New having Loaches... please help!!!

[StepOnMe187]

Hello,

I was wondering if you can help me with a few questions since I am a new clown loach owner.

1st, I recently took over my friends 55 gallon tank and transported all fish and tank to my apartment in Naugatuck CT. At first, The fish were fine and happily swimming but I noticed that latley their skin color decreased and it looks paleish. I was wondering what that is from and how I fix it. I have an air filter and heater in the tank along with and an aqua turf filtration system and a huge tunnel log that they love to hide in. I also have a catfish and a silver dollar fish that are fine. I am not sure if its the water from Naugatuck, Since they were previously in Ansonia, CT. I also added "ready start" or whatever it is when you first start out a fishtank. Any ideas would help.

also...

2nd, What type of fish can I buy that wouldn't be a problem for them to mix with. Such as Oscars... Etc?

Thank you so much for your time

[angelfish83]

Well... all of that doesn't matter at this point since, I'm very sorry to say, your fish are going to die, except perhaps the silver dollar, which shouldn't be kept alone anyways.

There are two reasons your fish are acting strangely: 1, you probably didn't acclimate them to the different water chemistry in your new town and 2, you didn't transfer any old media over or cycle the tank. it also sounds like you don't know what biological filtration is- so basically, your fish have ammonia poisoning now.

The only way you can save yourself at this point is to get a very large amount of fully cycled filter media and gravel and ornaments from an other established tank and put them in your tank, and also to use something such as Amquel to convert your ammonia into ammonium until your biofilter works it out.

[shari2]

Hi

It's a 55gallon, right? Few questions:
How many fish are in it? What kind? 'catfish' is pretty generic...lots of catfish...
Is it a totally new filter?
What temp is the tank?
Have you tested the water for pH, ammonia, nitrites or nitrates?
How long have the fish been in it?
How long has it been set up?
What is in there other than fish? Any snails, shrimp, etc?
What are you feeding and how often?
What is your maintenance schedule?
Have you been keeping fish long?

Stuff like this will help us help you.

[StepOnMe187]

Okay...

First, Thank you both for your responses

Heres the answers to your questions...

How many fish are in it? What kind? Right now I have One silver dollar, Im getting more tomorrow.... 3 Clown Loaches and One big catfish, Im really not sure of the type. All i know is hes all black and cute. lol

Is it a totally new filter? Yes its a brand new filter. We ran the tank by itself for one week before we put the fish in.

What temp is the tank? Between 70-75 regulating with the heater.

Have you tested the water for pH, ammonia, nitrites or nitrates? Yes and all is fine... Actually everything is high score.

How long have the fish been in it? Aprox 2 weeks now.

How long has it been set up? 3 weeks (a week prior)

What is in there other than fish? Any snails, shrimp, etc? No other snails or shrip. They have 2 tunnels... One little and one big that they love.

What are you feeding and how often? According to their previous owner, They were only fed twice a day everyday. Which was Shrimp pellets and flake food. That feeding schedule has been going on for 6 years now.

What is your maintenance schedule? Weekly

Have you been keeping fish long? Yes

Now in regards to the fish dying... I don't think it would go that far. The fish are still very active and there are no signs of sickness except the fact they lost ALITTLE color. Its not like they are pale pale or WHITE but it's a fading color. So far so good

Again, Thank you for your help!!! Its really appretiated! I know I spelt that wrong.

-Stephanie

[StepOnMe187]

Oooh also....

We did do half old water and half new water just so the fish would adjust alittle easier.

[shari2]

Where did you get the 'old' water from? Do you have another tank? If so, you could maybe 'borrow' some of the filter media from there to jump start your new filter on this tank. Running a tank for a week with nothing in it does nothing to develop a bioload or begin the cycling process.

Clowns do this thing we call 'greying out'. Usually when they are involved in territorial, food fights or king of the pod type struggles. The color comes back quickly once the dispute is over. Are they staying faded looking to you or is this a come and go type thing?

I also think that saying 'your fish are going die' is a little premature, but angelfish is known for his dramatic statements...

My main concern would be to determine that you do not end up with a newly cycling tank.

When you say,

Yes and all is fine... Actually everything is high score

that worries me. Ideally, you want water 'scores' on test kits to be low, not high.

Also 70-75 is too cold for clowns and you could end up with a bad case of ick. Clowns prefer temps in the 80's and too low temps could easily bring on an outbreak. They also may be less active because of the low temperature.

How large are the clowns? You say they are about 6 years old? Sorry for all the questions. It would probably help if you could post a pic for us. It's difficult to describe appearances of fish accurately.

[StepOnMe187]

Sorry when I said the test scores are high... I didnt mean it the way it came out. I meant it as in A to F grade. But now ideally I passed with flying colors on the tests and they are low.

I used the water from the tank the fish were previously in for years.

The fading on the clowns come and go. Its not a deep white but sometimes they look whiter than they were and so on for getting darker.

and no no no questions are good!!!! LOL Your helping me alot and I appretiate it. I will definatly post pictures up soon. Im in Stratford now and the fish are in Naugatuck so unfortunatly it won't be today

But again THANK YOU!!!! If you need to ask anything, please do so. I don't bite

[angelfish83]

Dude. You didn't cycle your tank. Taking water from an old tank brings extremely little bacteria. Thats done more than anything to avoid 'the bends' from having too much nitrogen in fresh out the tap water. this is eliminated by letting the tank sit fishless for a day.

"My water tests passed with flying colors or A-F grade" isn't really saying anything. You must learn what ammonia nitrite and nitrate are, what nitrification is and how it works.

Your fish might die they might not, regardless, it is a proven scientific fact that exposing fish to ammonia and nitrite for any length of time permanently damages them particularly in that their gill tissue becomes swollen as a reaction and makes it more difficult for them to breathe (kinda like giving them asthma) for the rest of their lives.