Loss of albino tiger oscar :(

[ZcarFR-S]

Well I am currently at work and my wife just told me my beloved albino tiger oscar passed away this evening. She was not showing any sign of ailment other than scratched on her side where she would bump into my castle hide. She was about 5" and very peaceful. However one of my other smaller fish would chase her on occasion. I do small water changes every 3 days to clean the gravel and one larger one every. 2 weeks. The only thing I can think of is she got sick from eating store bought feeders from walmart. The other fish in my tank are absolutely fine. Please stay away from store bought feeders to prevent you from losing your fish. Rip Luna you were a beloved pet. I hope you are happy in fish heaven.


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[Mogurako]

All large cichlids should not be fed feeders, they need a staple diet of high quality pellets like New Life Spectrum.

Sorry for you loss.


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[ZcarFR-S]

He only ate feeders the one time a couple of weeks ago. To top it off my wife says my banjo catfish is dead as well. I feed hikari floating cichlid pellets freeze dried shrimp pellets and a mix of frozen foods.


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[Coursair]

I would do an immediate PWC and test your water.
I hope the rest of the fish are ok.


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[ZcarFR-S]

I just did a pwc hours before the death. All other fish are active, eating and very vibrant. I have no clue to the culprit other than the rosy red feeder she ate. She only ate one(when I was trying to feed a baby gar). I do my pwc's religiously. I was told that carbon is bad for oscars just today. Could that be the culprit? Every pwc I add a spoon of aquarium salt as well.


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[Coursair]

Stop adding salt. It doesn't evaporate.

Check with your water company. Sometimes they flush the lines.

How big is the tank ?
What fish ?

Carbon isn't bad per se, but I don't waste money on it unless I'm trying to remove medications. I just add more filter media.

Test your water.

Some tanks need weekly water changes. Check temp.

Check to make sure no one has Ich.

Sorry for your loss.




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[ZcarFR-S]

Yes salt does not evaporate however when you remove water you also remove some of the salt as it is in the water. Also that is why I only use a spoon and not a full dosage. The tank was a 45g grow out tank. The fish are:
3 striped Raphael
2 spotted Raphael
2 pictus cats
3 Corey cats
2 jack dempseys
1 Texas cichlid
1 common pleco
1 albino BN pleco
1 candy stripe pleco
1 tire track eel
1 albino channel catfish
1 lake Malawi cichlid.
Besides the 6" eel the oscar was the largest fish at about 4-6" I never got a measurement. Water temp maintains at 79 degrees. Before you bash on overstock remember I said it is a grow out and most of my fish are about 1.5 2.5". I am only looking at what might have killed my oscar. No fish shows signs of ich and my water parameters are good.


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[Fishy Smell]

Could the Oscar have tried to eat the banjo catfish resulting in both deaths? I don't think it would be unusual.


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[ChaosTropicals]

Im no expert but that stock list is extremely large for a tank that size...

 

[Brookster123]

There is no way on planted earth the water chemistry in that tank is stable.. that is outrageously overstocked.. your nitrates must be off the charts. I'd seriously consider rehoming everything and start with the corys..

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[Coursair]

The scratching herself was why I wondered about Ich and/or water chemistry.

I'm glad to hear your water tested fine. I saw you are doing PWCs every 3 days.

Do you QT new fish, could it have been parasites from a Wild Caught or poorly farmed fish ?

That is a big bioload, esp the Plecos. But as babies it is easier.

My only thought is that if you want the best growth, put the future biggest fish into a larger volume. I think breeders have proven that big fish, even as babies, grow better in large tanks.
Please feel free to correct me if Im wrong.

And lastly I know people use salt as a preventative or buffer. But Cories tend to be intolerant of salt.

Ok, keep an eye on remaining fish.





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[Mebbid]

and my water parameters are good.

What do you define as "good?"

 

[ZcarFR-S]

Water parameters when I tested when I got home
0 ammonia
0 nitrate
Below 10 ppm nitrate
Water temp 79 degrees. I know I have a large bio load that is why I do the water changes I do and have the filtration I do.

I have only had issues once with water parameters and that's when the tank was cycling.

You don't see my tank everyday so I will choose what I feel is best for my fish. I can't move them to the larger tank as there is a red devil that could eat them all.


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[Brookster123]

Hey man.. it's your tank.. and yours alone. You cone into a public forum with an issue and I throw my 2 cents in the well.. all I can do.. can't really see much good coming from your scenario....but... by all means, continue as planned. .

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[Mogurako]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but none of those fish will grow large enough in the 30 gallon to be able to contend with the "Red Devil".


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[ZcarFR-S]

I ain't mad at nobody. The tank is not a 30g it's a 45. Yea I know so much better. I acquired the fish slowly so I could monitor the load and the water parameters with the addition of each fish. The only fish was the banjo that passed and yes he was qt'ed for 2 weeks before I added him. I know my stock is large and as I said I only have them in the tank so they can get large enough to not be food. My oscar was about to go to the new tank until well yea we know what happened.


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[mikem691]

Just asking but are you trying to add to the tank with the red devil?

 

[ZcarFR-S]

They will be added for a short time. The red devil is not a "devil" he only shows aggression to similar looking fish. These fish will be going into a 125. Life happened and was unable to upgrade as soon as I would have liked. Me and my wife are buying a house soon thanks to my pay raise and will be able to set up the 125. My end goal is to have a custom 8x4x3 tank and use the 125 as my new grow out.


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[Fishy Smell]

That would be a big tank, if you have 3 foot of water height make sure the stand is solid!

Just taken delivery of my 7 foot x 2 foot x 20 inch height. It's flipping massive and really needed 4 of us to carry it.


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[Jmunroe]

You will need a 500 gallon tank at least for all those fish. They are dying because of water conditions which are harder on fish with added stress of overcrowding and territoriality. You'd need to change 75% of the water daily at least to keep the water healthy. Even at their small size. Something wrong with your nitrate test. How do you think adding too many fish to a tiny aquarium is going to grow anything out?