My Gentle Giant Has Died

[angel.star]

Hi everyone,

I have had my Calico fantail for two years, and he managed to grow to around 2.5 inches in length, and one inch tall (if that makes sense). He shared a tank quite happily with my ordinary fantail who is the same size. I have one tiny Ottocinclus in there to keep the algae at bay (I have a heater on at 25C)

They've all lived like this for a year and a half, and yet I came home from work today and my Calico was laid halfway across the bottom and against the glass, with his mouth gaping open, dead. It was horrible to see because only this morning he was swimming around perfectly well and happy. Every day I study the fish to ensure there are no signs of disease, change in behaviour etc, and I keep a close eye on their eating habits to make sure they're acting normally. They have been.

Over the last few months, the Calico has suffered two or three bouts of what appeared to be external fungus on his tail and side, but the next day I would go out and buy treatment, and before having the chance to put it in that day, he'd made a full recovery. Each bout of fungus has lasted only a day, if that, except for one occasion around six months ago when he had fungus on his side for about a week, which I treated successfully. He hadn't suffered with it for around two months before he died. When he did have these bouts, he would sit on the bottom and not swim, but he would always feed.

But like I say, the last few weeks he has been symptom-free, swimming and eating well.

So why did he die? Do they die of old age after only two years? I'm now worried about my fantail, because he is the same age. Also, he is alone in the tank except for the tiny, unsociable Otto, so will he get lonely? Should I get a companion for him? He and the Calico were constantly swimming together.

Here are my details:

Size of aquarium - 60 litre
Types of fish - 1 Calico, 1 gold fantail, 1 ottocinclus
Number of fish and sizes - 3 in total (now only 2 ), 2 large at around 2.5 inches long, the otto being only 2cm in length
Filtration used and how do you clean it and how often - Tetra filter using Tetratec Easy Crystal C filters, cleaned only in tank water once every 3 months
How much in the way of water changes and how often -- 30% water change every week
Do you dechlorinate - Not sure what this means, but I put AquaSafe in the water each time I change
Symptoms of sick fish ie, spots, behaviour, etc - Death! See above.
How long has the fish been sick and which medications are your currently using or recently used - See above.
Test results for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph both from the tap and tank - Ammonia (0.25), Nitrite (0), Nitrate (40), High Range ph (7.4)

Any suggestions would be welcome, especially ways I can help my remaining fish.

Thanks.

 

[Davo86]

Hi angel.star,

you really shouldn't have any ammonia reading, even a reading of 0.1 would be considered poisonous to fish
It would also appear that your fantails have become stunted, 3.5 inches (including tail) is not big at all for an fanail which on average will reach sizes of between 6-8inches.
60litres only converts to around 13Gallons and IMO if you want two of these to truly thrive then they really should be kept in something nearer the 25 Gallon mark.
When kept in the right conditions fantails will live many years (10+) so he has not died of old age.

 

[aquila]

Ditto everything Davo86 has said, except I'd add that 25 gallons should be regarded as an absolute minimum amount for two goldfish. A combination of the small tank and thus water quality problems (the ammonia reading) and an elevated temperature (25c is too high for goldfish) will have likely caused the premature death.

Something you can immediately do to help the remaining fish is to do a 50% water change and lower the temperature of the tank gradually. Unless you are willing to buy a bigger tank then I wouldn't purchase another fish - 60 litres will be adequate for one goldfish, just. At age two the average fantail should be coming up to 4-6" in length if not more.

 

[angel.star]

I'm sad that I've been doing things wrong all this time, thank you for your guidance. We're moving house in the next few months hopefully so I would be able to get a bigger tank for my remaining fantail. Sadly I don't have the space for it in my tiny house at the moment.

Is it safe for my ottocinclus to have the temperature lowered?

I just want to add that 2.5 inches is their size minus tail, their tails trail behind them for about another 2 inches, making them about four to five inches in total length. It's hard to judge because it's moving all the time!

 

[Davo86]

Is it safe for my ottocinclus to have the temperature lowered?

it should be ok to down to about 22C,

 

[angel.star]

Great, I'll do that right away. Thank you