trevorich Posted August 25, 2005 Report Share Posted August 25, 2005 I need help badly, I am experiencing a kill off in one of my tanks with no known cause. I have lost a german ram, 2 paradise fish, one angel fish, 2 yamato shrimp, one honey gourami, one gold ghourami in the last week. I did buy 2 dwarf ghouramis a month ago and added them to my tank directly (i've had an isolation tank for five years but daughters tank sprung a leak and i gave her the isolation tank...arrggghh) these two had a bad case of ich/fin rot which didn't develope for 5 days but rapidly killed my one dwarf and the two new ones. I treated the tank for that and thought I was through the woods with my first outbreak in 6 years. Right now my Nitrites are 0, ph is 7.6, hardness is normal for edmonton water, nitrate 35 ppm, alkalinity kh ppm is 40. I have added some salt as per normal for a 55 gal community fresh water tank. I have an Aqua Clear 500 running with 2 week old carbon and a one month old sponge filter. I have added the appropriate amount of bacteria for the new media to revitalise the culture in the filter. I have done one 20% water change 10 days ago, and one 50% water change 4 days ago. This tank is driving me insane and I have several fish in there I don't want to lose but am timid about moving them into another tank as I don't know what the problem is. I have many live plants, 3 broadleaf low light swords which have been in the tank for a year. Aside from the dwarves I have had these fish in the tank for 6 months now with no issues. I currently have my prized breeding pair of Kribensis with 8- 3 week babies, a 6"weather loach, 2 gold ghouramis, 2 pearl ghourami's, one unidentified 6" pearl coloured ghourami, 10 neon tetra's, one banjo cat, one baby albino cory, 2 Black Angel Fish, one male betta, one female betta (they ignore each other), I just had a hatch of Apple snail pods a week ago so about 300 2 mm apple snails (makes the loach happy lol) The substrate is crushed red rock which is aquarium approved. 3 Java ferns, and some water sprite. I have no clue whats happening in here at all and am alomst at my wits end, the top of the tank is 6 and a half feet off the floor with no way for my kids to get up there and my kids all have tanks of thier own...have had for over a year now and they know not to put anything in the tank without checking first. Help Trevor R. Edmonton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rahim101 Posted August 25, 2005 Report Share Posted August 25, 2005 First off.....remove the carbon right away as it will clean any meds that you are putting into the right out!!!!! With out having seen the tank, all I could recommend is to get a "general cure" OR "metrodonzale" from the pet store and treat the tank with that ASAP... Just follow the instructions on the back of the meds and treat accorningly. I would also do about a 50% water change and add in more salt then what you adding right now!!! I hope this help stop the fish from dying. Please post back with any further update Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neatfreak Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 In our store they would recommend: a inch a fish a gallon of water[fishes max size] do not mix some of those breeds together, watch for angry fish. some meds are way to stong, real good one[natural] is melafix or pond melafix. do you have hiding spots for all fish[territories] If your levels are too high ,Prime will detox might save fish. we don't recommend more then 25% water changes, too much stress,takes out good bac. this is just some ideas to save fish need to talk more in detail. hope it helps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 Are the fish showing any symptoms before they die? Please describe exactly what is happening to them. I"d up your water changes to daily 20-30%. Keeping the water quality top notch is your best bet right now. I wouldnt' recommend adding meds unless you are treating for a specific disease. SO untill you have a better clue of what might be killing off your fish i'd hold off on medicating. Because adding a bunch of meds can make it worse not better if you arent' careful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wandj Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 From what I read, the nitrifying bacteria colonize surfaces and a very small percentage live in the water column....if any. I agree with lots of water changes. Poisons cannot accumulate if you remove them. Whatever it was/is, the damage is done and they may continue dying for a week or two. Any survivors should be ok. Let us know if you pin-point a cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rahim101 Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 I agree with wandj. the bulk beneficial bacteria will colonize in your sustrate and filter within the sponge. Large and frequent water changes should not disturb the bacteria colonies. Just be sure you are treating the new water with some type of treatment to remove chlorine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neatfreak Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 I just know what I learned in courses from petland I haven't lost any fish in my tanks yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevorich Posted August 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 Actually all the species I have in the tank get along well except for the kribensis but its a 55 gallon and yes it has a lot of cover for the fish. The kribies have claimed a cave I built for them in one corner of the tank which they keep other fish away from but it doesn't intrude on more than about 1/5 of the tank the others just avoid the area and get along just fine. They've been together in one of my other tanks for a couple of years...except for the angels... As for the levels in the water, they are all normal which is what is confusing. Even with water changes and reintroduction of bacteria culture, there is still the kill off.. i have tested and restested seriously....i have had aquariums for 20 years this past july and have never experienced this before, its almost as if there is foriegn matter in the tank but it isn't possible.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted August 26, 2005 Report Share Posted August 26, 2005 What are the symptoms of the dying fish? We can't help you narrow it down unless you describe whats happening as best you can. Just because your water tests(Ammo,nitrite,nitrate) test fine doesn't mean there isn't something in the water hurting your fish. You could have introduced some disease into the tank when you added fish. That wouldnt' show up on water tests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevorich Posted August 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 Thats the big problem, most of the kill off's were acting perfectly normal then next morning they were dead, I did have two ghourami's and one angel that hung around the surface listlessly for a day or two before they finally died. Thanks by the way to the suggestion of daily water changes, started yesterday. The bacteria i added were in response to the filter change and the one a couple of weeks ago was an attempt at trying to figure out if that was the cause (through nitrate spikes occuring overnight). the behaviour of the fish since this started has been a tad bizarre, most of the time they act normal for thier species but periodicly since the kill off started, the ghourami's just panic around once a week and blindly flee about the tank, of course this is causing the others to panic as well. There is no abnormal noises in the room or anything when they do this. No abnormal movement outside the aquarium. They just decide to flip out and cause a chain reaction with the other species in the tank... The truly puzzling thing to me is that the neon tetra's have not been affected in any way. Trev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevorich Posted August 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 I feel like a complete idiot, my poor fish. You'd think with 20 years experience I would have thought of this first. On a whim I put one of my spare thermometers in another area of the tank and my water temp is sitting at 31 degrees. I moved the thermometer to another part of the tank and same reading. The old one was reading 26 degrees. I checked the old thermometer against the temp in the house. It didn't change. Thermometer wasn't working and was cooking fish. So I have pulled the heater out of the tank and the old thermometer. Tomorrow morning I will be replacing them. Thanks for all your help folks. Moron in the second row, Trev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevorich Posted August 27, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 I did the temp test before I did a partial water change...won't be doing another water change, will let the tank cool naturally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wandj Posted August 27, 2005 Report Share Posted August 27, 2005 Ooh wow. So you had a heater stick on? That just happened to me. Woke up one morning and my tank temp was 92! Good thing it was my tank with Discus. They are ok in that. NEVER buy those slim-looking Tronics. They sometimes stick....in the ON position. I was lucky. Sorry to hear you had a much harder time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trevorich Posted August 28, 2005 Author Report Share Posted August 28, 2005 thanks! I am also getting used to apartment living, I didn't realise it but this place gets HOT!!! I just got home and its 34 in the house with...you guessed it...more deaths... I bought a new heater and thermometer and have replaced the bad ones. Now I have to go out and buy an air conditioner on monday. Did a partial water change on all my tanks with cold water to bring the temp down (5% change only) unfortunately my neons have been hit the hardest, lost 6...as well as a Pearl Ghourami and my male Betta. Luckily my other tanks fared better with no deaths at all. Will be leaving all fans on, windows/patio door open with drapes drawn to try to minimize the effect tomorrow. Good about the discus! Thanks again everyone Trev Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkeyfish Posted September 17, 2005 Report Share Posted September 17, 2005 I had the same thing happen in my tank I lost half of my tank before I figured out that it was running way to hot , we went through a hot spell and one of my kids must have been playing with the heater Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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