Fish are dying

[Aquafriend]

I don't know what's wrong with my tank. A couple weeks ago, my cory was stuck to the filter intake. He looked healthy prior to that. Within a couple days, he was dead (after being stuck, he never recovered- unstable, wobbly, weak). Now my new cory (of a few weeks, I bought him just before my other cory got stuck) just got stuck to the intake! Same thing. Now he looks weak and unstable. I don't know what to do for him, I don't think he will last long. Plus, one of my zebra danios, which I've had since March, started acting odd over the last couple weeks. Thin, sluggish, hiding out alone, just not himself. He died this morning. I did have an outbreak of Ich a week and a half ago, but it only showed on my serpae tetra. I treated the tank and got rid of it with no deaths during treatment. My tank is a 20g with an AquaClear150. Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5, ph 7.2. Temp. 79F. It's a non-planted tank. In my tank are 2 serpae tetras, 6 neons, 2 strawberry tetras, 2 swordtails, 2 platys and 2 remaining danios. Plus the obviously sick cory. Anyone have any suggestions? Something must be wrong with my tank, but I can't for the life of me figure it out. Thanks!

 

[savga]

It doesn't sound like anything is drastically wrong with your tank. You should cover that intake with something to prevent anymore accidents. Other than that it sounds like you just had one sick danio. He may have been weakened by ich medication. If you are concerned about your tank conditions you can take a sample of your water to your lfs to double check your tests.
I misread that about the stuck cories. I understand they were stuck becase they were weak and stopped swimming. How is your water hardness there? Is it suitable for your cories? How old is your tank?

 

[deli_conker]

I'm not an Ich expert, but I know that stressed fish are much more susceptible to it than non-stressed fish. Being stuck to a filter uptake would definitely count as stress. Stressed fish can die much easier than other fish. I would cover that uptake with a filter sponge asap to prevent any more accidents.

 

[Aquafriend]

The tank is only a few months old. I don't know for sure the cories were sick before they got stuck, I just assume so since they didn't seem strong enough to avoid getting stuck, where as before they could swim right by. The first cory got stuck and died before the Ich outbreak, and the danio was acting kind of weird before the Ich, too. The Ich may well have weakened him, but there was definately something wrong before. This cory is still alive, but he's not active at all, stayed in one spot all day, not moving. I wish I had a QT tank set up. Just all seems kinda weird.
As for the hardness of the water, I don't think the water is hard. It actually seems like good water, but I don't know if it's suitable for cories. It seems to be fine for the rest of the fish (the ones that aren't dying!)
Thanks for your help. And I plan on covering the intake after this.

 

[MrsPeel]

What kind of test kit are you using on your water? What did you use to check the hardness of your water?

 

[shawmutt]

I don't know for sure the cories were sick before they got stuck, I just assume so since they didn't seem strong enough to avoid getting stuck, where as before they could swim right by.

I agree, fish are strong enough to fight that current--especially cories. They will get stuck in the filter only after being weakened by something else. The cory may have had something wrong. Monitor the other fish to make sure they don't start showing any symptoms.

What type of ich med did you use? Some ich meds are very toxic and may hurt more than they cure, which is why some here prefer to use the heat/salt treatment.

As long as you determine your other fish are fine (especially the neons, they are the canaries of fish tanks) I agree with savga...it sounds like its just a sick fish and nothing major is going on.

 

[Aquafriend]

First off, my cory died today.
I have Hagen test kits for ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite. And Wardley ph kit. I haven't tested the hardness of the water, but my LFS told me the water hardness is fine, and they are on the same water as me. I went with that because I trust them.
I used Maracide Ich treatment on the tank, and I was told it is one of the gentlest meds going. All the other fish, including the tetras, seem perfectly fine, but so did both cories before they died. Now I'm paranoid and think every fish fart means they're dying!
I'm not going to get another cory, or anything else for that matter, for a long while. At least until I get over looking at my tank with fear every time I enter the living room, just waiting to find a sick, dead, or stuck fish. I'll just make sure I vacuum the gravel more when I do water changes, not that much, if any, food is able to hit the bottom. It's all eaten up first. Thanks for all the advice given. It's nice to be a little reassured that my tank should be ok.

 

[erc]

how long did you treat the ICH? It can take weeks to go away. Check out this site. I have been treating ICH in my tank for nearly four weeks now.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/ich.php

 

[Aquafriend]

Good article. The instructions on my Ich meds (Paracide Green) said to treat 2-3 times over a 7-14 day period, with water changes between each dose. I followed the instructions and never had a problem, nor did I lose any fish during treatment. I was told that the stuff I used, which I actually borrowed from my fish store because they were out of the stuff they recommend, was one of the safest meds out there, and it was fine for small and scaleless fish. Basically, going by that article, I did what it said. I treated for 9 days after the Ich bits fell off the one fish it was noticable on. I've never seen any more on any of the fish or any signs of distress. I've heard, too, that some people have to treat for weeks, while others don't. I didn't have a bad outbreak, maybe that's why I got off lucky?

 

[Matthi]

do you salt your tank?(a common ich remedy)? I've heard that cories don't do well with salt.
Other than that, don't know... filter pull shouldent be strong enough to pull a cory off the ground to it imo, unless oversized.

 

[Aquafriend]

No, I didn't use salt, mainly because I had been told as well that cories didn't react well with salt. The filter is an AquaClear 150, which is the size suitable for the 20g, so it isn't too much suction. It's definately a mystery. I'm just going to keep an eye on the tank for a while and see how everyone does. I don't have a bottom feeder right now, but I'll just make sure I vacuum "a little more in the corners" when I do water changes. I don't want to get any more cories until I feel more secure about the stability of the tank. I'm a testing maniac lately!