Mysterious Deaths

[jrd77]

I did a water change (on the 45 gallon) on Saturday and since then, have lost 7/10 of my tetras. I am so sad! I cannot figure out what happened...

My ammonia and nitrite and 0 and nitrate at 12.5. The pH is stable at 7.1 and the temperature of the added water was very close to to the tank water. I used the usual Prime to dechlorinate and did not add anything else...

Any ideas???

 

[The Mohave Kid]

Wow bad news ...

Anymore info ??

Do you monitor tank temp as you do your water change ?? .. How big a fluctuation ?? .. the temp now ??

How long did you have the Tetras ??
Were the Tetras in good health up until now ??
Past water history ?? ...
Symptoms before death ... daerting .. jumping .. heavy breathing ?
Anything added to the tank recently or the recent past ... metals ??
Was the new water or containers clean ??
Anything else around the tank not related to the water change that might be toxic ??
How are the other fish ??
Any strange odors in the tank ?? .. water color ?? .. Filters clean ??ect ??
Why the water change ?? .. regular maintenance .. I assume ??

It would be a great help to figure this out for everyones sake ... there has to be a reason ?? Do some investigating.

Good Day ...

 

[jrd77]

The tank temp. held steady at 78F while I put in the new water...The temp now is 78.

I have had 6 of the tetras (2 now remaining) for about 3 months. The other 4 (only 1 now remaining) I got only 2 weeks ago. The new 4 were younger and smaller. The color of all 10 tyetras was really good witht the red around their eyes quite bright adn their tail coloring looked great. They split off into two groups of 5 aqnd 5 a couple of days after I got the new fish but everyone seemed happy.

This tank water has really had its ups and downs but in the past few months has done pretty well. Phosphates are a battle but I'm winning right now...

This was a routine water change pretty much although I was wiping the sides of the tank down with a cloth because I had kind-of a film on top of the water and at the top of the tank. As the water level decreased, I wiped the tank sides until I was at a 25% change and then filled it back up with clean, dechlorinated tap water. I add the Prime before adding the water to the tank.

Symptoms before death were bad. It started after the water change, maybe after an hour, where the loaches' and tetras' breathing was very labored. The loaches went into their hiding spots and the tetras just started to die, one by one. I examined each one as I removed them from the tank and they looked perfect, except for the 6th one. It was a hole its stomach where it looked like something had taken a bite out or something. It looked bad. The other 5 looked perfect.

Today, all seems well in the tank. The remaining 3 tetras, the loaches and the ropefish look well are respond to food. The tank water looks good, well it looks like it always does anyway. It does not smell bad or anything.

I am wondering if any more of my fish will die...I have had the ropefish for almost 2 yeaqrs and the loaches for almost a year....

 

[black angel]

Maybe something was on the cloth that you used to wipe the inside of the tank??

 

[The Mohave Kid]

Do you store water in containers some time prior to water changes ??

Oxygen I would think has to be considered ?? ..

Any darting about the tank before death ?? ... or did the fish simply become inactive after heavy breathing ?

When did you test for Ammonia and / or Nitrite ?? ... could there of been a sharp spike after filling the tank .. maybe an ammonia or chlorine product on the cloth ?? Were the Tetras hanging below the surface while heavy breathing ??

Good Day ... B)

 

[jrd77]

They were hanging just below the surface as I changed the water...

They were just hanging more near the bottom of the tank as they died...but breathing heavily.

Now, there's film at the top of my tank again? What is it?

 

[WILDER]

Film on top of the tank do you over feed the fish, was it a new cloth, no chemicals on it.

 

[jrd77]

I feed my fish as much as they can eat in about 2 minutes once and day or every-other day. I've been doing this for a while but no film....until the other day...

Nope, the rag was not new but the film was already there before I used the rag and then came back today.

Is there anything I can do to get rid of the film? I'm afraid of the paper towl trick because little cloth filaments will get into the tank. Is this bad?

 

[rdd1952]

I have the same type film on all my tanks. I think it comes from the city water as I haven't figured out any other place it is coming from. It's not a big problem. I take a cup and hold it just below the surface and skim it off at water changes. A couple things to help keep the film broken up is to lower the water level slightly so the filter creates a light splash to disturb the water surface or you can also add an airstone. I don't know what could have caused the problems. It definitely sounds like they were short on oxygen.

 

[jrd77]

Now one of the remaining tetras was really long, stringy poop. It's pinkish. Is this a parasite?

 

[steelhealr]

Wow..sounds scary? Have you tested the tap lately? I've found that the nitrates in my tap water have varied between 0-20ppm, but, even so, that is not a lot to kill. That film is very suspicious...do you put your arms in the tank? Any soaps or scents on it? The cloth DOES seem to be a suspicious culprit. What kind of filter do you have...some filters have surface skimmer add ons which may help. Do you have charcoal in the filter?..maybe you should put it in if you don't to absorb chemical contamination. SH

 

[jrd77]

Yeah, part of my arms get in there when I scrub the sides of the tank (for brown algae/diatoms). I don't put anthing on my arms except when I bathe but maybe that's enough....I'm going to skim the top with a cup today and make sure my skin does not touch the tank water...

I have a pengiun 330 double chamber biowheel filter that has charcoal and puragin it it.

What's the deal with stringy poop?