Mass Loss Of Fish

[pumaf1]

Well I have lost the **************** lot.
went out last night for a beer, all fish happy, eating, swimming around fine.
got in this morning from my friends, ALL fish dead. some floating, others not floating.

Neons, Guppies, plecs, and corydoras all dead.

no power outages as my pc is feed from the same power ring and it was still on as I had left it.

Heater is working (was as i left it turned on when i pulled it out to get one of the fish out and it knida smahed itself after about 5 minutes.)

filter working fine, all levels checked three days ago - all ok

the only thing i noticed was the neons where VERY bloated from the gills backwards and the scales where sticking out.

ANYWAYS

I have spent the afternoon cleaning the tank and filter houseing and motor, they are now back in the cleaned tank with a salt water mix - to kill anything else off in the tank that may have survived.

Can anyone advise me on the best way to go from here? or any ideas on what happened? (no it wasnt a mass pre-new year sucide)

I have, or am going to relpace the filter sponge, gravel, air bubble maker thingy majig (new air pipe and stone)

please help guys I am gutted!

 

[sussexgirl]

OMG that's awful! Do you know what your water stats were yesterday prior to the mass death? Any changes to the tank in the last week? Any children in the house that could have contaminated it? Just typing possible scenarios. What a terrible thing to happen.

 

[pumaf1]

thanks for the quick reply

stats from xmas day -
(bet ya cant guess what I got for a pressie)

nitrate 2
nitrite 3
ph - 7.0
amonia - 5

no kiddies in the house, no changes to the tank other than the usual water top up/change (2 litres and was at room temp and treated with Tetra Aqua Aqua Safe)

 

[sussexgirl]

thanks for the quick reply

stats from xmas day -
(bet ya cant guess what I got for a pressie)

nitrate 2
nitrite 3
ph - 7.0
amonia - 5

no kiddies in the house, no changes to the tank other than the usual water top up/change (2 litres and was at room temp and treated with Tetra Aqua Aqua Safe)

I'm not familiar with those scale of readings. What test kit are you using? I use Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Master test kit and these are fantastic, these reading don't sound like you're using one of those though.

 

[pumaf1]

hiya its one of these:

http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Kusuri-test-kits-PH-...VQQcmdZViewItem

 

[The-Wolf]

nitrate 2
amonia - 5

there is why
ammonia and NO2 should be zero at all times.
sounds like your filter crashed and the fish died from a combination of ammonia and nitrIte poisoning.

sorry for your loss

 

[black angel]

How long had the tank been going for and how often and how much in water changes?
Is it the 35 litre in your sig?

I agree that the nitrite and ammonia would be enough to kill the fish.

I see its a brand new tank. So it could have been overloaded with fish and the filter couldnt cope with all the ammonia at once.
You should have a look in the newbie section and look att he pinned articles on new tanks.

Sorry you lost your fish.

 

[sussexgirl]

nitrate 2
amonia - 5

there is why
ammonia and NO2 should be zero at all times.
sounds like your filter crashed and the fish died from a combination of ammonia and nitrIte poisoning.

sorry for your loss

I agree with the wolf says and it's a horrible thing to happen to you. Start over again and better luck next time. If you ever get amonia or nitrite readings test daily and do daily water changes until you're back to zero. I know that you have only just got your test kit but I would seriously look into the API master test kits, they're cheaper than the brand you are using £17-25 (depending on retailer) and are extremely reliable. Most of us use them on here from what I've seen.

 

[pumaf1]

the tanks been running fine since april 2005 and then suddlen this!!

I ahve started again as i mentioned with the tank currently filtering a salty water solution to kill anything off that may still be hanging around.

 

[InaneCathode]

the tanks been running fine since april 2005 and then suddlen this!!

I ahve started again as i mentioned with the tank currently filtering a salty water solution to kill anything off that may still be hanging around.

Did you read any of the posts above? The problem probably wasnt a bacterial/viral/fungus infection, it was your filter crashing. You should find out what made it crash instead of focusing on sterilizing your tank even more (salt doesnt generally sterilize that well unless its super saline). If you do end up successfully sterilizing your tank with salt you'll end up with a completely dead filter you'll have to re-cycle, and if you dont end up sterilizing it you'll still have an apparently dead filter along with no explaination why it crashed in the first place. A ticking time bomb should you restock at this point...

 

[pumaf1]

I did read the notes yes!

I wont be re-stocking for quite some time, spent some money i dont have and bought a new filter, so back to the start for me

 

[InaneCathode]

If your filter is running it's working fine... You can't replace the filter then assume it won't crash again for the same reason. Figure out why it crashed!

 

[Tolak]

When was the last water change/top off, and how much new water was added?

 

[pumaf1]

to answer InaneCathode - I probably will never find out what happened since the water was dumped over 24 hours ago, all filters etc were binnde and went out with the xmas stuff to the tip! but my nitrates where high - probably the cause I think

Tolak - Today, I replaced 100% of the water (and the gravel and the filter etc etc)

 

[sussexgirl]

to answer InaneCathode - I probably will never find out what happened since the water was dumped over 24 hours ago, all filters etc were binnde and went out with the xmas stuff to the tip! but my nitrates where high - probably the cause I think

Tolak - Today, I replaced 100% of the water (and the gravel and the filter etc etc)

Well it's good that you're looking forward and prepared to start afresh again. Best of luck pumaf1.