What Happened?

[Amunet]

So today I wake up, go to feed the fish in the 28gallon tank, and the first thing I notice are the 2 platies resting on the bottom.
I immediately knew something was wrong b/c they're both very energetic fish.
Once I got closer though is when I noticed the real tragedy. Our poor little hillstream loach and 3 shrimp are dead.
The cories & ram are also in bad shape. Resting on the bottom just not doing much.
The rasbora, goby, and killifish were all fine though. Bright colors, acting as if they were hungry etc etc.

I tested the water and did a little over 50% water change.
All stats were fine. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite..... didn't test for nitrate b/c I didn't feel the need to since that's usually never a problem and I had done a water change a few days before.

ALL fish & shrimp were acting perfectly normal the day before. Eating, swimming, etc etc. I noticed nothing out of the ordinary.
Nothing was sprayed or put into the tank. Absolutely nothing was out of the ordinary yesterday.

Other than the hillstream having that white filmy stuff on it (like fish get when they die).... it had nothing physically wrong with it that I could see.

I'm just stumped on what could've gone wrong?

 

[Amunet]

*sigh*
Well after the water change yesterday, the fish perked up some.
Woke up today, and the remaining shrimp are dead and the porkchop rasboras are in bad shape.
Looks like white filmy stuff is on a couple of them so I've started the tank on meds.

Harlequin rasboras, Goby, Killifish are still ok, but the rest of the tank inhabitants are still showing signs of illness. I just hope I can save the rest of them.

Still wondering how this could've started in the first place. I probably cross contaminated somehow without realizing it. But the thing with that is, is that none of my other fish are sick and I mess with each tank on different days..... *shrugs* I dunno....

 

[Imber]

Did you test the ph? A ph crash can bring on a pretty dramatic fish loss and the white filmy stuff could be excessive slime coat which is often seen in a sudden ph drop.

 

[Amunet]

I didn't test it, didn't think of testing it b/c ya know, just never had a problem with it after the tank cycled.

 

[Imber]

I'd definitely check that out. Do you know the kh/gh of your water? As far as I know, if your water has a low buffering capacity you can get a ph crash seemingly at random in a well established tank. My water is liquid rock so I don't really worry about checking my ph either, but I've read about it happening to other people and the symptoms seem to fit with what you're describing.

 

[Amunet]

I just checked pH of the 28gal and the 10gal right next to it, both were reading at 6 (lowest on the chart)... and that's not normal for them.
So I added some coral to the substrate.
While I was doing that, found a porkchop rasbora had died I think another is close behind that one........

 

[Imber]

Ugh so sorry for your losses It really sucks when you lose multiples so suddenly.

 

[Amunet]

How long does coral begin to work?
I've tryed using it before but it never seemed to do anything?
I probably just didn't leave it long enough for it to raise the pH.

 

[Amunet]

I think the pH thing is definitely what started all of this.
No idea why it would crash though. I do add baking soda after every water change, I guess I haven't been using enough or something. I've never had a problem with it before.
I checked pH in all my tanks, and the only one that was still ok was my 10gal betta tank... *shrugs*
Hopefully the coral will help stabilize the pH better.

 

[Imber]

I couldn't really tell you how long the coral takes because I've never really had a problem myself(my ph is always 8+) I know baking soda is definitely a good idea and so is the coral so hopefully it'll work for you(and fast). Good luck!

 

[Amunet]

Alright, so we have the lights on the tank set on a timer, so I took a flash light over to the tank to look at the fish to see if they're doing any better.

Well, what I saw kinda disturbed me.. it doesn't look like there are any more fish deaths (yet), BUT I noticed shiny golden coloring on some of them and I'm not sure if it's velvet or just their coloring.
I saw it on the Julii corys and I saw it on the rasbora.
The killifish looked ok, but it was hard to tell.

I added in the rest of the coppersafe I had as a knee-jerk reaction, but I'm not sure if that was the safest thing to do? There aren't any snails or shrimp left in the tank..... but is it safe to use w/ cories?

If it is velvet... what else should I do?

 

[WILDER]

I agree a white greyish film on fish can be ph.
pH Shock

As its name suggests this condition occurs when a fish is introduced to quickly into a new environment which has a very different pH from the one it came from, when the pH is adjusted to quickly and the fish have little or no time to adjust themselves, or when the pH is to far outside the fishes normal range.

It is very important that any change in water chemistry is made slowly and fish should never be exposed to changes of pH greater than 0.5 of one unit on the pH scale in either direction.

Avoidance is by far the best solution because in most cases the symptoms don't appear until the second or third day by which time the damage has been done and the fish will probably die.

A fish suffering from this condition will show all the typical signs of shock -

Lying on the bottom and paying little or no attention to its surroundings and ignoring potential threats.
It may even lay on its side or go upside down completely.
There could be other signs to, related to Acidosis and Alkalosis
Excessive mucus production.
Rapid breathing.
Swollen abdomen. (Alkalosis only).
If the condition is allowed to go on for one or two days then the chances of a successful remedy are greatly reduced because a lot of damage will have taken place. If the symptoms are spotted early enough there are a couple of things that will help.

Begin to return the pH to the original pH in steps of 0.4 of one unit on the pH scale and allow 3 hrs in between the adjustments. Make these adjustments until the pH is returned to a safe and satisfactory level.
Treat the tank with a broad spectrum anti-Bacteria/Fungus compound to prevent secondary infections of the Skin and Gills.
Prevention is easy. A successful treatment isn't!


Golden shine on fish yes is velvet if its not that natural colouring.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing against objects.

 

[Amunet]

I haven't really noticed any flicking b/c the tank is in the living room so I don't see it very often.

Good sign today though. All the fish look like they're back to their old selves. Even the porkchop rasbora that I thought was surely a goner is fine now.
After adding baking soda last night, pH is staying at what it should. I'll keep an eye on it all for a while though of course.

 

[WILDER]

Glad there on the mend.

 

[Amunet]

Alright... I think the tank definitly has velvet. I was looking at the fish while I was waiting for the cube of bloodworms to dethaw and on one of the skunk cories noticed definite gold dusting color on it's head area.

So I'm treating the tank with API General Cure. It's what I had on hand.
Does this stuff kill beneficial bacteria? I'm really paranoid about that. I think I might have to use this stuff in both the 10gals as well.... I might've cross contaminated.