HELP ME PLEASE HELP ME

:cry:

I have a large 150 tank which contained 3 tropical eels -
I purchased a large java fern - and placed this into the tank with the eels - this was in the goldfish tank at the pet shop - didnt realise till i got it home that it was covered in goldfish eggs.

The eels had a blast of a time picking them off - then all of a sudden!!
PH hit 6 .... I added Buffer 7.0 no avail went up gradually to 6.6 then dropped back to 6!!

Eels eyes turned white - angles eyes turned white - slime all over bodies

Ran to my local fish shop to have them test the water - PH 6 - Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0.5 - Amonia 0

Purchased some medical stuff Fuvan?? got home to medicate them - smallest eel having what seems to be an epileptic fit at the bottom of the tank - in the time it tanks to get the net and a bucket with i changed PH to 6.8 so that it wouldnt shock die - it stopped moving and went ridget and stopped breathing - then the angels dropped headfirst into gravel - Died!!
quickly did a partial water change - next morning rest of fish dead!!!!!

Now no fish - empty tank - took all plants out - drift wood out - placed in separate buckets tested water - no change in PH from either - so its not the plants and wood causing this - The gravel is partly from an old tank that was cycling maybe 12 months old rest new gravel less then 3 months old - everything was all ok until a week ago now everything dead

Can anyone tell me why???? I cried for 3 hours over this - to scared to restock - have been keeping tropicals for over 5 years - never ever had a fatality before

Please help me

 

Please can someone help me I have a 150 cycling with nothing in it
thats still sitting on 6 even with buffer and PH down -
i dont no whats happened!!

PS water also turned a dark yellowish almost brown.

This all happened over a 3-4 day period.

SOMEONE HELP ME UNDERSTAND !!!!

 

What was the pH before?

It seems to me like your pH is trying to stabilize at 6. I'd try leaving things alone for a few days (but add some pure ammonia to keep the tank cycled) and see what the pH does. If it stays stable at 6, leave it alone. You can cause much more damage constantly trying to adjust the pH than if you just left it alone at a level that isn't quite "ideal."

-Chelle

 

Thankyou for your reply - if a PH is sitting at 6 theres not much that I can really put in it without causing the fish stress.

It always used to be neutral to alk.

What I really need to know is what killed them any reason why it would suddenly drop ? and why are my eels dead - it got them about 2-3 years ago when they were about 7cm long - before I buried them in the garden ( no no crosses ) they were approx 35-40cm long x 3 a tyre track - tiger - spiney.

I cannot understand what I did wrong

 

Thankyou for your reply - if a PH is sitting at 6 theres not much that I can really put in it without causing the fish stress.

It always used to be neutral to alk.

What I really need to know is what killed them any reason why it would suddenly drop ? and why are my eels dead - it got them about 2-3 years ago when they were about 7cm long - before I buried them in the garden ( no no crosses ) they were approx 35-40cm long x 3 a tyre track - tiger - spiney.

I cannot understand what I did wrong

 

I really need answers here guys - im not an expert here.

I have just put the wood and plants back into the aquarium so that they can cycle together - I also have a bubble wall running 2 1/2 sides of the tank, so It wasnt an oxygen problem.

Apologies for my bad spelling and english on the other posts - was doing quickly at work behind the bosses back :lol:

I just need to know what kind of diseases cause cloudy eyes - and body slime?

Im eel mad because they are just so full of personality and I need to restock rather then look at an empty 150.

 

All i know is yor not sapposed to mess with ur Ph alot becuz of the added stress on the fish i think its better to just leave the PH alone. My PH used to be like 7.2 in my 20gallon but it went down to around 6.4-6.8 and i haven touched it and all my fish are fine. All of the non full grown ones are still growing and happy so i would just leave it alone if you have the same problems again. Dont worry people will reply it just takes a while this isnt a really busy board

 

What is your KH in the tank and out of the tap? What is the pH out of the tap? Both immediatley after getting it from the tap and after letting it sit out for a day.

The constant changes in pH was probably what killed them.

-Chelle

 

water straight from the tap is 7.3 alk.

We do have hard water in NZ but the KH isnt overly high - hence why I purchased the buffer - the pet shop said that the buffer will eventually break the cycle and tank should auto sit at 7 but it could take awhile.

I just dont believe that the water did this - eels are hard individuals
and I need to know is it to much wood or could it have been something on the plants? could the eggs have produced this - or is water of 6 prone
to giving fish cloudy eye and slime.

 

Hi monster eel, Listen to Chelle. She's giving you some very good advice. Your initial drop in PH was probably due to the Goldfish eggs dieing from sudden water condition change moving them from one tank to the other without acclimating or from the driftwood not being thoroughly processed. At that point you were still OK in your tank even with the low PH. The rapid changes in PH that occured when you started trying to adjust the PH caused the rest of your problems. The white coating on the eyes (fungus) was due to PH burn, from rapid PH changes. With regard to heavy slime coating: Fish have a natural slime coating. With rapid PH changes and PH burning that slime coating starts to break away or flake from the fish's body. These are typical symptoms of PH SHOCK> "smallest eel having what seems to be an epileptic fit" and "the angels dropped headfirst into gravel - Died". With PH shock fish will dart across the tank or jerk as if having a siezure and then appear to be normal, and follow this pattern repeatedly.

One of the most common and fatal operator mistakes is tampering with the PH. IF ALL OF YOUR WATER CONDITIONS (ammonia, nitrites and nitrates) ARE GOOD, PH IS NOT A PROBLEM!!!
***RAPID PH CHANGES KILL FISH*** At the very least, rapid PH changes cause fungus problems.

The yellowish to brown looking water is most likely due to one of two problems. It could be from tannins coming from the driftwood in the tank. The second possibility is that it is ammonia buildup caused from decaying organic matter. In this case the dieing fish.
Hope this clears up what happened in your tank for you.

 

Yes it could have been the crap wood that the Petshop guy sold me with the plant - as he had attched it.

as My Ammonia was 0 ppm at the time - its is now

PH 6.8
ammonia 0 ppm
nitrite 0 ppm
nitrate 5.0ppm

Thanks for all your help - the only reason why I was stressing is that the Petshop guys told me and sold me all sorts of stuff. They told me it was the PH and if I changed it to 7 all would be ok - which is why I came here.

I think that they dont actually no whats what - hence why you have to go else where when your tanks turning to custard before your eyes and your fish are dying - I have dogs and you can be damn sure when they get sick they go to the vet and if im not happy to another for a second opinion
fish are not easily transported and good luck to anyone that can catch eels that are hiding ( my tank is decorated like it would be in the wild - help of the Auckland Zoo Aquarium )

So thanks for all your help with this - as near as I can see it was the mix of the new plant - the goldfish eggs which i didnt no where there or i wouldnt have bought the plant and the plant itself as now its gone you can see the PH has come back to normal.

Off to purchase another golden severum tomorrow - not an eel but still lots of personality.

Thanks everyone