AJ was actually an all white fish (except for their eyes when I got them), but their fins are turning red. Batty's slime coat is all cloudy. They were both fine at first, loving the tank, swimming all over the place. Now they sit on the bottom all the time. They still eat. When they rarely come up, they flash against things like they're trying to scratch. There are two small plecos in the tank as well, but they both look and act normal.
Originally I just had AJ. When I finally put the tank together, I rinsed the pebbles for a bit in a strainer. All the shells, the red (lava?) rock, and the piece of driftwood I boiled for over half an hour before I added them. I added Batty and the plecos a couple days later. A couple weeks after that I finally got a hood because the cats wouldn't leave the tank alone. I would leave the light on the hood on during the day, and turn it off at night when I went to bed.
We're about 3 weeks in from that point. The brown, moldish looking stuff on the sand dollars on the left side started creeping up slowly after about a week with the hood. It's just steadily gotten worse. Then I noticed the red on AJ's fins about a week and a half ago, which has also steadily gotten worse. For the last week, AJ and Batty have just been mainly staying on the bottom, hiding under shells.
After reading through some of the threads, I already know some of the questions that might be asked. No, I haven't tested the water, I don't have any test strips and won't have the money to get any til I get paid next Friday. There is a filter, a tetra whisper, for an up to 30 gal tank. The tank they're in now is a 29 gal, but I have a 55 gal I'm planning to transition them into when I get it cleaned up.
I have panicked at this point, and taken them completely out of the tank because the water changes aren't working and I'm afraid it's going to kill them if I don't get them out of there.
During the short time typing this up, Cali, my most curious of kitties, has managed to fall INTO the tank, hence the reason I can't just leave the hood off.
My guess is it's something with the shells, and closing it with the hood along with the heat from its light, causing this problem, because both the red rock and the driftwood have been used perfectly fine in a previous tank. I don't know what to do to make them tank safe though.
Any helpful advice would be very much appreciated!!
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Originally I just had AJ. When I finally put the tank together, I rinsed the pebbles for a bit in a strainer. All the shells, the red (lava?) rock, and the piece of driftwood I boiled for over half an hour before I added them. I added Batty and the plecos a couple days later. A couple weeks after that I finally got a hood because the cats wouldn't leave the tank alone. I would leave the light on the hood on during the day, and turn it off at night when I went to bed.
We're about 3 weeks in from that point. The brown, moldish looking stuff on the sand dollars on the left side started creeping up slowly after about a week with the hood. It's just steadily gotten worse. Then I noticed the red on AJ's fins about a week and a half ago, which has also steadily gotten worse. For the last week, AJ and Batty have just been mainly staying on the bottom, hiding under shells.
After reading through some of the threads, I already know some of the questions that might be asked. No, I haven't tested the water, I don't have any test strips and won't have the money to get any til I get paid next Friday. There is a filter, a tetra whisper, for an up to 30 gal tank. The tank they're in now is a 29 gal, but I have a 55 gal I'm planning to transition them into when I get it cleaned up.
I have panicked at this point, and taken them completely out of the tank because the water changes aren't working and I'm afraid it's going to kill them if I don't get them out of there.
During the short time typing this up, Cali, my most curious of kitties, has managed to fall INTO the tank, hence the reason I can't just leave the hood off.
My guess is it's something with the shells, and closing it with the hood along with the heat from its light, causing this problem, because both the red rock and the driftwood have been used perfectly fine in a previous tank. I don't know what to do to make them tank safe though.
Any helpful advice would be very much appreciated!!
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