Ugh, dead discus :'( What is wrong with my tank?

[adeebm]

I just came home from school today to see my discus dead :'( He was a great fish and I had just found a food for him other than bloodworms that he would eat. He had been hiding recently, but he's always been shy so I didn't think anything of it. There are no signs of disease, bloating or anything. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 5ppm nitrates, pH of 8.2 and 80F. It's a planted 46 gallon, (stocking in "my tanks"). I do weekly 50% PWCs. I just can't understand why fish keep dying. First 3 GBRs, then my angelfish, and now my discus. This is getting to be a problem. It's terrible to see fish die. What could possibly be wrong?

The only thing that's recently changed is that I introduced 5 hatchetfish and 4 more cardinal tetras. I also noticed that one of my cardinals is hovering above the ground, gulping and apparently unable to swim. His fins are either clamped to his side or missing. Could my discus possibly have tried to eat him and died? The cardinal sorta likes like he was in a mouth.

--Adeeb

 

[iceywater101]

GBR and Discus are very delicate fish. If the Ph or temp of the water changes a bit it can cause death. The Ph in your tank does look a bit high for discus. If you going to try again I recommend adding peat to your filter or using RO water and adding minerals to it.

 

[adeebm]

Hmm, I don't think that's it. I've read many accounts of discus kept and even breed at a pH of 8 and above. He's been fine for a few months too, so why would pH kill him all of a sudden?

Also, peat would only make it worse. My water is very well buffered as most water at a pH of 8.2. Peat would have no effect other than softening the water until a point where the buffers are overcome at which point my pH would crash. So staying at 8.2 is safer and more stable.

All of the fish have done well for a few months and then died all of a sudden.

--Adeeb

 

[mattrox]

Most likely the new introductions introduced a disease of some sort. Hard to know. If I were you I would just leave the tank for atleast 3 weeks and observe before getting any new fish.

 

[adeebm]

Yeah, I won't be getting anything atleast until after winter break. I introduced the new fish four days ago, could a disease have spread and killed that fast?

--Adeeb

 

[iceywater101]

Do you have a QT tank?

I have a 10 gal tank I keep inside the stand on my 29 gal tank that I use to QT all new fish for at least a month before I add them to my other tanks. I also use this as a hospital tank for sick fish.

 

[mudraker]

A+ on the QT.

New fish without a quarantine period is almost always a disaster.

With a clean tank like yours, diseases from new fish are a distinct possibility. I know you already have a number of tanks, but a even a cheapo little tank and extra you keep in a closet a closet until needed can work wonders. Just rob old filter media to seed the QT filter when you add new fish or need to treat a sick one.

I really understand your frustration here.

 

[adeebm]

Yeah, I've been meaning to setup a QT and will soon. I don't think disease was the problem in this case though. There was no change in his physical appearance or behavior since the new fish and it had only been 4 days. I doubt any disease would incubate and have time to kill that fast.

And my previous fish too. I wonder what killed them... Gotta get to the bottom of this

--Adeeb

 

[Jason7894561230]

Thats really is annoying, prehaps a swing in PH or something, came up. Did you forget to put Water conditioner in the Water when you changed it? Or prehaps that maybe the addition of the fish may hvae caused a minor spike in ammonia that the Discus couldnt handle

 

[mudraker]

What was is the water temperature of the tank? Discuss need very warm water to thrive in. They are also not the easiest fish to keep alive.

GBRs are said to be very difficult to keep alive. I've never kept them for that reason though they are gorgeous fish.

Did you have the discus when the Angels died? I tried to keep them together once years ago and the discus ended up killing them, though both can be fairly aggressive.

 

[adeebm]

I always dose prime for the whole tank with PWCs so that's not it. With my water I would say a pH swing is pretty unlikely. I suppose an ammonia spike with the fish is a possibility although those fish have a low bioload and with my tank being overfiltered and planted, it seems unlikely.

The cardinal I was talking about died today So unless my theory of the discus trying to eat him and chocking(a bit far fetched) is true, the only other reasons I can think of are disease or lack of nutrition. He had been eating only bloodworms for a few months because that was all I could get him to eat. I had finally found some pellets he liked when he died so maybe all that time with bad nutrition caught up with him. Or perhaps he had internal parasites. :/

Yes I had the discus and angelfish together and there were no issues. Infact, they were almost a pair. They swam together, ate together and slept together lol. Never any nipping or anything. I keep the tank at 80F. I know it's the low end of their range but none of the other fish are going to handle 84F well

I guess if nothing obvious comes up, all I can do is check my params, wait a month and try again...

--Adeeb

 

[Jason7894561230]

Im sorry Adeebm
Also i was wondering what does Shave the Whales mean?

 

[adeebm]

Im sorry Adeebm
Also i was wondering what does Shave the Whales mean?

Lol, it's just a play on "save the whales".

--Adeeb

 

[Jason7894561230]

Oh i see