Fish are dieing and I can't figure out

[Elisabeth83]

I've lost a fish this past week and another one is one his way out

I cannot see any physical signs of sickness. What is happening is is that they just swim around listless and drifting...then they will go to the bottom and kinda lay on their side, sit at the bottom as well as stand tail down.

I tested my water today and the results came back perfect. I don't have a test kit for ammonia and that is the only thing that I think could be the problem. I have had a bunch of fry born and there is probably 15 or so in there right now. They are just tiny but I am sure they are adding to the bioload. I've been carrying out water changes daily and everytime there is a lot of poo.

I treated for fungus twice now (about a week ago) because also in that same tank I have a 5 month old swordtail that has this whitish/clear patch streaching from the middle of her body to her eye. The fungus treatment didn't seem to help and I was really reluctant to use it because I hate using chemicals. I've just been trying to do the water changes and gravel vacs to try and keep the tank cleaner.

I've also noticed small snails in the tank and I've read that if those die they produce a lot of ammonia. Everytime I see one I get it out..but still some probably have died in there. There arn't that many I only see 1-2 a day.

The other remaining fish in the tank are very healthy.

Both the fish that has died and the fish that is dieing appear to be healthy besides their strange behaviour.

My tank has been up and running for 6 months.

 

[Elisabeth83]

Also when re-arranging plants and doing the gravel vacs alot of debrie (sp?) gets lifted up from the bottom....is that harmful to the fish?? After about 10-15 mins the tank is pretty much cleared back up.

 

[Elisabeth83]

I just wanted to add that I've only been doing the daily water changes for the last 3-4 days. Usually I only do a 20% water change once a week.

 

[digital_run]

I'd definately get an amonia test for your tank...unless you are running a bio-wheel id recommend getting one so you can be sure. When you vac the gravel it should be clear...no debris..id do a through vac change..clean my filter and test my water. Hold the meds and good luck.

 

[Elisabeth83]

I've been doing really through gravel vacs the last few days..and I just cleaned my filter about 10 mins ago.

As I was taking the filter out of the tank a dead fry floated out from behind it. It was partly rotted. I'm sure it was causing a huge ammonia spike

How much gravel should I have in my tank?? I have about 2 inches right now..maybe I should have less so poop/food can't sink down deep and I can get it with my gravel vac easier??

I'll definately get an ammonia kit soon...they don't sell them at my lfs but theres a huge fish store about 30 mins away that sells them. I'll be going there in the next week or so.

 

[dixaisy930]

Two inches of gravel sounds like that's a little too much. Maybe more around 1 inch? Maybe more experienced fish keepers can give you a better idea of how much gravel to have.

 

[clutterydrawer]

I find 2" or more is necessary to keep live plants rooted

otherwise it's just to look pretty and provide extra media for bacteria to colonise so 1" or less would be fine

you should try and give the gravel a good thorough cleaning, obviously the gravel shouldnt be clear when you vac it or there would be no point in vaccing it, but it should be clearish when you're done.

 

[Elisabeth83]

Yeah thats true clutterydrawer...I had less gravel in it a couple months back but I added more because I was having trouble keeping my live/plastic plants down in the gravel.

I'll take a bit out though...get it down it an inch or so...I think that'll be enough to still be able to keep the plants down.

Yeah I mean it isn't that dirty when I'm done gravel vaccing it...but I mean it isn't clean either and like I said within 10-20 mins it's pretty much cleared up again.

I think I might of been overfeeding a little bit too...I got carried away with feeding the wafers to my bristlenose. I was breaking off about 3-4 small pieces off the big piece of wafer and feeding him everynight...but I've cut back to about 3 times a week instead and only 1-2 small pieces.

 

[swampcat]

I would test ammonia. BUT, I would think the fry would die first if ammonia was elevated?

I wouldnt use more than one inch of gravel. When gravel is deep, makes it harder to vacuum. Food and waste will store here and cause ammonia build up and foul tank.

 

[corykitty516]

I am NO expert, this is just my experience:
When I first started out I had at least an inch and a half of gravel in my tank and had quite a hard time with debris and ammonia. After a planeria outbreak I cut the gravel down to less than 1/2 an inch and put my live plants into small terracotta pots. Since then the ammonia is well under control and there is very little crud accumulation.

 

[Elisabeth83]

I'm not sure when the fry died if it was natural or because of ammonia...

I'll definately take some gravel out today!!! It's ok to have 2 inches of sand though since food/waste just sits on the top right?

 

[dixaisy930]

I know there's a couple of posts on here about sand as a stubstrate...but, you don't want a thick layer of sand either as a substrate. The problem with sand is since the sand particles are so much smaller than gravel, they can keep compacted alot easier. This is why you need to run a stick around in the sand every so often, or have malaysian trumpet snails in the tank to keep the sand stirred up. The thicker the layer of sand, the more likely it is that it will become compacted. I have sand in one of my tanks, and I think it's a little under an inch. Others might be able to give you a better idea of the ideal depth of the sand substrate.

Sorry I'm making your substrate issue so complicated. )

 

[Elisabeth83]

Yes dixaisy930 my substrate issue has got me so frusterated. I feel overwhelmed!!

I removed half a bucket of sand from my 30 gallon tank today which took some work and got water all over It's down to about an inch now. Having troubles keepin my plants down now though

I then realized I had way too much gravel in my 14 gallon betta tank so I started taking some out....then all kinds of old plant material and waste started getting stirred around. It's divided in 4 parts so the filter wasn't able to suck it up So I ended up putting the bettas in breeding nets and taking out all the dividers. I was gonna leave it but then decided it'll just happen again so I might as well use the sand I took out of the other tank. So I removed all the gravel and now have a half inch layer of sand instead. Tomorrow it should be cleared and then I'll put the dividers back in. Poor Bettas I hope I haven't stressed them......

It looked so good before I messed with it...now it's so cloudy

Argh....what a frusterating day!!