Scales floating in the tank?
Recently I have been noticing what seems to be scales floating in my 135 gallon tank. They are translucent with a tint of coloration when the light hits it a certain way, and they curl up to form what looks like a small piece of a straw you drink out of. Another way to describe them is like small pieces of plastic. The biggest length of these is probably an inch, but most are smaller. I also put in a long air stone with a new air pump i bought, and thought maybe this had something to do with it but I don't think so. My jaguar cichlid has been rubbing his nose against the gravel and even the heater, and I'm not really sure why. I've recently fed goldfish to these cichlids too now that I think of it, but these look bigger than the flakes that fall from a goldfish.....maybe because the scales have been soaking in the water for about 5 days now? I just want to know if this is normal, I keep lids on my tank so nothing should have gotten into it.
What are Nitrate readings in this tank? Could be the Rena filter needs a good cleaning and or another filter to run along with the Rena.If fishes listed under your aquarium are still present,then with each month, the fishes should grow around one inch. As they continue to grow,the one filter may need to be upgraded to two for the fishes waste out put will increase with size.
I might consider as mentioned,,giving the filter(s) a good cleaning and a good gravel vaccum as well.
Surely you have noted that much of what these fish eat passes through the gills and ends up floating or laying on the substrate.
If feeder goldfish are being offered ,,this is a very good way to introduce unwanted bacterial pathogens or parasites to your fishes .Feeder goldfish are kept in tanks holding hundreds and water quality in these tanks are horrendous. All it takes is one sick feeder fish to pass on disease to the whole tank of feeder's and then the feeder's you purchase ,bring the possible bacterial pathogen or parasite to your fish once they are eaten.
I have kept many large predatory cichlids over the years that did just fine on Pellet foods,frozen krill,shrimp,tilapia,whitefish,mussels,and earthworms. These foods are far more nutritious than gold fish and other than the perverse pleasure that some derive from offering live foods,, I can see no health benefits for the fish.
My guess is the filtration needs cleaning more frequently along with possible upgrade and more frequent gravel vaccuming.NitrAtes in a tank holding cichlids should be somewhere between 20 and 40 ppm with 20 ppm being ideal.
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