Algae & 3 Dead Fish, What Happened?

[Jonz]

In one of my 10 Gallons I developed a algae problem over the past week. I had a Betta and a catfish in there. Im using a Elite Hush 10 filtration.

It was stringlike algae. I turned of the lights for a day, replaced the plastic plants with real ones and I got some algae destroyer.

I did a 50% water change, with bottled water.I cleaned the walls and everything in he tank the best I could(no cleaning products used). As soon as I changed the water the fish began acting a bit funny. I also added a algae eating Cyprinids hoping he'd help clean up the problem.

I noticed the Betta very still floating near the heater and not moving much. I did a water test and the reading came up as not toxic.

The catfish was dead in a hour, after zooming around the tank, and the algae eating fish in about 3 and I woke up this morning with a dead Betta. I was gonna remove the betta last night, but after a few hours of being still he began moving around like normal.

Any idea or suggestions of what could have happened?

This is also my first algae problem - how long should I wait before putting fish back in after cleaning the tank? Im gonna change the rocks, should I replace the plants, theyve only been inthe tank overnight.

 

[Bloo]

Pardon all the questions, but :

How long has your tank been set up and running ?
What are your water parameters ? pH, ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite ?
What Algae killer did you use ?

Any reason why you used bottled water ? Do you normally use this ?

The algae eating cyprinid you added - was that by any chance a chinese algae eater ? If so, it would have been entirely unsuitable for a 10 gallon tank as these chaps grow to 10 ".

It sounds like the bottled water combo and aggressive tank clean stressed the fish etc. and hence died.

What are your other fish like at the mo ?

 

[Jonz]

"How long has your tank been set up and running ?"

About 2 months. I had my Betta in a 5 gallon and went up to 10 about 2 months ago.

"What are your water parameters ? pH, ammonia, Nitrate and Nitrite ?"

Im at work and dont have the info in front of me.

"Any reason why you used bottled water ? Do you normally use this ?"

Yes, I dont want to use tap water becuase of the how bad it is here. Do you think thats a better idea? Ive always used bottled water for my fish. Ive had Bettas that lived for years in it.

"The algae eating cyprinid you added - was that by any chance a chinese algae eater ? If so, it would have been entirely unsuitable for a 10 gallon tank as these chaps grow to 10 "."

Yes. They were recommended to me by the store.I have no experience with them. I was told 5 inches at most when it was recommded to me.Can yo u recommend another that the Betta might get along with in a 10 G.


"It sounds like the bottled water combo and aggressive tank clean stressed the fish etc. and hence died."

I was wondering if a 50% clean was too much, I was hoping it wasnt.

"What are your other fish like at the mo ?"

The other 10 gallon is fine, no problems. I have a Betta and catfish in the other tank as well. I had the bettas, but got the catfish to help keep the tanks a bit tidy.

I think the algae started from family members overfeeding when Im not home. I first noticed it flowing from the leaves of the plastic plants. I explained how they musnt be overfed and that uneatedn food shoud lbe taken out.I cant explain why it happened in one tank and not the other.
since Im only gone a day at a time,a coupel times a week.From now on, I wont have others feed them anymore.

It certainly wont hurt them to fast for a couple days a week Im nto home.

Thanks for replying.

 

[Bloo]

It's a very new tank, so are you still dealing with general instabilities.
In such "young" tanks, the tank is not as "giving" with changes as with an older, more mature tank.
Also, adding a new fish at the same time as treating the tank etc. might have cause a spike and mini cycle. Perhaps all too much for a new tank to deal with.

There is no real need to use bottled water, though if you've been doing this for years then I guess it's ok. All you need to do when using tapwater, is add dechlorinator. However, do not make any sudden changes to your water and make a straight switch to tapwater - do anything gradually.

As for feeding your fish, it's good practive to fast your fish a day or two each week anyway (most average community fish anyway). I've just been on holiday for a month and I had them fed every other day and only half of their usual feed. So in effect the only received a quarter of their normal food for a whole month -and my tanks have crystal clear water, practically no algae and healthy fish.

It would help a great deal if you could tell us what your tank water paramenters are - as well as readings from your tap (after leaving a sample of tapwater to stand for 24 hours).

 

[Jonz]

Even with the fish gone, i still have the filter and heater running.

Do you think its safe to trying adding fish again slowly if the water levels check out ok?

 

[Jonz]

When I got home, I rechecked the aquarium with the DryTab test kit.

Heres the levels I got this afternoon.

pH 6.5

Ammonia 0.0

Nitrite no2 0.25

Nitrate no3 0.0

 

[Incitic]

Your nitrites should be at 0 and your nitrates should be higher. I'd go with bloozoo and say the tank had a mini cycle.

Even after the water levels are correct i'd wait a little while just to see if the tank doesnt do anything unsuspected. After that should be right for fish

 

[penguinpimp1990]

read the fishless cycling article, that will help tons. Also your elite hush 10 filter is pure crap, it doesnt have any place for beneficial bacteria to grow (ie biomax) and this will cause problems.

 

[Jonz]

read the fishless cycling article, that will help tons. Also your elite hush 10 filter is pure crap, it doesnt have any place for beneficial bacteria to grow (ie biomax) and this will cause problems.

I picked up a aquaclear based on that comment. Cleaned everything out and starting over.

Thanks for the replies.