Ok, so as you can see in my sig, I have a 55gal tank that has been set up since about mid-January. I *love* this tank, as it is fairly self-maintaining. I do a 20-30% water change once every week and a half or so and my numbers are perfect every time. I was not even remotely close to being stocked and was slightly overfiltered with a Cascade 1000 canister filter. My absolute favorite fish in the tank was my upside down catfish. I got Alistair when he was maybe 3/4" long and the last I saw him alive he was close to 5". I had taken one of the light fixtures off the tank to put on the 29gal temporarily because I needed more light in that tank until I could get a T5 light (the 55gal had a 36" 60W fixture and a 48" 30W fixture on it). I got the T5 on Wednesday, so I moved the 36" fixture back onto the 55gal. I had been feeding the fish in the 55gal, but hadn't been paying too close attention to it since I just got my 46gal bowfront back up and running and am about to redo the 29gal (hence the T5 light for the 29gal). When I turned the light on the 55gal, I was appalled at the sight that greeted me. My water was extremely cloudy and a muddy-looking green-brown. I couldn't see to the back of the tank. I had done my regular water change the Wednesday before, so I hadn't really bothered to check the tank except to feed. I do overfeed the tank slightly because I *don't* have an algae problem, but I have a couple of otos in the tank, plus my cories, kuhlis and Alistair. I started poking around behind the driftwood (there are three large pieces in the tank) to see if I could find the cause of the damage and that's when I found Alistair's skeleton at the back of the tank. I was seriously crying as I fished him out. I didn't even bother testing the water because as I continued to fish around with the net, I came up with the bodies of my kuhlis, one of my panda cories, a couple of platies, and an oto. I know that my ammonia probably won't even register if I test it.
So, now I'm at a loss as to what to do. I have an empty 18gal tank that I can set up quickly (I have an extra cycled filter on my 29gal at the moment because the 18gal came with a filter, but since I wasn't setting the 18gal up, I just stuck the filter on the 29gal so I wouldn't lose the cycle on it) and transfer all the remaining fish into. As far as I can see there are three female bettas, my transvestite betta (STILL don't know if it's a male or female), probably half a dozen platies, three or four cories and an oto (don't ask me how the oto survived when it's the most sensitive fish in the tank), so the 18gal would be a little tight, but they'd manage (plus I could put the cories in the 29gal since the small pleco listed in my sig is going to the LFS 'cuz I've determined he's a common pleco, which I didn't think he was when I bought him). Would the best idea be to transfer all the fish to cycled tanks and then work on getting the ammonia down in the 55gal? Or should I just do massive daily water changes on the 55gal and hope for the best with the fish still in there? My biggest worry is that there might be more dead bodies behind the driftwood that I haven't found yet and unless I mostly drain the tank, I probably won't be able to find them. HELP!
Also, my friend and I just emailed about an 80gal tank someone is selling with everything (light, filter, heater, and not exactly sure what else) for $50, so if we get that, the 55gal might come down and then my problem would be pretty much solved (just transfer the media from the Cascade to the new filter to preserve the cycle), but I haven't heard back from them, so I'm working on the 55gal problem as though I don't have an alternative but to keep the tank up and going.
So, now I'm at a loss as to what to do. I have an empty 18gal tank that I can set up quickly (I have an extra cycled filter on my 29gal at the moment because the 18gal came with a filter, but since I wasn't setting the 18gal up, I just stuck the filter on the 29gal so I wouldn't lose the cycle on it) and transfer all the remaining fish into. As far as I can see there are three female bettas, my transvestite betta (STILL don't know if it's a male or female), probably half a dozen platies, three or four cories and an oto (don't ask me how the oto survived when it's the most sensitive fish in the tank), so the 18gal would be a little tight, but they'd manage (plus I could put the cories in the 29gal since the small pleco listed in my sig is going to the LFS 'cuz I've determined he's a common pleco, which I didn't think he was when I bought him). Would the best idea be to transfer all the fish to cycled tanks and then work on getting the ammonia down in the 55gal? Or should I just do massive daily water changes on the 55gal and hope for the best with the fish still in there? My biggest worry is that there might be more dead bodies behind the driftwood that I haven't found yet and unless I mostly drain the tank, I probably won't be able to find them. HELP!
Also, my friend and I just emailed about an 80gal tank someone is selling with everything (light, filter, heater, and not exactly sure what else) for $50, so if we get that, the 55gal might come down and then my problem would be pretty much solved (just transfer the media from the Cascade to the new filter to preserve the cycle), but I haven't heard back from them, so I'm working on the 55gal problem as though I don't have an alternative but to keep the tank up and going.
