TheManichaean
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Part 1:
Last night, I knew my Hillstream Loach had died. I held him in my hands, rigid and unmoving. My wife and I just moved the tank to our new home, and he seemed to have died from the trauma.
We'd raised the little guy over two years from the size of a tack's head to just shy of a silver dollar. I was ready to bury him, but she said "No, just put him in the tank. Maybe he'll be OK." I watched him float down the tank, lifeless, and I had to turn away.
This morning, my wife woke me up at 5am...and he's alive! It's like nothing happened at all, he's just chilling out on the wall, acting cool as usual! YEAH!
Part 2:
Ok on a more serious note, I need help. This is my first aquarium move, and it didn't go so well. The tank is two years old, and we've had no problems (well there was an overly hungry botia loach...) up until now. I followed the advice I found on this site and in my books, but I still lost fish.
The move for the equipment was fine, but my fish started dying in the bucket. I filled a five gallon bucket with tank water, and I gently netted the fish into it. While we finished the setup and move, I kept the bucket in warm, dark areas and left a loose, dark bag over the top to keep them calm.
Approximately 2 hours after entering the bucket, fish started dying. I lost 1 Congo Tetra, 2 Bloodfin Tetras, one Australian Rainbow, and (so I thought) my Hillstream Loach. All told, tank setup was complete and fish replaced into the tank 3 hours after entering the bucket.
Realizing the serious problems my fish were having, I made the decision to put them directly into the tank, without testing levels. I decided that ANY tank condition would be better than the bucket disaster.
Happily, this morning in the tank, the fish seem fine.
Please, I need some frank criticism--I' don't ever want to watch them die in a bucket again.
Possible mistakes:
1. Too many fish in one five gallon bucket: I knew 5 gallons was small, but I figured that this group of peaceful community fish would be fine for a couple hours.
2. No heater: I maintain my tank at 78 Fahrenheit, but I didn't put a heater in the bucket. I kept it away from cold windows, but I was concerned about putting a 100-gallon rated heater in a 5 gallon bucket. I thought it could much more easily cook the fish than keep them alive.
3. Chemicals in bucket: I usually use small 2.5 gal buckets for tank work, but I bought these 5 gallon buckets yesterday from Home Depot. They looked clean and I rinsed them out in the shower, but maybe I didn't clean them enough.
Any help is appreciated.
Last night, I knew my Hillstream Loach had died. I held him in my hands, rigid and unmoving. My wife and I just moved the tank to our new home, and he seemed to have died from the trauma.
We'd raised the little guy over two years from the size of a tack's head to just shy of a silver dollar. I was ready to bury him, but she said "No, just put him in the tank. Maybe he'll be OK." I watched him float down the tank, lifeless, and I had to turn away.
This morning, my wife woke me up at 5am...and he's alive! It's like nothing happened at all, he's just chilling out on the wall, acting cool as usual! YEAH!
Part 2:
Ok on a more serious note, I need help. This is my first aquarium move, and it didn't go so well. The tank is two years old, and we've had no problems (well there was an overly hungry botia loach...) up until now. I followed the advice I found on this site and in my books, but I still lost fish.
The move for the equipment was fine, but my fish started dying in the bucket. I filled a five gallon bucket with tank water, and I gently netted the fish into it. While we finished the setup and move, I kept the bucket in warm, dark areas and left a loose, dark bag over the top to keep them calm.
Approximately 2 hours after entering the bucket, fish started dying. I lost 1 Congo Tetra, 2 Bloodfin Tetras, one Australian Rainbow, and (so I thought) my Hillstream Loach. All told, tank setup was complete and fish replaced into the tank 3 hours after entering the bucket.
Realizing the serious problems my fish were having, I made the decision to put them directly into the tank, without testing levels. I decided that ANY tank condition would be better than the bucket disaster.
Happily, this morning in the tank, the fish seem fine.
Please, I need some frank criticism--I' don't ever want to watch them die in a bucket again.
Possible mistakes:
1. Too many fish in one five gallon bucket: I knew 5 gallons was small, but I figured that this group of peaceful community fish would be fine for a couple hours.
2. No heater: I maintain my tank at 78 Fahrenheit, but I didn't put a heater in the bucket. I kept it away from cold windows, but I was concerned about putting a 100-gallon rated heater in a 5 gallon bucket. I thought it could much more easily cook the fish than keep them alive.
3. Chemicals in bucket: I usually use small 2.5 gal buckets for tank work, but I bought these 5 gallon buckets yesterday from Home Depot. They looked clean and I rinsed them out in the shower, but maybe I didn't clean them enough.
Any help is appreciated.
