Menagerie
Aquarium Advice Addict
Okay, I have had it!!! We just lost our fourth cichlid in five weeks in the QT tank and she was not even sick!!! I’ll start from the beginning; keep in mind EVERY TIME we test the water the readings are normal—temp 78, undetectable levels of ammonia and pH 7.2. The QT tank is five gal with a HOB filter, which is in storage when not in use. When the QT tank is needed, water from the 80 gal is used. This little tank had been great while we lived in Idaho; we even raised a brood of cichlid fry.
First fish— L. caeruleus (Lemon Yellow cichlid) that was mouth brooding. She died after being in the tank for 24 hours with her mouth open. I researched lockjaw in cichlids and found it did occur. It was sad; all her fry had been spit out and were dead on the bottom of the tank. The fry were NOT ready to be on their own. The only new thing in the tank was a clay pot we had put in for cover.
Second fish—8-month-old cichlid baby. This little guy had been living in the community tank, but had gotten ick. He was being treated with Super Ick Cure (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) in the QT tank with the clay pot for shelter. He died after being in the tank over night. The ick was not that bad.
Third fish— H. bimaculatus (Jewel cichlid) that was the smallest fish in the 80 gal. She had been looking stressed and had some torn fins, so we wanted her to recover in peace. I do not believe she lasted the night in the QT tank. My fiancé and I blamed the clay pot. We figured everyone must know something we don’t know about clay pots. The clay pot was removed.
Problem solved right? WRONG!
Fourth fish--A couple of weeks ago we bought a beautiful 3.5" docile calico cichlid with a subterminal mouth. She was an impulse buy, but we knew we had/could find space for her. She was too docile for the 80 gal, so we put her in the 29 gal, knowing we are upgrading to a 50 soon. On Friday (Feb 13) I got tired of watching the cories cowering in the corner of the tank. She had done no harm to the other fish, but we decided to remove her and placed her in the QT tank with rocks from the 80 gal. On Sunday morning, she was dead under the rocks.
Does anyone have any idea what was wrong with the QT tank? My fiancé was wondering about the activated charcoal in the filter—perhaps some toxin(s) from the clay pot was absorbed by the carbon, and then leached back out when the tank was setup again, thus killing the calico cichlid. The old filter was a small Whisper HOB from Tetra, and we had been using the same bio-bag insert (w/ carbon) throughout all of these mishaps (allowing it to dry in between setups). How do you store your QT tanks when not in use? I know some of you keep your QT tanks running with a fish all the time, but we don’t have that much room. By the way, are clay pots safe to use in aquariums?
We have since changed the entire filter (Topfin HOB w/ new bio-bag w/ carbon) and placed in a very HEALTHY tetra to cycle the QT tank last night and he is doing well. Our P. socolofi is looking gravid, and after spawning in (likely) a few weeks she will be removed from the 80 gal to raise her fry in peace.
First fish— L. caeruleus (Lemon Yellow cichlid) that was mouth brooding. She died after being in the tank for 24 hours with her mouth open. I researched lockjaw in cichlids and found it did occur. It was sad; all her fry had been spit out and were dead on the bottom of the tank. The fry were NOT ready to be on their own. The only new thing in the tank was a clay pot we had put in for cover.
Second fish—8-month-old cichlid baby. This little guy had been living in the community tank, but had gotten ick. He was being treated with Super Ick Cure (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.) in the QT tank with the clay pot for shelter. He died after being in the tank over night. The ick was not that bad.
Third fish— H. bimaculatus (Jewel cichlid) that was the smallest fish in the 80 gal. She had been looking stressed and had some torn fins, so we wanted her to recover in peace. I do not believe she lasted the night in the QT tank. My fiancé and I blamed the clay pot. We figured everyone must know something we don’t know about clay pots. The clay pot was removed.
Problem solved right? WRONG!
Fourth fish--A couple of weeks ago we bought a beautiful 3.5" docile calico cichlid with a subterminal mouth. She was an impulse buy, but we knew we had/could find space for her. She was too docile for the 80 gal, so we put her in the 29 gal, knowing we are upgrading to a 50 soon. On Friday (Feb 13) I got tired of watching the cories cowering in the corner of the tank. She had done no harm to the other fish, but we decided to remove her and placed her in the QT tank with rocks from the 80 gal. On Sunday morning, she was dead under the rocks.
Does anyone have any idea what was wrong with the QT tank? My fiancé was wondering about the activated charcoal in the filter—perhaps some toxin(s) from the clay pot was absorbed by the carbon, and then leached back out when the tank was setup again, thus killing the calico cichlid. The old filter was a small Whisper HOB from Tetra, and we had been using the same bio-bag insert (w/ carbon) throughout all of these mishaps (allowing it to dry in between setups). How do you store your QT tanks when not in use? I know some of you keep your QT tanks running with a fish all the time, but we don’t have that much room. By the way, are clay pots safe to use in aquariums?
We have since changed the entire filter (Topfin HOB w/ new bio-bag w/ carbon) and placed in a very HEALTHY tetra to cycle the QT tank last night and he is doing well. Our P. socolofi is looking gravid, and after spawning in (likely) a few weeks she will be removed from the 80 gal to raise her fry in peace.