I first set up my 25 gallon aquarium in December, and have had several problems. I originally ignorantly stocked it too quickly, and ended up with ammonia issues which were likely responsible for a few fish deaths. I added a red tailed black shark before the tank was properly cycled, and he died after a few days.
Now two months later, I am fully cycled (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, low nitrate, 6.5 pH). I have had no issues lately other than slight green cloudiness which has gotten better over the last few weeks. A brown algae problem I had while the tank was cycling is now pretty much entirely gone.
I added another red tailed black shark (I know some will say that 25 gallons is too small for them, but others say it's fine; also I will probably get a larger tank in a couple years when I move to a bigger place so if the shark's getting big by then; fine).
In the 5 days I had him, I never saw him eat, though he looked active and hid in a hollowed out log the rest of the time (though he did sometimes go up an hide behind the filter at the top, which annoyed me).
This morning I found him dead for no reason. I had been assuming he had been foraging around eating from the bottom, etc. And either way 5 days without food shouldn't kill a fish. My readings are still ideal (as mentioned above) so I have no idea what could have killed this one. I think he was hiding behind the filter before he died (I found him laying upside down dead right below it), something he didn't starting doing much until yesterday; before that he always preferred the hollowed out log.
The food I use is flake food, and sometimes baby shrimp. I know red tailed black sharks like stuff like algae wafers sometimes, but didn't think it as a requirement, especially in such a short 5 day timeframe.
The ONLY sign (aside from not having seen him eat) of anything bad going on was that he had a little scrape on one side, as if he scraped against an ornament or something. Other than that he was pretty dark black with bright red tail, even his dead carcass (while slightly lighter black) still looked 'healthy', other than the fact that it was a carcass.
Nothing else odd other than preferring for some reason the behind-filter niche in his final hours.
He shared the tank with two 'painted' tetras, 3 red eye tetras, two guppies, and 7 guppy fry in a breeding net (not sure if this is related, but they are growing VERY slowly.... after almost two months, the longest ones are barely over a centimeter in length). Nobody else shows any signs of trouble.
Any ideas??? This is very frustrating.
Now two months later, I am fully cycled (0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, low nitrate, 6.5 pH). I have had no issues lately other than slight green cloudiness which has gotten better over the last few weeks. A brown algae problem I had while the tank was cycling is now pretty much entirely gone.
I added another red tailed black shark (I know some will say that 25 gallons is too small for them, but others say it's fine; also I will probably get a larger tank in a couple years when I move to a bigger place so if the shark's getting big by then; fine).
In the 5 days I had him, I never saw him eat, though he looked active and hid in a hollowed out log the rest of the time (though he did sometimes go up an hide behind the filter at the top, which annoyed me).
This morning I found him dead for no reason. I had been assuming he had been foraging around eating from the bottom, etc. And either way 5 days without food shouldn't kill a fish. My readings are still ideal (as mentioned above) so I have no idea what could have killed this one. I think he was hiding behind the filter before he died (I found him laying upside down dead right below it), something he didn't starting doing much until yesterday; before that he always preferred the hollowed out log.
The food I use is flake food, and sometimes baby shrimp. I know red tailed black sharks like stuff like algae wafers sometimes, but didn't think it as a requirement, especially in such a short 5 day timeframe.
The ONLY sign (aside from not having seen him eat) of anything bad going on was that he had a little scrape on one side, as if he scraped against an ornament or something. Other than that he was pretty dark black with bright red tail, even his dead carcass (while slightly lighter black) still looked 'healthy', other than the fact that it was a carcass.
Nothing else odd other than preferring for some reason the behind-filter niche in his final hours.
He shared the tank with two 'painted' tetras, 3 red eye tetras, two guppies, and 7 guppy fry in a breeding net (not sure if this is related, but they are growing VERY slowly.... after almost two months, the longest ones are barely over a centimeter in length). Nobody else shows any signs of trouble.
Any ideas??? This is very frustrating.
