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Whats your normal procedure when you have a fish death?

Lcc86

Fish Addict
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As title suggests, I've had a death in my community tank. I found one of my pygmy corys on the substrate just now. It was in an open area, it definitely wasn't there yesterday when I was feeding so I know it's less than 24 hours but not sure exactly how long it was there. I've barely looked at the tank today as I've been really busy with work.

Can't find any obvious injury or redness anywhere, in fact it's totally discoloured. Fins and tail potentially been nibbled on?

I plan to do a water change this evening, my partner is just out getting me some RO water as I'm laid up due to injury! All other fish seem in good shape, are eating as I type, no obvious signs of illness. Not sure if this is just one of those things but will keep a close eye. Anything else I should be wary of?
 

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It is hard to tell from looking at the fish what may have killed it. However, fish can have heart attacks, strokes and genetic defects which can kill them and which we will never see any symptoms. Then there are any number of disease which can kill fish and the only way to diagnose is scraping and a microscope or a more intense autopsy. Plus there is old age. If nothing else, pretty much all living things will get there eventually if nothing else gets them first.

Since you did not see any sign of issues before it passed, the best thing to do would be a precautionary water change on the tank and then to monitor the other fish for any signs of issues for the next week or two.
 
Thanks, just finished my water change and will keep an eye on the tank. I tested the water and parameters for ammonia and nitrite were zero, nitrate about 15ppm when they are usually lower. Only thing I can think of is my local water company is doing ongoing water works until June replacing a main, which is why I'm transitioning to RO water. Currently on a 75/25 mix of RO/tap so will look to increase to 100% RO ASAP just in case.
 
Post pictures of the remaining fish so we can check them for disease.

Test the water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. Post the results in numbers here.

Wipe the inside of the glass down with a clean fish sponge. This removes the biofilm on the glass and the biofilm will contain lots of harmful bacteria, fungus, protozoans and various other microscopic life forms.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate. The water change and gravel cleaning will reduce the number of disease organisms in the water and provide a cleaner environment for the remaining fish. It also removes a lot of the gunk and this means any medication (if needed) can work on treating the fish instead of being wasted killing the pathogens in the gunk.
Make sure any new water is free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank.

Clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. However, if the filter is less than 6 weeks old, do not clean it. Wash the filter materials/ media in a bucket of tank water and re-use the media. Tip the bucket of dirty water on the garden/ lawn. Cleaning the filter means less gunk and cleaner water with fewer pathogens so any medication (if needed) will work more effectively on the fish.

Don't add anything to the tank for at least one month.
 
When one fish dies, I remove it as quickly as I can. I don't flush it. I usually bury it in a plant pot, or in the garden.

I check all the other fish, and do a 30% water change as quickly as I can. Then I simply keep an eye out, and see if the fish was alone in its misfortune, or if I have an issue to deal with.
 
I hate going nuts in a tank when I am not at all certain there is a need, All of the things Colin suggested may be needed sometimes. But without any clear evidence that there is a problem, I consider all the fussing to be stressful for the fish. Stress opens fish to disease. This is especially true when everything is somewhat new.

I find that the fish in a newly stocked tank need some time to adjust to all the travel it took to get there and then the new surroundings and tank-mates exacerbates this. Mt experience has been that the first few months of water changes and maint. I do in a tank freaks out the fish a lot more than when they have experienced this for a number of times. I have had SAEs try to eat what they thought was hair algae off of the back of my hands and foerarms. I have had to shoo discus out of my way to do something in their tank.

Don't get me wrong here. The fish still tend to scatter when they catch unexpected movement in the tank or above the water. They are hard wired to do this. If a wish waits around to determine if that movement represents danger, it may get the answer from inside the stomach of something bigger and hungrier.

No matter how conscientious we are about maint. and water changes, none of us is perfect. Sooner or later we make a mistake. This is especially true for those with many tanks. I turn off or otherwise stop filter flow when working in tanks. Most tanks have multiple filters and sometime I forget to get one going again. I may be pressed for time and forget to add ferts to a planted tank. I have well water so I do not dechlor, but I am sure that is a step all keepers may forget every now an then.

I would hate to think I am causing harm by being overly zealous about water changes etc. Plus I am a bit lazy. So my first reaction is not to do a whole lot of work I may not need to do. One fish passing away may or may not indicate a problem. If the cory here died from something contagious, I would expect that other fish would show symptoms. Spotting one ill cory may be hard, noticing a few fish in trouble is easier.

It is important for us to get to know our tanks and the inhabitants. If we know what is "normal" behavior for our fish, we should be pretty quick to spot issues. So it is important to check all our tanks daily. If nothing else when we feed we can take a couple of more minutes to watch the fish for a bit. When we get to know what is normal, it becomes a whole lot easier the notice something not normal.

For example, I started with zebra plecos when I started to breed fish seriously. There is a saying which every zebra owner learns sooner or later, "a happy zebra is a hiding zebra." So, if I spot one sitting out in the open in the middle of the day, I know something must be wrong. The is especiially true if it fails to bolt for cover as I try to see what us up. I also know that most fish, when ill, tend to hide. So if fish I normally expect to see out and about but do not, my alert level goes up.

As always, this is just my way of doing things. it doesn't mean it is the only or even the best way. It is what I have found works well for me. In the case here I could argue doing things my way is the best option or that what Colin suggest is actually the better choice. My feeling is this situation is not yet indicating dire things to come if nothing is done. There are diseases which can kill pretty fast, before any symptoms are evident. So the OP has to do what they feel is the best course of action. I just wanted to offer another point of view to consider.

Welcome to the uncertainties of keeping fish. Almost none of us have the experience, training or diagnostic tools to be close to experts in this part of keeping fish. I certainly am not.

edited to correct too many typos
 
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Remove the fish asap, inspect the fish for obvious signs of death, check for other deaths, inspect healthy fish, perform 50% water change.

if there are signs of illness in other inhabitants or additional bodies I perform a 75% wc instead of 50%
 
Thanks all, I've been out at work all day today and lights are off, I did observe the tank this morning and all looked okay but I'll get some pics tomorrow and upload. Just to clarify the fish was definitely removed as soon as I found it, and this is a relatively established tank (9ish months), although I forget exactly when I added the pygmies.
 
I hate going nuts in a tank when I am not at all certain there is a need, All of the things Colin suggested may be needed sometimes. But without any clear evidence that there is a problem, I consider all the fussing to be stressful for the fish. Stress opens fish to disease. This is especially true when everything is somewhat new.

I find that the fish in a newly stocked tank need some time to adjust to all the travel it took to get there and then the new surroundings and tank-mates exacerbates this. Mt experience has been that the first few months of water changes and maint. I do in a tank freaks out the fish a lot more than when they have experienced this for a number of times. I have had SAEs try to eat what they though was hair algae off of the back of my hand s and foerarms. i hhave had to shoo discus out of my way to do something in their tank.

Don't get me wrong here. The fish still tend to scatter when they catch unexpected movement in the tank or above the water. They are hard wired to do this. If a wish waits around to determining if that movement represents danger, it may get the answer from inside the stomach of something bigger and hungrier.

No matter how conscientious we are about maint. and water changes, none of us is perfect. Sooner or later we make a mistake. This is especially true for those with many tanks. I turn off or otherwise stop filter flow when working in tanks. Most tanks have multiple filters and sometime I forget to get one going again. I may be pressed for time and forget to add ferts to a planted tank. I have well water so I do not dechlor, but I am sure that is a step all keepers may forget every now an then.

I would hate to think I am causing harm by being overly zealous about water changes etc. Plus I am a bit lazy. So my first reaction is not to do a whole lot of work I may not need to do. One fish passing away may or may not indicate a problem. If the cory here died from something contagious, I would expect that other fish would shows symptoms. Spotting one ill cory may be hard, noticing a few fish in trouble is easier.

It is important for us to get to know our tanks and the inhabitants. If we know what is "normal" behavior for our fish, we should be pretty quick to spot issues. So it is important to check all out tanks daily. if nothing else when we feed we can take a couple o more minutes to watch the fish for a bit. When we get to know what is normal, it becomes a whole lot easier the notice something not normal.

For example, I started with zebra plecos when i started to breed fish seriously. There is a saying which every zebra owner learns sooner or later, "a happy zebra is a hiding zebra." So, if I spot one sitting out in the open in the middle of the day, I know something must be wrong. The is especiially true if it fails to bold for cover as I try to see what us up. I also know that most fish,m when ill, tend to hide. So fish I normally expect to see out and about but do not, my alert level goes up.

As always, this is just y way of doing things. it doesn't mean it is the only or even the best way. It is what I have found works well for me. In the case here I could argue doing things my way is the best option or that what Colin suggest is actually the better choice. My feeling is this situation is not yet indicating dire things to come if nothing is done. There are diseases which can kill pretty fast, before any symptoms are evident. So the OP has to do what they feel is the best course of action. I just wanted to offer another point of view to consider.

Welcome to the uncertainties of keeping fish. Almost none of us have the experience, training or diagnostic tools to be close to experts in this part of keeping fish. I certainly am not.



I agree with this and from the standpoint that my tanks are well established and have been running for a long time. In something newer it would definitely raise red flags and I would probably overthink it and do too much.
 
Tried to get some pics while feeding the cories this morning, apologies they're not the best but they were very busy snuffling for their food! Apologies for flash on last picture. I'm aware I have some algae growth between the substrate and the glass, need to clean that off at the weekend but no other algae issues in this tank.
 

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The black stuff at the bottom of the picture, is that slimy and on the glass, or is the sand black?
If it's slimy and only on the glass, it's blue green algae (Cyanobacter bacteria) and this can poison fish if they eat it, it can also irritate them if they are in regular contact with it.

If the sand is black, then it's anaerobic and that's bad too. Either way, you want to get rid of it. Gravel cleaning the substrate and wiping the glass should get rid of it.

Apart from that, the fish look fine, although the fish with the camera flash on their eyes look a bit weird :)
 
The black stuff at the bottom of the picture, is that slimy and on the glass, or is the sand black?
If it's slimy and only on the glass, it's blue green algae (Cyanobacter bacteria) and this can poison fish if they eat it, it can also irritate them if they are in regular contact with it.

If the sand is black, then it's anaerobic and that's bad too. Either way, you want to get rid of it. Gravel cleaning the substrate and wiping the glass should get rid of it.

Apart from that, the fish look fine, although the fish with the camera flash on their eyes look a bit weird :)
Hi Colin

It's on the glass, I've had it once before in the same area. I will get it wiped off ASAP, I don't have cyanobacteria anywhere else in the tank, am unsure why it is in that specific area.

I thought I should mention the flash as it looked weird to me as well!
 
A lot of aquariums get algae or blue green algae on the glass under the substrate. I've had it in my tanks too. It likes the calm water and low oxygen levels there.
 
A lot of aquariums get algae or blue green algae on the glass under the substrate. I've had it in my tanks too. It likes the calm water and low oxygen levels there.
Thanks. I admit I tend to forget its there but have sorted now. I think other than that I have relatively good balance in my tank, I only get tiny specks of algae on my glass here and there, I don't even bother cleaning them.
 
I think your corys look OK. But I see two yellowish balls in some of the pics and am wondering if they are eggs? Bear in mind that when the eggs form inside a female they are somewhat dehydrated and smaller than what is in the pictures. However, onece released from the female thay quicky absorb water and get bigger. This is why a small fish like a cory or a small pleco appear to lay a bigger mass of egss than could fit inside the Female.

Also the image is not clear enough for me to tell if their is a tiny wiggler on the egg or not. So I may be off base here for sure.
 

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