My tetras are DEAD!!

[DragonChild]

I got up this morning, and all of my tetras were dead! Two were stuck on the filter intake valve, and the others were just missing!! My poor Mickey is all lonely!!

*sighs*

On the upside, I took my water to the lfs to see if something was out of whack, she said that my ph was base, my nitrates were nill, and my nitrites were just a little elevated, a simple 25% water change would put it at zero. She didn't know what killed them all, but I'm seriously worried, becuase my shark is listless today, his fins are tight against his body, and he isn't as active as normal.



*sniffles* The tetras are dead now. So I gotta get some new ones.

 

[brendan]

sounds like they could be sick

 

[QTOFFER]

Sorry to hear about your tetras.
Before you get any new ones, you need to find out what's going on in that tank because it sounds like the shark is sick too (listless, clamped fins).

You mentioned pH, nitrites, and nitrates - what about ammonia levels? Is the tank cycled? Do you have any snails that may have died and fouled the water? Ammonia poisoning can take out a whole group of fish in short time.

The 25% water change suggested by your lfs was good advice. I would do that every other day until you have this figured out.

 

[madasafish]

Sorry for the loss. Many of us have suffered similar genocides in our tanks, and have come out of them more educated because of this site. I hope we can give you some answers!

QTOFFER's started you out on the right track. Ammonia is critical to the health of fish. That is, there shouldn't be *any* measurable amount in the tank! If you have no nitrates at all, and some nitrites, it sounds like you're just starting out the "cycle" of your tank (there are usually at least 10 ppm of nitrates in a healthy tank, as it is broken down by bacteria more slowly).

Also possible, if you thought you had a cycled tank, is that something killed the bacteria. The usual culprit is anti-bacterial medication (such as Maracyn, and other erythromycin-based products). Did you use one of these recently?

It sounds like ammonia is to blame, but it's also possible that a recent addition to the tank may have killed the tetras quickly. Flexibacter columnaris is a bacterial infection that can kill fish in 24 hours or a week, depending on its virulence. If you recently introduced a new fish or several new fish (or even plants) to the aquarium, they might have brought a disease along with them.

Sorry again for your loss. I'd advise 50% water changes in an event such as this to get as much of whatever's in the water out.

Hope things turn out for the best. I'd wait on getting new tetras until you've figured out what happened to the last ones.

 

[jratuszn]

Are you sure you're using as much dechlor as the instructions say? I was using a "1 drop/gallon" dechlor, went and bought more of the same stuff at the store, and ended up killing a few fish because i didn't re-read, and the new stuff was 3 drops/gallon.


-J

 

[DragonChild]

Okay, I have had the tank set up since October, fish in it since late November, early December, and haven't added anything new since the Mickey Mouse platys. That was almost 3 weeks ago now.

That said, I'll check on the amonia.

Alot of you said not to get anymore tetras until I've found out what it was...that pretty much went without saying here. I was just thinking that I need to look at where I can get some healthy stock from...we have alot of BAD lfs that have like 15-20 dead fish on the bottom of the tank, with the others feeding off of them. I realize that in any given fish store tank, there will be dead fish, but this is extreme imo.

I will check the amonia asap, and get back to you. The shark looks better today, his fins aren't as clamped, and he's moving around. I dunno if there is a 24 hour fish flu or what, but it's been wierd.

Of course, the freakin pleco didn't die. He eats about 4 algea tablets a night though.

 

[QTOFFER]

we have alot of BAD lfs that have like 15-20 dead fish on the bottom of the tank, with the others feeding off of them. I realize that in any given fish store tank, there will be dead fish, but this is extreme imo.

Disheartening, isn't it? I had to do alot of looking around before finally finding a lfs that consistently has healthy livestock. When I found it, I started doing ALL my business there (food, filter supplies, etc), even if they were a tad more expensive then the mega-retailers.

Of course, the freakin pleco didn't die. He eats about 4 algea tablets a night though.

Hmmm. That seems like alot of food per day for one pleco. My corys don't eat the entire tablet - most of it dissolves away and gets stuck in the gravel. That said, how often do you vac the gravel? Do you have live plants? Your problem might simply be elevated ammonia due to excess food and pleco poop in the gravel.

 

[Menagerie]

I would agree that the amount of wafers for the pleco is a bit much. My 5 yr old common pleco gets an algae wafer every other day plus as much algae he can eat in the tank (there's not a lot). All my fish are fed every other day. That keeps waste down, keeps over weight problems from occurring and keeps the food bill down

 

[DragonChild]

Herm...okay, I'll vac the gravel when I do a water change tomorrow. The package said 2 wafers a day, and he would suck those down awfully fast, so I tried three, and in twenty minutes they were gone. I'll cut back on those as well. Thanks.

 

[krap101]

my snails can take a algae wafer in 5 mins its about the size of 1/2 my palm

 

[patryuji]

Herm...okay, I'll vac the gravel when I do a water change tomorrow. The package said 2 wafers a day, and he would suck those down awfully fast, so I tried three, and in twenty minutes they were gone. I'll cut back on those as well. Thanks.

Only feed it what it can eat in 3-4 minutes.

 

[jaysono]

Think about anything else you may have done just outside your tank.

Any household cleaning items sprayed in the area? Did you recently put your hands in the tank without thouroughly washing? Could teh food be contaminated in any manner?

 

[DragonChild]

Think about anything else you may have done just outside your tank.

Any household cleaning items sprayed in the area? Did you recently put your hands in the tank without thouroughly washing? Could teh food be contaminated in any manner?

I don't think so, the food is always set on top of the tank soas to keep it safe, and I never allow any chemicals around that tank. It cost me a bundle, I'm not about to have it go under.

The only thing in the last 2 weeks that have changed is I changed (not just rinsed out really well) my filter sponge, and we had an incident where my sistera accused my brother of pouring around a teaspoon of salt into my tank, but I don't think that would hurt it would it? It was natural sea salt, and the tank is a 40 gallon.

 

[krap101]

what fish are in it? besides the tetras?

 

[DragonChild]

What fish are in it? besides the tetras?

There is a red-tailed shark (No, I honestly do not believe he ate them, he has never bothered them in any way shape or form.), a pleco, and a mickey mouse platy.