Fish Have A Pail Silver Hue Last Few Days?

IS THIS NORMAL?
changes this week.
remember i'm new @ keeping my native bait fish alive inside.
(INFO THAT MAY HELP)
newly set up tank. FIRST THREE DAYS I HAD 5 POUNDS OF SUN FISH
i took the adivce from others here and removed 3 pounds of bait fish
it's just a week old now 55gal
with a 110 aqua clear power fillter
then removed 20 gallons of water every other day
i let water stand in 5 gal buckets for 24 hours before adding to tank
added salt, water cond, and bio boost for each 20 gal.
fish seam ok no fighting, eat well except (stoneroller) ? sp
food so far has been
50 wax worms
15 night crawlers cut up
30 pink blunt nose minnows or maybe rosy red flathead- 3/4" to 1 1/4" long
cloudy water cleared up with water changes
will use a ultra gravel vac to clean up gravel today.
i allso was able to find another 55gal tank traded for some work
its been in a barn for some time and has chicken poop all over it
is bleach water ok to use to clean it up?
i plan on using it to raise pink blunt nose or rosy red flathead minnows for food for lager bait fish

Edited by drewish, 21 September 2008 - 02:14 PM.

Sure, bleach will clean out any nasties in a bucket, just make sure to use lots of rinse water (of course). Also, I like the line breaks in your message, it looks and reads like free poetry from the 1950s, a new effect on this Forum.

You fish are no doubt stressed: newly caught, new environment, etc. If they are eating, then they probably will be OK. This tank is pretty new, so it is probably not fully cycled yet, so I would feed lightly and keep up with the water changes. I think the 110 filter is a little small for this bioload.

Cleaning up the new tank with bleach is a good idea. It will not harm the seal or anything like that. Once it is clean and in place, only add 10 gallons or so, to see if it has any leaks.

Edited by bullhead, 21 September 2008 - 10:07 AM.

As we've said in other topics of yours your biomass from your sunfish is too much for your filtration on top of the fact you added them into a tank that was not cycled. On top of that you've been added in a ton of food that just increases the waste and the fatheads are adding waste before their eaten. I'd back off on the feeding, your sunfish won't starve to death. You won't be adding in so much waste which is more important.

I'd let the water in your feed tank age for a little while after you clean it before you add anything to it. If all the chicken poop and bleach doesn't come out letting it stand for a week or two should help off gas anything. Plus you may get some natural foods growing that your fatheads will enjoy.

As we've said in other topics of yours your biomass from your sunfish is too much for your filtration on top of the fact you added them into a tank that was not cycled. On top of that you've been added in a ton of food that just increases the waste and the fatheads are adding waste before their eaten. I'd back off on the feeding, your sunfish won't starve to death. You won't be adding in so much waste which is more important.

I'd let the water in your feed tank age for a little while after you clean it before you add anything to it. If all the chicken poop and bleach doesn't come out letting it stand for a week or two should help off gas anything. Plus you may get some natural foods growing that your fatheads will enjoy.

OK THANKS AGAIN FOR ALL OF THE HELP
just got home looked into a canister filler
too add to my system
its about $200

I don't think you need to sink $200 worth of filtration to a bait tank. Heck I don't know if I'd sink that much into anything right now. Your hang on the back filter just doesn't have the capacity for biomass you have even though it's rated to 110 gallons. Maybe consider something like a large sponge filter, which run about $15. It looks as though you already have some sort of air pump to connect. You could also connect the pump to a powerhead, again about $15-20.

the big green sunfish it. maybe the longear was afraid

My Bluegill eat all the food I put in. The more I add the longer it takes them, but they will eat it all so I control the amount they consume. Cutting back on the food definitely cuts down on the bio waste/Nitrites.

As far as leaving buckets of water out for 24 hours, that sounds good. I will try leaving a bucket in the sun for about 10 hours. I know that Chlorine does not like sun and will gas off quickly without a stabilizer in the water. I have a very good Chlorine test kit I can use.

Get yourself a good ammonia test kit too. Actually, I think a cheap one will do.

the big green sunfish it. maybe the longear was afraid

Nice looking Long Ear up there. Such a beautiful fish that most people do not even know exits right in the streams they walk by each day.

Edited by nativecajun, 27 September 2008 - 09:03 AM.

Nice looking Long Ear up there. Such a beautiful fish that most people do not even know exits right in the streams they walk by each day.

thanks.
all of the fish look way better this past week or so.
i had to remove all of the other bigger green sunfish.

i never would have thought a shiner was so fast
mine darts about from here to there and back so fast
its like warp drive compared to the other fish.