Fish Mortality

[FishBlast]

Likewise. I went away for a week and came back to find that 3 of my neons are missing. Probably died and then eaten. Everybody was healthy before I left but these things happen, you can't be getting all sentimental when a fish dies! It's to be expected if you're still relatively new to the hobby but don't let it dishearten you - the more mature your tank becomes, the better it'll be at supporting life in the way of fish Keep at it, I'd bolster your fish's numbers gradually again (especially the schooling ones like the tetras), no more than 3 fish at a time and no more than 6 fish every fortnight.

Fish deaths of fish I've come to know better are always sad for me. I'm not sad for week-old fry for example, as they do not show their colors or behavior much. But a month old fry, or even worse, a 3-months old fry dying, surely makes me sad. It's like watching something grow and then it's gone and it never got to grow fully either...
And when a very old fish dies (such as my hoplo Seadra, dead at the age of 8), it's like I've been so attached to that fish that living without it is just not the same.

 

[folyet]

Thanks for all the input...I guess the odd death is to be expected....

And yes, I do get attached to my fish...especially the ones I have had for a long time...

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

I've not had a good year with fish losses...

February: Lost 6 Synodontis decora youngsters; "dad" Lionhead Cichlid; 1 synodontis nigriventris; an unknown quantity of Ilyodon xantusi fry to a rapid Ich wipeout in the space of 5 days in my 48x12x15
March: Lost 1 Phenacogrammus nigropterus male during acclimitisation, he was looking ropey upon opening the transport bag after the 1.5 hour trip home from Warminster.
May(?): Lost 1 Phenacogrammus nigropterus male after he got trapped behind the U4 bracket and was then badly nipped by Lionhead Cichlid youngsters
June: Lost 1 Puntius denisonii in 5x2x2; another male Phencogrammus behind U4 bracket, initially seemed ok when release but then rapidly lost its sense of balance (which had had one side of suckers removed to prevent them getting trapped... or so I thought! Brackets ditched since!!); lost 7 of my 10 Microsynodontis sp.1 which took ages to work out the cause (was the ~30 Ilyodon fry attacking them, yet the 8 Ilyodon parents shared a tank with these catfish for weeks with no issue back in March)
July: Lost my last Panda Garra in 5x2x2, sudden change from being very secretive to appearing at tank front to show me a massive wound behind its head, tried daily water changes with not dechlorinating water until 20 mins or so later (to try and naturally lower the bacteria count on the water, not too concerned as only 15% water changes daily tops)


Not a 5 month period to be proud of, especially the deaths that can be nailed down to not observing my six tanks properly to see spots or aggression!

The most concerning situation is that in the 5x2x2, the mysterious barb death and wondering what caused that massive wound on the garra, especially as I'm now treating the whole tank with Myxazin because several fish have ragged fins plus another barb has an open wound that has developed behind its head. No fish have moved in or out of that tank now for just over a month, absolute quarantine, including holding back on the rehoming of a couple of fish to other keepers as I would hate to infect their tanks with potentially something nasty.

 

[tomtomtom1230]

Likewise. I went away for a week and came back to find that 3 of my neons are missing. Probably died and then eaten. Everybody was healthy before I left but these things happen, you can't be getting all sentimental when a fish dies! It's to be expected if you're still relatively new to the hobby but don't let it dishearten you - the more mature your tank becomes, the better it'll be at supporting life in the way of fish Keep at it, I'd bolster your fish's numbers gradually again (especially the schooling ones like the tetras), no more than 3 fish at a time and no more than 6 fish every fortnight.

Fish deaths of fish I've come to know better are always sad for me. I'm not sad for week-old fry for example, as they do not show their colors or behavior much. But a month old fry, or even worse, a 3-months old fry dying, surely makes me sad. It's like watching something grow and then it's gone and it never got to grow fully either...
And when a very old fish dies (such as my hoplo Seadra, dead at the age of 8), it's like I've been so attached to that fish that living without it is just not the same.

Yeah I am sympathetic and it is always sad when you've seen a fish develop it's behavior and habits in your aquarium die but I try not to get too attached because they are only going live 5 or 6 years. Don't get me wrong, I care greatly about my fish, and the fish I cycled the tank with are gonna be a hard loss (4 Gold Danio Rerio) that bring a lot of activity and personality to the tank but I know they'll only live a few more years so for that reason, I don't let myself get too close to them. I know what I'm like, I'm a pretty sentimental person as it goes.

 

[FishBlast]

Yeah I am sympathetic and it is always sad when you've seen a fish develop it's behavior and habits in your aquarium die but I try not to get too attached because they are only going live 5 or 6 years. Don't get me wrong, I care greatly about my fish, and the fish I cycled the tank with are gonna be a hard loss (4 Gold Danio Rerio) that bring a lot of activity and personality to the tank but I know they'll only live a few more years so for that reason, I don't let myself get too close to them. I know what I'm like, I'm a pretty sentimental person as it goes.

5 years is enough time for me to know a fish well and be sorry when it dies. Even a few months was enough for me to be sorry for Cozilla (my first ever swordie fry that grew to 3 cm) and same for Pinky which was almost as big but was only 3 months old.
My hoplo being 9 years old is like a family dog. Had him since I was 13, so all the way back from 2003. He shows the most personality and, although clumsy sometimes, he does have a smart side and is a very peaceful fish (even going so far as to defend fry). That's one fish I'm going to REALLY miss when he dies.

I don't suffer too much over a fish loss as much as I did for my cats, but still will be sad for a day if it's a month-old or 5-year old fish.