A Few Dead Fish In The Last Two Weeks

[Aquatious]

Hi guys,

Been reading the forum for a while - I've learnt lots so thank you very much. I've finally registered as I have had a few fish die recently.

Background: I bought a 5' tank from a colleague at work who helped me set it all up. This was almost exactly a year ago. Until a couple of weeks ago, we didn't have any deaths at all and the fish looked healthy (not entirely true - I put in some tetras as an experiment and they ended up as snacks). I've been adding fish steadily as it didn't have that many when we got it. I put a few more in two weeks ago, and then a few more a week later. This week unfortunately I've had three fish die. A 3" pleccy (got with the tank), another 2" fish that was unidentifiable by the time I got to it (some of the fish were chewing/sucking the body) but I think was a new knife-fish . This week a small clown loach started looking ill. It started lying upside in the corner of the tank right next to the pump intake. If I wiggled the intake a little, he'd right himself and then swim around looking all right. However his colouring looked a little faded. Today he was dead. This time I got to the fish before it was too chewed up so I have a picture. You can't really tell from it but his stomach looks messed up like it is chewed - I don't know if that would be another fish once it is dead or a parasite or what I really don't want any more to go if I can help it, so I'm asking for some advice - I'm all out of ideas. I can't see any signs of infection (but I'm no expert). The water parameters look ok to me (again I'm not an expert).

OK here's the cut & paste bit:

1. Water parameters. (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, PH, temp', Hardness etc)

I've used test strips and here are the results:
Nitrites zero
Nitrates - slightly difficult to tell but it looks halfway between 25-50. The tap water looks to be around 10.
Carbonate hardness 6
ph lower end of 6.8-7.2
Temperature ranges between 77.8 and 78.2 (drops a couple of degrees during water changes)
No plants (the silver dollars ravaged them!)

2. A full description of the fishes symptoms.

See above

3. How often you do water changes and how much.

Was 25% once every two weeks but nitrates started going up so I did a couple of 50%s to get the nitrates down. I did this before putting the new fish in. I'm now doing weekly at 25%-33%. Using tap water with aquasafe as I have done since I had the tank. Clean buckets not used for anything else... I suck debris off the gravel using the siphon. There isn't much algae, but every now and again I'll do a good scrape round the tank.

4. Any chemicals and treatments you add to the water.

I add 5ml of aquasafe to each 10 litre bucket of tap water that I fill the tank with.
I clean the filter probably every 3 water changes (in the tank water I take out), and when I do that I put cycle in to try and keep the bacteria alive.

5. What tank mates are in the tank.

I don't see any of the fish nipping or attacking each other (except the unnamed ones below getting a bit physical with the large pleccy the first two days it was here)

Forgive me - I don't know all the names …
5 Silver dollars (3" diameter)
3 silver sharks - small to one 4"
2 Guppies
2 Gouramis
2 bigish clown loaches
One very hardy tetra (no idea how he is still alive)
4 x-ray fish
2 small pleccies (1 dead)
2 convicts
2 other 3" fish with "eyes" on its tail, red belly, black stripe from nose to tail, yellow markings on eye and cheek... sorry don't know the name
2 other small brown catfish

Newest fish:
4 small South American sharks (new)
Foot long pleccy
2 swordfish (one male one female)
Black ghost knife fish (only 1 so they didn't fight) - dead!
4 small clown loaches (1 dead)

6. Tank size.
Approximately 5' x 1.5' x 1.5'

7. Finally Have you recently added any new fish?
Yes see above.

Feeding once a day on
Big pinch of flake
Sprinkle of red dots (tetra prima)
3 algae wafers
I put cucumber in with weights every now and again
The food doesn't hang around long!

I have the water from the pump dropping in 6 or so small streams that puts lots of small bubbles into the water, and I do have an air pump that pumps bubbles from an airstone. The big pleccy sits on that all day...

Thanks in advance,
Matt

Edit! I'm located in Leicester, England. The tank has bog wood, rocks, some tree root-shaped ornaments and a bed of gravel.

 

[JohnDyer]

According to your measurements, the tank is around 85 gallons. It might be overstocked - just the older fish would be pushing the limit, and adding that many more fish probably pushed it over. I'm not sure what the mystery fish are, nor the South American Sharks (If google can't find it, it's not a common name). Clown Loaches can grow to a foot long, not sure how large yours are, but you should watch out. A lot of catfish grow pretty big too, at least 8-10 inches.

You should check ammonia, it might spike if you leave dead fish in for a while, which could kill more fish, and it'll shoot through the roof in no time at all.
When you add that many fish, especially with a foot long pleco, in a single week, you'll be increasing the filter's bioload by a ton, and it'll take time to adjust. You should take it slower, maybe 1 or 2 fish a week instead.
Also, you should get a liquid test kit. They last for a long, long time, and are supposedly more accurate than strips.

I've tried the Black Ghost Knifes, and a few friends of mine too. Among the 5 of us, only 1 still has a living one, so I'd say they are a bit hard to keep.

The bigger gouramis tend to become assholes in my experience. They probably can't do much in a tank of big fish, but they pick on the smaller ones. Convict cichlids might become aggressive if when they pair off.






Of course, my tanks are nearly slaughterhouses, so take everything I say with a grain of salt or ten.

 

[Aquatious]

Thanks for the input - I appreciate you taking the time to answer!

I'm pretty sure the tank is way more than 85 litres - I shouldn't have put approximate lengths on it! I measured it this morning and it is 60" by 18" by 18", which comes out at closer to 300 litres. It is a big tank and I don't think it looks too overstocked. I wouldn't have bought some of those fish otherwise because they can get a little big!

All the "new" fish above were put in over 2 weeks to limit the shock...

Ammonia is the one test I haven't got - I'll pick one up today and report back.

In terms of the mystery fish - here's a snap. Took me about 20 photos to get that one and he's still turned away! He's longer than he looks because of the angle).

And here's a particularly bad one of the south american shark. They are absolutely gorgeous when you see them. I need to learn how to take fish pics - it is a lot harder than it looks

 

[Aquatious]

OK I got some more testing kits today.

Just in case - copper 0
Nitrate 25
Ammonia - hard to tell but either none or the next one up... there may have been a very slight tinge of green in the yellow.

Everybody looks healthy to me so fingers crossed...

 

[fluttermoth]

The top fish is a kribensis, the second one an iridescent shark.

 

[TheJ0kerrr]

I'm pretty sure the tank is way more than 85 litres - I shouldn't have put approximate lengths on it! I measured it this morning and it is 60" by 18" by 18", which comes out at closer to 300 litres.

Actually, he said 85 gallons...which is around 320 litres.

I don't know if you're overstocked nor do I know what caused the deaths, but imo, you have a lot of different fish in small numbers...while that may not kill them, some prefer to be in larger groups. Doing so would reduce the stress on them.

Just my 2cents, i'm just repeating what i've read several times in these forums

 

[Aquatious]

Thanks Flutter - that's really helpful

Mr Jokerrr - you are also wise hehe I didn't spot the gallons bit (sigh).

I'll keep monitoring the fish. If everything seems happy then if I can get confirmation at some point that the tank can hold more, I'll go for more of the same rather than different varieties. No hurry though - let's see if I can keep this lot safe first.




(But I keep seeing pretty things ...)