ryukin81 Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 So in the last Month I've had a couple fish die on me. From not Eating at all to finally Floating upside down. Water tested fine and the others were eating normal. Last Night i saw a tail flapping between the rocks at the bottom. didn't think much of it, figured a fish was digging for some food. today i saw the same thing and had to investigate. i starting removing the rocks and got to the last one and the moment i did the rotting fish came a jarred. it was probably there for 2 weeks or more.I'm assuming that the old fish ate from this guy and got sick and croaked. my problem is that i went to grab my fish net to remove the corpse and when i turned around i saw my Frontosa and the rest of his buddies devour the body. Im worried that they will eventually stop eating from the sickness and meet the same fate. i immediately did a 50 percent W/C and double dosed with prime. Do you guys think that my Cichlids will be ok? Should i skip todays feeding session? is there anything i can feed or medicate them with that will purge the rotten food from their system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Umm have you dosed with salt?? Try raising the temp in the tank a few degrees to boost their metabolism be sure to have no more than 2 degrees an hour. I've been told different things about epsolm salts but one thing was it's a laxitive. Don't know for sure on this but I've used it in my Cichlid tank with no problems so it might help. I wish i could help more but i have never had this problem or heard of anything like this so i have no idea what the problem is. Good luck and sorry to hear about your losses L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qattarra Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 It is quite normal for fish to scavenge like that . Keep your water very clean and yes epson salts are a laxative but I would have no idea how to dose it or if it could cause more problems than it solves. Perhaps just observe the fish closely for the next few days, I don't suspect you'll get any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryukin81 Posted January 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 It is quite normal for fish to scavenge like that . Keep your water very clean and yes epson salts are a laxative but I would have no idea how to dose it or if it could cause more problems than it solves. Perhaps just observe the fish closely for the next few days, I don't suspect you'll get any problems. I've never used salt before but i will give it a shot. Yes many times my fish would finish off most of the floaters with no problems since it was pretty fresh, but this time it was pretty rotten. what is the recommended dosage for salt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Okay well for regular salt follow the directions on the side of the aquarium salt container. I know you can dose 1 TBS per ten gallons so if you have some salt and no directions you can dose that amount. Be sure to use non Iodized salt aka NO TABLE SALT Okay as far as Epsom salts go (women use for foot soaks) You can buy them for cheap in any number of stores. I'd dose at 1tbs per ten gallons The numbers i gave you are on the safe side but in this case i'd error on the side of caution for dosing The salt will take care of allot of diseases etc that might have caused the death of the other fish but there is no guarantee. The Epsom salt will act as a laxative like i mentioned before so be sure to feed them well and I'd remove the Epsom salt through water changes every couple of days after a week of full strength. I had a link that would detal the amount of salt and Epsom salt that should be safe but i can't find it now. I hope this might help It's good your trying preventative measures. To try and prevent things like this from happening again try and keep track of the numbers you have of each type of fish and watch for them when you are feeding. As soon as you get one fish death the first thing you should do is a through tank cleaning. This will help to remove anything that could be in the substrate that might be the cause of death. Good Luck L Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 I wouldn't worry too much about your fish eating a rotten corpse. I wouldn't do anything to "treat" them as that could cause more issues. Just watch them to see if anything changes. Keep up with regular water changes. I've had fish eat a rotten corpse before and nothing happened to them. It was pretty gross but the fish were fine. I'd focus more on what killed the fish in the first place and try to stop it from happening again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryukin81 Posted January 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 thanks for all the help everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soliver Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 Have any of your fish shown any signs? I hope the situation with the fish dieing resolves itself. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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