glow light tetra deaths :(

[Mel]

Hi im unsure if i have posted this in correct section sorry if i havent.

I did a major water change and all thre glow light tetras died together, i was just wondering if they have a tentancy to die of shock or something i understand u cant tell me why they died because u arent here looking at the problem. And i was also wondering if schooling fish die together.

Any feed back would be good.

Mel

 

[jams.alaskan]

Hi Mel, I'm going to just ask a few questions to help narrow it down...
1. how long has the tank been set up?
2. how many gallons and what percentage of water did you change?
3. Who else is in the tank?
4. Did you treat the water you added? Made sure that the temp was the same as the tank?
5. Is it possible that the glow light tetras are weaker because of their gynetic (sp) addition of jellyfish dna?
6. What's your ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels?
Maybe we can narrow it down for you if you give the folks here some of these answers.

ALASKA

 

[Lateral Line]

I think s/he is talking about Glowlights, Hemigrammus erythrozonus, not GloFish. The rest of the questions are valid though, to answer, we really need more info. It is not usual for an entire school/shoal of fish to die together.

 

[Mel]

hi,
yes im talking about glowlight tetras.
1- the tank has been set up since christmas last year?
2- it holds 20gallons i think its 80 litres... or 2ft. and i changed prob 70% prob too much
3- i have the three tetras, 1 mollie 1 guppie, 1 angel fish and 2 platties but 1 gourami (dwarf) 1 guppie have died through the week
4-yes i added the de chlorinater, the water was 25.5*c at its lowest but i added it straight, didnt warm it
6- i know im stupid for this but i have no idea

Mel

 

[Lateral Line]

70% is too much for a "normal" water change, there are situations where you would want to change that much, but they are really emergencies. You would typically look at changing 15-20% a week. You then added cold water, you should, of course, add water of similar temperature.

I suspect your fish died of thermal shock.

 

[jams.alaskan]

You are not stupid for #6, it just really gives you and folks here an idea if something is off in your water chemistry... If you can afford it, try to get a test for these things and start to check it once in awhile just to give yourself an idea how your tank maintence is working out. You will then know if your filters, tank cleanings and feeding are balanced
And sorry for the mix up on glolight and glo fish -ooooops )

ALASKA

I second the thought that it may have been to large a temp change and it really effected those guys more then the others.

 

[Mel]

i did such a huge water change because the other week i went away and left one of those self feeding holiday blocks and i suspect that killed my gourami and guppy so thats why i did the huge water change. To make the water the same temp do i leave it in a bucket with another heater i have for a little while?? And thanks for your help!

Mel

 

[jams.alaskan]

I use hot tap water added to the cold till it's the same temp as the tank. I've got a well so sometimes I treat the water for chemicals and sometimes I don't as my water is very pure. You can check the temp with a thermometer and then add the treated water. Does that help?

ALASKA

 

[Mel]

yes thanks thats great!!

mel

 

[greathat]

those self feeding blocks are a pile of **** dont use em fishes can survive for a week without food much better than they can survive having one of those blocks thrown in. It'll give em a chance to go scavenging for biuts around the tank they might have missed before

 

[Mel]

yeah i posted a topic specifically about them. i cant believe they can last a week without food mine go nuts everytime i walk up to the tank cause they think they are going to get fed. But thanks for the advice, really appreciate it!

Mel