# Quick turn for the worse



## AndrealvsDennis (May 13, 2010)

I feel like such a nube, always on here asking for help and never having any advice of my own to offer!

The last post I had was about cleaning my tank with baking soda and vinegar. I bring that up because I want it to be known that after I cleaned it that week, my black moor had never looked better!! So, I don't believe those cleaning agents have anything to do with my current problem. 

I cleaned my tank again about four days ago, this time I just rinsed it out. I did everything nearly the same as I always do. The only thing that was different was that I was not able to leave out EVERY gallon of water for 24 hours ahead of time, like I usually do, and had to add some straight from the tap. However, I used a meat thermometer to get just the right temperature and before I added my fish back to the tank, I added stress coat stuff that removes chlorine and ammonia. 

My fish has barely moved from the bottom of the tank since I cleaned it four days ago! Before that he was literally doing somersaults and now he is just sitting there. His eyes are still bright and looking around and his gill function seems normal and he is not gasping or anything, he is just entirely listless. What caused this and how can I fix it??


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

Just to be curious, why are you completely emptying out the tank every time it gets cleaned? Using all new water all the time is not good... stresses out the fish.


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## AndrealvsDennis (May 13, 2010)

Well, when I am in my normal place of residence, I DO do that. I have 5 empty gallon jugs that I use to fill with old and new water. However, I'm home for christmas and didn't have all of my gallon jugs with me so I figured it wouldn't hurt to change it a couple times using all new water. Was that a very wrong assumption? 

Also, I like to change almost all of the water if I have added any kind of medication to the water. I added some melafix last week so I didn't feel bad adding all new water and getting rid of the medicated water...


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## ThatDude (Jul 10, 2010)

How big of tank is it? And changing all the water is bad. Ten to twenty percent water change every week is more than enough.


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## AndrealvsDennis (May 13, 2010)

It's five gallon and yes I know that is too small but it is all I can have in my dorm room. 

Any advice on making him better?


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

yeah...quit screwing around with you tank..
buy an aquarium thermometer...save a 1 gallon milk jug and rinse it out real good..twice a week remove 1 gallon of tank water and replace it with 1 gallon of tap water..just keep the temps within 4 or 5 degrees.....no need for stresscoat or anything else...
i do 40-60% water changes without dechlorinating..that includes my plecos , discus , angels and others..

keep this in mind...the more you mess with your tank ; the more problems you will cause and the more animals you will kill...


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## ThatDude (Jul 10, 2010)

When I had a five gallon i didnt do wanter changes but once a month and that was about a gallon and a half at a time. Water stayed clear and fish happy. I had just a air stone and a 50w heater in it.


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## AndrealvsDennis (May 13, 2010)

What is an air stone? The reason I remove all the water to clean the tank is because I have glass stones instead of gravel or rocks. I originally had rocks and he started eating them, so I replaced them with marbles. However, all the waste and uneaten food often doesn't get filtered because it falls through the marbles to the bottom, I haven't figured out how to fix that problem. That's why I clean it every week, because otherwise the water stays crystal clear, it's just that there is waste hidden beneath the surface.


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## hXcChic22 (Dec 26, 2009)

AndrealvsDennis said:


> What is an air stone? The reason I remove all the water to clean the tank is because I have glass stones instead of gravel or rocks. I originally had rocks and he started eating them, so I replaced them with marbles. However, all the waste and uneaten food often doesn't get filtered because it falls through the marbles to the bottom, I haven't figured out how to fix that problem. That's why I clean it every week, because otherwise the water stays crystal clear, it's just that there is waste hidden beneath the surface.


You could always switch to sand... waste stays on top then.


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## pinetree (Nov 29, 2009)

Perhaps the pH and hardness at your home is drastically different than at your dorm? That might account for some stress. I wouldn't ever dump the entire tank, remove the fish, etc. It IS stressful. For my goldfish, I change 50-60% of the water weekly and they do fine.

To clean the bottom maybe you can try some type of gravel vacuum or just siphon deeply. Another trick I use to get obvious gunk from the bottom (I have a bare bottom in my tank with a few large rocks) is to suck it up with a turkey baster. Works like a charm.


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## AndrealvsDennis (May 13, 2010)

Pinetree, I think you were the closest. As soon as I got him back to my dorm and used water from the taps here, he hasn't stopped swimming around! Not sure what I'll do when I move him home for the summer....


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