My rescued jewel cichlids

[mrs fishpatrick]

thought it might be appropriate to set up a journal about the progress of the 3 Jewel cichlids, I think they are the Hemichromis lifalili variety but we wont know for sure untill I manage to get pictures of them, to get it confirmed.

4th march 09
collected them this evening, tank and all and it is in a right old mess, there are seashells, broken plant pots ond some tacky ornaments in there wich I took but won't be putting back in the tank, (algae covered spongebob is not my cuppa tea)
here are some picshttp://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/721/thumbs/Picture_009.jpg (http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/showphoto.php?photo=11716)http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/721/thumbs/Picture_010.jpg (http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/showphoto.php?photo=11715)http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/721/thumbs/Picture_008.jpg (http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/showphoto.php?photo=11714)

As you can see it is not pretty

[Crispy]

Looks like you got your hands full for awhile there... good luck!

[Deleted User]

Holy krud. :scry: Nice save mrs fishpatrick. Fingers crossed you can bring them round. What condition are the fish themselves in ?

[mrs fishpatrick]

I had a look in the filter and I have never seen anything like it, (if your stomach is weak LOOK AWAY NOW) I even wore gloves changing this filter.http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/721/thumbs/Picture_007.jpg (http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/showphoto.php?photo=11713)http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/721/thumbs/Picture_0061.jpg (http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/showphoto.php?photo=11712)
the lightbox was covered in green algae
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/data/721/thumbs/Picture_005.jpg (http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/fishpictures/showphoto.php?photo=11711)
I managed to get that off easy enough with some kitchen towel.
I measured the ph and it is 6.6 in their tank, but 7.2 coming out of my tap (sugar) So I am slowly, liter by liter filling up the tank with the water ,wich I added ph down to, and hope for the best.

I am planning on doing 5% wc every day to slowly get them used to my tapwater over the next week.

They haven't even got a heater in their tank and the water is freezing, will have to go to the lfs in the morning to pick one up for them.

I am really hoping these will do well now that they are going to be looked after.
fingers crossed

[mrs fishpatrick]

Holy krud. :scry: Nice save mrs fishpatrick. Fingers crossed you can bring them round. What condition are the fish themselves in ?
I don't know how they survive, it is really really bad, the fish seem to be doing fine, but i gave them a good dosing of stress coat and hope they are drugged up for this process:hmm3grin2orange:

[Ellen4God]

Oh no! Poor fish. Good luck with getting the tank up and running!! I hope it goes okay for you. :)

[Deleted User]

If they have never had a heater. Watch out for ick. Very slow with the temp chancge and you might avoid it. That tank is disgusting to say the least. :scry:

You know that the fish will apreciate all your doing in the end.

[mrs fishpatrick]

I hope so and that they will forgive me for not giving them a bigger tank
(the hubbie is going mental as it stands with 4 tanks running)
thanks for the tip on the heater, I will leave it at its lowest setting and slowly add it up over 3-4 days

[Deleted User]

Your welcome. I hope they make it. :ssmile:

[Sharon]

Good Lord!!! What were they thinking!!!:ssuprised: That must be tough fish!!! It should clean up pretty though....:ssmile:

[mrs fishpatrick]

Good Lord!!! What were they thinking!!!:ssuprised: That must be tough fish!!! It should clean up pretty though....:ssmile:
I hope they are though and I hope it cleans up well, I had a go at the algea and changed the filter wool, left most of the gunk on the sponges just to be on the safe side.
The friends that had this tank were actually glad to be rid of them, (and here I was feeling guilty for taking their tank):14:

[PostalPenguin]

While the tank looks disgusting I wonder how "bad" the water actually is. I would be willing to bet that the ecosystem set up inside the tank was probably doing a decent job of eliminating fish waste and that the water isn't as bad as it looks. Any buildup of toxins would trigger the growth of bacteria that live on that toxin and the prolific amount of algae was probably acting as a nutrient sink absorbing excess nutrients. That is probably why the fish are still alive is that the toxic looking soup they are swimming in probably is a lot cleaner than to be expected.

However, it likely is a heck of a lot more stressful and dirty than a properly maintained aquarium and I am sure the fish will enjoy a clean home.

[mrs fishpatrick]

I only tested the ph in their original water, because that was the only thing I could do something about while filling the tank up with 90% of fresh water.
The fish made it through the night and are looking ok, even not as shy and exploring a lot more of the tank than I ever seen them do in my friends house.
I still haven't cleaned the tank completely as I don't want to stress these poor fish anymore than is absolutely nessecary, I' wil do a tiny water change tonight to get them more used to the ph we have in the house here.
It will be a while before I can do a 50% wc in this tank.
Bought them a heater this morning and will put it in the tank on the lowest temp possible for now, to slowly get them used to a bit warmer water.
I'll post up pics of the tank how it looks now, might even get one of them to pose for me, but if they dont want to, it can wait.

[Deleted User]

That is good news. thumbs2:

Glad there ok. :ssmile:

[Sharon]

They're lucky fish...too bad they don't know it yet!:ssmile:

[mrs fishpatrick]

here are some pics of what the tank and it's inhabitants look like today, it is not great yet, but a great improvement compared to last night
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp23/mrs-fishpatrick/Picture060.jpg
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp23/mrs-fishpatrick/Picture061.jpg
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp23/mrs-fishpatrick/Picture053.jpg
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp23/mrs-fishpatrick/Picture054.jpg

[mrs fishpatrick]

I didn't manage to capture the lovely colours of these fish, they are a much more beautifull red
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp23/mrs-fishpatrick/Picture065.jpg
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp23/mrs-fishpatrick/Picture063.jpg
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp23/mrs-fishpatrick/Picture057.jpg
http://i394.photobucket.com/albums/pp23/mrs-fishpatrick/Picture062.jpg

[Northernguy]

They look great Mrs.F!thumbs2:
You have some nice tanks there as well!:22:

[mrs fishpatrick]

(blush) thanks, they are only small tanks i'm affraid, i am reluctant to find out the size of the tank the jewels are in, the other tank is waiting (still) for the shrimps I am planning to get

[Crispy]

Nice size jewels! They look very hardy... you'll be happy with them once your "tank cleaning" headaches are over! :shappy: :shappy: