Lost two fish in one day

[Waikle]

Hi there, last weekend I lost two fish. The first one, a Pristella tetra who was one of my first fish when I set up the tank a year ago had obviously been dying for a few days so I researched euthanasia and did the whole clove oil thing. It started with a curved spine so I quarantined it and took a pic to show the the pet store - just happened to be going to the city- and they said that it looked like maybe I caught it with the gravel vac. So I put it back in the tank with the rest. Oops. A day or so later it was acting rather lethargic so I put it back in quarantine where it stopped eating and I eventually put it out of its misery. That same afternoon I noticed my pineapple platy (had about 10 months) acting rather lethargic as well so much so that it got stuck to the filter intake. So I quarantined it and it was dead within hours. I don't know what disease might have affected them, they were not new fish and I hadn't added any new fish in months. I haven't changed the decor since I set up the tank a year ago. Although I did add some hornwort on the advice of my pet store which had started to die a few weeks previous but I did remove it. I am worried that the rest of my fish were exposed to whatever killed these two. If so do I take a chance and add another fish? My ammonia is at 0, ph is 7.6, temp is 78 and I don't have a nitrate test kit right now but I will be getting another as soon as I can. At the time there were 2 platy, 2 pristella tetra, 2 head and taillight tetra, 3 columbian tetra, 1 peppered cory and 1 assasin snail in the 20 gallon tank. I feed them flake food because that's all I can get locally, I do weekly water changes. Now to top this all off there was a power outage this morning that has fried my filter (Aquaclear 30) and heater. Again these are not things that I can buy locally. How long can fish go without a filter? Or will they be ok for a week if I do daily water changes? Thanks again for any advice.

 

[Delapool]

Hi there, last weekend I lost two fish. The first one, a Pristella tetra who was one of my first fish when I set up the tank a year ago had obviously been dying for a few days so I researched euthanasia and did the whole clove oil thing. It started with a curved spine so I quarantined it and took a pic to show the the pet store - just happened to be going to the city- and they said that it looked like maybe I caught it with the gravel vac. So I put it back in the tank with the rest. Oops. A day or so later it was acting rather lethargic so I put it back in quarantine where it stopped eating and I eventually put it out of its misery. That same afternoon I noticed my pineapple platy (had about 10 months) acting rather lethargic as well so much so that it got stuck to the filter intake. So I quarantined it and it was dead within hours. I don't know what disease might have affected them, they were not new fish and I hadn't added any new fish in months. I haven't changed the decor since I set up the tank a year ago. Although I did add some hornwort on the advice of my pet store which had started to die a few weeks previous but I did remove it. I am worried that the rest of my fish were exposed to whatever killed these two. If so do I take a chance and add another fish? My ammonia is at 0, ph is 7.6, temp is 78 and I don't have a nitrate test kit right now but I will be getting another as soon as I can. At the time there were 2 platy, 2 pristella tetra, 2 head and taillight tetra, 3 columbian tetra, 1 peppered cory and 1 assasin snail in the 20 gallon tank. I feed them flake food because that's all I can get locally, I do weekly water changes. Now to top this all off there was a power outage this morning that has fried my filter (Aquaclear 30) and heater. Again these are not things that I can buy locally. How long can fish go without a filter? Or will they be ok for a week if I do daily water changes? Thanks again for any advice.

They will hopefully be ok for a week with daily water changes (or as needed as ammonia increases). I have a battery powered air pump just in case of this or power failure.

What is room temperature? If only a few degrees below their preferred temp range, they will be fine (if somewhat lethargic). Temp-matched water changes should also help.

Could be a bacterial infection. Were there any marks on the fish? Did they just slow down or were they swimming erratically / twitching / flashing at all?

I'd wait until you have the tank all sorted and settled for a few weeks before getting any more fish. An alternative would a quarantine tank. Last question was were there any fish in with plants you bought (at store tanks) and did they look ok? I will usually avoid any plant tanks at the lfs here just in case but next store is only 5 minutes away.

 

[Waikle]

I did sort out the filter. Turns out a local lady had an old dynaflo filter which I picked up thinking it would at least work for a week until I could get a proper one. Turns out the motor was the same as the aquaclear so now I have a filter again.
As far as the fish, they didn't have any visible marks, they just kind of lost all their energy and appetite. I have a picture of the pristella tetra I will try to post.
The plants came from a plant only tank, although a few snails did catch a ride home in there.
I did invest in a quarantine tank... and a surge protector. I had never quarantined fish before, I just trusted the pet store. Which brings me to another question... how long should I quarantine new fish for?
Thanks

 

[Delapool]

Time in a QT seems to vary from 0 to say 6 weeks from threads I have seen. It all depends on how much you trust the fish shop really.

I tend to allow 2 weeks in QT. One week for any bacterial / ich infections to show and another week to see if the fish is keeping weight / pooping ok (for internal parasites). Others will allow 6 weeks for internal parasites to possibly show.

My pet stores are small so I can check fish out readily for a few weeks before buying as well.

Plants I will usually put in a bucket of fresh water overnight. Pretty sure I've had ich come in with water from plants so I check those tanks more carefully now. Others will treat plants with dips before using in main tanks (eg remove snails).