Nearly All Fish Dead -Help

[gleco]

Hi

I posted last nights about my filter throwing out air bubbles. I managed to stop this by moving filter side to side as it would appear to have just been an air block. I'm not sure how long it has been throwing air bubbles out as it was only periodically pushing air through. However I went to my tank this morning and nearly all my fish where dead. I'm thinking I may have had an infection in the tank or is it possible to much air killed the fish?

I recently cleaned tank and done a water test and all was ok.

Any advice please?

Thanks

 

[Jynxy]

Have you changed any water ? maybe chlorine or something in the water ?

 

[gleco]

Have you changed any water ? maybe chlorine or something in the water ?

Thanks for reply.

The last time I changed water was maybe a week or so ago with tap safe added too and after testing water it was all ok.

Anything else it could be?

Thanks

 

[paradiddle]

parasitic infection?
when did you last add fish, sounds mean but did you investigate the dead fish to see any signs of exterior damage?
if i ever lose one i always take it out and have a good look to see if i can see anything weird

 

[fluttermoth]

What were the actual numbers from your tests, OP?

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Any way the gas that came from filter was a build up of something that's been in there a while? I've heard of pockets of poisonous gas building up under substrates so any chance it could have happened ink the filter?

 

[gleco]

Thanks for everyone's reply.

Could of been a parasite but I didn't notice anything when removing fish maybe I should of had a closer look to see if could see anything.

Not sure about gas build up what do you mean with ink the filter?

Sorry cant remember test figures but was normal level 0 ammonia etc I test tank every week or so.

I also went along to my local fish shop for some advice too and they said that when u have an air block its possible that the filter isn't working properly due to air block so if it has been like that for a while it could be that water hasn't been getting filtered for a while and so build up of harmful bacteria could cause fish to die?

They said I should do a big water change and leave tank for a week or so and test water again before getting new fish so hopefully fish that survive will pull through as two more have died.

Thanks again for all your replies and advice

 

[Jynxy]

"ink the filter" i think he means "in the filter"

i would do a big water change, prob about 50% then do two smaller 25% water changes every few days.

i would not add any fish for a few weeks to make sure nothing else is causing the problem.

Have you added anything else into the tank recently ? rocks, plants etc etc

It does sound like gas in the filter, so water changes will help.

Hope the rest are all ok.

 

[gleco]

"ink the filter" i think he means "in the filter"

i would do a big water change, prob about 50% then do two smaller 25% water changes every few days.

i would not add any fish for a few weeks to make sure nothing else is causing the problem.

Have you added anything else into the tank recently ? rocks, plants etc etc

It does sound like gas in the filter, so water changes will help.

Hope the rest are all ok.

Oh yeah sorry see that now.

Yeah I have done a big water change so hopefully help. I added a new ornament recently but as usual washed it thoroughly before adding to tank.

The filter is making a noise but it still work making a noise like something stuck but still working fine tried priming it again and again but can't get rid of noise

Thanks

 

[Jynxy]

I would take the filter apart, keep it in fish tank water, just make sure there is nothing blocking it and the propellor is spinning ok, if you can remove the propellor make sure there is no dirt etc in there.

to be safe take that ornament out, do a few water changes every few days.

 

[Ilyas]

One thing that does not make sense to me is that he tested the water after a water change and the water tested fine. Now I had a situation lately were I tested water one day and got perfect results, then had a test done the following day, after a small water change, and the Ammonia was 0 but Nitrate and Nitrite had gone from zero to a slight spike. What I deduced from it was that I had done the first test in the middle of a cycle (this tank suffered a filter situation and lost all BB). So that is a possibility here as well. But, gas pockets were also mentioned. And since gleco said he moved the filter around and the issue of bubbles coming from the filter stopped, I am apt to lean to the fact that their was a gas pocket and it was released into the tank, or when moving it from side to side, it released a plug or buildup of toxic algae or waste. Depending how long the filter bubbling issue lasted, it should have shown up in the test after about 10 hours of no filtration. Do you use paper tests or test tubes? Test tubes are the best and only accurate way. I have seen paper tests done one paper after another from the same package, go into the same tank and read different results....

 

[mark4785]

You might want to consider gas bubble disease. If O2 is super saturated in water, it may enter the fish in gas form which causes small tiny gas bubbles to become visible under the fishes skin. This can be fatal and be simply remedied by ensuring that water is not super saturated with oxygen (i.e. that the oxygen can escape when necessary so there is no build up).

 

[Ilyas]

You might want to consider gas bubble disease. If O2 is super saturated in water, it may enter the fish in gas form which causes small tiny gas bubbles to become visible under the fishes skin. This can be fatal and be simply remedied by ensuring that water is not super saturated with oxygen (i.e. that the oxygen can escape when necessary so there is no build up).

Does this occur when an air stone is blowing onto a filter intake?

 

[mark4785]

Does this occur when an air stone is blowing onto a filter intake?

If the output of the filter is not pointing towards the surface to allow the o2 gas (produced by the air stone) to escape, I'm 99% certain that could be the cause of gas bubble disease. Gas bubble disease can only occur where the water that it is contained in is of a relatively low temperature, contains a super saturation of nitrogen (120 per cent) and over 200 per cent for oxygen.

You can usually identify gas bubble disease by the presence of tiny bubbles on the aquarium walls (usually only seen momentarily after doing a huge water change). If you see any tiny bubbles I'd advice you to immediately turn off your air-stone, do a small W/C and ensure that there is some water rippling at the surface to vent any excess gas build up.

As many people, including myself, place co2 diffusers (which ironically diffuse co2 gas straight into the intake pipe of a filter) or perhaps even o2 diffusers (like yourself) near filter intakes, you'd expect the fish stock to become sick fairly quickly from gas build up. This is mainly NOT the case because many aquariums are able to vent the gas and also have warmer water which isn't able to hold as much oxygen. So if you do have gas bubble disease, you have a pretty powerful air stone and perhaps little to no ventilation.

 

[Ilyas]

Does this occur when an air stone is blowing onto a filter intake?

If the output of the filter is not pointing towards the surface to allow the o2 gas (produced by the air stone) to escape, I'm 99% certain that could be the cause of gas bubble disease. Gas bubble disease can only occur where the water that it is contained in is of a relatively low temperature, contains a super saturation of nitrogen (120 per cent) and over 200 per cent for oxygen.

You can usually identify gas bubble disease by the presence of tiny bubbles on the aquarium walls (usually only seen momentarily after doing a huge water change). If you see any tiny bubbles I'd advice you to immediately turn off your air-stone, do a small W/C and ensure that there is some water rippling at the surface to vent any excess gas build up.

As many people, including myself, place co2 diffusers (which ironically diffuse co2 gas straight into the intake pipe of a filter) or perhaps even o2 diffusers (like yourself) near filter intakes, you'd expect the fish stock to become sick fairly quickly from gas build up. This is mainly NOT the case because many aquariums are able to vent the gas and also have warmer water which isn't able to hold as much oxygen. So if you do have gas bubble disease, you have a pretty powerful air stone and perhaps little to no ventilation.

Very informative and thank you for posting it!!!