having some major problems pls help

[babymack]

i ordered 4 aro from the june shipment so i had set up my 120 gal a month before with an old fx5.. i had boiled the media and added new gravel as well after i set it up i waited a week or so and bought 4 cheap angel fish to add in as a tester they did fine .. then a week before my arowanas arrived i add some more sensitive fish 2 discus, 2 clown loaches a ray and a few plecos.. everyone was doing good eatting very active so when the aro's arrives i figure nothing was wrong with this tank and i added them in.. they were doing very good as well so they ddint come sick all active and very hungry..
after a few days 1 had a dark mark by the side of his head but i figured he was scrached from fighting as one was picking on them.. but the day after i notice his whole side was like that and with a really close look i could see his scales were fluffed out a bit.. so i ask a lfs what to use and they gave me clout for a treatment .. so i moved the ray and treated teh tank after i did a water change and lower the amount of water to about 60gal.. my nitrite and nitrate levels were really bad when i checked it.. after a day of treatment the aros eye were sunken in to his face i just tripped.. went to the store and asked if they could treat him for me and when i came home to get him he was floating around nearly dead so i brought himover anyways he didnt make it.. so the next day i notcied the others started to have it as well so i did the same just moved them from the tank to a tank with better water contditions at a friends.. over night 1 had died and the otehr 2 seem better so im hoping they will be fine with some meds

so the question is how the hell did the water get soo bad soo fast i woulda thought if anything was to get sick it would be the loaches, discus or ray before the arowanas..
i have never had this happen before so its frustrating me.. i know its something i did wrong somewhere and i wanna know what it is.. was it too early? too much added at once to spike the the nirite and nitrate? i have done all of those things before with no problems the only new thing i did was boil the media..

i have now added bacteria from 3 other fx5's and after a 2 days my nitirte and nitrate levels have drops to almost perfect! im comfused frustrated and pissed at myself right now..

thanks in advance for all the advice!

 

[tman]

Never boil your media unless you have an infestation of some sort that requires it! A month is not long enough to cycle any tank properly. Then you waited a week with nothing in it before you added some fish. So it was only 3 weeks with fish in it. The tank was definitely not cycled yet. By boiling the media and adding new gravel you had no bacteria. The fish you had in the tank was too much as a ray produces lots of waste and it would of just got worse when you added 4 Arowanas to the mix. Clout is a really hard medication and with the fish already stressed from the bad water conditions it probably killed the first arowana. Then by moving them from your tank to another tank you just stressed them more causing the second one to die. Tanks should be running for a full 3 months to be properly cycled and then you can slowly add more fish but a 120 gallon is too small for 2 discus, 2 clown loaches a ray, few plecos and then 4 arowanas.

 

[tman]

You needed to tell the story like you did here to the fish store and they would have suggested better water quality before the clout. For all these fish you should have a 230 gallon tank setup or even bigger if you are keeping all these fish.

 

[babymack]

ya i boilded the media cause where i used it last i had some issues so i was just playing it safe by making sure evrything was dead..

i know it takes time to cycle but why are only the arowanas sick tho when they are the hardest fish in there? also they are all small the ray is only about 7' loaches are like 2.5 and discua are 4" and 5"i have a 230 im setting up but this a temp thank till i have everything running in the 230 and ready to go..

 

[Cirrus]

I am sorry to hear of the problems you are having. From what you have told us, I agree with Tman that this sounds like a cycling issue; the fish that were in the tank first - ray, discus, loaches - were in effect your cycling fish; because the water parameters changed gradually for them (that is until the likely Ph crash that occurred when the nitrates and amonia went out of whack), they were better prepared to withstand the stress than the aros that had just undergone shipping from around the world. That is my reading of the situation anyhow. I really hope the other two fish you have pull through. They just need some TLC - warm water (32 C), salt (1 tbs per 10 gallons), and stable PH of around 6.8 - 7

What were the Ph readings like when you first put the aros in? Did the Ph undergo a big drop in the days/weeks after? Were you doing frequent water changes? Those are a couple questions I have.

 

[JMorash]

What were the issues with the previous tank that you used that media in?

I think your tank is over stocked for the filtration you have going. Up your filtration or lower your bioload. If I was in your situation I would probably be doing a water change every few days.

I just wouldn't have bought all those fish before having your bigger tank.

Do some water changes, and hope for the best. When you have to react to a situation it's usually just best to play it simple. Water changes and maybe a bit of salt (not too much, you'll kill your discus). Next time be prepared, don't buy fish until your tank is ready, spend money on equipment before fish, have QT tanks ready and QT your fish for a proper duration before introducing them to your main tank.

Good luck!

Jmorash

 

[carcrazy]

When I had more rays I used to do water change 2-3 times a week. That was for a cycled 320 gallon tank with a 50 gallon sump with pot scrubbers, 2 rena xp3's and an UltimaII 1000 pond filter rated for 1000g.

I would recommend a 50% water change every second day, with prime water conditioner. You need to reduce the ammonia and nitrates in your tank quickly. Stingrays are especially sensitive to ammonia. Good luck

 

[babymack]

I am sorry to hear of the problems you are having. From what you have told us, I agree with Tman that this sounds like a cycling issue; the fish that were in the tank first - ray, discus, loaches - were in effect your cycling fish; because the water parameters changed gradually for them (that is until the likely Ph crash that occurred when the nitrates and amonia went out of whack), they were better prepared to withstand the stress than the aros that had just undergone shipping from around the world. That is my reading of the situation anyhow. I really hope the other two fish you have pull through. They just need some TLC - warm water (32 C), salt (1 tbs per 10 gallons), and stable PH of around 6.8 - 7

What were the Ph readings like when you first put the aros in? Did the Ph undergo a big drop in the days/weeks after? Were you doing frequent water changes? Those are a couple questions I have.

i never even checked the ph after i was just trying to figure out how to fix the fish asap.. water changes and was told to use clout but i guess that was a bad idea..

but ya i figured something was spike due to the added aro's just was lost about the others.. but that makes sence thanks Theo

What were the issues with the previous tank that you used that media in?

I think your tank is over stocked for the filtration you have going. Up your filtration or lower your bioload. If I was in your situation I would probably be doing a water change every few days.

I just wouldn't have bought all those fish before having your bigger tank.

Do some water changes, and hope for the best. When you have to react to a situation it's usually just best to play it simple. Water changes and maybe a bit of salt (not too much, you'll kill your discus). Next time be prepared, don't buy fish until your tank is ready, spend money on equipment before fish, have QT tanks ready and QT your fish for a proper duration before introducing them to your main tank.

Good luck!

Jmorash

i have a few tanks just nothing was set up and i dont think a 120 is too small for a few months.. i have everything here for the 230 just need to get it up and running with a drip sysytem.. i work alot so i havint had time and to find 3 ppl when im free to help me move the tank..

but yes i deffinitly agree with the over reacting part.. it is prob why i ran into the probelm.. trying to keep everything nice and clean and then over reacting when the prob hit.. and i will set up my 90gal for a QT tank from now on!

the level in my tank are reading alot better now but the fish not so good..
it deffinitly a hard one to take but you live and you learn..

thanks for the input

When I had more rays I used to do water change 2-3 times a week. That was for a cycled 320 gallon tank with a 50 gallon sump with pot scrubbers, 2 rena xp3's and an UltimaII 1000 pond filter rated for 1000g.

I would recommend a 50% water change every second day, with prime water conditioner. You need to reduce the ammonia and nitrates in your tank quickly. Stingrays are especially sensitive to ammonia. Good luck

thank you!