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I have an oscar in a 125g tank. The only other fish in there are 2 loaches (they look like small snakes). I had a placastomas in with him for a long time, but they were always picking on each other. When my oscar was wounded from him, I thought it was best to get rid of the placastomas. Every since I did it seems like no matter how many times I do water changes, it never looks crystal clear. It looks like it has a yellow tint to it, not to mention now I have to clean the glass about every other day. Should I get another placastomas? If I do will my oscar try to eat the new placastomas, as they are small when you first buy them. My oscar is about 8 inches long, and the tank has been set up for over 4 months. All the readings are always perfect when I test. I don't know and need some advice. Help.

Hi,
A yellow or browish tinge to the water is normal if there
is driftwood in the tank. The wood normally leaches tannic
acid into the tank water and is the cause.

If you have no driftwood in the tank you are probably seeing
the byproducts of fish waste coupled with the beginnings of
an algae starting on the tank glass.

I suspect that you are simply seeing the tank start to
settle in. A 125G tank can take up to a year to become
"seasoned."

As far as the catfish are concerned, I hope someone else
more versed in catfish/oscar husbandry will let you know
that answer. I had oscars for a while and the durned
things got big enough to pan fry, and ate just about
everything that moved in the tank.
Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

It`s strange the Oscar hasn`t eater your Kuhli loaches. I agree with the driftwood tinting the water. IF you have driftwood maybe you would want to boil it for a couple hours to get the tannin out.It might take a could times to get it clear. I used mu hubbies crab pot to boil my driftwood.

Brown water, or black water, as it is called, is very natural and does not harm the fish in any way. That is, if it comes from the driftwood. It will help to soften the water, and can even lower the ph. Many fishes, especially the SA and CA fish, live in just this environment. There is even several fish product companies that have replicated this, and sell bottles of "black water" extract. Though the yellow color is entirely up to you if you like it or not. I have several tanks, that I purposely keep yellow, as it is the natural environment the fish come from. I also soak my own driftwood for months, to get black water extract (the water the driftwood was soaked in), to add to several of my harder to breed SA fish tanks.

_____________________________________________________________

There is always a bigger fish...

I don't have driftwood in the tank, but I do have alot of petrafied wood in there. I did boil it before putting it in. Would this be also causing the yellow tint?
Thanks for the info

Hi,

We all assumed that you had driftwood in the tank as the
tinting you describe is a classic indication of tannic
acid in the water.

If your 'petrified wood" is truly petrified wood, that means
that the celulose (wood fibers) have been replaced over time
with silicon (SiO2) and that is inert. Occassionally some
other minerals can work their way into the petrification
process, and they may be your probem.

Or, it could just be your maintenance schedule, and you
need to "tighten up" on that and change at least 10% of
the tank weekly. If you are using carbon in your filter,
you might want to change it for some fresh stuff as what
is in the filter could be saturated.

Frank


Last edited by FRANK at 21-Feb-2005 09:40

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

you could get a new plec. i know the LFS here has different sizes of plecs. maybe that plec and that oscars had so problems but all fish are different. if that doesnt work then ????

I do chang my water weekly. I do at least a 20% and change my carbon every 2 weeks. I like a clean home for myself and my fish. I did get another small plec and I hope that he works. The water is still yellowish though. Maybe it is the pertrafied wood, I don't know. I was just wishing someone has had the same type of problem and knew what to do. Thanks for all the info though. It sure is nice to get views from others.

I think the water would still be slightly tinted due to the organic waster from the fishes regardless of the presence of driftwood. You can remove the colour if you have a carbon filter or a very filtration system. Correct me if I am wrong.

phospates maybe? it might be caused by an algea bloom?

and those loaches could be Dojos maybe

Daka&lt;&lt;&lt;&lt;