Curiosity kills the cat

[LesGerber]

I come in here quite a bit and read most if not all of the post. I don't say a whole lot because most of the questions I could answer already have been answered quite well. There is one thing that puzzles me though......

I have seen different posts here and in other forums where someone says my fish have disappeared, any idea where they are or i have one fish that is chasing the others nipping tails and ripping them up. Now with disappearing fish, in my experience, it could be other fish, hiding fish, or filters and with aggressive fish its just that, no matter how "peaceful" this fish is supposed to be, like humans some just have aggressive personalities..............so here's where my confusion comes in to play..............

Why does someone always ask about water parameters? What would this have to do with either of these situations? Is the ph going to get so acidic that it "eats" the disappearing fish? And how could that make one fish be aggressive to other fish? Just curious!

Would appreciate a reasoning behind this though.


Allie (the girlfriend)

 

[cichlidmaster]

Good question, Allie.....................

Wish I had an answer for ya!!

CM

 

[Kryten]

We ask about parameters because they may explain several things.

Most fish when they are healthy don't get sucked up by the filter, but if something has mysteriously killed them i.e. an ammonia or nitrate spike, or poor temperature, small fish such as neon tetras or fry may well get sucked into the filtration system

By asking, we can make recommendations to people and "newbies" who may be less experienced to improve the water quality, thus stopping fish from snuffing it and mysteriously being sucked up by the fluval filter

It could also be that someone has added salt to a livebearer tank (platies and guppies benefit greatly from salt), but forgot that neon tetras, also residing in the same tank cannot tolerate salt, and it will kill them,often turning them much the same colour as the substrate on the bottom of the tank, making the body hard to see

Does this help at all?

 

[superman]

In some cases (like in my case) some of us keep fish that are able to breath outside of water for a length of time, like bichirs, ropefish, snakeheads, and some knife fish. In the case of bad water quality sometimes these fish will chose to just jump, or find some way out (like find there way into a back filter.

 

[LesGerber]

Thanks for the replies, I guess I am just different because I always check the filter when I am missing a fish as well as any other possible place they could hide. I have lost fish to filters and have also lost them to other fish (a pictus comes to mind).

Allie

 

[cichlidmaster]

In regards to the question..................

I assumed you wanted to know why the question "What are the parameters" when a fish turns up missing!!

Water parameters in this respect really have nothing to do with a missing fish....unless of course the fish determined suicide was the only alternative to living in a fowl tank and took a nose dive out of it!!

Now, in the case of a fish death.....this could be caused by bad water quality. but one should observe the dead fish prior to it being sucked up in the filter or eaten by the other fish....if not then the aquarist needs to pay more attention to their tank, but IMO to automatically assume a missing fish is due to poor water quality is a huge assumption without first asking if the filter and such has been checked.

I guess I read more into the post than there was, hence the reply "wish I had an answer"!!!

CM

 

[angelphish]

years ago when I first got into the fishy stuff, I had some geophagus redhumps in a tank. I couldn't figure out what happen to one of them until one day while siphoning the gravel I sucked him up. He was alive. I stopped siphoning have a look at him and he drived back into the gravel. I tried to keep him from it but finally I gave up. I never saw him again. I always wanted to tell that to someone.

 

[sgtbirch]

WoW what a crazy story !! Maybe he made a cacoon and hatched and flew away

 

[LesGerber]

CM
You nailed it right on the head as to what Allie was asking. She was reffering to posts she had read that people had catfish or other fish eating fish, and also had little fish like neon tetras, and the little ones vanish. Then people come in and say what is the water parameters. If the fish are no where to be seen, and they are not on the floor or in the filter then it would be safe to assume that it got ate.
I personally think people are wanting to help so bad that they dont even read the statement and just go its got to be the water, I have seen it several times myself.
Personally when I read a new topic I try to think of all the different things that could happen. I mean lets face it , if the water params are so bad that they are going to cause a fish to completely dissapear then there will be no fish in the tank at all.......

That is the point Allie was trying to make

Les