PICS! 20 long, dwarf compressiceps

[barrettsline]

Wait, so... it's NOT just a river in Egypt?? Sigh.

Sorry probably should have been more specific on my post. And yes when the current runs fast everything washes away.

[aquabee]

Guys, help. What should I do? Should I just wait this out, see if the comp recovers or passes? Or should I take her out and give her back to the seller, and give the white clouds/plecos away and remove everything from the tank, and start over? Seems drastic but I can't find a THING online that helps me sort out what's going on. :(

[barrettsline]

Give it time, I know it's hard but just give it time. Even if things go completely bad, give it time.

[eklikewhoa]

Is there another tank you can move them to?

[aquabee]

Is there another tank you can move them to?

No. I have a 3 gallon with a rescued betta, which is a coldwater tank with just a sponge filter. Too small for 7 WCMM. Then I have an 8 gallon planted cube that sits at a pH just above 6 most of the time, and that would be a huge shock since the tank they're in now has a pH of 8.3-8.4. Short of getting a 10 gallon to move them to temporarily or transporting them to an LFS to hold, I can't think of anywhere to put them.

I'm wondering if I'm pushing them to the limits of their pH tolerance. But why NOW? They've been great for over a month. Why all the issues now, just after adding the comps? Ugh. So annoyed that I can't figure out what the problem is.

[eklikewhoa]

That is odd unless somehow something got in the tank. Do you have sure fresheners in the room or sprayed anything near the tanks?

I don't think it's their breaking point cause I've kept some before in worse conditions with no problems

[aquabee]

No fresheners or bug sprays.... No airborne chemicals at home except OFF, and I usually spray that stuff on me outside on the patio cuz that stuff gets everywhere. I always wash my hands and arms before dealing with the tank and I'm super careful about any soap residue. Plus I just did a 40% WC and no difference. I'll try another WC on Wednesday though.

[eklikewhoa]

Hoping for the best for ya, pretty much speechless now.

[barrettsline]

looking back over the pics, its a long shot but, where did the shells come from? Where they throughly cleaned? What about the rock was it soaked? Now i know your better than this but I have know people go to the beach before get shells wash them in water and put them in an aquarium, only to have everything die off within 2 months. Then when breaking down the tank, find that there was somthing in the shell the was decomposing. Have you done a water test on your tap water? what kinda water treament are you using? I you Prime myself, super concentrate, Gotta love it!!

[SunnyHouTX]

guess you missed the part where she mentioned the shells came out of my tank

[aquabee]

looking back over the pics, its a long shot but, where did the shells come from? Where they throughly cleaned? What about the rock was it soaked? Now i know your better than this but I have know people go to the beach before get shells wash them in water and put them in an aquarium, only to have everything die off within 2 months. Then when breaking down the tank, find that there was somthing in the shell the was decomposing. Have you done a water test on your tap water? what kinda water treament are you using? I you Prime myself, super concentrate, Gotta love it!!

Yeah Sunny's right, I was thinking along the same lines as you so I went through where I got everything from. River rocks from FG that were well scrubbed before being added to the tank, manzanita from HAW, shells from Sunny's tank... all reliable sources. If there were some sort of noxious residue in the shells, I doubt the comps would have liked living in them as much as they did. If there were something on the circ pumps, that should have rubbed off completely by now and should have been reduced by my water changes. If there were a problem with the wood, the plecos would be showing problems too and/or avoiding the wood. I dunno. Something's going on but I really have no idea what.

I've tested my tap water for basic stuff and it's all fine. I use Amquel Plus usually but since I ran out of that, I'm using a bottle of Prime. I even checked the expiration date and it's fine.

Just came back from an overnight crazy-as-heck Halloween ER shift and all my fish are sleeping so I can't really gauge how they're doing. The remaining comp is hangin out by a shell, breathing fast but not overly dark just yet. She looks a little wobbly. Blah. I need a nap so I'm putting this to rest til I wake up this evening. Maybe will do a water change again tomorrow.

[eklikewhoa]

Chalk it up to one of those things that you just can't explain....

[SunnyHouTX]

+(10)^10

[barrettsline]

+(10)^10

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You sure those shells were clean.....? I mean it's a.....pause..... Reliable source.

Just playing. I'm at a loss. Substrate? I don't know. This is the million dollar question.

[RonR.]

I know you need to diagnose the problem--it's in your blood. You can spend so much time worrying about it that it's not fun. When I lose a fish I get upset and even frustrated....what could I have done differently I ask myself. Instead of focusing on the recent loss I think about how good I felt when I first got the fish, how I cared for it and fed it and how much I enjoyed keeping the the fish. I focus on the enjoyment part more.

I don't have much experience with wood except when I had some really nice african root in a discus tank. I read alot of stuff about wood and how it can easily absorb good and bad stuff and can release what's inside the wood. I know HAW is a reliable place with quality stuff. Maybe, just maybe something got on or inside that manzanita wood.

When I brought my african root home my first inclination was to scrub it down real good and let it air dry outside for a few days. I used a good bristly brush and scrubbed it down really good and then placed the lot inside large buckets and weighted it down with some aquarium stones I had used in previous set-ups. I let the african root sit outside submerged for at least a week to be sure all the cooties were released. My water actually turned a brownish, tea color. I took the root out and placed it outside for a couple of days in the hot sun to let it thoroughly dry.

Everything else you placed in the tank was checked, cleaned pretty well. I think the fish got stressed out from the trip. The seller should offer you larger new fish at a discounted price. I have had a couple of guys lose newby fry from malfunctioning heaters and they cooked their fish--not my problem, but theirs. But I also know losing a few F1 mobas at $25-$40 each hurts so I offered to sell them fish at a much lower price. One time I replaced the newby fry at no cost because I felt so bad for the guy. In the end, I just want folks to enjoy their new fish and be successful keeping them.If I had some dwarf comps they would be yours B. Never know when I might end up in your ER room!!!