:( :( Tropheus Moorii Nkonde (Near) Disaster... :( :(

B

BrownBullhead

Large Fish
#1
Dec 11, 2004
236
0
16
[Canada] Ile-des-Chenes, Manitoba
#1
:( :( Tropheus Moorii Nkonde (Near) Disaster... :( :(

The 55 which is a "temporary" setup for my (formerly) 19 T. Moorii Nkonde was accumulating waste in some tight spots, so I decided to rip it down, drain off 50% of the water and re-build it.

I moved my 19 Tropheus to a 20-gallon cooler that I always use for this sort of thing along with 15 gallons of water from the tank. I closed the cooler lid as I always do so the darkness keeps them calm and less stress.

60 minutes or so later when I finished maintenance, I opened the lid to find all 19 fish laying on their sides! I couldn't believe what I was seeing! I immediately plunged in to literally grab fishes and throw them back into their proper aquarium! As I was doing so, some immediately showed more signs of life and started swimming around, although their colours are whacked out and pale! So as I watch them in the 30 minutes prior to writing this message, 2 have died. :( :( :( I notice the water in the cooler is very yellow!? What the heck!?

I had "vented" them during the move and I had 10 males and 9 females... not a good ratio but what the heck. This was the first time I had ever vented my fish. And now I lost two... but I haven't even taken the dead ones out yet, I am in utter disbelief at the circumstances and at myself!

Why does this happen to one's favourite fishes?

17 of them seem to be making a comeback... only time will tell!

More later...
 

B

BrownBullhead

Large Fish
#3
Dec 11, 2004
236
0
16
[Canada] Ile-des-Chenes, Manitoba
#3
So as per the venting, I had 10 males and 9 females...

It ends up I lost 3, not 2 as previously stated... now here's what bites... lost 1 male and 2 females... so down to 9 males and 7 females. *grumble*

So much for breeding in this colony! :(

I had 25 when I got the colony in May... lost 6 due to "bloat" shortly thereafter... not a single loss until the 3 today... so down to 16 in my colony.

*sigh* Oh well... fecal matter happens. :(
 

TLM4x4

TLM4x4

Large Fish
#5
Jul 21, 2005
706
0
0
71
southern oregon coast
#5
Dang....that really bites..Im very sorry. Unfortuantely bad things happen and we usually are NOT prepared when it does. I know that doesnt make you feel any better but next time, whatever happened before, I bet you will be alot more cautious. About the time I think Ive got things figured out, I learn I really dont. Again, Im sorry..were you able to work out yet what may have caused this?
 

straitjacket

straitjacket

Large Fish
#6
Mar 21, 2004
495
2
0
Los Angeles, CA
www.freewebs.com
#6
I bet it was nitrate/ammonia buildup in the cooler. Since it was a MUCH smaller area, ALL the fish were in there and water was added that almost certainly already had a moderate amount of acceptable nitrate (for the aquarium) in it the numbers just spiked and the fish took a nosedive.
That and no proper oxygention seems to have been too much for the fish.

Next time, devide them into more than 1 cooler and use new water, out of the tap and completely dechlorinated before you add the fish.
So sorry about your fish. At least you still have plenty of them left...and don't feel too bad about the sex ratios. You'll be able to fix that after they start pumping out fry :) .

I've gone through something similar before, but with mbuna instead of Tropheus, and instead of a 20gl cooler it was my 60gl tank, and instead of tank maintenence it was a power outage.
I agitated the water constantly and did many large water changes but the most damage came after I retired for the night. Only a few hours of horrible, paranoid, worried sleep and when I woke up all 18 of my Labeotropheus fuelleborni were dead. I found out that they do VERY poorly when starved of oxygen the hard way :/ . Luckily everyone else seemed ok and made a full recovery after that.
 

B

BrownBullhead

Large Fish
#7
Dec 11, 2004
236
0
16
[Canada] Ile-des-Chenes, Manitoba
#7
In retrospect, there was a couple of variables from my normal routine I would have employed... I didn't insert a pump & airstone this time, and I had also closed the lid completely while I was working, thinking that i could reduce stress by eliminating light and visuals of my movements. I failed to consider the lack of oxygen / fresh air for the container. Also, I had missed a water change previously so I think my water was not so "fresh" to begin with... so all-in-all, I kind of set myself up for failure on this one!

I have had many ups-and-downs in my 7 months or so of keeping Tropheus... I am going to get around to writing about my experiences and posting them on the forum here and maybe I can save a newbie some of the troubles I have put myself through in the errors I have made keeping Tropheus.
 

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