Loaches Online Forum

As the water quality improves, I found my pleco...I really don't remember him being this big!


OK so here is some progress:

Wow, those are great pictures, thanks for posting them!

Set up a few test buckets with tap water + dechlor (no other additives) and the items you removed from the tank, perhaps one with just a rainbow rock, one with just a chunk of wood and one with both. Test GH, KH, pH, and all the nitrogens every few days for a week or two, and look for cloudy water....

That foam suggests a protein source. Bubbles that hold together need more than just water in their film. Protein is very good at making stronger bubbles that become foam. The cloudiness could be from any of the following: pH altering materials: Things like pH Up and pH Down can cause extreme cloudi...

Wow, that is cloudy. I'd be doing back to back water changes until it clears up. Start with a 20% water change, then slowly work your way up to 50% water changes. Pull those rainbow rocks out of the tank. Those are known to leach (potassium? ) especially when the pH is in the acidic range or <7. I ...

Check the ammonia levels. I have occasionally seen high ammonia associated with foam (long lasting bubbles) and cloudy water. I tested on 6/5/09: NO3: 40 NO2: 0 HARD: 120 ALK: 0 PH: 6.4 I just retested 06/07/09: NO3: 20 NO2: 0 HARD: 120 ALK: 80 PH: 6.4 It has been a few hours since I skimmed the fo...

My clowns go where the food is. The small ones frequently are at the top when I drop in flakes, or freeze dried worms. The larger clowns rarely are at the top. I also have tetra in the tank with my clowns, and the tetra go after the sinking pellets too. The clowns do bully the tetra, so the clowns d...

Thanks Chef. I removed the driftwood and boiled it for about 15 minutes today. The water was dark like tea, I assume that is the leached tannins. I have kept the wood out of the tank for now, but in a pitcher of water too keep it waterlogged. I did a 20% water change yesterday and again today. The w...

Like Soracco mentioned, you probably should of boiled it in water for about 8 hours first. It's still not too late to boil it. It will leach much less after doing so. OK, cool. I was really, really worried that the appearance of the water was something unhealthy for the fish. I am relieved that it ...

The driftwood soaked in hot water (steamy) for about a day and a half. I changed the water three times, and the water was fairly clear with the last change, so into the tank it went. How was the water after the first change? Similar in quality to your tank water now? The longer soak period in the t...

Wheeeew! Thanks Chef. I am assuming that the appearance of the water is due to the driftwood then.

What kind of driftwood is it? Driftwoods leach tannins. The tannins would dye the water and drop the pH some. Tannins also act as an antibacterial agent, which in this case would cause a bacterial die off, and cloud up the water. Those bacteria that are more resistant to the tannic acids may even b...

the parts that catch my eye are the dying fish and the added drift wood. were the swordtails added from quarantine or straight from the shop? if you had them in QT, did they look alright before the move? do your water parameters match up? Did the fish show any symptoms (flashing, heavy breathing, l...

I noticed this morning before I left for work that my tank water appears kind of cloudy and there looks to be a translucent/oily looking film on the surface of the water. Also noticed a small collection of what appear to be foamy bubbles. The water did not smelly funky bad, but does look bad. Any th...

Ghost Shrimp and Blood Worms are their favorite foods of all. Your shrimp probaly lasted 2 seconds with the loaches. ROFL...so true. If I had known at the time that the shrimp would have been eaten, I would have put them in one at a time, and watched the loaches have a meal. But I know better now :...