German Blue Rams and Neons Died Within Hours?

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BOUGIEPROJECTS

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Oct 26, 2010
Messages
14
Location
Montreal Quebec Canada
Hi guys - Great Site :)

The weirdest thing happened to me. I restocked my tank with 3 German Blue Rams, 15 Neon Tetras and a Cory. Everything looked fine ... asides from a few spots on the Tetra when I bought them ( I Know - I am a Fool ), but I figured my temp is always at 30c - so Ick would die off.

Here is whats weird ... The next day - about 6 Neons and my Cory ... Dead.
The day after that ... all 3 Rams.
Third day - The remaing Neon Tetra.

All my stats are great - Ammonia, Nitrate, but the Ph is at 7.4 like I said ... Temp at 30C

I am no pro - but not a newb either. But what could have caused such a rapid death?

I know Tetras prefer temps at about 25-28c but I also know - they do well at 29-30c Same as the German Blue Rams.

How can healthy looking fish 1 day - Just suddenly all die? Nothing new was added - nothing dropped in - no salt, no chemicals ... just weird.

Thanks Guys and Gals
Have A Great Day
 
How do you introduced the fish to the tank?

30 degrees is a little high IMO, maybe the water temperature versus the lfs was too diferent???
 
How where they acclimatized? Was there anything sprayed around the tank (fly killer, perfume, air freshener)? What are the exact numbers of the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? Did you do a water change and forgot dechlorinator?
 
Hi Guys - And Thanks for the Quick Replys :)

The fish were intoduced same as always - plastic bag floating for 20 min, water removed, and fish added.

Yes - The tank was cycled for over 3 months with bio.

All nitrates, ammonia at 0 .... Ph at 7.4

Thats whats weird??? technically - it should be perfect.

Just added a Dwarf Gouarmi and it seems to love the tank. Also added a new live plant. Waiting to see what happens :)

Will not even attempt to add a few rams until - i see everything lives :)
 
hmmmm dechlorinator .... i never used that before - with much success - including Rams Spawning. Something to think about ... curious - is there a test for this? I do not want chemicals added for no reason.

Thanks Everyone. :)

Also - Weekly water changes of min 25%

Sorry again - Cycled by having Rams in Tank - plus other dither fish - never a death. Made the HUGE mistake of adding Oscar to that tank - and moving other fish to another - same water etc ....

Got rid of Oscar - Cleaned tank - No Chem - Same water - restocked. But ...... used Crayola Sand.

According to what I read and witnessed - Totally 100% Harmless
 
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I hate having to add anything at all to my tank but the one that I MUST add is dechlorinator. My tap water has chlorine and chloramine so I have to add it to neutralize them. What kind of water do you use? City tap water, well water, etc?
 
Mumma.of.two ....

I use city water .... I know there must be chlorine in it.
The declorine-izer thing might be something to look into :)

But - If i always had success, untill now - same drinking water, after hundreds of water changes, do you really think that might be the problem?

I am thinking the Neons - Has something pretty serious - beyond NTD

i have never seen that many fish drop so quick. No warning - no signs

Weird
 
When I say quick - Jusy 1 hour ago ... 2 Neaons left - looked fine - no signs of anything. 1 Dropped in front of my eyes - 1 hour later - the other.

Asides from actual poison - I did not think this was possible?
 
BOUGIEPROJECTS said:
When I say quick - Jusy 1 hour ago ... 2 Neaons left - looked fine - no signs of anything. 1 Dropped in front of my eyes - 1 hour later - the other.

Asides from actual poison - I did not think this was possible?

Chlorine is poison. I've heard of stories where the city water pipes are getting flushed or there has been alot of rain and they have added extra chlorine to the tap water. People have had fish die immediately after PWC. It can wipe out entire tanks. Dechlorinator is an essential chemical IMO. You don't want chlorine wiping out your colony of bacteria either.
 
Mumma.of.two said:
Chlorine is poison. I've heard of stories where the city water pipes are getting flushed or there has been alot of rain and they have added extra chlorine to the tap water. People have had fish die immediately after PWC. It can wipe out entire tanks. Dechlorinator is an essential chemical IMO. You don't want chlorine wiping out your colony of bacteria either.

Know from experience, un-dechlorinated water will take your tank out in ohhh about 18 minutes.. :/
 
Yeah, I agree that adding dechlorinator is a must, especially with city water.

So, sorry if I missed this but I was a little unclear, did you just add these guys or had they been in there for awhile? You said you cycled the tank for 3 months with bio (is that bacteria in a bottle?), but I was not sure how long the stock had been in there.

Also, what kind of test kit do you have?
 
Definitely the lack of dechlorinator is the most probable cause of the deaths.
Sounds to me that you have been lucky to keep fish alive with tap water with no dechlorinator ......

I recommend you to start to use one, such as PRIME, or Stress Coat, or whatever you prefer, but it is a MUST......
 
ejaramillo01 said:
Definitely the lack of dechlorinator is the most probable cause of the deaths.
Sounds to me that you have been lucky to keep fish alive with tap water with no dechlorinator ......

I recommend you to start to use one, such as PRIME, or Stress Coat, or whatever you prefer, but it is a MUST......

Completely agree, and Prime, made by SeaChem is by far one of the best out there (the best IMO). I highly suggest starting to use it.
 
SeaChem Prime or AmquelPlus is what you should use to get rid of your chlorine.

Sorry, but zero nitrates? Is this tank planted heavily? You should be getting some nitrates if thsi tank is cycled. How exactly was it cycled?

If it was still newly cycled IMO GBRs and neon tetras were not a great choice. Both have reputations for being sensitive and hard to keep alive. I see they have lived up to it again for the 10,000th time.
 
Sorry, did you say that you don't add dechlorinator before a water change? That is the most basic thing. Ask any person, can fish live in normal tap water, 85% will say no.


Sorry, but if you don't use and don't know what dechlorinator is, you are most definitely a noob.


No offense.



It's probably the most basic rule in fishkeeping, I am no expert myself.
 
I see that your 0 nitrates has been questioned, but didn't see that we got what test kit you are using.....

You want to strive for 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and <20 nitrates.

And heck yeah, use a dechlorinator. I recommend Prime.
 
All aquarists use dechlorinator. Teachers who keep goldfish in plastic gallon jugs use dechlorinator. What I'm saying is, we can toss nitrate and levels out the window.


You have no dechlorinator, you have no fish.


You said, "I'll definitely look into this de-chlorinator-thing. Thanks guys."


I mean... Then you wonder why fish were lost?


Lol.
 
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