Regular Member lovemypets Posted October 9, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted October 9, 2005 I cleaned the tank really good yesterday--I had a huge green algae outbreak. I also cleaned the filters and tubes, etc. Yesterday evening about half were dead, so I did another partial water change. This morning, all but about 3 are dead. No nitrates, no ammonia. I have a suspicion--like a moron, I used a regular household sponge to scrub the sides. It was new, but it says it was treated to resist bacteria. I think there was something in there that killed them. Should I move the remaining live ones to another tank, or is it too late for them? What should I do when they are all gone? Tear down the tank and clean everything? Do y'all agree that it was something in that sponge? I think since it looks like I'll have a free 55 gallon tank, I may make a saltwater tank out of it now. Either that, or let the goldies have that tank. So, should I move the remaining ones to my other tropical tank, or will that contaminate that tank too?? HELP ASAP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member lovemypets Posted October 9, 2005 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 9, 2005 Well crap. I looked at the sponge package and it says right on there "Not for aquarium use." So, do I move the survivors to another tropical tank, or will that contaminate that tank?? Hurry, time is running out... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Lozbug Posted October 9, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted October 9, 2005 ooo god, hard descion.... if it were me i would get clean water from the other tropical, get a tub or bowl as tempory and put them in that. so your not contaminating the other tropical. sorry you lost the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Fishmerised Posted October 9, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted October 9, 2005 So sorry Michelle to hear of your dilema. Most definately there is disinfectant of some type in those sponges to make them 'bacteria resistant'. I would remove the surviving fish asap and then your only option is to strip down your tank. Clean everything, discard filter material and get new ones. You will have to set up and cycle the tank again from scratch. I hope the 3 survivors will be alright in another tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member lovemypets Posted October 9, 2005 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 9, 2005 I feel like such an idiot. All my babies killed by a d*** 20 cent sponge! I've moved the survivors to a rubbermaid container. I'm washing out the tank good. I'm going to move my goldies to the 55 gallon (up from a 29 gallon--they will love it). I still have some BioSpira so I'm in good shape there; plus I'll move some of their ornaments, etc., to the 55 gallon. I guess I'll put the survivors in the current goldie tank. I can't believe I used that stupid sponge! If anyone here had asked if it was OK to clean with that sponge, I would have said NO! DUH! I don't know what I was thinking. And now my beautiful bala sharks, australian rainbows, tetras, angelfish, etc., are all dead! Unbelievable! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Fishmerised Posted October 9, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted October 9, 2005 I'm so sorry Michelle. We all make mistakes, sometimes we are just too tired or too busy to think straight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Lozbug Posted October 9, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted October 9, 2005 am really sorry. it was a simple error, anyone could have made it - we are but human. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member lovemypets Posted October 9, 2005 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 9, 2005 thanks guys... The survivors were one bala shark (out of 2), 4 clown loaches (out of 5), and the 2 kuhli loaches. All others are dead. The goldies are now in the very clean 55 gallon and they seem to like it. They are exploring right now. I still don't know if the "survivors" will really survive. I guess I'll know in a day or two. They look a little stressed. Thanks for all the consoling words!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MelVin Posted October 11, 2005 Share Posted October 11, 2005 you might want to treat the survivors with qa tiny bit of salt, it helps respretory function among others jsut make sure you sue pure salt like sea, aquarium or kosher, table salt is ok aslong as it has no anti caking ingredients. I found this table on another site hope this makes it easier. I want to add salt for myt balas but I hear they are sensitive, in the thread I started Balashark suggests 2 tsp per gallon. Anyway here is the table : Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member lovemypets Posted October 11, 2005 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 11, 2005 thanks for the info. The bala shark died the next day . Now I'm considering moving the few loaches to my other 29 gallon tank, moving the goldies back to this 29 gallon, and making my 55 gallon a saltwater tank! How hard are they to maintain--anybody know? I've been reading up on it the past couple of days, but there is conflicting info out there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Fishmerised Posted October 11, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted October 11, 2005 Sorry about your bala shark. Sorry, I don't know anything about marine tanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member sandy Posted October 11, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted October 11, 2005 About the salt, please dont use it with the loaches it will burn the skin. Sorry about all the losses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member balashark Posted October 12, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted October 12, 2005 so sorry to hear about your loss lovemypets. it's true, we all make mistakes though. side note, isn't table salt usually iodized and therefor can be poisonous to fish? someone told me that a while back so i always use pure aq. salt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member maries Posted November 5, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted November 5, 2005 I'm so sorry. It really hurts when it's our fault, but as mentioned earlier, we are only human. Hope you feel better soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member lovemypets Posted November 5, 2005 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 5, 2005 Thanks everybody. I decided against the saltwater tank, so the goldies are in the 55 gallon. I added a blue oranda and a red cap oranda. I bought some glass cats and red danios for the 29 gallon the goldies used to be in. 2 of the clown loaches that had survived have now died. I am now considering putting the new fish in my other 29 gallon, which has a few clown loaches and tetras and one glass cat, and buying something else for that tank, like a lizard or newt or something. Any ideas? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member magickzzl Posted November 6, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted November 6, 2005 pk.. so a few things: First, Im so sorry about your losses *huggles second, Bala, its the non clumping agents and preservitives in table salt that make it toic and finally, heck ya! make your "extra" 29 a reptile or amphibian tank. Maybe do a colony of poisen dart frogs? or my faves, whites tree frogs (can hold those guys ) oh oh!!! White line geckos! cant hold them, but their soooooooo kewl!!! or leopard geckos.. those guys can be held Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member balashark Posted November 6, 2005 Regular Member Share Posted November 6, 2005 yea, a bunch of frogs would be really cool. they've got something like that set up at the petstore. all poison dart frogs i believe with a rock and a big shallow pool of water w/ a power-head filter running in it. i was watching them all just sort of sitting there staring at each other, than this little (unsupervised) kid came up and tapped on the glass, and they all jumped at once then came back to rest and just sitting there again. oh, and thanks for the response magic. either way i'll stick w/ my doc wellfish's fresh-water aquarium salt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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