3 Dead, 4 Missing In Action

[emraldstorm]

Current water stats:
ph:7.6
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 5-10 ppm

HELP!!! I have no idea what is going on!!! Last night I had to get my algae eaters out of the tank because they were harassing the other fish. So I took the opportunity to redecorate the tank while I was at it. Filled a bucket with tank water, netted out ALL the fish (all present and accounted for) cleaned and redecorated tank (just moving stuff around), put the troublemakers in the quar. tank, put the rest of the fish back in the tank and topped it off with new treated water.

And now the drama begins. I noticed today that one of my neons was kind of floating and my angel was nibbling at it. Scooped it out, it had apparently been dead for at least a couple of hours. Then I started really looking at the tank and it looked kind of empty compared to how it usually looks.

I could not find 6 of my fish!! Finally found the bodies of two of them in the back on the bottom But I am still missing 2 glowlights, one cardinal, and one harlequin! I can't find them anywhere!!! Have looked all over the substrate, in the plants, floating, still cant find them. There are no caves for them to hide in, just a red vase turned on it's side, but you can see thru it, so they're not in there either. If they are dead, I want to get them out ASAP so they don't funk up the water.

Any ideas on how this could have happend?

 

[tttnjfttt]

did you use dechlorinator? Is there any chance somethingelse got into the tank water?

 

[emraldstorm]

did you use dechlorinator? Is there any chance somethingelse got into the tank water?

definitely not, and I always use dechlorinator even tho my water has no chlorine in it (well water). And I don't think its the water anyway, since none of the other fish are acting any differently at all.

 

[tttnjfttt]

is anyone big enough in your tank to have eaten some fish?

The ones you found, could you see any signs of illness?

 

[severina]

Did you wash your hands/arms before doing all this? And what do you mean when you say you cleaned the tank, what exactly did you clean and how?

 

[karlp]

Hi, sorry to hear about your losses.

My first suspicion woud be the time they spent in the bucket.

What was the last thing the bucket was used for before this ?

How many fish did you put into the bucket ?

How long were they in the bucket for ?


Just to give you some idea, if there was any bleach in the bucket, it could have seriously damaged the fishes gills. Lengthy periods in an overcrowded bucket will stress the fish as well and there could be rising levels of ammonia in the bucket. On the whole, I prefer cool boxes as temporary homes for fishies. A 28 litre one makes quite a good temporary tank and you can put a heater and air stone in while they're in there.

 

[emraldstorm]

Okay, last night before going to bed, I watched my remaining fish to make sure that they all looked okay and were acting normal. But this morning I woke up to find that my swordtail has joined his friends in the big fish tank in the sky, and another one of my neons appears to be on his way out also. Swimming normally, except very nervous looking, darting around suddenly and has lost almost all of his color. It actually took me a moment to realize he was a neon.

All others present and accounted for, they look okay now, but apparently that's no indication of whether or not they will survive. Water stats still perfect no trace of ammonia or nitrite, nitrates between 5-10.

When I say I cleaned the tank I mean that I took the opportunity while all of the fish and decorations were out to remove some of the leaves off the plants that weren't doing so well, vaccumed the gravel, and did a 25% water change.

The bucket holds about 5 gallons, was rinsed out with filtered well water and then rinsed with tank water before filling with tank water for the fish to swim in. They were in there for about half an hour.

That was my husband's first thought, that they were stressed out from the bucket, but considering what I found this morning, could stress still be killing them more than 24 hours later?

The largest fish I have are mollies and long finned rosy barbs, the biggest being about 2 inches long. My lone angel is a juvenile only about 1 1/2 inches. No one big enough to have eaten the missing fishes and still no sign of them. No sign of illness at all, the only thing abnormal on any of the bodies was the one neon that I found was missing an eyeball, but I chalk that up to the angel since he was nibbling at the body when I found him.

Will I lose all of my fishies?

 

[tttnjfttt]

Even though everything you said sounds right, i would begin doing immediate water changes. Get a new bucket to carry your water in, and also you may want to consider using a new dechlorinator, just to cover all your bases.

 

[severina]

Weird. Yeah...water changes, what she said.

 

[karlp]

When I say I cleaned the tank I mean that I took the opportunity while all of the fish and decorations were out to remove some of the leaves off the plants that weren't doing so well, vaccumed the gravel, and did a 25% water change.

The bucket holds about 5 gallons, was rinsed out with filtered well water and then rinsed with tank water before filling with tank water for the fish to swim in. They were in there for about half an hour.

I think the time they were in the bucket is still a contender if the bucket had been used for household bleech etc, but the other obvious question is, is it possible you've had a contaminant in the well water and the 25% water change had introduced something that is toxic to the fish ?