Massive Deaths, help!

[yv1]

okay here goes, i left for july 4th hoping the tank would be okay, i even put in the 4 day feeder pyramids to sustain the fish while i was away.

well i was wrong, unfortunately i came back to a disaster zone. about 9 fish had perished and 20 or so snails (which im sort of glad happened since i had way too many)...but i have none now.

only the cardinal tetras, otos, frogs, and corys survived. guppies and mollies died and are still dying...

my plants had some unusual deaths also, anubias nana looks horrible, riccia died, m. umbrosum leaves are rotting away. survivors are cabomba, red tiger lotus, ludwigia repens, and java moss.

what the heck happened in 3 days?????? i checked my levels , everything seems fine. has anyone had this problem before? this is the first time i have left the tank unattended...but 3 days can do this????? i am so lost, i dont know what to do but try to save what is left. but i have to leave again this weekend for world superbike races, is there anything i can do to prevent another massive extinction?

i wonder if it is the Algaefix i have been putting in recently...

sincerely,
confused

 

[fishfreek]

You checked all your levels. Where they all 0?

Its possible the feeder thing caused the water quality to go down hill. I always just leave the fish unfeed for the time im gone. Fish for the most part can go days with out us putting food in the tank.

Its also possible the algaefix did a number on your biobed. Once a few fish die then water quality just goes further down hill.

 

[yv1]

thanks for the quick reply,

man i do one thing to kill algae at the sacrifice of fish and some plants. at least my algaes dissappearing. so should i go ahead and do a water change? if so, what percentage?

my levels are...checking..........holy crap. my pH is at 6.0 and ammonia is up again. nitrites are 0. what the heck. but it was okay b4!!!!!! i figure the ammonia is from all the rotting fish, or is it?

now what to do about that.......

im just wondering also why only the guppies and mollies died?

 

[i3k]

I would do a 30% water change...that would raise your pH and bring down the ammonia levels...don't know what to do with the plants since mine are all fake. :?

 

[Allivymar]

Oh that sucks

Yeah, your ammonia spike is from the decomposing fish most likely. The weekend feeder didn't help (don't bother next time; they throw a lot of crap into your system and your fish won't starve if they dont eat for a little while).

As for why it happened, and why only the mollies and guppies...maybe you had a temp spike while you were away and those are the 2 breeds that couldn't take higher temps? Just a guess.

 

[fishfreek]

If you had not checked your water levels when you got hom till now then yes i would expect the ammonia is up due to the fish and snail deaths. PH could be down due to oxygen levels or other reasons.

At this poit I would do a water change of 20%.

the guppies and mollies might be the ones that where most sensitive to the water changes. Although most of the time mollies are rather hearty.

 

[i3k]

Oh, and don't forget to clean out that gravel real well.

 

[yv1]

dang i have a big project tonight.........

thanks everyone for your help wanna see pics of b4 n after?

now i regret trimming it down and throwing out the extra. now im having second thoughts about cutting back all that cabomba...

 

[yv1]

after