First Casualty :(

[Killi]

Last night when I got in from work I went to check my tank and noticed that there we very few of my new Killifish in the tank. Its very rare you will see all of them at once anyway but I suspected something was wrong. The only thing that I could think of is that they were either eaten by my neons or they have somehow got into the filter.

They are only tiny little thin things about 1" long (some even smaller) and I thought ahead when I bought them that they might fit through the gaps in the filter so I covered the gaps with carbon pads before I put the new fish in. This was on Saturday. Anyway last night I took hold of the filter and whilst still in the water had a look for the fish (without opening it). I couldn't see any gaps but I decided to open it anyway so I took out the filter and put it into a bucket of tank water and as soon as I opened it one swam out but he looked quite pale, and I found another dead inside

Looking back into the tank two more appeared since moving the filter, I don't know where they originally were though. I was so upset, but disposed of the dead fish and placed the survivor back into the tank. Looking at it I noticed that its tail is now just a point and it has to beat its little tail like theres no tomorrow to get anywhere, poor thing. He's doing well though and is the livliest fish in the tank now and was eating straight after I rescued him

As a quick fix to hopefully stop any of them going in the filter again I have placed the carbon pads back where they were and I have placed a stocking completely over the filter. Can anyone tell me if this is sufficient to keep them out in future or is there something else I could do/use??? The only problem I can think of with doing this is that all of the particles are not being sucked inside the filter anymore, so is the tank so being cleaned as efficiently as it was without the stocking???

Thanks

 

[Miss Wiggle]

sorry for your loss

what make/model of filter is it?

I would treat the tank with melafix for a few days, it helps stop secondary infections and will help to repair the damaged tail.

something like a stocking over the filter is fine, you may find you need to take it off and rinse it every couple of days if it's getting manky but it shouldn't really affect your filters performance if you keep it relativley clean

 

[Killi]

Thanks
iIs only a Fluval 1 Plus, one of the smallest filters Fluval do.

I'll keep cleaning the stocking I'm using and may even replace it every so often (if it gets too groggy).
I'll also put some of that melafix in as well like you said.

Thanks for the re-asurance

 

[Miss Wiggle]

no probs, if your worried about your filter stopping working the just keep tesing your ammonia and nitrite levels, that'll tell you if it's working ok.

 

[Killi]

I do every few days anyway, thanks again