My whole tank has just died

[Rose]

Wow I've only heard of this happening a couple of other times, that was was because of a case of Flex. Yes flex can kill in a matter of hours with out any signs. There are many many different strains of this disease. Some kill in hours while others kill in days or weeks. The people who did this did a scraping and looked at it under a microscope. Flex can be treated but it's not a gurantee as it is a very stuborn disease and easily becomes immune to meds that are traditionally used.

Rose

 

[jams.alaskan]

This is the most distressing thing ever. I'm so sorry for you!
My first two thoughts are that yes, it is a poisoning or electrical shock. Please be careful yourself. If it wasn't good for the fish in such a quick and major way it may not be good for you either.
Tank care and be well.....

ALASKA

 

[Cossack1977]

Thanks for everyone's input and support and yes it is hard.

A mystery yes.

Took a huge sample down to lfs ( friend runs it and its got the best reputation in melbourne, victoria, australia) and everything tested ok.

have already started to break down tank for a full rebuild.
Bigger and better and longer i hope.

is there anyway to save the filter and noodles so as not having to do a full cycle again?

whats the best stuff to clean the tank. i prefer not to bleach it. I heard that citric cleaner ie. lemon juice is really good.

Any ideas

 

[aja71]

Again I am too sorry for your loss. This does sound like possibly a poisoning. Is there anything you can think of that would have been introduced to your tank. The chemicals from your testing kit? Dirty hands? Artificial fingernails? Has anyone else had there hands in your tank.
I know that this was awful. I think you should do it again. It will be good for your soul.
I am not so sure about saving the filter, if something went through there, it could still have some sort of remnants in your filter. do you have other fish tanks? is this your first? Angel
Angel's Fab Fish

 

[Inchworm]

Hi Cossack1977

I'm so sorry about your fish.

I think Rose has the right answer. Flexibacter Columnaris is a bacterial infection that can devastate an aquarium, and it can happen very quickly. That's why I asked if you saw any finrot which is one of the symptoms.

This is a bacteria that is present in all tanks. It usually affects fish when they have been under stress of some kind which weakens their immune systems. This can happen through a rapid rise in temperature, low oxygen content in the water, high nitrites, uneaten food, insufficient or infrequent water changes, overstocking, even aggression by tankmates.

Some strains of this bacteria work quickly, others slowly. I bought 5 wild caught corys almost a month ago and they had the disease when I got them. Despite antibiotics, I am still unable to cure them; all I can do is keep it from getting worse. Tonight I started giving them salt water baths, which is something I hate to do to a cory. Some strains can work so quickly that there is not even enough time for the fish to show symptoms.

I don't think you need to clean with anything more than table salt, if you take your aquarium apart. You might want to boil your gravel. Chlorine bleach is a good disinfectant, but be sure to rinse with water that has a liberal amount of dechlorinator in it and let it air dry, if you us it. Avoid any other type of household cleaner. But, do clean out your filter and also your nets and siphon and anything else used for the fish.

Good luck and please let us know what you do with your tank in the future.

 

[J_acon]

Hey Cossacks, Sorry for your lost. Seems strange but i would clean that tank and start again. Sounds like a dealy disease to me.

Also from Melbourne, almost got myself the same tank you bought.

 

[Cossack1977]

I was the only one that ever touched the fish tank. i always washed my hands just with water and always used a clean towl to dry them.

Some of the fish that died did have fin rot but not all.
Dwarf Gouramis showed no outside sigh of anything.
I do or should say did a 20-30% water change every 3rd day.

Poison maybe but dont know how.

Disease well would have to be a pretty bad disease to stike and kill within 36hrs with no warning signs.

only fed fish once a day with a fast once a week.

never over fed.

Some people said that the fish i had should have been kept by someone with more experience and i say to them ( they were fine for 7 weeks so put your head between the door and the door jam and slam it a few times and then remember that experience is not everything its passion thats important)

Yes it was my first fish tank. Wife used to work at an aquarium and friend runs one so no lack of help.

Currently pulling down tank for rebuild.

It's not as hard as every one thinks. Will clean the tank with lemon juice and then rinse with a salt water. Filter media have already washed in 3 seppart salt water sloution and now have in a small tank with heater and air pump and just dosed with 5 ml ammonia to keep bacteria alive. bleached all the wood and washed 7 times with boiling water so all i have to do is the gravel and plants.

 

[Inchworm]

...Disease well would have to be a pretty bad disease to stike and kill within 36hrs with no warning signs.

...Filter media have already washed in 3 seppart salt water sloution and now have in a small tank with heater and air pump and just dosed with 5 ml ammonia to keep bacteria alive.

Hi Cossack1977

It sounds to me like you did all the right things and just had a stroke of bad luck. Disease can strike anyone's tanks, no matter how long they are up and no matter how much experience he has. As I said earlier, some bacteria can kill in such a short length of time that symptoms do not even appear.

As for your filter media, please realize that by keeping some bacteria alive, you are running the risk of keeping the disease alive and able to reestablish itself in your tank once you have set it up again. All your other efforts will come to naught if that happens.

 

[Sky042]

I'm still leaning on the chemical poisoning. Perhaps any sort of cleaning product used in the room that has a tendancy to aerosol. Get that aerated into your water and massive death.

Well very unfortunate. Very sad you have to tear down the whole tank. Are you planning on doing a fishless cycle to get the tank running again?

 

[sumer_kay]

WOW that is very scary! I can't imagine, my condolences, and best wishes for your new start. good to hear you aren't giving up, fishies need more people like you