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Calvus Stress

Discussion in 'Cichlids' started by Newbie, Aug 28, 2009.

  1. Newbie

    Newbie Thread Starter New Member

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    I had 2 Black Calvus die today after I did a water change in my 110G tank. I also removed a large piece of drift wood and clustered a large amount of rocks so they can swim in and out. Was it too many changes at one time?

    Hoping to improve the tank by instead killed them. The other fishes were ok. Sad day
     
    Newbie, Aug 28, 2009
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  2. angelLuver

    angelLuver New Member

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    sorry for your loss !
     
    angelLuver, Aug 28, 2009
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  3. buzz4520

    buzz4520 Well-Known Member

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    bummer....sorry for your loss !! sounds kind of strange that taking driftwood and some rock out that it would stress out both fish to the point that they would die. do you test your water ? if so what are your readings ? how big were the fish,tank mates (what kind) ? also how often and how much water when you change it and what's your filtration like ? it's alot of questions, but maybe with the answers myself of someone else on here may be able to help determine what may have caused the unfortunate deaths.
    again sorry for your loss :(
     
    buzz4520, Aug 28, 2009
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  4. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    agree with buzz, betting it's something with the water (test it)
     
    MOD_Dawn, Aug 28, 2009
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  5. Newbie

    Newbie Thread Starter New Member

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    Thanks for all the help in determining the cause of this. The tank mates are an 8" Oscar, 4"JD, 1 spotted catfish, 1 Raphael, and an algue eater. The PH is 7.6. Did a 33% change and I have a overflow box with a wet/dry filter running.
     
    Newbie, Aug 29, 2009
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  6. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    what's your ammonia, nitrite, nitrate readings? and your temp your running this at.

    Do you do regular water changes (weekly) in that amount?

    Are you adding a dechlorinator BEFORE adding new water?
     
    MOD_Dawn, Aug 29, 2009
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  7. buzz4520

    buzz4520 Well-Known Member

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    we'll need to know the answers to what dawn has added to help you out further. one more question, how long have you had your fish together, was one or more resently added ?
     
    buzz4520, Aug 29, 2009
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  8. Newbie

    Newbie Thread Starter New Member

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    Nitrate(NO3) is about 30, Nitrate(NO2) is about 3, Alkalinity is about 270 and water is soft.. One was in the tank about 3 months and the other about 1 month. Do a bi-weekly of 20% water change.
     
    Newbie, Aug 29, 2009
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  9. buzz4520

    buzz4520 Well-Known Member

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    your nitrite (no2) should be 0. nitrate (no3) not that bad, but you should try to keep it as low as you can. imo with your stock list i would atleast keep the nitrates under 20. with a nitrite reading of 3, your at a very high stress to DANGER zone. how long has this tank been up and running ? looks like to me it's still cycling.
     
    buzz4520, Aug 29, 2009
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  10. Newbie

    Newbie Thread Starter New Member

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    It has been running for awhile and they were all doing very well before the change. I will probably do a 20% or less water change going forward. I am now looking to restock the lost calvus and try again.
     
    Newbie, Aug 29, 2009
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  11. buzz4520

    buzz4520 Well-Known Member

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    if it were me (and it's not) i would get the water parameters under control more before adding more fish. i don't know much about the calvus, but the nitrite level is what could've done them in and it's not good for the others either. i have 3 oscars, 1 dempsey, 2 plecos in a 125g and i'm doing 60 -80 gal water change a week and my nitrates are 10 - 15. i test my water at least 3 times a week. i feel you should do a 50% water change as soon as you can and retest your water, wait a day then retest and do another water change. hope this helps and you can get a handle on the water parameters, it can be hecktic at times.
     
    buzz4520, Aug 29, 2009
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  12. gsoul55

    gsoul55 New Member

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    By removing the large piece of driftwood and adding new rocks you could have removed a lot of BB also. I had this happen to me once when I switch from driftwood to all rock. The calvus also should be in hard water. How soft is it? Also what are you feeding them? They should be getting lots of frozen/live brine shrimp, beef heart(obviously not live :), blood worms.
     
    gsoul55, Aug 30, 2009
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