# After 10 days away from home...



## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

I was away for ten days, returning home last night. I had someone come in and deliver pre-measured food every other day, so the fish didn't complete starve, but I didn't have timers on my tanks so I left the lights off for ten days, except on one tank which had a timer.

Most of the plants seem to have died, perhaps as much from being eaten by some starving-mad fishies, as from not having enough light. The tank with light in it however, seems to have turned cloudy, whereas the other tanks did not turn cloudy. I don't know what that could be about.

I did a 50% water change when I got home, to dilute mostly, and will do another one tonight, to further dilute the tank, although everything tests out okay on the usual water parameters, and the biological filters seem to have survived reasonably well. 

One kuhli died, but everybody else survived. My clowns color is off a bit, but the only other guy I noticed signs of stress in, is my dwarf cichlid (curviceps). He had nice bass-like gentle colors but he's gone very dark, almost charcoal. Is this a usual indicator of a stressed fish? 

Should I move him to another tank (I have a veryl ightly stocked, very clean tank) as a precautionary move? He's in a tank which is perhaps a bit over-stocked. I can drip-acclimate him to the other tank. Or could this extreme color change be natural to this species as it matures? This guy is about 9 months old, I estimate, and I've had him 7 months. He is large, and otherwise appears healthy, but the color change doesn't look good. He looks like he was smeared with axle grease. Sometimes the color shifts depending on the angle you look at him. At some angles he looks almost black, and at other angles, he looks dirty grey.



Warren


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## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

*Hmmm....*

I wonder if perhaps he's not stressed, he's just happy. Maybe he's pale when he was stressed out from the big-box-pet-store tanks and in my not-yet-mature biofilter/tank-environment. Now that the tank is mature and healthy, maybe that less-attractive black color is the sign he's in breeding condition or good health? I dunno. Most of my other fishies get paler or gray out when they're unhappy, not darker.

W


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## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

I believe he's a Laetacara Curviceps, much like these:
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?id=127

W


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

We should break this up into no light tank and tank with light to avoid confusion.

The no light tank: Clean out the dead plants and are there any plants in there that are still alive? Is this the tank with the Laetacara Curviceps? 

The tank with light: Did the cloudiness go away after last nights 50% water change?

What fish are in what tank(s)?


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## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

So I should toss the mouldering plants. Ok. 

The cloudy tank that I did a 50% change on was the lit one, and it appears clear today, but I am pretty sure I need to do another 50% change because it's been 10 days with no water changes and the water chemistry may have become extreme in ways that don't show on my test kit.

The non-cloudy tanks (five of them) all were unlit. I did 50% changes on them too, and vaccumed the gravel. The one dead fish was from one of the unlit tanks that otherwise appeared quite clean, and smelled the same as before I left. I believe he died (kuhli) because as a micro-scaled fish (no visible scales) he is more sensitive to contaminants. Other kuhlis in the same tank, and clown loaches in the same tank, are in good health though, and good color. The clown loaches had a pretty good stock of trumpet snails to feast on (I put about 50 of them into the tank before I left, and the gravel is full of much more than 50 empty shells) so I'm not surprised the clowns did fine.

The only fish I'm concerned about, from appearance alone is my Curvy. He's acting normally though, and ate and swam about with his usual happy and confident motions. 



W


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

I was under the impression that large water changes of 50% and up were too stressful for fish and that it's better to do small water changes more frequently?


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## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

I think after 10 days a 50% is in order, though. Only one dead fish, so I didn't go into emergency "100%" mode, or move fish into buckets and go into teardown mode. On some of my larger and least stocked tanks I actually did more like 40%.

W


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

I'd have gone about it with multiple smaller water changes, or at least dripping/slow feed of the freshwater back into the tank. 

The cloudy water is white? Was that tank overfed? 

The darkened curvi I'm sure is fine. Many fish show stress differently (darken/lightening), and some change after settling in. Also, he could have just gone dark after being in the dark for 10 days, and is slower to readjust.

IMO, maybe you want to invest in timers for the tanks? If they're all planted, then it's a worthwhile investment. All my lights are on timers.


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## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

Timers are on my to-do list. I was unable to get it set up in time before I had to leave for my trip. 

The cloudy water wasn't opaque or completely white just a bit off and visibility was reduced.

I did the water change gradually for the fry tank (dilute then drain, repeated slowly over a while) because it was such a small tank I knew I could really shock the poor guys, but I probably did too much change in one go on the bigger tanks.

W


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

Now we just wait and see how everything will turn out.
Are the tanks close to each?
You could have used a powerbar or a wall tap on your timer.
http://www.pricegrabber.ca/info_picture.php/masterid=17613458/ut=4c0a97389ef55412
You can get these at a dollar store.
Then run extension cords to the lights as a *temporary* holiday solution.


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Calmer said:


> You can get these at a dollar store.


I wouldn't recommend purchasing anything electrical at a dollar store. I believe there were some xmas lights that dollar stores were selling which were defective and caused fires.  Make sure that whatever you buy is certified.


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## gunnerx (Mar 20, 2008)

Wow, 10 days eh? I will be going to vacation for 10 days starting July 1st which is next week. Good to see that most survived.


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## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

One of my books said that most freshwater fish can survive long periods without much food. I used one of the gel-based tetra vacation food blocks for my fry tank, because I'm told that the plaster based ones are not worth using. I am pleased to report that the fry seem to have grown, seem well fed and the tank water did not cloud. The baby snails (which I don't consider pests because they make excellent Clown Loach Food) seemed to REALLY like the gelatin-based tetramin vacation food. They covered about half the surface of the gel thing when I came home. 

My clown loaches survived mostly by eating some of trumpet snails I deposited in their tank before leaving. I had pre-measured the food so that the non-aquarist caring for my tanks would not over-feed.

I forgot to ask my helper to clear the filter inlets of plant matter that gucked them up over that ten days. It could have been a bad scene. One filter had only a very little flow when I got home. I think the biological filter survived though, because there was no change in the "wet earth smell" that my fully cycled tanks have. I think the plants wouldn't have gone so badly off if I had timers on my lights.

W


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Fish I'm sure can survive a long while without eating every day. I doubt they eat so well in the wild as they do in the aquarium. They can go at least 2 weeks without feeding, if well fed before hand. 

I personally would stay away from the gel and block feeders, as all my tanks have plecs and they would just gorge themselves on it.

If you had the timer too, I'm sure the filter intakes would not have been blocked up with decaying plant matter. It'll cost you like $15 at home depot or something to get a timer, and you can run a powerbar off of it (make sure they are appropriately rated) to run just the lights for a few tanks. I run 3 lights (65W, 18W, 14W) off a single timer, and it works great.


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

Tabatha said:


> I wouldn't recommend purchasing anything electrical at a dollar store. I believe there were some xmas lights that dollar stores were selling which were defective and caused fires.  Make sure that whatever you buy is certified.


Always look for the *CSA* Canadian Standards Association or *UL* Underwriters' Laboratories symbols on all electrical products. All should be grounded. 
http://www.csa-international.org/consumers/see_the_marks/Default.asp?language=English
I have dollar store wall taps plugged in my house here for a few years now; CSA/UL and no problems


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

Calmer said:


> Always look for the *CSA* Canadian Standards Association or *UL* Underwriters' Laboratories symbols on all electrical products. All should be grounded.


I read that and then in my head i heard that old jingle "Play safe, play smart!"


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