Earth Eaters Part 2

Dead spaces are pockets whereby water do not move, hence, they are areas whereby poisonous gases can accumulate. Usually they are in corners, under driftwood, etc...on the bottom level of the tank. Because EEs go down to the bottom to sift, they are more susceptible to being poisoned.
To eliminate the deadspaces, one needs a gentle current, this can be from the filter output, a wavemaker, or even an active UGF. Anything that moves the water at the bottom and not let it remain still for a long period of time.
I think plecos and catfishes will have the same problem, ie sudden unexplained deaths arising from dead spaces. As these fishes are bottom dwellers and like to hide beneath driftwood and so on.

The other aspect, which I have omitted is the oxygen level in the tank, it is something which is often neglected much to the fish's detriment. Surface agiation, air stones, all help to raise the levels. In a packed environment, oxygen availability becomes even more important.

[Occellatus]

Originally Posted by Spakase

Dead spaces are pockets whereby water do not move, hence, they are areas whereby poisonous gases can accumulate. Usually they are in corners, under driftwood, etc...on the bottom level of the tank. Because EEs go down to the bottom to sift, they are more susceptible to being poisoned.
To eliminate the deadspaces, one needs a gentle current, this can be from the filter output, a wavemaker, or even an active UGF. Anything that moves the water at the bottom and not let it remain still for a long period of time.
I think plecos and catfishes will have the same problem, ie sudden unexplained deaths arising from dead spaces. As these fishes are bottom dwellers and like to hide beneath driftwood and so on.

Oh...after u mentioned it....yeah....this tank of mine runs on 2 filtration systems, a set of OHF and a cannister. The inlet to the OHF is high up, about mid height level while the output is at surface. For the cannister, the output is also at the surface while only the inlet is at the bottom, meaning to say....theres actually not much movement at the bottom!

Well...my cats are fine so far....but i think those EEs are more delicate....hmmmm.....one wavemaker going in tomorrow morning!

Think they require soft and acidic waters, from what I read, it seems to go down very very low,maybe similar to Retroculus but I am not absolutely sure as my Weidner book is not with me, so I can't really research on EEs at this point of time.
In terms of gh, hard water will be a cause for discomfort for these fishes, hence coral chip should not be present in the filter, but a good way to buffer without raising gh is to use sodium bicarbonate.

What the others said about lowered immunity as a result of aggression and environment is absolutely true.
If you watch carefully, a fish in distress in a cichlid tank can be attacked by others. The eyes and scales are valuable food sources for other tankmates.
Also, if the fish is not feeling so good, it may not eat and the next thing you know it starts having white stringy poo, a sign of intestinal parasites run amok! So we won't rule out a series of events causing the deaths of the fishes.

[Occellatus]

Originally Posted by Spakase

In terms of gh, hard water will be a cause for discomfort for these fishes, hence coral chip should not be present in the filter, but a good way to buffer without raising gh is to use sodium bicarbonate.

Im also using sodium bicarbonate for my 6ft tank....i have a pH meter there so i can monitor the pH anytime and add accordingly...do not have one for this 3ft of mine so im quite reluctant to use baking soda as i'll need to constantly use the liquid testers to test...

Anyway, ive started by getting gravel already....and also added a wavemaker at the bottom to eliminate the dead spaces. Will look into the water quality now.

[Occellatus]

I think i found the main culprit bros....went to inspect my eheim cannister...did not service since Sep 06..went to open up and give it a good rinse...inside the sludge maciam huat kuey.

Now all good and dandy!....Will offload some tankmates too to reduce the load....

Actually, can add ohf, it will clear up the water and also serves as mechanical filter to take up the debris. The load on your Eheim will not be so great then.

But then, it would seem the Juruparis are more sensitive than the other ees, because all also were in the same tank. Can ask Bro Frontosa, he keeps Juruparis before, believe it is one of his favourite fishes.

[Occellatus]

Originally Posted by Spakase

Actually, can add ohf, it will clear up the water and also serves as mechanical filter to take up the debris. The load on your Eheim will not be so great then.

But then, it would seem the Juruparis are more sensitive than the other ees, because all also were in the same tank. Can ask Bro Frontosa, he keeps Juruparis before, believe it is one of his favourite fishes..

I have another alternative OHF running for years bro....8 trays with bact house, biohome, CRs.....so this tank infact has double filtration systems running alongside.

Well, sad to say..all my juruparis died...i guess they are really not suitable in this tank of mine.....will continue with those RHTs, Hecks and Altifrons....Learnt much about EEs thru this bad experience infact.

[new_]

hey vic... any pics of the setup after u added gravel???

[Occellatus]

Originally Posted by new_

hey vic... any pics of the setup after u added gravel???

Not at the moment....water still a tad blurish......waiting for it to clear up and spread the gravel alittle.....i put the washed gravel in small plastic bags then lower it and gently pour out, thus creating tiny hills...havent spread them out yet...im hoping the cats can do it for me.....dun wanna risk clouding the water more.....if the cats not gonna help me, will do the manual spreading after few days

[new_]

even if ur cats dun help ur EEs will help u... dun worry.....
mine initially wasnt spread out either.. had holes here n there.. now its all spread out by the EEs themselves.