Jack Dempsey Sick?

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?

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?