Should I Euthanize my remaining fish??????

[venymae]

Ok, last advice of the night before I head to bed

Yes, you did look a little overstocked in your picture which is why I asked.
3 guppies, an endler, a ballon molly, and 3 otos is not overstocked anymore IMO.

I am going to stick to what I said earlier about what you should do with your tank.
ON TOP of that I'll just point out a few places I personally think you could improve your already existing tank.

1-otos can be sensitive fish and like to eat biofilm, I would start feeding them very small pieces of cucumber (remove after a day or two uneaten chunks so they don't pollute the water). The recent upheaval and breakdown in your tank might have been too hard on them and they may not make it. Personally, I think they are fish that die more often than not (but they're so cute!!!) and don't recommend them for most people.

2-Don't get any more fish till your tank settles down and remains healthy for a month or two. Then, to help you stock use the aqadvisor stocking calculator (link below in my signature) and if you want to add fish do it SLOWLY (one or two a week). Aqadvisor.com is really great for beginners and even advance aquarists for a quick look at what might work in your tank. Overstocking is surprisingly easy and can be very detrimental (even if your water is good mental stress happens too!):/

3-I'm assuming that when you say "full cleaning" you mean doing a partial water change and vacuum. Good! remember not to change the filter pad unless it's literally falling apart. A gentle swishing in old tank water will suffice to clean it.

4-double check that you have enough filtration for your tank, just because a filter says its rated for a 20 gallon doesn't always mean it is (unfortunately). aqadvisor can also help with this. (You want to know how many gallons per hour it does to really know the rating). If you did not seed (seed means stick the old material into the new filter so the bacteria are still there) your new filter with old filter media, make sure you watch your water very carefully for the next month as it is possible to go through a new cycle/mini-cycle while you regrow the bacteria in the filter.

Really, sometimes we have no idea what happened to our fish, why, or how. But we know it did. If I were in your shoes I would just keep trying to get my fish better, giving them the best space to heal and a calm environment and hopefully preventing it from happening again. Prevention is the best cure! (that sounded cheesy, but I'm tired and it's true!) Keep us updated on your fish and good luck!

ps- My 20 gallon long is my favorite tank. I just love the size!

 

[amyb_70]

Ok, last advice of the night before I head to bed

Yes, you did look a little overstocked in your picture which is why I asked.
3 guppies, an endler, a ballon molly, and 3 otos is not overstocked anymore IMO.

I am going to stick to what I said earlier about what you should do with your tank.
ON TOP of that I'll just point out a few places I personally think you could improve your already existing tank.

1-otos can be sensitive fish and like to eat biofilm, I would start feeding them very small pieces of cucumber (remove after a day or two uneaten chunks so they don't pollute the water). The recent upheaval and breakdown in your tank might have been too hard on them and they may not make it. Personally, I think they are fish that die more often than not (but they're so cute!!!) and don't recommend them for most people.

2-Don't get any more fish till your tank settles down and remains healthy for a month or two. Then, to help you stock use the aqadvisor stocking calculator (link below in my signature) and if you want to add fish do it SLOWLY (one or two a week). Aqadvisor.com is really great for beginners and even advance aquarists for a quick look at what might work in your tank. Overstocking is surprisingly easy and can be very detrimental (even if your water is good mental stress happens too!):/

3-I'm assuming that when you say "full cleaning" you mean doing a partial water change and vacuum. Good! remember not to change the filter pad unless it's literally falling apart. A gentle swishing in old tank water will suffice to clean it.

4-double check that you have enough filtration for your tank, just because a filter says its rated for a 20 gallon doesn't always mean it is (unfortunately). aqadvisor can also help with this. (You want to know how many gallons per hour it does to really know the rating). If you did not seed (seed means stick the old material into the new filter so the bacteria are still there) your new filter with old filter media, make sure you watch your water very carefully for the next month as it is possible to go through a new cycle/mini-cycle while you regrow the bacteria in the filter.

Really, sometimes we have no idea what happened to our fish, why, or how. But we know it did. If I were in your shoes I would just keep trying to get my fish better, giving them the best space to heal and a calm environment and hopefully preventing it from happening again. Prevention is the best cure! (that sounded cheesy, but I'm tired and it's true!) Keep us updated on your fish and good luck!

ps- My 20 gallon long is my favorite tank. I just love the size!

Thank you ALL for your help!!! I'm pleased to say when I just checked on my fish they seem to be doing well. I saw a lot more fish swimming and acting normal. Although a few still look blah, excited my otos are regaining the darker color on top. I am hoping there are no surprise twists to this. I will continue to treat tank as bottle says, do a gently PWC and be sure to fill the tank a bit more than it is right now.
You've all been a huge help, your advice kept me from breaking down the tank and probably killing them with stress. Illness is also a waiting game in aquaria life. I do not intend to add any fish for a long time. I'll wait and make sure it's back to healthy and see if my reminding fish grow and thrive better being there's about half of what was there about a week ago. It's far to easy to add and overstock, I think I've learned, the hard way, to be patient and let my young's grow to a more mature state. Thanks again.


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[Matt68005]

Glad to have helped amy!! If only i had found a forum like this when i was new to the hobby, i would have saved alot of time and hastle and dead fish
It took me reading books and doing internet searches, reading about diseases and meds at night when i cant sleep, years of personal trial and error to finally even keep my fish alive! LOL
Glad to see this forum does help new people. So many people blow 100 bucks or more on fish and then tear it down and sell it when their fish all die, theres so much more to this hobby than what is first apparent. people think, meh, their fish, just put them in declor water and feed them and they'll be fine. SO much more too it than that.

 

[amyb_70]

Matt, your right on with that. When I started in April or may I thought ok 10 gal tank, gravel, something pretty and a couple pretty fish and some food.. Easy peasy right - ahh very wrong, heaters, air stones, filters, compatible fish, proper temp, how to add fish and when. Those are the easy things. I never thought it would be hard to keep some of them alive, disease or sickness never crossed my mind. They are a lot of work, just in different ways than most pets. I've had several types of pets, by far I enjoy my fish the most even though I have a hard time keeping them alive, and I have no clue why it's so hard for me. I have read, searched, re searched, talked to experienced breeders and common people here. But I still have hard times.


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