Newly cycled tank losing fish

[Oddness87]

I have a 45g tank and completed a fish-less cycle last week.

I went out and bought some swordtails. I started with 10, which overstocked my tank a little when you consider adult sizes.

I bought fish on Sunday. All was great the next few days and my fish were active and eating fine.

Then I woke up Wednesday to two dead fish and one MIA; I assumed the missing fish was eaten because I have yet to find him.

I inspected the other two before adding them to my flower bed to further benefit the circle of life (thank you Lion King) and there was nothing out of the ordinary.

My tank parameters were all fine 0 amm 0 nitrite 8 nitrate PH 7.4

I woke up this morning Friday and noticed another fish separated from the group near my filter where it flows into my tank and he would not move. After coming home from work, he died and I inspected him. This time, I noticed one side of his gills were swollen but nothing else.

I should also mention I completed a 40% pwc as my Nitrates were about 10 today when I tested.

Any ideas?

 

[Oddness87]

Did some research and possible swim bladder disease for the latest death based on the symptoms I witnessed: Floating somewhat sideways near the top of the tank without much movement, Sinking to the bottom and then dashing to the top for air...

Unknown cause for the other 3 that died as I did not witness any abnormal behavior before they died.

Hopefully I don't experience any more fatalities

 

[absolutangel04]

Since you just got the fish on Sunday, there is a good chance that at least part of the issue is just simply bad stock. Not all fish are treated well before they make it into your tank.

 

[jlk]

Hi! I honestly suspect the fish you purchased were either already ill or the stress of moving caused an illness they likely had been exposed to manifest itself. There's not a lot you will be able to do right now other than keep their water healthy and watch them closely for any symptoms that may be able to point in the direction of a specific disease that can be addressed. Poor/weak stock is another possibility as well. I am sorry this happening! Keep us posted if you notice anything further amiss & we will try to help!

 

[jetajockey]

Do you use salt? Does the lfs? How did you acclimate?

 

[Oddness87]

I acclimated using drip method.

I'm not sure if the lfs uses salt but I don't. I'll check with them tomorrow when I stop by.

 

[butterfly_koi]

Could it be possible that you stocked it too fast to soon? Maybe your BB couldn't keep up with the bio-load of all the fish that were being added

 

[Oddness87]

I'm not sure. I know the swordtails have a decent bioload. Before I added fish my bb were processing 4ppm of ammonia in less than a day.

 

[jlk]

Stocking quickly was not an issue. If it was, you would have seen spikes in ammonia & nitrite (which you didnt). Being able to stock quickly is a large factor in fishless cycling to 4ppm- its designed to be handle a hefty bioload. It doesnt guarentee that there wont be possible fluctuations but yours numbers look good & your tank is stable.

 

[Oddness87]

So turns out I have ich. One of my fish is covered this morning but seems to be acting normal. I'm gradually raising the temp and am on my way out to buy some salt.

 

[jlk]

Well, you now know the culprit! Good luck & speedy recovery!

 

[Oddness87]

Thanks for the help everyone.

Hopefully I will get this taken care of and my tank will settle down to a bit of normalcy.

 

[jetajockey]

Ich doesn't normally just kill off fish like that, IMO it's just a side note to another issue all together. Seems like fish are more susceptible to ich outbreaks when they are stressed or in a weakened state.

 

[Oddness87]

So I've treated the ich successfully and now have two adults left in the tank. A male and a female. I also have 4 fry that have survived this ordeal. I would say it was a correct assumption in thinking it was a whole other issue and ich was a secondary disease outbreak from stress but everything has seemed to subside. Will be investing in a quarantine tank before introducing any new fish.