Dead Fish

[HollieDahhrlinn]

Hey,
My fish has been ill for afew days after having a rock on his head and helping to revive him with whiskey he has been floating at the top and not swimming round like normal. I fear he has died during the night as i cant find him in my tank and i was worried;
Will he float or sink if he's dead.
Will he have been sucked into my filter??

Help Quick!!

 

[Lynae]

Did you say this happened after treating him with whiskey?
What type of fish is this?

 

[HollieDahhrlinn]

Danio. Zebra Danio. He was fighting for his life bless him about oh 2 weeks ago so we gave him a drip - literally a drip of whiskey and he was swimming okay.
For about 2 days my fish have been nipping at him and he was kind of floppy and floating constantly - gasping for breath i think.

I just left him and today when i woke up i found he wasnt in sight.
Should he float or sink?
Will he have been sucked into my filter?

 

[Lynae]

I personally don't agree that whiskey works with fish, but to each their own..
As long as your filter intake isnt just a large hole, he shouldnt get sucked up, as most have some plastic screen contraption.
Dead fish can either float or sink.. depending on how long since death, the gas left in their bladder, or illnesses.
If you can't find him, its best to start looking under ornaments until you do, as that will produce alot of ammonia that your tank cant hold!
Did you separate him from the others to treat with whiskey?

 

[HollieDahhrlinn]

I did not really treat.
I just added 1 drip of whiskey - hey it was expensive stuff haha -
and they presto he was up.
If this had not of happened straight away then i would have separated him.
Suppose the short answer is no. My other fish are unharmed though.

Will it be okay to wait until like 4pm tonight to do the removal come rescue hunt,
i dont get home until then? How long will it take to leak an ammonia spike?

 

[HollieDahhrlinn]

I cannot find my danio anywhere!!
I have like a biorb filter without a cover, could he have been sucked into that filter? Its not huge!

Could my algae eater have eaten him up?
Eaten him after he'd died??

 

[WhiteDevil]

yes yes and yes.


Whiskey is too good to waste on a fish.

 

[HollieDahhrlinn]

yes yes and yes.


Whiskey is too good to waste on a fish.

What will happen if it has been sucked intro my filter?

 

[Lynae]

Clean your filter properly. Shut it off , take the media out and put in a bucket of tank water. Then rinse out the filter itself, and pull out the pump propellor if possible to clear out gunk and possible dead fish.
This kind of filter cleaning should happen every couple of months for optimal filtration! And removing the media to rinse in *tank water* atleast once a month... which you should find your fish.. if it is there.
or eaten...it could be both as it is a small fish!

 

[Mudfrog]

What will happen if it has been sucked intro my filter?

Not likely but if it did it will just decompose in there, polluting the water with nitrates. But fish typically stick to the intake filter if floating.

 

[HollieDahhrlinn]

Not likely but if it did it will just decompose in there, polluting the water with nitrates. But fish typically stick to the intake filter if floating.

I do not understand what you mean??

 

[Lynae]

He means:
Its not likely that it is in your pump, but it it were, it would pollute the water.
Floating fish typically dont enter your pump system, instead sticking somewhere on the intake opening.

 

[HollieDahhrlinn]

He means:
Its not likely that it is in your pump, but it it were, it would pollute the water.
Floating fish typically dont enter your pump system, instead sticking somewhere on the intake opening.

Oh so like if i put my hand onto the wall, it is on the wall but it does not go through it. Like that?
The fish isnt actually on like my sponge on my filter - it could be in the tube?

It will have to wait until tomorrow, my fish all appear to be fine.
Nothing is different so it cant be that bad at present.
I was reading someone else who had the same thing happen.
They didnt get an ammonia spike due to the small size of the fish. Will see that the fish are like in the morning and will post something then, good or bad news.
If i turn off my filter - could the fish rise to the surface?
Thanks though, might need your help tomorrow :S

 

[Lynae]

Yeah, like if you tried to put your hand though the wall.
If you have a sponge on the intake, theres no chance it would be in the tube.
Keep in mind...4 gallons is an extremely small amount of water, considering what they have in the wild, and you will at some point experience an ammonia spike if it is lost and not eaten. Keep doing frequent water changes!

 

[HollieDahhrlinn]

So - i cannot find the dead fish so do you reccommend i do my normal water changes, every week - every 2 weeks?
Or should i do them more frequent for a while?

I am convinced it has been eaten because my DG is bloated and hadent been fed that morning when i got up so it got food from somewhere.
My algae eater is also alittle bit round so it too might have had a suck of the dead fish.

 

[HollieDahhrlinn]

An update on the dead fish.
We have located him half eaten on the bottom of the tank.
His tail was just sticking up among the rocks and we have finally found him this morning. Will remove him later on and do a water change tomorrow - its new years eve here so i wont be cleaning it out tonight.
Will do tomorrow though.

Thanks for all your help.

 

[dkpate]

You shuold probably get his body out ASAP. If he did have a disease or something, you don't want your other fish eating him and possibly getting it too.

 

[HollieDahhrlinn]

I will get him out in like an hour and a half
i'm out at the minute.

 

[HollieDahhrlinn]

We have just removed the dead fish.
We have taken him out and he was partially white.
RIP - Poor Fishie - Phoebe