Talk me of the ledge - Dying Fish

[confucious]

So I was really into keeping fish, but am contemplating leaving the hobby all together. Started off with a 30 gallon, did fake plants (don't really prefer the look of live freshwater plants, and they seem to cause less problems) - substrate is smooth gravel, bought a new Aqua Clear 70 and a visi-therm stealth 100W heater. Put in a bunch of fake plants, a bridge, and even a rock structure so the fish could hide and be happy.

Did a fishless cycle, watched the ammonia spike, drop, nitrites spike, drop, presence of nitrates etc.. until the levels were all in line. I know exact levels are better but I'm at work and don't have them in front of me. I did a TON of research and reading on these boards. After everything I concluded that partial 10% weekly water changes with a gravel vac was the best, so I was doing that for a few months. Also all new fish were added very slowly (2-3 per week max) All the fish seemed to be happy. Then about 2 months ago we lost 6 out of 7 fish.

Living in NYC with no central heating (and finally having a roommate home during the day) we learned our temperature was swinging from 72-78 which was the most likely cause of death/stress in the first few fish. That's understandable, I got a second heater (which was recommended here) and the problem was 100% fixed - temp. stayed at 79.5 all day.

Also had Absolutely Fish test our water just to be sure, they said the water looked great and recommended using Itch medication just to make sure before adding new fish which we did.

Round II: Had 2 pictus catfish, 3 black sailfin mollies and a really great 6 inch fire eel. I know we will need a bigger tank, but that was in the plans and we have plenty of space and money for a 90 gallon.

Now, a month after all fish seemed happy then last night we lost 2 fish and the eel is now stressed as well. I know exact water levels would help, but we have the tetra master kit and all the levels were good. We brought water samples into two reputable fish stores and they both verified our water is testing great. I'm at work or I would post exact levels. We've all grown really attached to the Fire Eel so any help is appreciated. I've attached some pictures, he was also frantically scratching himself on the Rocks so I was assuming Itch but this one fish store person today said it was a fungus (my unemployed roommate is there now)

I've tried uploading photo's, hopefully it worked. Thanks in advance!

 

[i3k]

Fungus does not cause the fish to scratch itself against the rocks. Do you see any cotton like growth on the fish anywhere?

I am thinking with the temperature swinging up and down like that caused stress to the fish and weakened the fish. I know you fixed the problem, but it might have been too late. A stressed/weak fish is surely to get attacked by ICH.

Can the fire eel handle temperature of 86 degrees? If so, raise your temp. by 2 degrees over a day until it reaches 86 degrees. Fire eels can handle some salt, so maybe you can add some aquarium salt along with the heat treatment.

 

[DragonFish71]

According to what I've found, and here is one of the links, the fire eel likes salt in their water. So, if this is the case, it could be stressed because of that. Some fish, say like dragon gobys, need salt in their water. Dragon gobys are brackish water fish, requiring more salt than your eel perhaps. Fish stores sell these gobys as FW fish, which they aren't, and they will die without the salt. Also, do not use an ich med that has malachite green with you eel or catfish. Unless you use it at half strength. They don't tolerate it well. What I do is say the med says use 2 drops per gallon for 3 days. That would be 60 drops for your tank. I use 30 drops for 6 days. Lots of fish don't tolerate meds well. I've found that using the half dose method keeps them from stressing as much. I have never tried the salt/heat method but I hear it does work well.

Fire Eels

 

[Blueiz]

Remember, if the fish prefer brackish conditions, reg salt, NaCl, will not create this. You will need marine salts. There is no reason to put salt, NaCl, in a tank unless you are treating for disease.

Those look like some sort of injuries on your eel, maybe burns from your heater. Keep the water extra clean and you can use pima fix, or salt at 1 tsp per g to aid in healing. I would do water changes and add activated carbon to the filter to get rid of the ich meds if you added them.

To note, it isn't a wise idea to treat with medication as a preventative measure unless you know the source of the fish has a disease and your fish has been exposed to it.

 

[confucious]

Thank you everyone for the help. I was advocating for salt/heat, but both fish stores (good one's too) were pushing the medication route so I was outvoted by the roommates 2-1. This is the second death of all fish we've experienced within a year. Since each time all water tests were normal, it's really annoying. The temperature swings happened for the first deaths, this time around the temperature hasn't budged from 79. The eel passed away last night, as well as all three sail fin Molly's. I feel like it has to be some kind of disease or chemical in the water.

I'm thinking if we decide to keep fish moving forward we need to break down and completely clean everything in the tank and re-cycle. Is diluted bleach water the best way to go about this?

 

[Mark Hewitt]

I'm thinking if we decide to keep fish moving forward we need to break down and completely clean everything in the tank and re-cycle. Is diluted bleach water the best way to go about this?

I would seriously doubt it! Any bleach residues left over even small amounts would certainly kill your new fish. Just wash everything down with ordinary tap water, then again using a very concentrated salt solution (table salt is fine), dry everything out and let it sit for a week or so. Any nasties that are lurking shouldn't survive that.

I would replace the gravel and if you want to the insides of the filter, of course as you say you'll need to recycle the tank as all the bacteria will be gone.

 

[Blueiz]

You can use diluted bleach water, soak in triple dechlor after throughly rinsing. Just be sure you use plain bleach, no fragrance. Although, I really don't think you need to do this . I think you just need to get a handle on some good advice, of which you most liely aren't going to get at the pet store. Check out the articles here and post any questions that you have and we will be glad to help you .

 

[confucious]

Thanks again everyone… ok so here’s my concern:

In the beginning we had 8 happy fish, 2 small pictus catfish, 5 neon tetras, and balloon german ram. This is all in a 30 gallon tank. For about 3 months or so everyone was very happy, no problems at all. Then in the span of 48 hours everything died. During those 2 days the water tests were all great: no nitrites or ammonia, PH around 7, nitrates were low and 2 separate fish stores verified the water was good which we checked in case the master test kit we had was off.

The temperature during that time was fluctuating greatly, so we got a second heater and waited a few days before attempting fish round II. Then again, everyone was fine for 2 months or so – and in the span of 48 hours everyone started dying. There were no signs of white spots except for the eel this second time around. It’s making me think there has to be some lingering disease in the tank as the water has always tested great, and this second time around the temperature was at a constant 79. The tank is away from direct sunlight… I’m at a loss

 

[Blueiz]

There is always the possibility of enviromental contaminations. Such as having something on your hands and feeding the fish, like lotion-hair products-etc.. Or spraying an aresol around the tank. Disease doesn't typically kill withing 498 hours with no signs or symptoms.

What kind of heater do you have? I keep my tanks at 76 degrees, I think 79 is a bit high, although it is within the tropical range. Your eel looks like it may have heater burns on it, does it hang out near the heater?