Pretty gutted, how do you restore motivation?

[Tiber]

I've had a tank running for nearly two years. Since the day it got cycled I have hardly lost a fish, most of the fish I started off with on day 1 are still in the tank. Lost one or two along the way like everyone does, but had no issues with the cycle or any disasters. I dont have any big or exotic fish, I like Tetras and live bearers.

The tank was doing fine as usual. Did a water change a few days ago and everyone was fine. Just turned the light on today to find really cloudy water and half my fish dead on the bottom of the tank. No clue what went wrong in such a well established, planted tank.

Its a fun hobby which I have really enjoyed, but seeing all those dead fish who were fine last time I looked has really upset me. Il do what I can to save the survivors but I suddenly find myself wondering if I even want to continue with the hobby

 

[powerdyne6]

Did you declorinate the water that you added back into the tank?

Did you clean the filter media with tap water?

How often and how much water do you replace at each change?

 

[Lcc86]

Sorry to hear you suddenly lost some of your fish, I hope you can get to the bottom of it. I would test your parameters to see if there's something obvious, and do some big daily water changes. Do you remember if you may have done something differently during the last water change? Or if anything else may have changed in the tank e.g. new fish or anything like that?

 

[Tiber]

Sorry to hear you suddenly lost some of your fish, I hope you can get to the bottom of it. I would test your parameters to see if there's something obvious, and do some big daily water changes. Do you remember if you may have done something differently during the last water change? Or if anything else may have changed in the tank e.g. new fish or anything like that?

Did you declorinate the water that you added back into the tank?

Did you clean the filter media with tap water?

How often and how much water do you replace at each change?

No new fish in months, used the same water treatment as usual, did clean the filter this week but used a bucket of the old tap water. No recent deaths prior to the water change and did about a 50% change. Nothing obvious which I can think of which would have lead to so many deaths. I have never fully stocked the tank so its not an overcrowding issue.

Il test the water etc and do daily water chnages, but it's just pretty demoralising. There is so many dead fish I thought the filter had broken and electrocuted them or something, but it's still running.

I was really proud to still have so many of the fish I started off with

 

[Lcc86]

No new fish in months, used the same water treatment as usual, did clean the filter this week but used a bucket of the old tap water. No recent deaths prior to the water change and did about a 50% change. Nothing obvious which I can think of which would have lead to so many deaths. I have never fully stocked the tank so its not an overcrowding issue.

Il test the water etc and do daily water chnages, but it's just pretty demoralising. There is so many dead fish I thought the filter had broken and electrocuted them or something, but it's still running.

I was really proud to still have so many of the fish I started off with

I can only imagine how gutting it must be, maybe someone can suggest a potential cause as it does seem very unusual when you've had a stable tank for such a long period.

 

[Essjay]

Could a contaminant have got into the tank? For example, aerosols sprayed in the room; paint fumes; perfumed candles or air fresheners used in the room etc.
Or a visitor feeding the fish when you didn't notice and dumping a lot of food in the tank? A small child feeding the fish on a biscuit?

 

[Tiber]

Just took out all the dead fish. A couple of my oldest live bearers are still ok which is great, lost a few of them though. The Tetras (two different species) are all dead.

Bizarrely I can still see a number of live bearer fry swimming around, I would have thought they would have been the first to go if the water was bad, but apparently not.

Was wondering if the filter might not have been running properly after I cleaned it, but not sure if that that would lead to cloudy water after a couple of days.

Il keep testing and doing water changes, hopefully can reverse it. I went on a 3 and a half week honeymoon at the start of the year, tank was well enough established that I didn't lose a single fish despite no water changes while I was away.

When I turned the tank on and saw dead fish all over the place my heart sunk. I've never been too emotional about losing a fish here or there as its part of the hobby but I've never had to go and net 10+ fish in one go before. Find myself not even wanting to rebuild the tank, but I'm probably just feeling sorry for myself

 

[seangee]

Did you check the temperature?

 

[Wills]

Sounds like a really tough situation but it can happen to fish anywhere including in the wild from droughts or pollution etc.

Cloudy water could be a sign of a bacterial bloom which can come from a filter bacteria die off. Do you happen to live somewhere rural? Sometimes I’ve heard of waterways getting flushed with stuff from farmers fields or water companies flushing the system that can cause complications with our tanks.

 

[Wills]

Just to add I’d give it a bit of time before you make a decision second hand aquarium stuff is not that valuable and if you sell up and regret it you could be out of pocket a bit getting back to where you are now. I’ve had big tank crashes and disease outbreaks and I always come back. Might be time to try something new or find a bucket list fish etc

 

[GaryE]

Fry often survive when adult fish don't. Sometimes a fish dies, you miss it, and that sends things off. It's always demoralizing, as is the loss of any pet. But if you enjoyed having them, you'll enjoy it again if you give yourself a chance.

 

[Magnum Man]

1st off emotional support… sorry for your loss… it does happen, once in a while, in this hobby… if it’s any consolation, I have never been able to keep tetras… my water is very hard… I’m using RO now, and have kept a small group alive for a little while, as a test… I’m hoping to add more soon…

As far as why??? Are you on a private water source, our on a municipal system??? Where are you located??? Could there be a chance that your water changed suddenly, do to drought, or other natural conditions, or if on a municipal source maybe your water supplier changed something???

I’m battling a cloudy tank right now, doing the same thing to most of my tanks… got 3 of them set up in a row, and the middle tank turned cloudy, and the tanks on each side are perfectly clear??? Still not sure what happened there, but trying to work through it, and kind of excited about potential new fis, when the tank comes around again… hopefully you can get excited about some new residents…

 

[Tiber]

The tank looks a lot clearer today.

Thinking it over I have been wondering if it was the filter. When I first saw the tank yesterday the dead fish were all on the bottom and the water was cloudy. Then after I turned the filter off and on again I came back and most of the dead fish were floating at the top of the water. Wonder improved water flow suddenly moved them

 

[Tiber]

No deaths or cloudy water ever since. I did change the filter on saturday just incase (but the same media in the new one)

Though still reluctant to think about adding any new fish incase there is something wrong which remains unseen.