# How to de-stress fish after an emergency house move



## Sir Chauncy (Aug 22, 2010)

Afternoon chaps and chapettes,

I have always had an on off relationship with fish and fish tanks, every time I get into the hobby I either lose my job or move house, perhaps this is lifes way of telling me to stop keeping fish  Anyway...

My girlfriends parents had a fish tank that they didn't really want and didn't look after. So I kind of took over. Gradually changing water and putting plants in steadily over a period of months. I then moved in with my girlfriend and the tank was kind of left behind and I didn't see it for a fair old while. Then I found out that they were going to get rid of it unless we took it off their hands. It hadn't been touched for at least 6 weeks and things were really bleak; every neon had mouth or body fungus, several fish had died and there were no rummy noses on any tetra in about fifty feet.

My girl and I did an emergency tank move, we could only take about a third of the tank water with us and the rest was boiled and brita filtered (oops-advertising!) as a top up. I'm stupidly pleased to say that not one fish has died in the move, despite all being sick or in poor shape. However, with the exception of the armoured corydoras, the fish are very *very* pale. Worst hit is the little otocinclus, when we moved him we found that all his chums had died in the weeks before and he was the only one left 

In terms of problem areas, well there are a few:- I had no time to cycle or age the water more than a day before we moved, and have no idea what the various chemical levels of the water were before or after the change. It was kind of an emergency tank transfer to save the poor fishkies. I also moved from gravel to sand and only washed it once before putting it into the tank, a kind of dust forms on the surface that I skim off using paper towels. This is thinning out now though.

So The advice I'd like is... what else can I do to help these fish get back on their feet? (or fins I'm sure the fish would prefer it anyway). The Oto worries me most of all. He looks like a ghost. When we first put him in his colour started to come back but he now is almost albino. I have tried cucumber, corgette and algae wafers but he kinds of keeps to himself out of the way and doesn't eat much. They like friends too but I am loathe to add more fish to a "new" tank in this state. The other fish are eating but their colours are shot to bits. 

Is it just a case of gritting my teeth and letting the tank settle or is there a magic lamp I could rub?


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

how many fishes are left.if you really wanna save them remove they from the cloudy water in a holding tank till the main tank settles enough to not kill those guys and since you said they had fungus do a qt for them to recover.


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## Sir Chauncy (Aug 22, 2010)

kitten_penang said:


> how many fishes are left.if you really wanna save them remove they from the cloudy water in a holding tank till the main tank settles enough to not kill those guys and since you said they had fungus do a qt for them to recover.


I have 1 oto, 2 armoured corydoras, 5 neons, 6 rummy nose tetras and 2 green velvet tetras.

I don't have another tank to remove them too unfortunately, they moved in a bucket!

The water itself is not cloudy just a kind of dusty sediment that forms on the surface, the kind you get from sand.


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## Inga (Jun 8, 2010)

You didn't mention the use of a water conditioner, like Prime? I hope you added something like that to take the Ammonia and Nitrite out of the water. I would recommend daily water changes of at least 30% and the use of Prime with every water change. I also would recommend you use some type of a hose to remove the water like a Python or other siphon. 

I would also suggest a couple of aquatic plants to help with they cycle process the tank is currently going through and to give a peaceful place for the fish to hide in. If you can get your hands on a few floating plants too, the fish find it more comfortable to hide under something and floating plants help them to feel safe. 

Remember not to rinse your filter in tap water but you can rinse it in a bucket of water you siphon from the tank during a water change. With the daily water changes, water conditioner and plants, hopefully you will see some improvement. You might need to go so far as doing 50% water changes daily for awhile.


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

agreed.quiet a lot of work.hope the bucket big enough for them. ammonia spikes in the first 2 weeks is common so better keep an eye out for that then comes the nitrite for the next 2 weeks after that only comes nitrate which is good for plants =) a good filter will help clear the water and since the fishes are not in the tank use add clear to help get rid of small particles in the water.don't use if they are fish in the tank but since they are in the bucket and are going to be in there for a while.go right ahead with the add clear.saves up a lot of frustration with cloudy tanks =)


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## Sir Chauncy (Aug 22, 2010)

Cheers for this  It seems that regular water changes are the way forward. I have four cats so keeping the fish in a bucket for several weeks would essentially be a death sentance!

The tank has the plants from the old tank and has plenty of hiding places, the filter was washed with tap water before we moved though >_< It'll be a little while before things start to cycle cleanly I think.

Thanks for the help though, I'll keep you updated as to how we do


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

^.^ move them to my place.would gladly take care of your fish if i lived nearby.


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## LisaC144 (Oct 22, 2009)

No one made mention of a Liquid Master Test Kit. This is essential to the fish keeping hobby. I, and many others, us the API Liquid Master Test Kit. It tests ammonia, pH, nitrite, and nitrate. This will be extremely important during your cycling process especially, and you will wantto test every day. If you see anything above 0 Ammonia and 0 NitrIte, you'll want to do a minimum of 30% water change. After the cycling, once a week testing is sufficient.


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## Sir Chauncy (Aug 22, 2010)

Cower before me mortals for I shall bring this thread back from the dead! *wiggles fingers*

Apologies if it's bad form here to rejig an old post like this but it seems better than starting a new one 

Since I last visited here things have improved dramatically. Frequent water changes have kept any nasty chemical spikes at bay and every fish has it's colour back, including the ottocinclus that I was most worried about. A vastly improved diet of daphnia, tubiflex worms, brine shrimp, pellets, tablets and cucumber has gone a long way to help out too no doubt. The odd fungus that only grew on the neons has started to fade as well. It never seemed to caused the fish any discomfort which I found strange though: they ate and swam about doing their thing. I even saw them pop out to a disco once or twice. 

I have really ramped up the number of plants in the tank too, removing the dodgy plastic ship it came with and adding a bogwood display. I was thinking that I'd kind of reached the limit of what you could add and then I saw some of Byrons planted tanks and dribbled a little. I plan to add some more bogwood and ground cover plants later, (and it's all Byron's fault!)

I really wish I could find the cable that connects my phone to the computer as well. I've taken several photos and would love to be able to show you chaps and chapettes how things have come along. It's the least I can do considering how you helped me out before ^_^


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

aww.. your welcome too.. haha how did you know we like pics??? we atually love... pics ^.^


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## Romad (Jun 28, 2009)

I'm glad to hear that things are looking up. Keep up the good work!


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## Sir Chauncy (Aug 22, 2010)

I've also tried to update my aquarium link until my avatar but can't seem to work out how it's done? I've realised I've put 120 gallons as the tank size instead of litres *facepalm*

Also, do you know of a good site for identifying aquarium plants? I have a few that look very different to any other I have had or seen before and wouldn't mind finding out a little more about them. It would be wretched bad luck if I found out they happen to be the only aquatic plants you can buy that eat you while you sleep.


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

Sir Chauncy said:


> I've also tried to update my aquarium link until my avatar but can't seem to work out how it's done? I've realised I've put 120 gallons as the tank size instead of litres *facepalm*
> 
> Also, do you know of a good site for identifying aquarium plants? I have a few that look very different to any other I have had or seen before and wouldn't mind finding out a little more about them. It would be wretched bad luck if I found out they happen to be the only aquatic plants you can buy that eat you while you sleep.



click aquarium log then add aquarium and you'll see the rest like add pics and edit pics. different site umm... i think it's againts the rule for us to do that.i got a warning once for doing that.


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## Sir Chauncy (Aug 22, 2010)

Woot! I have pictures 

Firstly I thought I'd show you guys and girls what it is you helped create over the last few weeks. These are taken with a camera phone and by my unsteady hand so apologies now for the shakiness of them.

So... here is the tank.

















I'd like some help identifying the following plants too if you can, some help on their care would be great as well.

This ferny thing looks very *very* dark. It's almost black and doesn't seem to enjoy having pictures taken of it. It looks almost exactly like a land based fern only the leaves seem darker. Any ideas?

















This plant seems to have gone downhill a little since I planted it a few days back, one of the leaves at the back has gone a bit yellowy and started to decay. I am going to prune it back this evening.









This seems very similar to the one above it, perhaps a different type but in the same family? The leaves are small but the colour almost identical, it too has gone more yellow since I put it in the tank though, could it be the tube I'm using that glows like this? I'm getting a plant friendly one this weekend.

















And finally this little beauty, I fell in love with how odd this plant looked in the shop. It was the only one of its type and has started to spread its wings a little over the last 3 days. I hope that's a good sign. It's gone a slightly darker green but still has a slightly whitish edge to the leaves.










Anyway. I hope you can see the tank without squinting and can enjoy it without eye strain. If anyone has any ideas what plants these might be, I'll send you an e-hug and a picture of a duck or something.


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## kitten_penang (Mar 26, 2008)

wow thanks for posting pics =) i like the last plant best but i heard it's a bit fineky about water params in my country


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