My Fish Are All Dead :(

[aphextwins]

Hello people i'm new here so be gentle with me.

Ok, here is the problem. i got 2 small tropical fish a few months ago and they have both died now.
They were fine until i put a weekend feeder block in. i came back from the wknd to find one of them covered in some sort of white stuff and dead.
And for the last week now i've been trying to save the other one but to no avail as of today

I tested the PH levels and nitrate levels early this week and they all seem to be fine.

Do you think it was that block that killed them? i've heard they put some really nasty stuff in them.

Can you help put my mind at rest please

 

[The-Wolf]

yes I do think the block killed them
what size tank is it?

these feeder blocks are made of mostly ash and can creat havoc with
all water parameters, in a small tank this effect is more noticable by the
inhabitants than in larger aquaria.

Personally I'd like to see these blocks banned from sale, but that will never happen.

 

[Kombat]

I don't have an answer for you. But for future reference, I've heard that fish can go a week or two without food, so a weekend certainly would not be a problem. So if this ever comes up again you shouldn't worry about feeding them if it is just a weekend.

Karl

 

[catxx]

how often did you do water changes? did you test ammonia?

i don't like feeder blocks, they just mess up the water unnecessarily.

what kind of small fish were they? tetras? something else?

the white stuff could be Ich or Columanris (sp?). do a search on the forum for both of those, there'll be lots of posts.

 

[aphextwins]

Its a 20g tank.

I cant belive that a pet shop would even think about selling these blocks?!

So for the cost of 98p i've had my two little friends killed a horrid death!!!!

I dont want to feel like i cant have fish anymore so could you recomend 2 or 3 good fish to start off on again...just to get my confidence back

 

[The-Wolf]

nice hardy species that I recomend to customers are
gold barbs (maybe get too big for your tank)
pentazona barbs
and harliquin rasboras

I also say zebra/leopard danios provided your 20G has a footprint of 24" x 12" or more.

 

[Wendy-Jane]

Aaw, poor you and poor li'l fishies I'm so sorry for your loss.

I never knew these could be dangerous
I hope that knowing your post has probably saved some other fishy lives makes you feel a bit better.

Take care.

 

[Ginge]

There are plenty of nice hardy little fish that you could have in your tank.
Did you cycle your tank???

 

[Miss Wiggle]

awwww u poor thing, thats horrible, yeah those blocks are awful. Most small tropicals can easily go a week or two without food and fish are best slightly underfed rather than overfed so next time you can quite easily leave them by themselves. If I'm going away I just test the water parameters before hand and if they're fine just leave them be.

I'd go with zebra danio's and harlequin rasbora's

good luck, and don't be disheartned, we all have these hiccups sometimes

 

[Scott MacAdam]

yeah, i don't like to rely on blocks.. they are not very good. i'd say if your worried about feeding you should buy a electric feeder. there $15-$20 and can feed fis up to 2 months if you could proportion it right for a few fish. AND they run on batteries so you don't have to worry about power outages! it's a good thing to have for trips and such. just a suggestion though

 

[demonmagus]

go for some harlequins, and venture into planted tanks

 

[Neal]

Ditto to the above, but if I was you i'd sort a planted tank first, then get your harlequins, i've been moved over to planted tanks, i'm not very good so i'm just going for a low tech one, it isn't going to have lots of plants, just easy to look after, yet look so stunning.

Neal

 

[SLC Flyfishing]

Harlequin Rasboras are great! And let me add my signature to the list of people who say that fish can go for a week or so without food. In the future you could just leave them alone over the weekend.

Good Luck in the future, and don't let this ruin fishkeeping for you, we've all been there at least once before.

SLC

 

[aphextwins]

Thanks everyone for your kind words

I'm going to get some more fish at the weekend now and im also going to go to the pet shop that sold me them blocks and tell them off!!!

Err...whats a planted tank? so for being stupid but im just starting out.

 

[dgwebster]

planted is real plants inside your tank instead of none/fake. though then again, many will argue to include fake plants as its more "whats decorating the tank" than whether its real or not.

Sorry to read about your loss. A friend of mine bought two goldfish for her 5 year old. I can stand going to her house anymore because:

the tank is WWWWWWWWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYY to small and they wont believe me that fish grow to the size of the tank and stay happy.

They dont use ANY water treatment (but have n air driven filter....).

The feed the poor fish solely on those feeding pyramids, inbetween the 6 week water change if they can be arsed.

the tank is constantly dirty and dodgy as a result and I cannot bear to be in the room with it.