Vacuumed and fish died, help?

[Chrissy420]

Yesterday I vacuumed my 10gallon tank and my fish died. Idk why, this doesnt always happen. Any advise?

-had three guppies, a pineapple sunset and tiger platy, dwarf gourami, opaline gourami, betta, glow fish, 2blood heart tetras, algea eater, and snail. ( I know I was a bit over stocked, but I do have a 55gallon im waiting to upgrade to, just need filter and rocks.)
- I use the api conditioner.
- w a cascade80 filter.
- vacumed roughly 2gallons out and put 2 back in. the fish immediatley showed stress. My glofish died instantly.

 

[fort384]

Please read the sticky in the Freshwater & Brackish - Fish or Plant Profiles forum:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f29/what-goes-in-this-forum-151203.html

I have moved this thread to Freshwater & Brackish - General Discussion

 

[BHead707]

your waaay overstocked in my opinion..is your tank cycled? have they been showing any sign of aggression? how long has the tank been up? how long have you had fish?

sorry for all the questions but need to know to get answers

 

[maxwellag]

I bit overstocked? That is way overstocked! No wonder they died! Did you cycle the tank?

 

[bruinsbro1997]

to AA!

1.Did you add conditioner to the tank?
2.That tank is WAY overstocked, overstocked to maximum capacity.
3. Did you cycle this tank?

 

[Chrissy420]

your waaay overstocked in my opinion..is your tank cycled? have they been showing any sign of aggression? how long has the tank been up? how long have you had fish?

sorry for all the questions but need to know to get answers

-My tank is cycled yes. Its been up for about a year now.
-Iv had these fish for a little over 2months.
-they didnt really show any aggresion.
-and like I said I know my fish tank is over stoked which is why I have the 55gallon im in the process of setting up, just need a filter and sand or rocks.
-i also did u conditioner
(no need to aplogize for questions u asked so u could try to help)

 

[BillD]

That tank is not way overstocked. However, that is a small water change and should not have caused any deaths even if you didn't use conditioner. What may have worked when the tank was first set up may not be sufficient when the fish grow. More biomass means more water must be changed.

 

[Rokuzachi]

Could the vac have stirred something up that caused the death?

What kind of substrate do you have? (sorry if I missed the answer already)

 

[BHead707]

also have you tested the parameters in your tank? how often do you do water changes?

 

[Chrissy420]

That tank is not way overstocked. However, that is a small water change and should not have caused any deaths even if you didn't use conditioner. What may have worked when the tank was first set up may not be sufficient when the fish grow. More biomass means more water must be changed.

-i do water changes about every 2weeks. (i will def try doing a larger amount of water change the next time I vacuume and see if tht helps, il let you all know how that goes the next time I do a water change.)
-i have your basic gravel. Im pretty sure the brand is aqua culture.
-i havent tested my parameters in a couple months so I need to go to my local pet store and get that done. Probably by.friday and il make sure I post my results up for you all.

thanks for all the advise please keep it comin haha.

 

[glassbird]

I am wondering if perhaps your vacuum technique needs a little tweaking. I recently spent some time on YouTube and was amazed to see some really bizarre "styles" of gravel vacuuming. Some were just inefficient, and others were plain old stupid.

My favorite "stupid" video involved using the open end of the gravel cleaner to stir the gravel (might as well have used a stick), and THEN got the suction going and simply pulled out water...some of the crud went out with the water, but most of it just stayed in the tank! Another style involved dragging the open end thru the gravel at a 45 degree angle...not sure what the point of that was.

The most efficient method involves simply going straight down into the gravel with the open end (with the suction going) and holding the cleaner still until crud stops rising up the tube. Lift the open end just enough so that the gravel falls straight down back to the bottom, and move the open end over a few inches and go straight down again. Hold, and repeat. That way ALL the crud goes out, including any toxic gasses pockets that might have built up.

I am also wondering if maybe something might have been on your gravel cleaner accidentally that was then introduced into the water when you vacuumed? Just trying to brainstorm here...

 

[absolutangel04]

Sorry about your losses. I think we will have a better idea of what it going on once we see your water params. One option is stress death. You already know your tank is over-stocked, but some of those fish really shouldn;t be together even temporarily. You have 3 labrynth fish, and it is not a good idea to even keep 2 of those together in a 10g. Theres a chance they are more stressed than you realize. Stress lowers their immune systems. Just a guess.

 

[BHead707]

If yourdoing a waterchange every two weeks with that many fish,my guess is they got some kind of nitrate caused Illness,nitrate is ok for fish but only at small levels

 

[LyndaB]

Do you have any idea when your larger tank will be set up and cycled?

Pick up an API master kit (liquid) for yourself. It's important to have in emergencies such as this, when something goes wrong and you have to play detective.

You've had the tank running for a year but only have had fish in it for 2 months? Am I missing something?

Also, since you are overstocked, I would suggest two 50% water changes per week.

Welcome to the forum.