Update 6/25/2009

[calihawker]

I guess I should report my first mishap. Actually two. The first was on Tuesday. I did the usuall evening water change and after it was done all the fish were gasping at the surface, they were breating heavily and their color was way off. 2 were laying on their sides at the surface. Needless to say I FREAKED I couldn't think of anything that could have caused it. The only remedy I could think of was to do another 100% w/c and or add an airstone. I did both. The evening w/c happens at 9:00 pm and I didn't get to bed till after midnight and then got up several times thoughout the night to check on them. It seemed to help right away and by the second morning feeding they were back to normal.

I have no idea what it was. We can all come up with possibilities all day long but there's just no way to prove anything. All water parameters were nominal.

The other mishap happened when I flooded the fish room during the morning water change yesterday. I didn't know what the problem was and I didn't have time to troubleshoot it so I shut down the controller that runs the auto w/c. Well I added the heater to the controller last week so I inadvertently shut off the heater. I guess the fish didn't mind. Thank god it's summer They had 2 feedings and ate with the same gusto before I put my hand in the tank and FREAKED again! I yelled at my wife that I was doing everything I can to kill my fish. The temp dropped to 79 degrees.

Also to report I yanked the canister filter since I was getting trace amounts of nitrites. I worked it out so the w/c water drains into a rubbermaid barrel that has the canister filter so it will be cycling the actual water from the tank with the same schedule of w/c.

With all that the fish are good. Great in fact. I took a video of hand feeding them today.

[wgtaylor]

Hey Steve, it's good to remind ourselves that we are human and make mistakes.
Your discus are in great shape because of your good care and can tolerate an occasional " Oh Crap Mistake".
They are looking great in those pictures so looks like everything is going to be ok. Sorry about your stressful week but the fish look great.

Bill

[Eddie]

Wicked Steve! They look phenomenal! Great work and nice update. Sorry to hear about the mishaps

Eddie

[Scribbles]

Sorry to hear about your hectic week Steve. Your discus look none the worse for wear and in fact they look fantastic! I hope that the upcoming week is better for you.

Chris

[rickztahone]

we all make mistakes Steve, it's part of our hobby. are you sure you put the conditioner in the tank during WC? i ask because i just did this not too long ago and my fish were breathing heavy and went very pale. needless to say i smacked my forehead and said "i forgot the damn PRIME!". the heater thing has happened to me as well, it actually happened during the night and the tank water was super cold in the morning. like i said, we all make mistakes. is your hawk helping you do WC's?

[Cooldadddyfunk286]

Steve I read something very similar that happened to a member on here a long time ago, on accident. he did WC but didnt hold the python above water...the water needs to be splashed into the tank, breaking the water line. I think its because his python was submurged under the water while it was refilling. has something to do with the the gasses not expelling out of the water correctly, or the water not being oxygenated enough...not quite sure, but this just reminded me of that. I bet it has to do with that. on the other hand if this is the same exact thing you have been doing every time, and you havent made any changes, Im not sure why this would happen out of the blue...hmmmm

[Armandi_Fishcarer]

Steve, I was freaking myself when I started reading & came too! Great things worked out. The fish are looking tramendous, love the vid & pic. Keep it up bro.

Regards
Ahmed

[Darren's Discus]

Steve,
glad it all worked out,fish are looking real good.



cheers

[Mr Wild]

All the contest fish are looking great!

[kirkp]

Hey Steve,

Looks like they all pulled through whatever it was and are doing well. Keep up the good work.

Kirk

[acroken]

Steve,
sorry to hear about the problems you had this week. Things happen from time to time but it is frustrating when you do not know the cause. I give you a lot of credit for your reaction and resolving the issue. Your fish look incredible! Color, pattern and size is perfect. Very very nice.

Kenny

[calihawker]

Thanks everyone. Hectic and stressful indeed!

Rick and Jason, this probably applies to both of your ideas, I age the water with vigorous aeration and almost never use prime. I did use prime with the emergency w/c.

The fact that I had prime on hand is an important point for hobbiests. There should be a list of stuff to have for just such an emergency.

Things I keep on hand in case of an emergency.

Prime
Prazi
Melafix
Quick Cure

I'd like to hear some comments on what everyone has in their emergency kit.

[MRQuad]

so sorry about what happen.. and i am soo glad that your fish are doing great.. they are huge.. good job on them!

[Cooldadddyfunk286]

forgot to mention Steve-O ...the fish look AWESOME bro! everyone of them is growing, and they alllll eat out of ur hand, very cool man keep up the awesome work!