Help - What's Killing My Fish?

[rainbowcharmer]

My tank is established, and the levels are about perfect. No ammonia, no nitrites, very little nitrates between water changes (every week to 2 weeks, 15% or so).

It seems like all my "algae eating" fish are keeling over.

I've lost 2 ottos, 3 bamboo shrimp, my rubber lipped pleco...

I had the 2 ottos, 1 bamboo shrimp and rubber lipped at the same time.

The 1st otto died, followed by the rubber lipped pleco about 3 days later (levels all tested fine on both days). A few days after that, the 1st bamboo shrimp died. Again, levels were fine.

I stopped at the LFS with a water sample to make sure. Everything checked out OK.

Picked up another bamboo shrimp, who died the next day.

Back to the LFS with the shrimp and the water for another test - everything's fine.

They said since I got a very small shrimp, it might be that he just wasn't healthy - so to try a bigger one. Ok fine.

That was 3 weeks ago. Today - he's dead too.

As is my other otto.

I don't get it??

All other fish are fine. The others in the tank are mollies, zebra danios, tetras and 2 kuhli loaches (was 3, but one died, and i haven't replaced it).

Suggestions? Ideas? Anyone know why all of one type of eaters would keel over like that?

I feed spirulina algae flakes and sinking algae tabs every other day. Opposite day is regular flakes and sinking pellets. I feed once daily, and the water is crystal clear.

I loved the bamboo shrimps because my gravel has never been so sparkling white! It always started to go a little brown with algae until they were put into the tank, and since then I've not seen a spot of algae.

Is it possible that my tank does not have enough algae to keep them going? Even one otto and one bamboo shrimp?? As that is what was in there this last time around.

It's a 46 gallon tank, more than adequate filter (for a 55+ gallon tank), is it too much filtration??

I'm stumped...

Emms

 

[celaeno]

is your gravel clean? do you do gravel vacs often?

there might be something in your water killing off the scaleless fish and invertebrates, but are not affecting the fish that have scales.

that's all i can think of.

 

[rainbowcharmer]

Yes, the water is clean, and I gravel vac every time I change the water - so every week - 2 weeks, depending on scheduling and how the tank is looking.

Is there anything I can test for??

 

[Tolak]

Are you on a municipal water system, where does that system get their water from if you are, what do you use to treat your water, and what has the weather been like lately in your area?

 

[rainbowcharmer]

I'm on city water, yes. The weather has been normal - occasional rain. Right now it's hitting about 45 degrees F during the day. Down to about 20F at night.

This has been happening over about a 2 month period.

Oh - and on a side note, the death of the kuhli loach, I do not think is significant here. I bought 3 (was told that was ideal minimum), and within a couple of days one had died. At that point I did not have time to go back to the LFS and replace the dead one, so they've been two ever since. Always out and about - so I assume they are not too displeased with just having the two of them.

The other two Kuhli's have been alive and well for about 3 or so months now.

So if it was something killing off the scaleless fish, wouldn't they be having issues by now??

What I'm also wondering is if ghost shrimp would serve the same purpose as the bamboo shrimp without being so stinking expensive. The bamboos are 10 bucks and up. The ghost shrimps are about 1.50. If I'm not going to keep the cleaning crew alive, I'd rather spend less on them... But I would like something in there to help keep the tank all sparkling and algae free like it has been. Is there anything else I can try without murdering fish??

 

[PRW1988]

Well, IME oto cats are very sensitive and will sometimes die for no reason, in regards to the rubber lip pleco, were you feeding him extra spirulina pellets or discs? Sometimes, IME, rubber lip plecs stop eating the algea for quiet some time and if not fed they tend to die off quickly. As for the shrimp, shrimps are generally sensitive, it really depends on the brand of test kit these people at your LFS are using, as the water to them may seem fine, however at this point in time I'd bet dollars to doughnuts that if you picked up your own test kit, something would be wrong in that tank.

Hope this info helps, and sorry to hear about your loss...

 

[Meds081603]

How old is your tank? IME oto's and the shrimps need VERY well established tanks to survive. I wouldn't dream of putting them in a tank that has not been running at the very least 4 or 5 months.

 

[Jules H-T]

Any aerosols ever in use near the tank? That could be deodorant, possibly polish, or maybe insect spray.

 

[cujoho78]

Hi. I'm not a pro on fish health but I've had some thoughts on this subject as I've had several fish die within a short time span before and have witnessed the same thing happen to others as well.

There's lots of info out there on maintaining an aquarium and proper feeding habits etc so I'll assume that you are doing the maintenance and feeding properly. I too really try to do the required water changes and feed a variety of foods but still have had problems on occasion. Aside from the obvious things, here's a few things to consider.

One thing I wonder about is the water; perhaps there's something in the water you aren't aware of. High levels of some toxic metal, or smaller levels that build up in the tissue of your fish, which eventually cause them to die. Perhaps there is some other toxin that is making its way into the water from some airborne pollutant in your house, or from something being on your skin when you stick your arm in the water. These ideas have been mentioned above.

Also, I wonder about diseases; perhaps the fish have contracted some disease that is not obviously visible (ie tuberculosis). Eventually the vulnerable fish die; perhaps in large numbers. The fish that make it may be less susceptible to the unknown disease or have built up an immunity from exposure to the disease at some other time and are now protected against it. Thus, when you add new fish they don't live for very long because they have no immunity to the disease in your tank whereas your other fish have been exposed and have the immunity.

These are just some ideas I've had as a result of having die-offs such as you describe. I don't imagine that I've given you any concrete answers; however, I hope that maybe I've given you some other avenues to investigate.

Good luck, and sorry to hear about the deaths.

 

[rainbowcharmer]

The rubber plec was getting algae wafers and spirulina flakes every other day. I'm pretty sure he was getting adequate food, though the mollies on occasion would nibble at the wafers if he wasn't nearby.

The tank is about 5 months old. It was set up early this summer.

I do have my own test kit, and everything checks out fine at home as well. I took the water to the LFS to double check it - and their test (different from mine) showed the exact same results. I am pretty sure that between the two of them, I was getting fairly accurate readings.

Is there a way to test for toxic metals in the water?

No aerosols or any other product is used near the fish tank. I'm very careful about that. I don't even use cleaner on the outside of the tank. I only use diluted distilled vinegar on a soft cloth to clean the glass on the outside on the rare occasion that it needs it.

I'll keep trying to look for answers for this, since I'd really like to get another cleaning crew in there at some point. But I'm going to wait a few weeks and see how things go with the current tank occupants. Everybody seems happy and healthy, but just in case there is something going on, I'd rather not spend more money putting things into the tank if they aren't going to survive.

Any suggestions on what I can do to control algae for now when it starts to grow?

Thanks

 

[Tolak]

You could have your water tested for metals, but if it comes back clean this week that doesn't mean next week it will have traces of metals. This is the reason I was asking the source (mine is Lake Michigan, processed by the City of Chicago) and what you use to treat your water.

 

[rainbowcharmer]

Source?? No idea. I live in Rhode Island.

I use stress coat and stress zyme to treat the water when I do changes.

 

[Tolak]

You can obtain a water report from your water company, and perhaps you can find it online. This will give details as to the source, any levels of metals or other substances, as well as what the water is treated with. If you call & talk to someone halfway knowledgable you can find out some interesting things about your water, how it is treated, and how these treatments may vary seasonally or due to weather conditions.

Stress Coat deals with chlorine & chloramine, but does nothing for the resulting ammonia created when you break the chlorine/ammonia bond in chloramine. Unless you live in a really small town your water is probably being treated with chloramine. Stress Coat also does nothing for heavy metals, a water conditioner such as Seachem's Prime, or Tetra's AquaSafe deals with both ammonia & heavy metals.

StressZyme is a waste of money, it does nothing for the bio filtration or the fish, but makes the aquarist feel better since they think they are helping the fish. You will feel even better with that money in your wallet.