Really, you had to look after reading the title?

I am in the middle of my massive clean up in an attempt to eradicate "the plague" still living in my tank. All the gravel came out for a disinfecting clean. So I snapped a photo of the "bare bottom" tank for fun.


Unhappy pleco


Two of the remaining three chiclids are still sick, no improvement with the kanaplex. The hoga is breathing heavy, the lyonsi does not eat. Sadly these will be put down (humanely with clove oil) to stop the spread of this stuff. The other fish are eating and seem to be acting fine so I will quarantine them in a small tank, medicate for parasites and try again in the big tank after a massive clean up.

So hopefully everything will work out after that!

Hope you enjoyed the "bare bottom" pics!

poor pleco! lol.

Pleco is sad but healthy!

Good! and a little bit of exposure is good for the little recluse!

Man, I hate to see something like a disease, etc... wipe out an entire tank like that, and force you to clean everything.... itleast now you will know if will be gone... good luck.

Those silver dollars are cool looking. I've always liked them.

I know I'm probably overly paranoid about disease, cross contamination, etc., but I'd still be worried about the surviving fish being carriers. I wonder if it's possible for a fish to carry the disease and not show symptoms. Hopefully the Kanaplex worked on them!

I really hope it did and you will be rid of this now -- you sure have been through a lot!

Thanks guys, I appreciate the support.

sucks for all the cichlids . i would also worry about the other fish being carriers but hopefully the thorough cleaning has eliminated plague

I am concerned about the fish being carriers. I decided to treat the tank with one last round of parasite meds, so at this point the hoga an lyonsi will have another chance.

I really feel the gravel bed was full of the nasties when I started the new tank up again. The silver dollars had been through so many meds including a parasite ones that they were probably clean.

This time the tank will get 100% torn down and cleaned so If I restart with the silver dollars and plecos and have problems again then I know its not the tank.

I know many feel I should just ditch the silver dollars now and cut my losses but I have had them now for over 3 years, they are very large and it would be sad to kill them "just because". They are more than just dither fish for the cichlids, they are still part of the family. Also have you ever priced the red hooks? They cost a lot more than regular old silver dollars. Mine were $20 each when I got them as babies. So time and money has been invested in their growth.

I understand about the silver dollars! After all that's gone on with the tank, they are survivors. I would do the same thing that you are.

Thanks Betty.

The red hooks are pretty cool when they are schooling, in fact I want to get them back up to 5. The one is beautiful with the red freckles on it body. They are survivors and part of the family so I want to keep them.