Vacation did some damage.....

[ICEnVy]

Ok so I am not sure exactly what is wrong, but when I got back from my 3 days trip half my fish had lost almost ALL their color and you could see through them..... Everything looks a lot less healthy too. I got them an automatic feeder, but I am not sure if it worked good enough- OR somehow the temp was at 72* when I got home (who knows if it got colder). Then I was wondering if maybe it was because of all the big pwc?
They wouldnt eat at first when I tried to feed them either, but now they will and color is coming back a little. I tested the levels and everything is just perfect except my Nitrates are still at 20. What might be wrong? What should I do?

 

[alaher2]

The Nitrates are way too high, that could definitely be a source of the problem. The problem with the automatic feeder is it doesn't scoop out all of the excess food and that would cause a spike in nitrates as well. But you say the big pwc, what do you mean by that?

 

[Hara]

I would think the pale coloration is due to cold water. nitrates at 20 will not affect the fish in that manner. It isnt good, but 20 isnt deadly to fish either. Fish should not be fed when the water is cold. Their metabolism slows way down and they cannot digest the food.

 

[ICEnVy]

Ok, so it was probably the cold water. I was doing large pwc cause my nitrates were at like 80 for awhile and I wanted to get them lower quick. I was doing a 40-50% pwc weekly for 4 weeks and then an extra one before I left.

 

[melosu58]

I have to agree with the temp being the problem. 72 degrees and we really dont know how low it got.

 

[roka64]

Are your heater/s working?

 

[stevefromga2000]

instead of doing a PWC so big only once a week, try doing a few smaller ones multiple times during the week. try doing something like 10% to 15% 3 times a week. that should help control your nitrates also.

 

[ICEnVy]

ok awesome thanks for the advice on the pwc and nitrates. My heater seems to be broken..... its constantly on.

 

[melosu58]

instead of doing a PWC so big only once a week, try doing a few smaller ones multiple times during the week. try doing something like 10% to 15% 3 times a week. that should help control your nitrates also.

This is a pretty good idea.

 

[ferretttt]

This is why I found someone who was skilled in Saltwater tanks to watch mine when I went away!

If anything went wrong, I think it would have been covered.