BN Fry Die off

[Frank]

Okay heres a long story. And I need all the help you can give me.

I have lost about 200 fry in the last month.

Just cannot find the problem.

Water test. Maybe I'm not reading them wrong

Nitrite- 0.1

Nitrate- Between 5 and 10

Ammonia- 0

PH- 8.6. Well water and they breed in this and all other fish are find.

They just keep dieing..

Silk plants- removed . see the ink or what ever they use disappearing off the leaves

Temp- 80 degrees

Other fish all removed.

Maybe to much light. Reaching here.

Feeding - NLS and Zucchini

Have done w/c- 40 to 50 %

Cleaned filters.

Changed tanks.

Boiled all nets.

And they are still dieing.

Two different tanks

Any ideas.

Thanks

[BooUrns!]

I'm not sure what it could be. I have two tanks full of bn fry and haven't had any significant losses. Perhaps you need more water flow and places for the fry to hide. One of my tanks is heavily planted and the other has many artificial caves (empty film canisters weighted with sand) for them to hide. Given what you have mentioned, I can only wonder if it's stress induced illness.

I also use bamboo skewers to place thinly cut discs of zucchini slightly above the substrate so I don't get any regions where ammonia can build up from decaying food. Looking at your test readings, perhaps some more plants woud help stabilize the tank parameters.

Good luck solving the problem.

Okay heres a long story. And I need all the help you can give me.

I have lost about 200 fry in the last month.

Just cannot find the problem.

Water test. Maybe I'm not reading them wrong

Nitrite- 0.1

Nitrate- Between 5 and 10

Ammonia- 0

PH- 8.6. Well water and they breed in this and all other fish are find.

They just keep dieing..

Silk plants- removed . see the ink or what ever they use disappearing off the leaves

Temp- 80 degrees

Other fish all removed.

Maybe to much light. Reaching here.

Feeding - NLS and Zucchini

Have done w/c- 40 to 50 %

Cleaned filters.

Changed tanks.

Boiled all nets.

And they are still dieing.

Two different tanks

Any ideas.

Thanks

[Vallisneria]

Is your nitrite really reading 0.1? It should be zero, not sure if 0.1ppm is enough to kill off fry though.

Have you had any problem raising fry before?

[Tanker]

How big are the tanks? Are they being raised in the breeding tank or maybe subjected to stresses when moved? Assuming full cycle back after all this boiling and cleaning and changing? (stupid question, but we've all taken bad shortcuts, sometimes).

Maybe try a bare tank, nothing but fish, filter and heat. No lights, plants, sand, caves. Basic troubleshooting rules are to remove all excess and go to the core... K.I.S.S!

Well water... maybe something coming out int he water with the frost or breakup or there are a zillion minerals and things you wouldn't even consider being a problem to you, but to something 3/4 of an inch long it's a massive dose of something their genetics never had to compensate for in the wild... all fishkeeping equipment is designed with common household treated water supply as a source... maybe you have a higher than normal amount of some trace mineral and there isn't anything that can be done about it? When was the last time you had your water tested? and not just for potability, a full chemical composition type?

Just throwing out ideas, hoping something might spark you in the right direction and save your little wonders.

[Frank]

Thanks for the info .

As for trouble with fry before. These are my frist BN fry.

All other fry that I have raised I have never had trouble with.

As for move related stress: When they are moved from the breeding tank, I move, fry and dad in there cave

to a 29 gal. I leave dad and the cave there till the fry all come out and than move dad and the cave back .

The ones that are dieing now were moved to a fifty gal about 6 weeks ago from the 29 gal. So they have been in this tank for about six weeks and the die off started last Fri. Running a Fulval 404 filter . This should be enough flow, I hope.

Been doing about a 40% w/c once a week .

Cleaned the filter this weekend. Put in new Bio carb and foam but did not rinse out anything else.

Don't think the water has ever been checked for chemical composition.

I will have to try and get it checked.

Should I do more W/C,s .

I think I will move them and clean out the tank and try it bare bottom.

Thanks again everyone.

[seajays]

"Cleaned the filter this weekend. Put in new Bio carb and foam but did not rinse out anything else"

Maybe you lost to much of your Bio and then the tank lost it's cycle. Just a thought.

[jvision]

So, it's just BN fry right now? Other fry are OK? When was the last BN die-off? From what you discribe, you're doing pretty much everything right. I used to raise hundreds in a 30 gal w. 2 small HOB filters and lots of WCs. All I can think of is there's something in the water with the runoff... Floating plants or a terrestrial w. its roots in the water are usually good additions to fry tanks - they take out all N waste.

[Frank]

They are dieing everyday.

Last night I took out 15 and this morning I counted ten or 12 more.

And yes it is just the BN fry. All others are good.

[byte]

They are dieing everyday.

Last night I took out 15 and this morning I counted ten or 12 more.

And yes it is just the BN fry. All others are good.

In this area, we can get water sample containers to fill from the health unit. The samples are then sent away to the University of Calgary for testing and it is free. There are 2 sample containers to fill, one for ph, hardness, and 20 other things, and the second test is for bacteria and chemical residues (I think).

Maybe you are overfeeding?

Edited April 8, 2008 by byte

[Finbert]

At the rural school where my partner works, they had a mass die-off in one of their classroom aquariums that coincided with the beginning of the major melt. As far as I know, they're now using the same bottled water they drink and haven't had any losses since (which surprises me, because I'm surprised there's anything at all living in there, but that's a rant for some other time). Of course, I'm talking about a 20gal, so bottled water is practical for them.

Could it just be that the fry are sensitive to something in your well water that the other fish can handle?

[Frank]

Okay it may be my screw up here.

Let me ask you people , when you feed Zucchini how do you prepare it.

Do you peal it and remove the seeds.

I wash mine under warm water and dry it then I cut it up with the peal still on. from what i seen tonight maybe I should remove the peal.They do not eat the seeds and these are getting sucked into the filter.

May there is still poison or chemicals in the peal that is causing this.

I took out about 50 dead fry tonight.

Out of the 170 fry there is about 50 left.

I took everything out of the tank but the sand and did a 30% water change.

Also vacumed the sand.

Any that are left tomorrow i will move to a different tank and see what happens.

Thanks again for all your help.

Frank

[jvision]

For small zuccini, I get it from the store, stick a fork in it, then toss it in the tank... for large zuccini, I cut a big chunk off, stick a fork in it, and toss it in the tank....

[Vallisneria]

I feed my zuchini the same way Jason does. Rinse it, cut a chuck off, stick it on a fork and toss it in. I dont' remove the peel.

[seajays]

I cut the zucchini in half and then 1" chunks. I freeze it , then just microwave it for 20 seconds before putting it in the tank with the skin on complete with seeds. I have at least a 100 Albino fry going with no die offs. I also think there is a water problem that dose not agree with the pleco's.

Edited April 9, 2008 by seajays