Help please. Lost entire tank :(

[Zinthos26]

So yesterday morning my fish seemed fine and then last night when I got home from work they were all dead/ dying. It was definitely some kind of fungal infection or bacteria because they were covered in whitish/clearish stuff that seemed to eat away at their fins the most but also the rest of the body. I'm curious to know what this was so if anyone can identify it for me that would be great. I don't recall hearing that ick can kill your whole tank in like half a day so I don't think that was it?

Some info about my tank is its a 20 gallon long with zebra danios that I've had since they were eggs a snail and two ottos. I have not added anything new to my tank in months but I did just move to Worcester MA two weeks ago. My test kit is in a box somewhere so I can't test the water. Could this have just been in the water or something?

My last few questions is how to go about cleaning my tank? How should I go about disposing all the dead fish and what else should I get rid of? Can I keep my gravel and filter/bio balls and rinse them off or would I be safer getting rid of them? Will my plants be ok?

Thank you for any help! I'll be starting the cleaning process as soon as I get home from work.


Sent from my iPod touch using Aquarium Advice

 

[Jaeroo]

wish I could help you with this as I am in a similar situation. I feel ya.... hope everything goes well.

 

[ImACoolguy]

I would start by doing some water changes and digging for that test kit. It's very important to know what's happening in the water especially in times of disease like this.


Caleb

 

[Zinthos26]

Well sadly it is too late to save any of them. Whatever it was killed them all very fast.


Sent from my iPod touch using Aquarium Advice

 

[ImACoolguy]

Well sadly it is too late to save any of them. Whatever it was killed them all very fast.


Sent from my iPod touch using Aquarium Advice

Maybe columnaris? Bandit is the expert on that.

It's the only disease besides ick I can think of that could kill that fast.


Caleb

 

[Zinthos26]

Maybe columnaris? Bandit is the expert on that.

It's the only disease besides ick I can think of that could kill that fast.


Caleb

Yeah I think that's it. A lot of the same symptoms and it does say it can wipe out a tank in hours. So the stress of moving probably lowered their immune system. Now I know if my fish get stressed to check the water quality a lot more often.


Sent from my iPod touch using Aquarium Advice

 

[Autumnsky]

So sorry for your loss.

 

[Zinthos26]

Thanks everyone. Can anyone help me out with the cleanup process? I dont know what I should get rid of and what I can salvage. I don't want to get any new fish sick


Sent from my iPod touch using Aquarium Advice

 

[Autumnsky]

Bleach is your friend. I think you could easily clean all the rocks, bioballs, tank, parts of the filters which would have water touching them (don't forget the impeller), nets, utensils or anything else you got in the water.

Throw out filter media and as for the plants, I really don't know. If there were any valuable plants maybe try saving them but I would really just throw them out. You don't want to have to do all this again.

After bleaching, Triple rinse everything and then rinse off with or soak if possible with 7x dose Prime water.

 

[Jessy2363]

Hey, I had this same thing happen to me. One minute fish were fine, Next minute all covered in a whiteish slime and dying hours apart from each other. I almost lost the entire tank but quickly got out two of the survivors who were also suffering and using furan 2 and it fixed them. I kept them in quarantine for a week or so after the treatment with 1 tablespoon of salt per 5 gallons to help with healing of the fins. They are still alive today.Because Furan 2 fixed it and the rate at which they were dying I suspect it was columnaris. Columaaris is various strains and not all have the fluffy stuff present so it can be difficult to identify.
In regards to my tank with the infection this is what I did (although I'm not suggesting this was the best option). I left it fishless for about a week but I put in about 2 bags of aquarium salt so about a kg of salt and cleaned the filter also under hot water. I kept the old media as I'm not a rich person who can afford new everything. I figured with that much salt in there it is almost marine and any freshwater organisms couldn't possibly survive anyway. I did this because I couldn't be bothered taking the substrate out. Anyway this did the trick. I recycled it with a seeded bit of filter media from my healthy tank and yeah no more deaths.

 

[Delapool]

I would start by doing some water changes and digging for that test kit. It's very important to know what's happening in the water especially in times of disease like this.


Caleb

Plus one as well. Something has triggered this and testing water chemistry and temp would close that out to help make sure you don't get a repeat.

 

[Jessy2363]

Plus one as well. Something has triggered this and testing water chemistry and temp would close that out to help make sure you don't get a repeat.

Water chemistry is not always the case although often it is so yeah good point as wrong temp, ammonia and nitrite are definitely culprits. However, I believe there is a multitude of other scenarios to consider. For example, it takes one fish to get stressed out to pass it on to the others. Even something small like netting a fish can stress it out if it was chased for long enough. Once a fish get adrenalin pumping into its body its osmosis function are compromised and then it's organs don't function correct and immune system goes down opening it up to various pathogens to attack. A fish can take 6 weeks to recover from one stressful situation so that's 6 weeks of vulnerability to pathogens. Once the parasite of bacteria get hold of a fish and multiply the numbers of pathogens are so great they an take hold of healthy fish also as there are just too many to fight off. bullying can do it, lack of hiding places, a water change with too much warm water can spark a columnaris attack. The possibilities are just endless.

 

[ImACoolguy]

Water chemistry is not always the case although often it is so yeah good point as wrong temp, ammonia and nitrite are definitely culprits. However, I believe there is a multitude of other scenarios to consider. For example, it takes one fish to get stressed out to pass it on to the others. Even something small like netting a fish can stress it out if it was chased for long enough. Once a fish get adrenalin pumping into its body its osmosis function are compromised and then it's organs don't function correct and immune system goes down opening it up to various pathogens to attack. A fish can take 6 weeks to recover from one stressful situation so that's 6 weeks of vulnerability to pathogens. Once the parasite of bacteria get hold of a fish and multiply the numbers of pathogens are so great they an take hold of healthy fish also as there are just too many to fight off. bullying can do it, lack of hiding places, a water change with too much warm water can spark a columnaris attack. The possibilities are just endless.

While maybe true, I don't think it produces as much stress as you may think. If it did, we would be seeing many more cases of disease and the fish at the stores would all be panicking when they try to get netted 15 times a day.

Just IMO, though it affects them, I don't think it's enough to compromise the immune system to that degree.


Caleb

 

[Delapool]

Water chemistry is not always the case although often it is so yeah good point as wrong temp, ammonia and nitrite are definitely culprits. However, I believe there is a multitude of other scenarios to consider. For example, it takes one fish to get stressed out to pass it on to the others. Even something small like netting a fish can stress it out if it was chased for long enough. Once a fish get adrenalin pumping into its body its osmosis function are compromised and then it's organs don't function correct and immune system goes down opening it up to various pathogens to attack. A fish can take 6 weeks to recover from one stressful situation so that's 6 weeks of vulnerability to pathogens. Once the parasite of bacteria get hold of a fish and multiply the numbers of pathogens are so great they an take hold of healthy fish also as there are just too many to fight off. bullying can do it, lack of hiding places, a water change with too much warm water can spark a columnaris attack. The possibilities are just endless.

I think we're on the same page here?

I'm not saying it's water chemistry/temp related but testing closes it out. Then it is an issue, find solution or not an issue, keep investigating. I see I needed more text.

There must be a trigger for this and I find it's either something has been changed in the tank, the water has changed (which can include tap water chemistry changing) or something has been introduced into the tank. It's just a matter of working back. So often we focus on treatment without thinking about the cause (whatever that may be). I'm not saying your doing that however a suggestion imo for the OP.

 

[Jessy2363]

While maybe true, I don't think it produces as much stress as you may think. If it did, we would be seeing many more cases of disease and the fish at the stores would all be panicking when they try to get netted 15 times a day.

Just IMO, though it affects them, I don't think it's enough to compromise the immune system to that degree.


Caleb

Okay first of all how many stories have you heard of people bringing fish home and they die? It's happened to me quite a lot. Especially with glass cats and rummynose tetras. I acclimated them but obviously the stress of it all just caused them to die within a couple days to a few weeks. A fish's immune system can be compromised without you knowing even and yeah they don't die or get a disease. But they are still vulnerable. And look at how many posts there are about diseased fish on here. It is just pages and pages of help my molly or help my this or that.

Read this quote by Doctor Neville Carrrington. "The most basic stress response is to escape from imposed danger, which may take the form of a natural predator or , in captivity, the fishkeeper attempting to catch the fish in a net for closer examination or transfer it to another tank or pond. The first part of this response is the preparation of the body for escape, which, in biological terms, involves the release of hormones that channel all the fish's energy to power the locomotory muscles. Unfortunately, this alarm response has long-term detrimental effects. For example, one of the hormones released is adrenalin, which apart from quickening the body for instant action also disturbs the osmoregulation (i.e. control of the salt/water balance) within the fish. Another hormone involved, cortisol, affects the white blood cells and reduces their effectiveness in the immune system. The second part of the response involves the recovery of the fish's equilibrium"

The fish then has to adapt to its new surroundings which can take up to four to six weeks and has to channel all its resources into dealing with the stressful situation. That compromises its immune system. Whether it be catching it frequently, moving it to another environment, different tank mates. The list just goes on!

Think about this. In the wild there are diseases everywhere. But the fish's immune system can fight it all off. Often fish carry parasites around with them no worries at all. Why, because they are happy in their environment and it doesn't change constantly. As in a bucket of warm water dumped into the tank for example. The best thing you can do as a fish keeper is trying to emulate the wild. Research the fish you're keeping. When doing a water change use cold water and only do 20%. Use a sprinkler to put the water in and pretend it's raining and fill the tank up slowly. They will think it's raining in the amazon. The heater will bring the temp up to normal range.

Also about the pet shops. They get sick fish all the time. It's so common but they don't tell you. And guess what they use mostly Formalin and malachite green. Why because it is the harshest chemical out there and most effective for parasites and fungus. Also most pet shops run salt in their systems. Some even meth blue.

 

[coralbandit]

Massachusetts is know for very high pH and some municipal water issues?
Sounds like columnaris to me.
Pool shock is the strongest form of chlorine(bleach) you will be able to commonly get to clean stuff.
Many reports on columnaris lasting 32 days with out host so I would clean things myself.
High dose of salt over extended period may work also for cleaning thetank and all in one shot.
Sorry about your fish.

 

[Zinthos26]

Thanks everyone I have learned a lot. I got out my five gallon tank and put new gravel in it. I then rinsed all my plants, swished them in a very light solution of bleach and then rinsed them thoroughly again. Hopefully that will do the trick. I need to get my betta out of his bowl which has been his temporary home due to the move. So he gets to be the guinea pig to see if I did a good job cleaning the plants. I've also been bleaching all the gravel and everything else in my big tank and then I plan on letting it all dry completely before using it again. I am moving to NC in a month so no more fish until after the move for me :/


Sent from my iPod touch using Aquarium Advice

 

[Matt68005]

In the future, all you have to do is keep them stress free good water quality (i reccomend bare bottom tanks or sand, gravel harbours tons of nasty feces) and feed them one of these two at the first sign of a bacterial issue. Antibiotic Fish Flake Food

 

[ImACoolguy]

Or in my case quarantine all new fish.. Fish had it before I got them.

Jokes on me. I have columnaris in my tank and trying to treat it


Caleb