Kurt

I've run into a problem with my 55-gallon moderately-planted tank. I've placed six zebra danios in the tank yesterday which brought the population to:

8 Zebras
2 Red-Wag Platies
2 Neon Tetras
1 Clown Loach
1 bala shark
4 Otos

...the tank also has snails in it that fluctuate in population based on the hunger of the clown loach. I'm very careful in acclimating the fish and I've all the patience in the world--usually. For some reason, I wake up today and I'm missing four zebras.

I've run into this problem once before and I didn't dig into it as I was leaving on a trip and spending quite a bit of time with my new saltwater tank. I'd like to share some love with this tank and I'm stumped. Is the bala or clown snacking between feedings? I feed flakes and sinking shrimp pellets at least every other day and will give some frozen or freeze dried treats at least once or twice a week.

The various chemicals reading are stabile:

7.60 pH
0.00 ammonia
0.00 nitrate
0.00 nitrite
73.7° F Temp

...I inject CO2 and supplement with Seachem's Flourish. I do weekly water changes of about 10%. The tank has been live since November of last year after cycling. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated!

fishlover78

I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination, but it could have been the Bala shark. how big is he?, And were the fish missing or were they dead in the tank? -fishlover78

ShaynaB

Welcome to Fishlore!

Are you sure it's cycled? Maybe you want to test the Nitrate again... It's been running for a long time to be not cycled but a reading of 0 Nitrates usually means it hasn't cycled yet.

How big is the bala shark?

Oh, and is it possible to raise the temp to 78? Tropical fish usually prefer a bit higher temps than you're running now.

It could have been just the shock from the transfer. I've never lost 4 fish at once from transfer though...

I would guess that they were either someone's snack or the shock theory.

Kurt

Greetings fishlover78 and ShaynaB!

I ran the water through the tests again and they show the same readings as last week:

7.60 pH
0.00 Ammonia
0.00 Nitrate
0.00 Nitrite
73.5° F Temp

I have a digital thermometer and I'll be able to increase the temperature of the two heaters gradually to closer to 78°. I've been reading further about cyanobacteria (which I also have a bit of) and it appears that I may not be dosing my plants with all that they need. Maybe the plants are using up all of the available Nitrate?

I've actually been very successful with introducing new fish previously as I float the bag and gradually introduce tank water.

The bala shark is about two inches long. I've taken a picture tonight that might show the fish in comparison (each picture is about a megabyte in size):

http://www.reonis.com/images/Flash.jpg
http://www.reonis.com/images/Blur.jpg

...I'm no fish photographer though, the fish wouldn't stop moving!

fishlover78

he's too small to eat the zebras (i thought this guy was like 6 inches long!)

ShaynaB

I think it is definitely possible that the plants could be taking the nitrates out of the water. I think I must have overlooked the "planted tank" part...

Hmm, and you haven't seen any bodies? They just vanished? Is the clown loach the same size??

Sometimes using the macro setting on the camera helps with blurry fish. (There's usually a button that looks like a flower.) That, or turning off the lights in the room and not using the flash.

Cyanobacteria and I do not get along at all. I hate that stuff. It gets on equipment and has traveled into two of my tanks... Not fun. Let me know if you have ways of getting rid of it!

soldieroffortune1974

Um,let me know if i missed something somewhere,but cyanobacteria is necessary in an aquarium,or the nitrogen cycle can't take place.

What is it about cyanobacteria that you are having a problem with?

Kurt

Greetings fishlover78 and ShaynaB!

Yep, I've had great luck in buying all my fish smaller and letting them grow. My kids especially have enjoyed seeing visible growth. The two platies that you see in the pictures are actually two that we grew from small fry.

I've not seen any bodies. There's no bits or pieces floating about and there's nothing in my two filters. I lifted the decorative castle and peeked under and didn't see anything there either.

I appreciate the tips on the camera. I used the macro setting on one shot, called Flash, and took a good shot but I neglected to kill the flash and the room's lights. Practice makes perfect.

I'm hoping to do more reading and studying about dosing my tank and I've found some information here and I'm going to try a mix of option three and some other tid bits to get my dosing corrected.

ShaynaB

Cyanobacteria = blue green algae. It's become rather invasive in one of my tanks... Keeps on reappearing. Stuff's driving me up the wall!

Beeker

If the dinos heads are small enough to fit in the bala's mouth, that is all you need. The loach and snails can make quick work of the leftovers.

Kurt

Greetings Beeker!

That's really too bad as I liked the bala shark. I much prefer my smaller schooling fish though. I have another tank that I can move him to. That punk.

Shawnie

Cyanobacteria is more necessary for marine cycles

soldieroffortune1974

Yeah,I kind of forgot this thread was related to a freshwater aquarium

fishlover78

oh, and thank you for the greetings Kurt and by the way, welcome to fishlore!

Beeker

Hehe

Don't hold it against the little guy. It is in his nature. Even my goldfish, as the babies were growing, one grew a little faster than the rest and started getting meals for himself. Unfortunately, those meals were his brothers and sisters. I saw him do it once. It was quite amazing. But, I quickly switched him to a different tank. I know that it isn't easy to think of it this way, but it is good that he is doing that. It shows that he is both mentally and physically healthy. He sounds like a great fish. He just needs some tankmates that... well... that won't fit in his mouth, or can at least outrun him.

ShaynaB

Poor guy, he's only hungry! HAHA

Beeker

Yeah, and he has pretty expensive tastes too! No cheap fish flakes for him! Freeze dried?! Are you kidding?! He wants fresh! And to pick his own! Just like humanspicking a lobster to eat.

ShaynaB

You know, I love seafood, but that's one of the one things I'll never be able to do.

I have that whole "I know I'm eating an animal but I don't have to think about where it came from" attitude and I'm ok with that!

I don't think I could look a lobster in the eye and be like "I'm gonna eat you!"

:P

Obviously, the bala has no problem with that though!

Beeker

My only thing is I cannot eat something I had as a pet.

I had a pet snail when I was in 4th and 5th grade. (School project) He was a great pet. I don't think I will have to worry about my tropicals or my goldfish though. The odds of them being on a menu are slim.