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jauncourtRemember this entry? Well, my fears about a pleco getting stuck inside our Kewl Ornamental Plastic Rock and dying were realized. I've been afraid of this possibility since we got the damn thing. I wanted actual rocks. Much safer.
Thursday I notice the water's a bit iffy and decide to do tank maintenance before bed Friday. Friday, the water got stinky, a little cloudy. The filter was clogged with guck and needed a good rinse, so I thought it was just a water problem when I did a half water change Friday night. By Saturday morning the water was twice as cloudy and stinky as before, and I realized I'd only seen one pleco for a couple of days. Dread.
Did another partial water change and watched the tank and the fish a couple of hours, just to be sure. No Quasimodo. Weird stressy behavior in the rest of the population - like avoiding the 'rock'. Further intensification of STINKY.
RIP Quasimodo. I should've taken that thing out ages ago.
Sigh. So. Major tank cleaning happened. Relocated fishies and frog to a largeish pitcher of clean treated water. Washed plants and all other tank bits thoroughly, drained tank, gravel washed in hot water, tank rinsed and wiped out, the works. Also, after trying in vain to dislodge the OBVIOUSLY deceased fish from the fish furniture mentioned above, I elected to pitch it. NO WAY can I get it clean.
Redecorated the tank with a blue glass vase and a pair of resin LOTR bookends (yes, the collectable DVD ones, but they're already damaged cos they got dropped, plus they are LOUSY bookends - so they're safer in a fishtank) I had handy and took the opprotunity to shift it over so you can actually see most of it from the office again. The fish still have lurking zones, but none that can potentially cause injury.
The remaining fishies are doing much better now, though Grendel (remaining pleco) was none too happy about the situation to begin with and then he had to suffer the indignity of being hand-caught, so he's a bit stressed and didn't want to eat.
I've convinced Chris to swear off fish furniture here on out. Nothing hollow or animated in the tank for ever and ever. Here's hoping for reduced Fish Drama in future.
Thursday I notice the water's a bit iffy and decide to do tank maintenance before bed Friday. Friday, the water got stinky, a little cloudy. The filter was clogged with guck and needed a good rinse, so I thought it was just a water problem when I did a half water change Friday night. By Saturday morning the water was twice as cloudy and stinky as before, and I realized I'd only seen one pleco for a couple of days. Dread.
Did another partial water change and watched the tank and the fish a couple of hours, just to be sure. No Quasimodo. Weird stressy behavior in the rest of the population - like avoiding the 'rock'. Further intensification of STINKY.
RIP Quasimodo. I should've taken that thing out ages ago.
Sigh. So. Major tank cleaning happened. Relocated fishies and frog to a largeish pitcher of clean treated water. Washed plants and all other tank bits thoroughly, drained tank, gravel washed in hot water, tank rinsed and wiped out, the works. Also, after trying in vain to dislodge the OBVIOUSLY deceased fish from the fish furniture mentioned above, I elected to pitch it. NO WAY can I get it clean.
Redecorated the tank with a blue glass vase and a pair of resin LOTR bookends (yes, the collectable DVD ones, but they're already damaged cos they got dropped, plus they are LOUSY bookends - so they're safer in a fishtank) I had handy and took the opprotunity to shift it over so you can actually see most of it from the office again. The fish still have lurking zones, but none that can potentially cause injury.
The remaining fishies are doing much better now, though Grendel (remaining pleco) was none too happy about the situation to begin with and then he had to suffer the indignity of being hand-caught, so he's a bit stressed and didn't want to eat.
I've convinced Chris to swear off fish furniture here on out. Nothing hollow or animated in the tank for ever and ever. Here's hoping for reduced Fish Drama in future.
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-17 03:13 am (UTC)Despite numerous partial water changes the situation wasn't improving so I've taken pretty much everything out and cleaned it, alongside MORE water changes on a twice-daily basis.. I've had to de-gunge the filters three times in the last two days already but, as it's not anything too icky (just an OD of food really, from their perspective) I'm reluctant to totally ditch the bacteria cultures that had been ticking over nicely for about a year until the food.
Hope the rest of 'em feel better soon!
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-17 10:21 am (UTC)How big is your tank?