PICS! 20 long, dwarf compressiceps

[barrettsline]

Patience, patience.... Like I'm one to talk. Hahaha. Let us know how it goes. I have always done the same with the wood I have bought but I also soak mine in some watered down bleach water. Then let soak in clean water for a couple of days dry out in the sun for a couple I days or under a shop light. I've never had problems but this situation has me flat out stumped!

[SunnyHouTX]

Sounds good B :)

[aquabee]

I'm not waiting. I'm goin to bed cuz I worked all night but I'll do the water change and remove the wood this afternoon.

[SunnyHouTX]

Why wait to take the wood out?

[aquabee]

I think what I'm eventually going to do if the fish don't recover is take the rocks and the wood out and replace them with new stuff. The thing is, no one is deteriorating. The white clouds are still hovering at the surface, not active, not eating, but not dying. The remaining comp is still alive and not eating. The plecos are being plecos. I'm going to do another major water change later today and see how they handle it. Maybe I'll even take the wood out and see if they slowly start recovering after that.

BLAH.

[aquabee]

I know you need to diagnose the problem--it's in your blood. You can spend so much time worrying about it that it's not fun. When I lose a fish I get upset and even frustrated....what could I have done differently I ask myself. Instead of focusing on the recent loss I think about how good I felt when I first got the fish, how I cared for it and fed it and how much I enjoyed keeping the the fish. I focus on the enjoyment part more.

Everything else you placed in the tank was checked, cleaned pretty well. I think the fish got stressed out from the trip. The seller should offer you larger new fish at a discounted price. I have had a couple of guys lose newby fry from malfunctioning heaters and they cooked their fish--not my problem, but theirs. But I also know losing a few F1 mobas at $25-$40 each hurts so I offered to sell them fish at a much lower price. One time I replaced the newby fry at no cost because I felt so bad for the guy. In the end, I just want folks to enjoy their new fish and be successful keeping them.If I had some dwarf comps they would be yours B. Never know when I might end up in your ER room!!!

You're a peach, Ron. Thanks for the encouragement. Actually, you know this particular seller, and he's a really standup guy. He is growing a trio for me but has also ordered me some stappersii. He's agreed to hold them til the tank stabilizes.

Never in my life have I had problems with contaminated wood, and I've had it in every single tank of mine except one. If it leaches anything, it's usually just tannins. I scrubbed this wood really well and soaked it for 2 weeks. I recognize that I probably have contaminant from somewhere, but I just can't reconcile myself with the possibility that it might be coming from the wood. Who knows though... I'm probably just shooting myself in the foot somehow by leaving it in there. Maybe I will take it out when I do a water change later today.

Ron, if you or anyone in your family ever ends up in my ER, heaven forbid... it's VIP STATUS!!

[Complexity]

Just read this thread. I'm so sorry you're going through this. I wish there was something I could offer, but you've covered all the bases so there's really nothing to explain what's happening. I just wanted to let you know that I'm hoping things turn around for the better soon.

[barrettsline]

I know you need to diagnose the problem--it's in your blood. You can spend so much time worrying about it that it's not fun. When I lose a fish I get upset and even frustrated....what could I have done differently I ask myself. Instead of focusing on the recent loss I think about how good I felt when I first got the fish, how I cared for it and fed it and how much I enjoyed keeping the the fish. I focus on the enjoyment part more.<br />
<br />
I don't have much experience with wood except when I had some really nice african root in a discus tank. I read alot of stuff about wood and how it can easily absorb good and bad stuff and can release what's inside the wood. I know HAW is a reliable place with quality stuff. Maybe, just maybe something got on or inside that manzanita wood. <br />
<br />
When I brought my african root home my first inclination was to scrub it down real good and let it air dry outside for a few days. I used a good bristly brush and scrubbed it down really good and then placed the lot inside large buckets and weighted it down with some aquarium stones I had used in previous set-ups. I let the african root sit outside submerged for at least a week to be sure all the cooties were released. My water actually turned a brownish, tea color. I took the root out and placed it outside for a couple of days in the hot sun to let it thoroughly dry.<br />
<br />
Everything else you placed in the tank was checked, cleaned pretty well. I think the fish got stressed out from the trip. The seller should offer you larger new fish at a discounted price. I have had a couple of guys lose newby fry from malfunctioning heaters and they cooked their fish--not my problem, but theirs. But I also know losing a few F1 mobas at $25-$40 each hurts so I offered to sell them fish at a much lower price. One time I replaced the newby fry at no cost because I felt so bad for the guy. In the end, I just want folks to enjoy their new fish and be successful keeping them.If I had some dwarf comps they would be yours B. <img src="http://www.houstonfishbox.com/vforums/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Smile" smilieid="81" class="inlineimg" /> <img src="http://www.houstonfishbox.com/vforums/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Smile" smilieid="81" class="inlineimg" /> <img src="http://www.houstonfishbox.com/vforums/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Smile" smilieid="81" class="inlineimg" /> Never know when I might end up in your ER room!!!

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What he said. That's why my signature says it not a hobby it's a lifestyle. If it were a hobby you could just quit and move on. When it's a lifestyle you put more care and effort into what you do.

[RonR.]

I know you need to diagnose the problem--it's in your blood. You can spend so much time worrying about it that it's not fun. When I lose a fish I get upset and even frustrated....what could I have done differently I ask myself. Instead of focusing on the recent loss I think about how good I felt when I first got the fish, how I cared for it and fed it and how much I enjoyed keeping the the fish. I focus on the enjoyment part more.

I don't have much experience with wood except when I had some really nice african root in a discus tank. I read alot of stuff about wood and how it can easily absorb good and bad stuff and can release what's inside the wood. I know HAW is a reliable place with quality stuff. Maybe, just maybe something got on or inside that manzanita wood.

When I brought my african root home my first inclination was to scrub it down real good and let it air dry outside for a few days. I used a good bristly brush and scrubbed it down really good and then placed the lot inside large buckets and weighted it down with some aquarium stones I had used in previous set-ups. I let the african root sit outside submerged for at least a week to be sure all the cooties were released. My water actually turned a brownish, tea color. I took the root out and placed it outside for a couple of days in the hot sun to let it thoroughly dry.

Everything else you placed in the tank was checked, cleaned pretty well. I think the fish got stressed out from the trip. The seller should offer you larger new fish at a discounted price. I have had a couple of guys lose newby fry from malfunctioning heaters and they cooked their fish--not my problem, but theirs. But I also know losing a few F1 mobas at $25-$40 each hurts so I offered to sell them fish at a much lower price. One time I replaced the newby fry at no cost because I felt so bad for the guy. In the end, I just want folks to enjoy their new fish and be successful keeping them.If I had some dwarf comps they would be yours B. Never know when I might end up in your ER room!!!

[barrettsline]

+(10)^10

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You sure those shells were clean.....? I mean it's a.....pause..... Reliable source.

Just playing. I'm at a loss. Substrate? I don't know. This is the million dollar question.

[SunnyHouTX]

+(10)^10

[eklikewhoa]

Chalk it up to one of those things that you just can't explain....

[aquabee]

looking back over the pics, its a long shot but, where did the shells come from? Where they throughly cleaned? What about the rock was it soaked? Now i know your better than this but I have know people go to the beach before get shells wash them in water and put them in an aquarium, only to have everything die off within 2 months. Then when breaking down the tank, find that there was somthing in the shell the was decomposing. Have you done a water test on your tap water? what kinda water treament are you using? I you Prime myself, super concentrate, Gotta love it!!

Yeah Sunny's right, I was thinking along the same lines as you so I went through where I got everything from. River rocks from FG that were well scrubbed before being added to the tank, manzanita from HAW, shells from Sunny's tank... all reliable sources. If there were some sort of noxious residue in the shells, I doubt the comps would have liked living in them as much as they did. If there were something on the circ pumps, that should have rubbed off completely by now and should have been reduced by my water changes. If there were a problem with the wood, the plecos would be showing problems too and/or avoiding the wood. I dunno. Something's going on but I really have no idea what.

I've tested my tap water for basic stuff and it's all fine. I use Amquel Plus usually but since I ran out of that, I'm using a bottle of Prime. I even checked the expiration date and it's fine.

Just came back from an overnight crazy-as-heck Halloween ER shift and all my fish are sleeping so I can't really gauge how they're doing. The remaining comp is hangin out by a shell, breathing fast but not overly dark just yet. She looks a little wobbly. Blah. I need a nap so I'm putting this to rest til I wake up this evening. Maybe will do a water change again tomorrow.

[SunnyHouTX]

guess you missed the part where she mentioned the shells came out of my tank

[barrettsline]

looking back over the pics, its a long shot but, where did the shells come from? Where they throughly cleaned? What about the rock was it soaked? Now i know your better than this but I have know people go to the beach before get shells wash them in water and put them in an aquarium, only to have everything die off within 2 months. Then when breaking down the tank, find that there was somthing in the shell the was decomposing. Have you done a water test on your tap water? what kinda water treament are you using? I you Prime myself, super concentrate, Gotta love it!!