nathan751
11-11-2006, 12:16 AM
I guess I should start off by saying hello. I've been thinking of joining a aquarium forum for a while and now I have been pushed into doing so because of my sister's tank. I've been searching and searching for what could be wrong and I am still completely clueless. Maybe someone here will be able to help me out. I was down at school this week so I missed most of the excitement, but here goes nothing...
Background:
The tank is a 46 gallon bowfront full of a dozen or so African cichlids, 2 festivum, one green severum, and a couple of plecos
What I've been told:
There were small red mobile parasites in the tank. They were localized on an artificial plant that was removed from the tank today.
In total 7 fish have died in the past two days, all Africans except a pleco
What I've seen:
I got home right after the plant was removed from the tank, and never saw any of the parasites.
We've cleaned the tank and done a partial water change.
The fish have no appetite, but show no other symptoms. Their fins are not clamped, they are not scraping against rocks, not even panting. Besides the loss of appetite they are acting perfectly normal; even chasing each other around as cichlids do.
The last strange thing that I find completely bizzare is that the filter sponge, which is 2 weeks old, is blood red. This is what happened to the last sponge as well which is why we replaced it.
Sorry for the long post, but I really have no idea what could be happening. Any advice would be appreciated. Hopefully it is something simple that I don't know, since I am a self proclaimed stupid newbie. :thumb:
Thank you in advance for any advice.
Background:
The tank is a 46 gallon bowfront full of a dozen or so African cichlids, 2 festivum, one green severum, and a couple of plecos
What I've been told:
There were small red mobile parasites in the tank. They were localized on an artificial plant that was removed from the tank today.
In total 7 fish have died in the past two days, all Africans except a pleco
What I've seen:
I got home right after the plant was removed from the tank, and never saw any of the parasites.
We've cleaned the tank and done a partial water change.
The fish have no appetite, but show no other symptoms. Their fins are not clamped, they are not scraping against rocks, not even panting. Besides the loss of appetite they are acting perfectly normal; even chasing each other around as cichlids do.
The last strange thing that I find completely bizzare is that the filter sponge, which is 2 weeks old, is blood red. This is what happened to the last sponge as well which is why we replaced it.
Sorry for the long post, but I really have no idea what could be happening. Any advice would be appreciated. Hopefully it is something simple that I don't know, since I am a self proclaimed stupid newbie. :thumb:
Thank you in advance for any advice.