29G Brackish

[wodesorel]

A really sad update.

We lost a few of the pugalators the past few months - not a huge surprise given that fiddlers have a three month PPS period, but in the last two weeks it got a LOT worse. I had well over a dozen fiddlers end up dead, including my big male that we got last year. :crybaby:

I still have absolutely no idea what caused it. Water parameters never changed, neither did anything in the tank. They just started dropping like flies. I even lost about 2/3 of my guppy swarm, including Fishbait and Fishbait Jr.

I'm down to I think 8 fiddlers - only one of those is a pugalator - but it looks like my original female is still hanging on. The two guppy moms are okay and are ready to pop again.

Just really bummed about it. Wish I had some clue what happened!

[wolfnipplechips]

Sorry to hear that.

[aussieJJDude]

Sorry to hear that!
When is the last time you have added something new to the tank?
When is the last time you change the filter media?
Have you added ferts or new unconditioned water/chemical (like meds) to the tank?
Last one promise.
When is the last time you gave the tank a good clean? (Sub, ornaments anything)

[wodesorel]

I treat it like a fish tank, and I haven't added anything new since the fids.
Clean the filter media (floss) by rinsing in old tank water once a week during water changes.
Nope, never any meds. Only "chemical" is Instant Ocean.
I do a sand vac every week. It's not good to scrub the tank down as it throws the cycle.

[CrabbyMom33]

Sorry to hear that.

[SoulLonely]

I'm so sorry! *huggles*

[kuza]

sorry

[aussieJJDude]

Wod, you may have to start fresh again, when i few deaths happen, it is better the restart the tank.

[wodesorel]

Absolutely not! Do you KNOW how hard it is to get a tank of that size cycled?! The water chemistry is stable, so it had to be something else. Maybe the change in seasons. Maybe the furnace kicking on.

I plan on doing daily water changes for a while and see what happens. Of course they all had to die when I was down with the (probably swine) flu and couldn't even stand up so I couldn't manage the tank daily past water tests and food. A few years ago I was able to talk to a veterinarian who used to work for a major public aquarium when I was having problems then, and she said anytime there was unexplained sickness or deaths the firs thing they would do is massive water changes before turning to medications. It's usually the best solution and it often stops all of the problems. She was right - two weeks of daily changes and fish were all healthy again.

Besides, I still have eight fids and a gaggle of guppies. Would you give up if you only had one hermit left?

[wodesorel]

I've lost two more of the pugilators, only one is left. The "regular" fids are all doing fine.

I think it may have been the heater, after looking through the old pages I had this exact same problem last year when I used the heater. I unplugged it and everything seems to have calmed down.

We got two more females, and three males. (In the hopes that with three they'll spread the aggression around. We wonder if the last male burned himself out with all those ladies.) It was going to be two males, but there was a third who lost his big claw but still looked good... and I have a thing for the pity purchases.

This is the really big guy. Much larger than the male that passed away.




I also found one of the females out of the tank the other morning. The cats had knocked a branch off the tree and there was about six of them hovering over it, which was a little weird, but when they started paying attention to the corner of the room instead I figured they had cornered something. It turned out to be one of the big girls. The cats were so freaked out they just stared at her rather than touching, so she wasn't hurt. But she was begging at the tank stand like "LET ME IN!". She let me scoop her right up and put her back in.

I taped the tank up tight (there was a hole in the back :roll:) and I don't think she'll get out again, but she did make me scream today:



Thought she was a spider.

[aussieJJDude]

LOL!
So cute! I love em!

[SoulLonely]

hahaha, she definitely looks like a spider when she is like that! Crazy little girl

[HermitMickey00]

Updates?

[wodesorel]

Still in a transitional stage until the weather breaks and I can find a new 29 gallon. I have ideas for a new set-up that would be self contained (filter inside the tank so less chance of escape.) Just have to wait until it's warm enough to do the stinky epoxy work outside.

All the females are/were pregnant this month, so they must be able to sense it's spring. Surprisingly the three males that are in there are not fighting and are tolerating each other, so maybe no having a diggable land section is better since there's nothing for them to fight over.

I do seem to keep loosing guppies, and they've slowed down on reproducing, so that's sort of nice?

[HermitMickey00]

If I'm correct, I think when they slow down on reproducing their actually aging (don't bast me on this because this is all from memory when I used to keep them).