4 dead fish at the same time same species HELP!!’

Salts155R said:

9 fish died in 24hrs.
Please can someone help
4 neons
5 cardinals
more fish in tank, can someone help before it’s to late please

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Salts155R said:

Had nitrites rise to .5 last week so been every day 50% till Thursday when levels zeroed out. Did a 70% dump this morning incase of toxins in the water, all levels was the same as tonight.
before cleaning I wash my hands with antibacterial hand wash and hot water, dry, wash with hot water (no soap),dry then clean the tank.

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If you lose a heap of fish in a short period of time, and the tank water tests ok, and nothing new has been added to the tank, then it is usually poisoning. Combine this with using anti-bacterial/ disinfectant soaps before working in the tank and there is a very good chance you poisoned them.

You should not use soaps if disinfectants before working in a fish tank or feeding the fish. Just wash your hands with water and use a clean towel to dry them or don't bother drying them at all.

If you want to use soaps, use a perfume free soap and don't use anti-bacterial/ disinfectant soaps or wipes before working in a tank or feeding the fish.

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Do water changes and add carbon to the filter. Cross your fingers and hope for the best.

Don't go and dump a heap of chemicals/ antibiotics in a tank unless you know what the problem is. If the fish aren't showing any signs of disease they probably got poisoned by something.

Test your water, do water changes, make sure you don't have chemicals/ residue on your hands. Make sure containers used for the fish are free of chemicals and cleaning products. Post pictures of sick, dead and live fish

Colin_T said:

Don't go and dump a heap of chemicals/ antibiotics in a tank unless you know what the problem is. If the fish aren't showing any signs of disease they probably got poisoned by something.

Test your water, do water changes, make sure you don't have chemicals/ residue on your hands. Make sure containers used for the fish are free of chemicals and cleaning products. Post pictures of sick, dead and live fish

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thanks Colin.
everyone seems the right way up this morning although the tank has gone rather cloudy.
I’ll post some pictures up.
I didn’t get any of the neons but did the cardinals.
clown loaches being strange but I’m told that’s normal.
here’s the pictures

Clowns did a runner after the first photo

Are the cardinals scratching against objects? I see gold some gold specks on their bodies, could be velvet but it's probably just part of their colouration.

Clown loach is doing clown loach things.

Colin_T said:

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If you lose a heap of fish in a short period of time, and the tank water tests ok, and nothing new has been added to the tank, then it is usually poisoning. Combine this with using anti-bacterial/ disinfectant soaps before working in the tank and there is a very good chance you poisoned them.

You should not use soaps if disinfectants before working in a fish tank or feeding the fish. Just wash your hands with water and use a clean towel to dry them or don't bother drying them at all.

If you want to use soaps, use a perfume free soap and don't use anti-bacterial/ disinfectant soaps or wipes before working in a tank or feeding the fish.

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Do water changes and add carbon to the filter. Cross your fingers and hope for the best.

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Would make sense I guess.
i already have carbon in the filter as it comes in the sponge, I was going to change to one with no carbon but I think I’ll leave the filter alone for the moment.

Someone mentioned hand sanitizer..... I actually don’t use it (don’t judge) soap and warm water is all.

would you recommend another water change this morning from the 70% I did yesterday

Phreaker said:

Are the cardinals scratching against objects? I see gold some gold specks on their bodies, could be velvet but it's probably just part of their colouration.

Clown loach is doing clown loach things.

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Phreaker said:

Are the cardinals scratching against objects? I see gold some gold specks on their bodies, could be velvet but it's probably just part of their colouration.

Clown loach is doing clown loach things.

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Umm the cardinals were the first to go belly up and possibly that’s the lighting in my place, led spots x 6 think I actually got a photo of them the day before this happened.

strange how the cardinals have been the first affected then the neons.
Clowns have me panicking a lot. For a while I only ever seen one, then cleaning on day and noticed this tail inside the log, lifeless then came shooting out like a madman on speed
Day before

itiwhetu said:

Same fish, how old are these fish

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first lot was my cardinals and only cardinals

then last night my neons and only neons

Fish purchased around 5th October

You said some of your fish weren't feeding yesterday. See if they do today.
I would keep observing the fish, if things aren't getting worse then it is a good thing.

Phreaker said:

You said some of your fish weren't feeding yesterday. See if they do today.
I would keep observing the fish, if things aren't getting worse then it is a good thing.

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All behaviour in the tank seems normal this morning. Will drop some food in and see what happens if they eat.

I was planning on getting some more lamp eyes today but that will be put on hold for a week minimum.

same my 350 tank isn’t set up and ready as I would have moved them into that whilst I sort the small tank problem.

The fish in the tank have clamped fins which is a sign of stress. You need to do another large water change today as it is likely that there is still toxins in the water.

Salts155R said:

would you recommend another water change this morning from the 70% I did yesterday

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Yes

Naughts said:

The fish in the tank have clamped fins which is a sign of stress. You need to do another large water change today as it is likely that there is still toxins in the water.

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Will dump as much out as I can. Thank you

I have merged two threads which were on the same subject. The replies may read somewhat disjointed because of this.

Naughts said:

The fish in the tank have clamped fins which is a sign of stress. You need to do another large water change today as it is likely that there is still toxins in the water.

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as we speak

Definitely sounds like poisoning as so sudden and affecting specific species.
Years ago I lost all 4 of my large angelfish after changing some water the day before. Interestingly my neighbour had exactly the same experience on that same day so we concluded that the water company must have put something in the water that they were particularly sensitive to. I believe they do do this from time to time to kill bacteria, shrimp etc that normal chlorine doesn't affect. That was years ago but since then I have twice more lost multiple angels suddenly after water changes.
Adding medication will reduce oxygen, will probably reduce the efficiency of your filter and may stress the fish so only add chemicals as a last resort and, if possible, once you are sure about what you are treating. In many cases adding medication will only make things worse.
Chemicals in the air and on hands can be more toxic than you might think, but if you have ruled out that as a source I would avoid any more water changes for the next 48 hrs to allow any treatments that may have been added there to flush through.
The best thing you could do is to add some carbon or a chemical polyfilter to your filter to try to remove toxins. Keep the water moving/oxygenated. Remove the carbon after a week to avoid toxins leaching back out. Carbon will remove medicines too so remove it if you do add anything though.
Final thought - copper is poisonous so never use water from the hot water tap and if you have any new copper pipes run the tap for a short while to flush out water they may have stood in contact with the new pipe for a while. Carbon won't remove copper so if you think copper poisoning is a possibility, then a hefty water change with safe water is recommended. Some dechlorinators do say they neutralise copper but I wouldn't rely on this.
Good luck!