Barracudas stopped eating

[YaYgoldFish]

I usually feed my 2 barracudas a goldfish each a day, but about 3 days ago, my last 2 goldfish died so they didnt eat that day, and the day after my mom forgot to pick them up ( i'm only 14..). And this morning my mom brang me 5 so i put them all in, but they havent even looked at them all day.. This morning about 1 hour after i put the goldfish in, i did a huge clean up and even added an extra live plant (for the gouramis) so i was thinking it may of been because they just got put in, but after 13 hours I'm starting to wonder. so if anyone else who may know whats going on could tell me whats happening id appreciate it.

[cocoa_pleco]

what are your parameters?

(ammonia/nitrate/nitrite?)
tank size?

[YaYgoldFish]

currently only stuck in a 10g :( but im getting a huge one this month. But the tank size hasnt been a problem in the past..i think.

[cocoa_pleco]

how about ammonia/nitrate/nitrite?

[YaYgoldFish]

what do you mean?

[cocoa_pleco]

what do you mean?

this is gonna be hard., but i had to learn this too.

The tank has to be cycled at first. There is no good bacteria at the start. You get ammonia from fish, and the bacteria eat it, and make it into nitrite. Thats cycling, building up the bacteria colony. Your tanks is probably cycled, so i'll skip the whole cycle thing.


Ammonia results from waste, and you need to do the water changes weekly. Ammonia is very harmful to fish, and so are nitrites and nitrates. Nitrites are a after product of the eaten ammonia by the bacteria, and are harmful too. If you dont do weekly water changes, ammonia and nitrite and nitrite build up, causing fish to be stressed, lethargic, and get sick and not eat. If you have ammonia or high nitrite (above 10ppm), your barracudas are stressed and dont want to eat. You can get test kits from stores or some stores will test your water for you.


also, removing too much filter media reduces the good bacteria population and your tank goes through a mini-cycle, where the bacteria divide to keep up with the ammonia.

Im dozing off, and should go to bed, and have a sick fish to tend to, so if you have any emergency questions chrona is nice and should be on for a bit longer

[blue fin]

what do you mean?

fish "waste" is primarily ammonia, a healthy "cycled" tank has bacteria that changes the ammonia into nitrites, another bacteria changes this into nitrates, ammonia and nitrite are both bad for your fish and you need to know what these levels in your water are to know the health of your tank. A good test kit can be purchased at your lfs or online, but stay clear of the " strips " they are not very accurate.

[Chrona]

Ammonia and nitrites don't build up in an established tank. They spike if you make some major changes or add fish, etc, though, but they go right back down. Nitrates, however, do build up and need to be removed via water changes. How often do you do a partial 25%+ water change?

[Chrona]

fish "waste" is primarily ammonia, a healthy "cycled" tank has bacteria that changes the ammonia into nitrites, another bacteria changes this into nitrates, ammonia and nitrite are both bad for your fish and you need to know what these levels in your water are to know the health of your tank. A good test kit can be purchased at your lfs or online, but stay clear of the " strips " they are not very accurate.

Well, I could argue with you about the accuracy of comparing a see through vial (round no less) to a solid chart, but that is a discussion for elsewhere :)

[YaYgoldFish]

Ammonia and nitrites don't build up in an established tank. They spike if you make some major changes or add fish, etc, though, but they go right back down. Nitrates, however, do build up and need to be removed via water changes. How often do you do a partial 25%+ water change?

Once a week, im going to try checking my water to see how its doing. I just checked a few minutes ago and one of my 3 iris sharks is floating around but moving a little, it looks like it was attacked, but thats the shark taht always swam everyone so maybe my barra's got annoyed or something, and my water was at 72 instead of 78-80 so I out the heater a little stronger till water is at normal. Ill let you guys know..