Mystery deaths

[Cheese Specialist]

Hello,

I have been having problems with both my tropical tanks for a month or so. I have been having strange deaths which appear to have no cause, although of course I know there is.

I have lost in the small tank:

1 rosy barb
1 schwartzi cory
1 albino cory - yesterday

big tank:

male krib bought a few days earlier
2 banded rainbowfish bought a few days earlier
1 boesmani rainbowfish bought a few days earlier
1 platy got with the tank on Jan 17th
1 cardinal tetra got with the tank on the 17th
1 of the 2 hatchetfish bought on Saturday - yesterday

The tanks are fully cycled and the readings for the small tank are:

Ph: 7.5
Amonia: 0
NitrIte: 0
NitrAte: 10

The bigger tank:

Ph: 7.2
Amonia: 0
NitrIte: 0
NitrAte: 10

I do weekly water changes of about 25% in the small and 20% in the big. Fish were last added to the small tank on 06 Feb and as I said above I added fish to the big tank on Saturday. The other hatchetfish I bought looks totally fine and the male krib is fine too.

All the fish in general look great, whatever is appening it is very sudden.

I have recently (from 01 Feb) treated the large tank for ich and all the other fiah seem ok. I do still notice a bit of sctratching, maybe seen it about twice. I stopped actively treating the ich last week but the meds will have been in the water until I did a water change yesterday and they should be gone now as they stop being effective after a few days.

Sorry if this is all rambled, it's 7:30am here and I should be getting ready for Uni but I had to do this first.

Any help appreciated.

 

[Auslander]

Could it be low O2 levels? I read that if fish have been starved of oxygen at some point in their lives and suffered gill damage, they will need higher O2 levels than average permanently.

 

[fozzy_wozzy_woo]

ok when you change the water what do you do.
e.g

1. Pour water into a small container.
2. add dechlorifier
3. leave for 2 days
4. put bios start in the water leave for a day
5. test water
6. remove old water
7. add new water at 5% then wait then 1hr 5% then wait 1hr (This is so the temprature differance can work out.


do you clean the out side of the tank.

If you do, do you use some thing that is good for the fish, as spray will get in the tank?

Just some ideas.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

ok when you change the water what do you do.
e.g

1. Pour water into a small container.
2. add dechlorifier
3. leave for 2 days
4. put bios start in the water leave for a day
5. test water
6. remove old water
7. add new water at 5% then wait then 1hr 5% then wait 1hr (This is so the temprature differance can work out.


do you clean the out side of the tank.

If you do, do you use some thing that is good for the fish, as spray will get in the tank?

Just some ideas.

I don't do that with water changes as I simply wouldn't have anywhere to house that much water, even if I wanted to.

I syphon water out, and then I simply replace it with temp matched dechlorinated water from the tap, syphoned back in.

This problem is only a recent thing so I don't think it's to do with how I do water changes. I also have no problems with my coldwater fish and I do the same thing with them.

I think it's down to much of the fish especially in the big tank were new and had travelled overnight to get to me and would have had high levels of stress.

Oh, oxygen is not a problem. I forgot to put it on with my parameters but the o2 was tested 2 weeks ago at 10 in the small tank and 8 in the small. I do clean out side the tank but this is done after the water change when the hood is down, I am very careful of chemicals getting near the water.

Thanks for your suggestions.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

OK,

I am really sure there is something wrong now. I have just noticed my julii cory was upside down and breathing rapidly, it has not moved onto it's side. It looks much like the albino one did yesterday.

Could the barbs be bullying them? I haven't noticed it but still.

I am so confused. I know that it was fine earlier as I saw it swimming around when I was netting the SFFs. Once again all the other fish look fine, don't know for how long...

please help

 

[Auslander]

Maybe heavy metals in your water perhaps? Do you know if you have copper or even lead pipes? IF so, then make sure you run the water for a good minute or so before filling your bucket.

 

[Drlife202]

Well, My local place offers to have alook at dead fish under a microscope and it will find out how the fish had died. Well 2 weeks ago all my fish were dieing week after week after week, so I took one of my dead fish up to the place and they had alook at it under the microscope. They found a parasite, that are realy hard to identify and realy hard to get rid of, this parasite is common in Neon Tetras. Anyway, they gave me some medicine to do a 6 day course of, by the 5th day all my 7 Neon Tetras had died, but once I did the 6th day the bug stopped, and my fish seem realy happy now, I just brought some new fish. We did a 50 % water change, changed the pad on in the filter and also did a gravel clean to get rid of the parasite incase it was in the gravel. So i'm thinking this could be a parasite, they are impossible to spot but they kill fish weekly and if you have Neon Tetras they are likerly to die because the parasite will kill them quicker. I just reccomend you go to your local water life place and get this sorted

 

[wuvmybetta]

Very mysterious

Only thing I've noticed...you say you syphon the water back in...what does your syphon look like? I recently replaced mine because it was nasty, perhaps your introducing a nasty bacteria that is blooming inside the syphon when the water runs through it back into the tank

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Is it possible that your tap water has changed to chloromines without you being aware, in which case you might be using the wrong dechlorinator? Just a thought, might be worth contacting your water co.

 

[wuvmybetta]

Good thinking tca! I had that problem once, my dechlorinator only removed chlorine,not chloramines and I killed my favorite fish . That was a mystery and it took us awhile to figure out

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Thanks for the replies.

Now then,

Auslander:

Maybe heavy metals in your water perhaps? Do you know if you have copper or even lead pipes? IF so, then make sure you run the water for a good minute or so before filling your bucket.

I try to do that anyway, and I do it out of habit for when I have a drink of water.

Drlife202 - Thanks for the info but I have no means to test this, would it be something that corys are affected by more? I have no neons, or any tetra at all in the small tank.

wuvmybetta - I use my gravel cleaner as a syphone. I syphone the water out the tank into a bucket and put it back in from a bucket. Do you know what I mean?

thecichlidaddict - I have checked this in the past and my condtioner removes chlorine, chloramine and heavy metals.



I think it may be an internal bacterial infection of some kind. I have treated this using an Interpet med that does not damage the plants or filter, so if I am wrong it will not do any harm.

Just got to see how it goes, I suppose. The other corys still look great and are very active. It's so confusing.

 

[Drlife202]

The Water life place told me it's common in Neon tetras but this parasite can spead. Here's a list of fish it killed in my tank:

2 Guppies
1 sucking loach
7 Neon Tetras

I recommend you to go to a water life place talk to the people that are experts at tropical fish. If there is a parasite in your water, i'm not saying there is, it can kill any fish

 

[Cheese Specialist]

The Water life place told me it's common in Neon tetras but this parasite can spead. Here's a list of fish it killed in my tank:

2 Guppies
1 sucking loach
7 Neon Tetras

I recommend you to go to a water life place talk to the people that are experts at tropical fish. If there is a parasite in your water, i'm not saying there is, it can kill any fish

There is no one I can go to check that sort of thing. I know way more than the people in my lfs.

Would it have been neon tetra disease that you had? Did they give you the name? Did your fish take long to die after looking unwell?

Thanks fr the advice

 

[Drlife202]

There is no one I can go to check that sort of thing. I know way more than the people in my lfs.

Would it have been neon tetra disease that you had? Did they give you the name? Did your fish take long to die after looking unwell?

Thanks fr the advice

Well, the guy who checked over one of my dead fish said he found a parasite, and it's common in Neon Tetras. He didn't give me a name he just told me that and he gave me what medicine to use and I did it for 6 days 1 cycle. If it is some sort of parasite, a water change might help but to kill the parasite medicine is needed. There must be a place where you can go talk to someone.

 

[Cheese Specialist]

There must be a place where you can go talk to someone.

There really isn't!! I live in a big city but there's no-one. My lfs were giving out some very dodgy advice to people yesterday.

That's why I come onto forums.

You didn't really answer my questions. How long did your fish take to die after getting sick, were they all noticeably sick at once? What was the medicine called?

Thanks