My Son Has Fed The Fish

[Sportball]

Came downstairs this morning to find that my 3yr old had just emptied an entire tub of fish food in our 30litre tank.

Panicking I scopped out what I could and then used the vacuum cleaner to suck up some more. This emptied half the tnk so I poured most of this back and then topped up with 10% fresh water.


When i came home from work the tank was really cloudy and the 2 tetras, especially were gasping for air. Unfortunately 10mins later they were dead. The honey gorami and the 2 x dwarf corys look ok.

I have now removed the tank ornaments and sucked out some more of the food. I have then done a 50% water change.

Is there anything I can do to help the other 3 fish?

 

[mike os]

just keep changing water... & add an airstone if you have one

 

[-FighterFishh]

Came downstairs this morning to find that my 3yr old had just emptied an entire tub of fish food in our 30litre tank.

Panicking I scopped out what I could and then used the vacuum cleaner to suck up some more. This emptied half the tnk so I poured most of this back and then topped up with 10% fresh water.


When i came home from work the tank was really cloudy and the 2 tetras, especially were gasping for air. Unfortunately 10mins later they were dead. The honey gorami and the 2 x dwarf corys look ok.

I have now removed the tank ornaments and sucked out some more of the food. I have then done a 50% water change.

Is there anything I can do to help the other 3 fish?

I think you've done all you can. Maybe just keep the food out of reach from the little ones now!
All I'd day is the the dwarf cories need to be in groups of ideally 6. Now that your tetras are gone, that might be a good thing to do to make them happier

 

[Sportball]

Thanks...fingers crossed.

I understand what you are saying about the Pygmy Cories but when I was researching the best fish, every fish i looked at had at least one website that recommended they would be happier in shoals of 3-6. If I followed this advice i would only have 1 type of fish in my very small tank.

The cories look perfectly happy and I may replace the tetras with 3 more of the same.

 

[KittyKat]

I understand what you are saying about the Pygmy Cories but when I was researching the best fish, every fish i looked at had at least one website that recommended they would be happier in shoals of 3-6.

No, a school is 6+. Only 3 is most definitely not a shoal.

If I followed this advice i would only have 1 type of fish in my very small tank.

Yes, this is why we don't recommend small tanks as they're not suitable for what most people want.

The cories look perfectly happy and I may replace the tetras with 3 more of the same.

Seriously, you don't realise how much difference it would make to the fish to actually keep it in a school.

Keep up with the water changes until back to normal (as mentioned above).

 

[This Old Spouse]

I feel your pain. I woke up one Easter Sunday morning many years ago to a glug, glug sound coming from my 10g tank. I looked over and here was an empty box of Cream of Wheat, and a lot of dead fish. The only one that survived that was my pleco!

 

[myrtle]

Sorry this is off topic,but what's 'Cream of Wheat'? It sounds revolting lol

 

[This Old Spouse]

Sorry this is off topic,but what's 'Cream of Wheat'? It sounds revolting lol

I keep forgetting most members are in the UK! Cream of Wheat is a hot breakfast cereal. Think porridge but made with wheat instead of oats. It's a much finer texture. Malt O Meal?

 

[MikeO]

Sounds like Reddie Brek to me

 

[This Old Spouse]

Sounds like Reddie Brek to me

Very, very similar. Looks like the biggest difference is wheat vs. oats.

 

[Sportball]

In response to the comments regarding my choice of fish.....Surely there are degrees of happiness. How can we say that certain fish must be kept in groups of 6 or 7. I understand they may be happier in larger groups but they would also be happier swimming in the open water so can we say that we shouldn't keep fish in a tank at all?

I understand that a 30L tank is on the small side and maybe I will upgrade one day but as a starter it was all I could justify spending money on. I researched the fish on lots of forums and these were recommended in the numbers I have purchased.

A few years back it was considered fine to keep a single goldfish in a bowl.

 

[KittyKat]

In response to the comments regarding my choice of fish.....Surely there are degrees of happiness. How can we say that certain fish must be kept in groups of 6 or 7. I understand they may be happier in larger groups but they would also be happier swimming in the open water so can we say that we shouldn't keep fish in a tank at all?

Well, that is most definitely an argument against small tanks, sure.. I'll go along with that.. it is the main reason there are a lot of species I really want to keep but have never been able to bring myself to in the aquariums which I have.
We come to that number as the absolute minimum from experience. I have 15 years to offer, I think collectively we have quite some a shockingly large wealth of knowledge. But that's not enough for you? How about.. it has been scientifically observed that fish can count and "panic" when they are on their own. The point we call a minimum for a school (I use 6) is where fish go from "1", "2", "3" to "many". This is the point at which the fish start feeling safe. This is the point where dithers will actually work on nervous cichlids. This is the point where your fish acting in a calm manner, going about their business. This is the point where 1 fish is not able to pick on any specific individual which is lower in the hierarchy than them, this is where there are too many individuals to harass any one or two or other small number.
But, you are right that 6 or 7 is not really a real school, it is only a minimum required to go from "x individuals" to "many". Ideally, no one would keep schooling fish in groups smaller than 15-20 and no one would have ever imagined of putting 20 fish into a 30 litre box, or keeping them in a bare tank..

I understand that a 30L tank is on the small side and maybe I will upgrade one day but as a starter it was all I could justify spending money on. I researched the fish on lots of forums and these were recommended in the numbers I have purchased.

There is a lot of information out there, at the end of the day. I only share my experience with you. You come asking for it? You will get it. You might not like it, you might want more.. that is up to you. Ideally, I would advise only what I would be happy to do myself, but this is not always and option so sometimes I have to even recommend a lesser of two evils if someone is determined not to treat their fish with the same respect they would treat any other pet..

It is up to you to make the choices you think are right, but if you ask on here for experiences of other people, you will get them.

A few years back it was considered fine to keep a single goldfish in a bowl.

Does that make it right?

 

[This Old Spouse]

+1 all the way. If you don't want to consider the hundreds of years of accumulated advice on this forum, why ask? I've learned here in a few months more information than I could have gleaned from any library of fishkeeping books, and from people who have been down that road. I take what they say as the best information I can get.

 

[Gilli]

What a nightmare and ive been there! I did the same stupid thing - bought a new full to the brim large tub of fishfood, (of course it couldnt be the nearly empty one) stupidly put it on the lid while I was feeding them and accidentially knocked the whole lot in!! The fish thought that it was xmas!! LOL

I let it all settle at the bottom and then vacced out as much as I could, drained the tank to just a few inches of water and refilled and vacced again. Did the same thing for a few days and fortunatly my tank didnt go cloudy and I didnt lose a single fish.

You will need to keep a close eye on your water stats as your water quality will be bad for a while while you go into a mini cycle - just keep doing water changes and vac at the same time making sure you take everything our and get right in under the gravel.

Good luck!!

 

[danisaur]

if it makes you feel any better, my daughter did the same a few years back! and less than a week later, she put an air freshener into my fry tank!!!i lost most of my fish, which was sad, and i had to mostly start over again, but it gave me an opportunity to learn even more, and teach my daughter in turn! we bought a few guppies and thoroughly enjoyed watching them start their own "family" tank together!