Fish dying
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Okay I will do. Filter media gets changed every three weeks and the filters get a complete cleaning about every two months. I have no top on my tank so the water evaporates pretty fast and I just refill it with a 5 gal bucket. I would say 20% of the water gets evaporated and replaced every week
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Changing the filter media? I am no pro but wouldn't this mean your tank would than be uncycled?
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+1 on this. Depending on your setup, you are probably sending your tank into mini-cycles.
You should be testing your water weekly. If you can't get a kit, take a sample of water to a LFS. Most will do a test for free. Even if it is a chain store using just the test strips, it is worth it to know.
20% is a lot of evaporation.
Tank size?
Filter brand/model?
Heater?
Actual temp?
Substrate?
Plants/Fish?
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You have no top on your tank and your fish disappeared completely. 1+1= they are now floor jerky.
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From what you have said it sounds like you are just doing top offs, but not true water changes. I am also curious what changing the filter media and doing a complete filter cleaning entails. I know some HOB filters have a carbon insert and then some other type of insert for the biological media. You should not be replacing the biological media. It is okay to lightly wash off the filter media in old tank water or in at least conditioned tap water. If you are cleaning the filter media with straight tap water the chlorine in the water could be killing you beneficial bacteria.
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I am sorry, but this both makes me sad and ROFL at the same time. Floor Jerky... OMG.
This tank has been set up for almost two year now with no problems so all the stuff I've been doing has been working. I have a 55 gal with 2 marineland penquin 350s. The filter cartridge gets replaced every 3 or 4 weeks and the whole filter gets taken apart and washed out out of algae and skum every 2 months or so. I have sand substrate. A rock wall and driftwood with two java ferns as my aqua scape. Fish wise I have a couple angels, some red and black skirt tetras, some zebra danios, 2 Cory cats, clown loach, ellipse catfish which is a big boy, a kuhli loach and a pleco. In the past week I have lost 2 Balas, 2 black neon tetras, a gorami, and a guppy. I don't think all 6 of them would have jumped out. One day they are there and the next day there not. Guess my bottom feeders are getting rid of the body's. I usually fill the tank as needed for water and then every couple weeks let it evaporate 20% and them I fill back up. Been doin this method for a while now with no problems and now this all of a sudden
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You have a rather odd mix of fish, most of which really should be kept in larger schools than you indicate. Decent chance that you're getting some aggression between some of them... which would definitely trigger some jumping. Especially from Bala sharks (which really are horrible aquarium fish, anyways... way too nervous unless they're kept in very large schools, and few people have the resources to house a school of fish that can grow to over a foot each). Bala sharks, gourami, and guppies all are jumpers when they're startled.
How large are your angels? Angels can become increasingly territorial/aggressive as they age, especially once males start to hit sexual maturity.
Do you have any pets of the furry persuasions? Cats/dogs/children/etc can easily startle fish into jumping. I've lost many fish over the years that I'm pretty sure were eaten by my cats or dogs.
Also- if you have not been actually removing and replacing water from your tank on a regular basis (doing actual water changes rather than just topping off the tank), the nitrates in your tank are likely extremely high.
This can lead to something called "Old Tank Syndrome," where fish become so acclimated to poor water conditions that even a change for the better can send their systems into shock and kill them.
Quite a few possible problems here.
How large are your angels? Angels can become increasingly territorial/aggressive as they age, especially once males start to hit sexual maturity.
Do you have any pets of the furry persuasions? Cats/dogs/children/etc can easily startle fish into jumping. I've lost many fish over the years that I'm pretty sure were eaten by my cats or dogs.
Also- if you have not been actually removing and replacing water from your tank on a regular basis (doing actual water changes rather than just topping off the tank), the nitrates in your tank are likely extremely high.
This can lead to something called "Old Tank Syndrome," where fish become so acclimated to poor water conditions that even a change for the better can send their systems into shock and kill them.
Quite a few possible problems here.
Unless I'm not understanding you right, your routine sounds really weird!!!
You are cleaning the filter and changing the media, but not doing water changes?
You should be doing the opposite. The filter media houses bacteria that convert poisonous ammonia and nitrite to nitrate. The nitrate is still harmful, but gets kept at a low level by regular water changes. So, by changing the media you're getting rid of good bacteria and raising the ammonia/nitrite. Nitrate has been slowly building over the last 2 years because of no water changes. I suspect that your water is straight up poison by now.
However, that does not explain why there are no fish bodies. My bet would be the angel fish. I had a roommate that had angels once and I was amazed by their ability to consume other fish without a trace. He had 2 that were similar size (about tennis ball sized) and they had been living together for years. One day we turned on the light in the morning and there was only 1. Hooded tank, sparse scape, nowehere to hide a body. There was not a single fin or scale left. Other than the fat belly on the remaining angel there was no evidence that he had ever had a buddy.
You are cleaning the filter and changing the media, but not doing water changes?
You should be doing the opposite. The filter media houses bacteria that convert poisonous ammonia and nitrite to nitrate. The nitrate is still harmful, but gets kept at a low level by regular water changes. So, by changing the media you're getting rid of good bacteria and raising the ammonia/nitrite. Nitrate has been slowly building over the last 2 years because of no water changes. I suspect that your water is straight up poison by now.
However, that does not explain why there are no fish bodies. My bet would be the angel fish. I had a roommate that had angels once and I was amazed by their ability to consume other fish without a trace. He had 2 that were similar size (about tennis ball sized) and they had been living together for years. One day we turned on the light in the morning and there was only 1. Hooded tank, sparse scape, nowehere to hide a body. There was not a single fin or scale left. Other than the fat belly on the remaining angel there was no evidence that he had ever had a buddy.
I am replacing the filter cartridge every 3 weeks. You know the things the manufactur recommends you change every 2-4 weeks. I am
Not replacing the bio wheel which is the biological filtration. The bio wheels are years old but I got my water tested. Everything was grea except nitrates were high. So I'm gonna do a water change or two. My one angel is pretty big probably 2 inches in diameter and the other two are about a half dollar body size. I do have a dog but when I had a gourami jump ouy a couple months back she would just stare/sniff and luck it but not eat it but it's a possibility but I doubt she ate them. At least not all of them. I love having a community tank but it's hard to have them all togeter. What do you guys think I should do fish wise? I like having my angels and gouramis but also like guppies and tetras(schooling fish)
Not replacing the bio wheel which is the biological filtration. The bio wheels are years old but I got my water tested. Everything was grea except nitrates were high. So I'm gonna do a water change or two. My one angel is pretty big probably 2 inches in diameter and the other two are about a half dollar body size. I do have a dog but when I had a gourami jump ouy a couple months back she would just stare/sniff and luck it but not eat it but it's a possibility but I doubt she ate them. At least not all of them. I love having a community tank but it's hard to have them all togeter. What do you guys think I should do fish wise? I like having my angels and gouramis but also like guppies and tetras(schooling fish)
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