Dead...The WHOLE tank...Dead

[jrd77]

Well, I got home last night from dinner to find my beautiful loaches dead, my wonderful and sweet ropefish dead, and my little baby tetras dead. I lost it, disposed of my deceased fishes, emptied the tank in dispair, and went to bed. I did test the water but only got as far as ammonia. When the water turned yellow, I knew there was ammonia. I didn't measure how much...And I didn't know if it was because my fish were dead or because ammonia killed them. Maybe it was the lagae killer stuff? All I knew is that I lost a tank I cared so much for and went through so much for, for 2 years. I felt like a bad mom and just cut my losses and went to bed.

Today, I want to start over. Its a 45 US gallon, flat-backed hex tank, 36 inches wide in the back and 24 inches tall all around. It's a great tank...so I thought anyway. I JUST got a new light. I cleaned all the gravel in cold tap water and cleaned the tank out too. It's drying and I want to begin again.

So, what do I do? Do I put the gravel back in and fill her up with tap water then dechlorinate? What should my steps be to ensure no issues? It's back to square 1....

 

[Pysgodyn]

OUCH. That hurt. I'm afraid I can't be of any help as I know very little at this stage in my fish-keeping-life...but have my consolances anyway. Good luck with the new one

 

[Squirrelbuddies]

I am very sorry for your losses and what you went through. It would be good to pinpoint what the cause was, though, so it will not happen again. It seems like whatever happened, happened rather quickly. When was the last time you checked water conditions? Did you notice any fish acting differently over the past few days? Also, had you made any changes recently, other than adding the algae killer (I've not used that before, so I cannot offer any advise on that one.)

Going forward, I would make sure that the gravel and the tank are squeaky clean before filling the tank up again. I usually clean a "sick" tank and gravel with very hot tap water to kill anything that may be possibly living on the walls or in the gravel. Then I spread the gravel out to dry for a few days.

Do you plan on doing a fishless cycle or cycling with fish?

It is good to see you are willing to pick up the pieces and start again, instead of throwing in the towel.

It really is a great hobby in spite of the heartaches from time to time.

 

[jrd77]

Last night, I put the 2 biowheels in the quarantine tank. Will the bacteria live okay or do I have to start over with new biowheels?

 

[jrd77]

Yes, I did a 20% water change yesterday before they died because I wanted to get rid of the green algae color of my tank water...I added Prime (dechlorinator) and algae killer stuff to the new water. The temp. of the new water was the same as the tank water.

I had not checked that tank for ammonia for 15 days.

Everyone seemed great, no color issues, everyone was eating...my ropefish had been dying of what we think is cancer. She had an under-skin tumor that has been growing in size for a few months....her appetite was still great though....

 

[Squirrelbuddies]

Are they just floating in the tank? Or are they actually in a filter setup? I'm not sure how or what the bacteria does when the biowheels are just floating in water.

BUT -- you can use some of the gravel from the established tank and put it in a mesh bag. AND, if the filters are the same size you can just exchange the filter media. I did that on a tank and it was like instant cycling.

 

[jrd77]

Thanks for your help so far...I REALLY appreciate it.

The hospital tank is only 10 gallons but I do plan on getting some of that media ina mesh bag and put it into the "new" tank set up once it gets going.

My biowheels are just floating...Is all that bacteria dead??

I think a fishless cycle. Doesn't that take less time as well as not harm fish?

 

[Inchworm]

Hi jrd77

I am so sorry for your loss. I imagine you must be devastated, but applaud you for wanting to start back up again.

I would feel much more confident about suggesting a course of action to you if you knew just what killed your fish. It might have been some kind of chemical reaction from the algae killer and the sudden death of all the growing algae, but it could also have been caused by an opportunistic bacterial infection. There are strains that can kill just that fast.

I can only tell you what I would do under the circumstances, and that is to take the tank down, scrub it out the best I could and buy new substrate. I would get rid of the filter media and anything else I wasn't sure was clean as new. Whether it was chemical or bacterial action that cause the damage I wouldn't take a chance that any of it remained.

If you have active beneficial bacteria in your smaller tank, you already have a head start whether you choose to cycle fishless or with fish.

Good luck to you. You certainly deserve it!