Jack Dempsey Sick?

[Ms. TNT]

I woke up this morning and my Jack was breathing heavy. I recently
cleaned its tank, changed filters and added new gravel. I was told at
the store that I shouldn't have completely changed the tank. I have
had this fish for about 4 years now and have always totally cleaned
the tank but it has never acted that way. Maybe it was the fact that I
added a new filter and gravel as well. I was told that I removed all
the needed bacteria. What can I do now? I added a chemical called
cycle that adds some of the beneficial bateria back to the tank. Jack
seems to be doing better. I also put the old filter back on. Will I be
able to put the new filter back on and is that anything else I need to
be doing?

[Fedor_DeGazz]

This group is basically dead, but I still check it so I will answer.
Most likely you have indeed done away with the necessary bacteria, and your
Dempsey is suffering with burned gills and lack of oxygen from the resulting
ammonia. Your method is incorrect. You should do weekly water changes of
about 25%, and never change all of the filter media at once. There should
also be some media in the filter that's meant to hold the bacteria that
never gets changed, in the form of ceramic rings or a foam pad or something
similar. Get test kits for ammonia and nitrite ASAP and check for ammonia
and nitrite, and if found, do daily water changes (large amounts but never
complete) to keep it as low as possible, until the bacteria can build up
again. From then on, do the water changes as I have outlined (25% weekly)
and don't change out all of the gravel, filter media, etc. again. You cannot
upset the bacteria like that and expect a healthy tank. If you only added
gravel, but did not remove the old, you might try to raise some of the old
gravel to the surface where any bacteria in it can contact the water. If the
filter material has not dried out, it may be worth trying to put it back in;
otherwise probably not. It takes about 6 weeks usually to establish a
sufficient bacteria colony. I am surprised that you had this fish for 4
years, doing tank maintenance the way you describe. Do a search on the web
for "nitrification cycle" so you will fully understand it. Good luck...

Fedor

"Ms. TNT" > wrote in message
oups.com...
>I woke up this morning and my Jack was breathing heavy. I recently
> cleaned its tank, changed filters and added new gravel. I was told at
> the store that I shouldn't have completely changed the tank. I have
> had this fish for about 4 years now and have always totally cleaned
> the tank but it has never acted that way. Maybe it was the fact that I
> added a new filter and gravel as well. I was told that I removed all
> the needed bacteria. What can I do now? I added a chemical called
> cycle that adds some of the beneficial bateria back to the tank. Jack
> seems to be doing better. I also put the old filter back on. Will I be
> able to put the new filter back on and is that anything else I need to
> be doing?
>

[Ms. TNT]

On Sep 24, 9:46 pm, "Jeffrey St. Clair, Ph.D."
> wrote:
> One more thing. Did you dechlorinate your water before putting it in the
> tank?
>
> "Jeffrey St. Clair, Ph.D." > wrote in
> om...
>
>
>
> > Any visual symptoms? Heavy gasping near the water's surface? Please
> > supply the following information:
>
> > tank size in gallons:
> > list of tank mates, if any:
> > pH:
> > Ammonia:
> > Nitrite:
> > Nitrate:
> > Temp:
>
> > "Ms. TNT" > wrote in message
> oups.com...
> >>I woke up this morning and my Jack was breathing heavy. I recently
> >> cleaned its tank, changed filters and added new gravel. I was told at
> >> the store that I shouldn't have completely changed the tank. I have
> >> had this fish for about 4 years now and have always totally cleaned
> >> the tank but it has never acted that way. Maybe it was the fact that I
> >> added a new filter and gravel as well. I was told that I removed all
> >> the needed bacteria. What can I do now? I added a chemical called
> >> cycle that adds some of the beneficial bateria back to the tank. Jack
> >> seems to be doing better. I also put the old filter back on. Will I be
> >> able to put the new filter back on and is that anything else I need to
> >> be doing?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

How do you do that?

[Ms. TNT]

On Sep 26, 1:59 am, "Jeffrey St. Clair, Ph.D."
> wrote:
> I would humbly recommend you spend 20 dollars and invest in a couple of
> books. They are a lifeline to keeping your fish alive.
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Freshwater-Aquariums-Animal-Planet-Library/dp/0...
>
> http://www.amazon.com/Aquarium-Cichlids-Animal-Planet-Library/dp/0793...
>
> What size tank do you have him in?
>
> Did you dechlorinate the water?
>
> "Ms. TNT" > wrote in message
>
> oups.com...
>
>
>
> > On Sep 24, 9:46 pm, "Jeffrey St. Clair, Ph.D."
> > > wrote:
> >> One more thing. Did you dechlorinate your water before putting it in the
> >> tank?
>
> >> "Jeffrey St. Clair, Ph.D." > wrote in
> >> om...
>
> >> > Any visual symptoms? Heavy gasping near the water's surface? Please
> >> > supply the following information:
>
> >> > tank size in gallons:
> >> > list of tank mates, if any:
> >> > pH:
> >> > Ammonia:
> >> > Nitrite:
> >> > Nitrate:
> >> > Temp:
>
> >> > "Ms. TNT" > wrote in message
> >> oups.com...
> >> >>I woke up this morning and my Jack was breathing heavy. I recently
> >> >> cleaned its tank, changed filters and added new gravel. I was told at
> >> >> the store that I shouldn't have completely changed the tank. I have
> >> >> had this fish for about 4 years now and have always totally cleaned
> >> >> the tank but it has never acted that way. Maybe it was the fact that I
> >> >> added a new filter and gravel as well. I was told that I removed all
> >> >> the needed bacteria. What can I do now? I added a chemical called
> >> >> cycle that adds some of the beneficial bateria back to the tank. Jack
> >> >> seems to be doing better. I also put the old filter back on. Will I be
> >> >> able to put the new filter back on and is that anything else I need to
> >> >> be doing?- Hide quoted text -
>
> >> - Show quoted text -
>
> > How do you do that?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

I just added the old filter back, salt and cycle to put some of the
needed bacteria in the tank. i was told to just let him run it's
course to avoid stree him anymore. He seems to bedoing well but his
face looks a little brownish not pinkish. Is that a problem? Should I
be concerned?

[Fedor_DeGazz]

> I just added the old filter back, salt and cycle to put some of the
> needed bacteria in the tank. i was told to just let him run it's
> course to avoid stree him anymore. He seems to bedoing well but his
> face looks a little brownish not pinkish. Is that a problem? Should I
> be concerned?
>

The color could mean that there is nitrite in the water. Nitrite causes
the fishes blood to turn brown, and prevents it from transporting oxygen. A
small amount of salt will help with nitrite poisoning. Get test kits for
ammonia and nitrite from your fish store, and do daily water testing
according to instructions in the kits, and if there is detectable ammonia
and/or nitrite present, make partial water changes daily until the ammonia
AND nitrite are gone in the test results. Then do regular weekly water
changes, removing about 25% of the water each time. Don't change your
gravel, but use a gravel vacuum to clean it (this will be your method of
removing 25% of the water each week). When doing filter maintenance, don't
change out all of the media. Your filter should have some porous ceramic
rings or a piece of foam material that is meant to hold the beneficial
bacteria. When you do filter maintenance, rinse this material in
dechlorinated water (or tank water that you've removed) and put it back into
the filter. While salt is helpful in the case of nitrite, it does not help
for ammonia. For ammonia you should get some AmQuel (or a similar product)
to reduce the ammonia, until the bacteria can increase to a sufficient
number to consume it. There are two types of bacteria that are involved in
converting ammonia. One converts ammonia to nitrite, which is also
poisonous, and the other converts the nitrite to nitrate (note the
difference in spelling - nitrite/nitrate). The nitrate (which is not a
problem to fish unless it is present in large quantities) gets removed when
you do your weekly water changes. Ammonia -> Nitrite -> Nitrate. The
bacteria that convert nitrite to nitrate reproduce more slowly than those
that convert ammonia to nitrite, so the nitrite takes longer to go away than
the ammonia does. I personally would not use salt in a tank once everything
is back to normal, as it is not part of a natural freshwater environment.
Also reduce feeding (to reduce the amount of ammonia produced) until the
ammonia and nitrite are gone.

Fedor