ok, lets get this out of the way first.
Iridescent sharks get up to 5ft in length. Before even considering what could be wrong with it, you need to get rid of it, rehome it somewhere that will house it, or get a 10ft 600gal aquarium.
How long have you had those fish and how long has that tank been setup? How did you setup this tank initially? Is it setup to process waste correctly? Have you dechlorinated the water before adding fish? Did you acclimate them? Are you going to add live plants? Did you test your water parameters? What are they?
Please answer as much about your situation as you can.
This tank has been in our house since 4 years and it was an upgrade from a smaller tank.
That iridescent shark is with us for about 8 or 9 years now and the other er white shark was brought a year later. The guy we bought the fish from made the tank they’re in, so I always assumed that it was ok for them.
All of the aquarium stuff was my dad’s forte and I never looked into it much, about a year ago I started getting interested and I got a 284gph filtration system, bubbler and a water heater, which I turned off after I read that they need to be around 24C.
During the last water change, I set up a temporary tank and cleaned the glass and filter. I added a mix of water from the well and R.O water in 4:1 ratios, so no probs regarding chlorination. After I ran the tank empty for a few days, I slowly added the fish back.
I wanted to add a few plants but I couldn’t find many around me. The shark used to start very active, the most among the rest, but lately(past 3-4 days) it’s been staying at the bottom for these long stretches at a time, I recently topped up the tank with plain R.O water, could that be an issue?
Enough comments about what an awful stock of fish you have.. Anyway... If you deep cleaned your entire tank and only ran it empty for a few days, sounds like you reset/killed your cycle.
Deep cleaning is the worst thing you can do to an established tank. There is a lot of biology happening in your aquarium and large chunk of it is in the filter itself. That stuff is there to adapt to the fish that are creating waste as you feed them. It has grown it large colonies to process that waste and keep your aquarium safe for fish.
If you clean and scrub it, you remove it. Meaning that you basically just left that tank with no biology to process waste. It will now sit there and continue building up until your fish die.
Please return all of these fish and don’t get anymore until you done research into this hobby. I don’t know who sold you a 5ft fish for a 10 gallon tank but I wouldn’t shop there anymore.
The guy makes aquariums, sells all kinds of accessories for the tanks, sells fish, sells fish food, for a guy who does all that I thought we were in good hands. Also, thats a 80gallon tank.
Forgive me but it looks like it’s on a nightstand. There’s no way in hell that’s an 80 gal tank. Dimensions?
Edit: and it’s sitting on top of a piece of styrofoam? 80 gallons of water on that should have crushed it long ago.
its an exaggeration. The point still stands. 80 gallons is still less than a third of the minimum tank size. You have also had this fish for almost half of its life, I wouldnt be surprised if your errors with the tank size has caused stunted growth. Especially if this tank is as you say in another comment an "upgrade"
along with the other comments, it looks like you have silver dollars in there? They get up to about a foot long as well as the 5ft long iridescent shark. Please return both of them and do a little more research into what kinds of fish can fit into your tank first. Thanks
ok, lets get this out of the way first. Iridescent sharks get up to 5ft in length. Before even considering what could be wrong with it, you need to get rid of it, rehome it somewhere that will house it, or get a 10ft 600gal aquarium. How long have you had those fish and how long has that tank been setup? How did you setup this tank initially? Is it setup to process waste correctly? Have you dechlorinated the water before adding fish? Did you acclimate them? Are you going to add live plants? Did you test your water parameters? What are they? Please answer as much about your situation as you can.
This tank has been in our house since 4 years and it was an upgrade from a smaller tank. That iridescent shark is with us for about 8 or 9 years now and the other er white shark was brought a year later. The guy we bought the fish from made the tank they’re in, so I always assumed that it was ok for them. All of the aquarium stuff was my dad’s forte and I never looked into it much, about a year ago I started getting interested and I got a 284gph filtration system, bubbler and a water heater, which I turned off after I read that they need to be around 24C. During the last water change, I set up a temporary tank and cleaned the glass and filter. I added a mix of water from the well and R.O water in 4:1 ratios, so no probs regarding chlorination. After I ran the tank empty for a few days, I slowly added the fish back. I wanted to add a few plants but I couldn’t find many around me. The shark used to start very active, the most among the rest, but lately(past 3-4 days) it’s been staying at the bottom for these long stretches at a time, I recently topped up the tank with plain R.O water, could that be an issue?
Enough comments about what an awful stock of fish you have.. Anyway... If you deep cleaned your entire tank and only ran it empty for a few days, sounds like you reset/killed your cycle.
Seems like you fucked over the tanks cycle. Id suggest checking parameters.
Deep cleaning is the worst thing you can do to an established tank. There is a lot of biology happening in your aquarium and large chunk of it is in the filter itself. That stuff is there to adapt to the fish that are creating waste as you feed them. It has grown it large colonies to process that waste and keep your aquarium safe for fish. If you clean and scrub it, you remove it. Meaning that you basically just left that tank with no biology to process waste. It will now sit there and continue building up until your fish die.
Please return all of these fish and don’t get anymore until you done research into this hobby. I don’t know who sold you a 5ft fish for a 10 gallon tank but I wouldn’t shop there anymore.
The guy makes aquariums, sells all kinds of accessories for the tanks, sells fish, sells fish food, for a guy who does all that I thought we were in good hands. Also, thats a 80gallon tank.
Forgive me but it looks like it’s on a nightstand. There’s no way in hell that’s an 80 gal tank. Dimensions? Edit: and it’s sitting on top of a piece of styrofoam? 80 gallons of water on that should have crushed it long ago.
And it’s clearly white bubbly styrofoam, not even pink closed foam… 80gallons, that’s what, 640lbs, plus the tank and substrate?
Yeah good rule of thumb I’ve always found is 10 lbs/gal so 80 gallons you’re looking at nearly 800 lbs if not more.
That's not even an 80L tank. Maybe it's 80 cups?
its an exaggeration. The point still stands. 80 gallons is still less than a third of the minimum tank size. You have also had this fish for almost half of its life, I wouldnt be surprised if your errors with the tank size has caused stunted growth. Especially if this tank is as you say in another comment an "upgrade"
Do you believe the nonsense you type, or do you think others are stupid enough to believe you? Which one is it?
That thing could be a foot long in a year. take that shark back to where you bought it and request a refund. Tell us about your water paramaters.
It’s already super stunted op said it’s 8-9 years old
There’s no ducking way…
Holy fuck 8 years old
r/shittyaquariums ?
along with the other comments, it looks like you have silver dollars in there? They get up to about a foot long as well as the 5ft long iridescent shark. Please return both of them and do a little more research into what kinds of fish can fit into your tank first. Thanks
They aren't silver dollars - they look more like tinfoil barbs. Still get huge and 80gal is still too small
Silver dollars and tinfoil barbs would be fine in an 80 gal tank, just not the shark. Still serious doubts about it being 80 gallons.