Would a good Fluval Canister Filter with a spray bar provide enough surface agitation?

Thanks
 
I just read a few articles about sudden pH shifts and it says that it will make the fish gasp for air and dash around the aquarium at times. This is what I think is happening to my 4 white tip sharks. The pH was raised by water changes and medication used before all this started happening. If thats the case, what would be the proper thing to do? continue water changes and if so for how long? or transfer the fish somewhere else and let the tank recycle rebuilding the beneficial bacteria...please advise.
Thanks so much all!
 
Would a good Fluval Canister Filter with a spray bar provide enough surface agitation?

Provided the discharge was aimed at the surface...yes it would.

If thats the case, what would be the proper thing to do? continue water changes and if so for how long?

Slow the waterchanges. Have you tested the water to see how the changes are effecting the ph? I don't think 5g per week on a 46g is going to effect it that much...but unless you test, you can't be certain.

or transfer the fish somewhere else and let the tank recycle rebuilding the beneficial bacteria

Is there measurable ammonia and/or nitrites in the tank? If not, there is no need to recycle the tank.
 
Actually I have been changing 5 gallons every day not once a week...and the last two days I changed 25% water a day. My pH is about 7.5 now and I think that is whats irritating the 4 whtie tips and making the swim near the surface. The reason I wanted the tank to recycle is because I used two different medications about two weeks ago and I'm pretty sure it killed most of the beneficial bacteria. Should I lower the pH a bit and if so what is the best and safest way? should I stop the water changes? do I need to move the 4 white tip sharks somewhere else for now? they worry me because every 4-5 minutes they will swim up to the surface and kind of stick their mouth above the surface and dash across the aquarium. The temp. is now 79 degrees and it still looks like they are lacking oxygen. Well any more advise is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Actually I have been changing 5 gallons every day not once a week...

stop the water changes.

My pH is about 7.5 now and I think that is whats irritating the 4 whtie tips and making the swim near the surface.

Hexanematichthys seemanni, do a google search using the scientific name of this fish as your search term. Find out the requirements of this fish, that will tell you whether you need to continue to raise or lower the ph.

The reason I wanted the tank to recycle is because I used two different medications about two weeks ago and I'm pretty sure it killed most of the beneficial bacteria.

The only way to be sure is to test for ammonia and nitrite, if there is none present...you didn't kill off your bacteria.

Do not lower the temp any more, introduce more oxygen into the water via surface agitation. Once we know what conditions these fish require, we can devise a plan on how to get there. Specifically look into the possibility that these fish have a labrynth organ, it is possible that this is actually normal behavior for them.
 
Well I read that this fish requires slightly Alkaline
Temp. required 70-80
It does not say anything about a "labrynth organ"
I've had them for 2 years now and they never showed such behavior before.
I have an airpump for 100gal. aquarium and its pumping thru a 12" wand....should I adjust it and lower the amount of c02 it pumps. Another interesting thing I found out today in the morning...the air wand came up to the top of the water because I guess the fish knocked off the rocks that were holding it down, and the wand was at the surface bubbling on top. The fish seemed better that way when I woke up they were all resting on the bottom more and not hanging by the surface as much...Too much c02??

further advise needed...thank you all for all the help.
 
If the sharks are acting more normal today, I think you might consider holding what you got right now. The wand was not adding CO2 (at least not much) to the tank, simply adding air. Before the bubbler came up, was it dispersing bubbles all thoughout the tank? were you seeing microbubbles floating all over the tank?
 
I checked the tank up close and I only see those micro bubblers on the surface of the water. I didn't do a water change today I left the tank alone for today...however, I did test the water for pH and ammonia. The pH came out about 7.5 and the ammonia came out 0.6...what can be stopping the oxygen from spreading throughout the tank? Should I use some IC = IntensiveCare...instructions say "Oxygen will time release 1-2ppm per each dose over 24 hour period" I also read about the white tip sharks and it says that they do best in slightly alkaline water...what would be slightly alkaline a 6.5 pH?....And another thing, since I stopped using quickcure or any other medication the fish are now glancing against the gravel more often...my temp is 80 degrees right now and I don't want to raise it and suffocate the fish more...what would be the next best thing to do in this situation...Once again I thank you for all the help and advise.

Thanks!
 
The pH came out about 7.5 and the ammonia came out 0.6...what can be stopping the oxygen from spreading throughout the tank?

I think we are getting to the root of the problem. First, the bubbles in the tank are not oxygenating the water, that only takes place at the surface, so don't worry about that and do not add Intensive care.

Here is a little deal about ammonia, below a certain ph, 7 or 6 I think, it is no longer ammonia and no longer toxic to fish, it is ammonium. As ph goes up, the toxicity of the ammonia goes up. Where I was thinking the water needed more aeration, when the aeration was slowed due to the wand being moved...the ph went down slightly and the fish behaved more normally. Ammonia effects the gills and has similar behavioral signs when levels get to high.

So I guess it is time to cycle your tank again. This is my theory and only a theory, I'm gonna try to get some of our FW advisors to look in on this thread today and offer some opinions as well.

my temp is 80 degrees right now and I don't want to raise it and suffocate the fish more...what would be the next best thing to do in this situation

IMO, you can safely raise the temp to about 84*F (slowly, over the course of a couple of days), this should take care of the ick (if there is any), without the use of meds.
 
Thanks so much for the advise...The thing is I have changed the water about 5 times daily and I stopped the water changes 2 days ago...Do I leave the tank alone now and let it cycle or do I add stress coat from time to time to help it cycle a bit faster?...also I tested the pH level today and here are the results...still about 7.5 maybe just slightly lower then 7.5...the white tips do look like their getting back to normal slowly...they no longer swim all the way to the surface and stick their mouth above the water...they do at times swim up to the mid range for a split second and mostly now swimming on the bottom...still eating with aggression since I haven't really fed them much for the past week...but yea it does look like its coming back to normal...any more advice would sure do good =)
thanks a lot reefrunner69 and others for all the help :D
 
Just as something you may want to think about. When things start going wrong, it is not necessarily a good thing to reach for tank additives. Quite often that will confuse the situation and hide what the real problem might be, or even worse, add to the problems.

Changes to your tank water should happen very slowly if possible.
 
Checked the water again today...results are pretty much the same..pH 7.5 or a bit lower...ammonia 0.6

How long should it take for the fish to get back to normal if they were shocked because of sudden pH shift? Will they stop hanging near the surface once the tank cycles and the pH lowers on its own? What is my next step....thanks all!
 
whats up every one...

Well its been about 2 and half weeks since this whole thing started and I havent done any water changes for about 10-11 days....the white tips are improving from what I see...they swim around a lot more and I now see only the biggest one of the white tips handing in the midrange at night but once all the lights go off it settles down on the bottom. I was wondering how much longer should I wait until partial water change. Also, the pH is about 7.2 now and ammonia is still around 0.6 the water is starting to smell a bit but not that much and I was wondering if I should do a 20% water change once a week from now on...thanks for any and all advice.
 
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