Bad news :(

[severum mama]

Another one of my angels went missing this weekend, and I'm starting to fear the worst. I also lost another flame tetra, came in here yesterday and found it breathing rapidly, laying on its side in the sand. All other fish seem totally fine. Of course, that's what I said when I lost the other 2 angels and the other 2 flame tetras. :? I'm starting to wonder if there's something going on with the tank. I also lost both of those blue rams I bought a couple weeks ago, but I'm not really surprised since they are so delicate- I mean, that wouldn't necessarily make me think something's up. The paleatus cories and the BN pleco I got at the same time are doing great. The gold rams are fine too. The remaining angels look great (I will say that the surviving angels are all 3 of the largest ones out of the 6 that I originally bought, so perhaps the dead ones were just too weak to hack it in there). All 10 of the green fire tetras are fine, but there are only 5 remaining of the 8 original flame tetras. :? I wonder if all these deaths are related, or if I just haven't been as lucky as usual with this tank. The perameters always test out great, that's what is so weird- even the nitrates are usually under 10 ppm. pH is steady at 7.0. This tank gets religious weekly PWCs. It's driving me crazy. I consider myself a kinda experienced aquarist at this point, and I'm not having problems in any of my other 6 tanks. Thanks for reading my rant and any thoughts would be appreciated. 8)

 

[rubysoho]

hmmm.. maybe go check your perams at the LFS because tests can go bad

 

[talloulou]

have you checked to make sure your heater is working right? I guess you'd notice if the tank water got to warm. Maybe try a big water change (75%)in case something got in the tank. I hope you don't lose any more fish.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Sorry to hear about your losses Severum. I'm sure you have covered all your basis in regards to finding out what went wrong. Like you said, it could just be that they were too weak. If something contaminated your tank, you would have more fish deaths. If the remaining fish start dying, then I'd be very concerned. But they could just be because they were too weak.

 

[severum mama]

The heater is working fine, temp stays at 79 degrees. But thanks anyway for the suggestion. Maybe I will check perams at my LFS, good idea.

 

[QTOFFER]

A few thoughts....

How much water do you change each week, and do you also gravel vac each time?

Did you check that the filter isn't gunked up?

Has your water utility been messing around with the water...flush out the mains, or change disinfectants, etc?

 

[gheitman]

Have you checked your tank for unusually high levels of chlorine? About a year ago our water supply had a chlorine spike that killed several of my fish.

 

[severum mama]

A few thoughts....

How much water do you change each week, and do you also gravel vac each time?

Did you check that the filter isn't gunked up?

Has your water utility been messing around with the water...flush out the mains, or change disinfectants, etc?

25% each week. I have sand in there, so I just hit some spots with the vac and try to suck up as much waste as I can.

yes I do, just rinsed the cartridges out in tank water last week.

I don't know about the water company, and that's something I hadn't thought about. But my house also has city water, and I haven't had any problems there.

Have you checked your tank for unusually high levels of chlorine? About a year ago our water supply had a chlorine spike that killed several of my fish.

No, I haven't, but again, my tanks at home use the same city water as the tanks at work with no problems. Good idea though.

Thanks for throwing in your 2 cents everyone, this is stuff I wouldn't have necessarily considered. Fish seem fine this morning BTW.

 

[QTOFFER]

I have sand in there, so I just hit some spots with the vac and try to suck up as much waste as I can.

Maybe a pocket of anaerobic bacteria in the sand released some toxins that killed a few of the weaker fish. It may help to gently stir up the substrate from time to time, or get some loaches or snails that will do the job for you.

I hate unexplained fish deaths - so frustrating. I hope your troubles are over.

 

[severum mama]

Thanks, I hope they are too. The sand gets stirred up a lot during my PWCs because I don't use a Python, I still use a bucket (my Python won't reach the sink ). So, when I pour the water in the tank I get a little out of control with it sometimes and it moves sand all over the place. I don't really want to get snails because the tank is planted and looks pretty good right now. I love the idea of loaches, since believe it or not I've never kept any, but I'd like to keep the theme of the tank South American. Are there any sand-stirring fish that you know of that would fit the bill? If not I will think about some yo yo loaches, I just love the look of them. Clown loaches I know get too big eventually, and khulis aren't available locally.

 

[rubysoho]

what about something like a peacock/spiny eel? Every time I've seen one of those guys in the LFS it is always burried in the gravel.

 

[severum mama]

Oh, I've never seen one here before and I don't even know what they look like... I guess it's Google time!

 

[frenchpea2002]

cories will do the job fairly well, but unless you really want that south american look, I'd go for the loaches, as I am not really fond of how adult cories look, but then the smaller ones are really that bad

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Severum- I have some pics of my eels in my gallery. They are Spiny Peacocks. They will keep the sand stirred. I'd get 2 though beacuse it seemed like mine was happier once he got a eel friend.

 

[Big C]

Sorry to hear about all those poor fishies, SM. I hope it's over and the rest will be fine!

 

[gheitman]

If you have a planted tank with a sand substrate I highly recommend getting some Malayan trumpet snails. They will help stir up the substrate and make sure no pockets of anaerobic bacteria develop. They normally only come out at night so the tank still looks good and they won't harm the plants either. I have them in five of my tanks now and all are planted to one degree or another.

 

[severum mama]

I thought MTS were the kind that are chowing down on my plants in my 20 gallon. Am I wrong about that?

 

[gheitman]

I've never seen that MTS damage plants. That hasn't been my own experience. I have seen ramshorn snails damage plants though.

 

[severum mama]

Ah, must be a case of mistaken identity. Apparently I have ramshorns in my 20 g that I can't seem to get rid of. Oh, I just noticed that you have 6 a. cacatuoides in your 20 g! Lucky you, I've been looking for those guys for over a year but can't ever find them locally. Did you order online?

 

[gheitman]

No, my LFS got a pair in and the rest were spawned from that pair. I also sold a pair from that same spawning back to the LFS.