MontanaDolphin
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Hello, and thank you for taking the time to read my post. Please be patient, as this will be lengthy.
Let me start off by telling you about my tank as it was up until 3 weeks ago. I had an eastern painted turtle, named Sam, that my husband found as a hatchling a month after we met 10 years ago. I kept him in a 55 gallon aquarium and he thrived. When we moved into this house 5 years ago, we had to downgrade our tank for lack of room, so Sam's new home held 20 gallons. During warm weather (mid-spring, summer, into mid-fall) I would put him in his "outdoor pool" every couple of days so he could stretch his legs and bask in sunlight that wasn't artificial. The indoor tank setup was simple...he had a 3-tiered basking rock and a filter. I kept the water level low enough that he could get out of the water and sit on the top tier of the stone...about 1/3 full. I fed him a variety of foods: reptile sticks, earthworms, feeder fish, slugs, crickets...he ate anything that moved. Two summers ago my boys won 2 goldfish at the county fair, and we put them in Sam's tank (he never ate anything that big). The fish and the turtle became buddies...I would constantly see the fish cleaning his shell and feet, and they swam around freely with no fear of the turtle. After visiting my mom in PA last September, I added two baby catfish and three goldfish I had brought home from her small man-made pond. The goldfish and baby catfish adapted well to their new home.
About three weeks ago I noticed a change in Sam's behavior. My husband had a co-worker over, and he asked about the turtle, so I took Sam out to show him. I noticed he had green algae growing on his shell, which was normal, but not in such a large amount. So I took Sam to the sink and turned on the water, stuck him underneath and started cleaning him off. Now, normally when i do this, I have to pull his feet out with my fingers so i can rub them clean. This time, however, he kept his legs stretched out, no reaction to my touch at all. I thought that odd, because even after 10 years of this routine, he always pulled his feet into his shell when I'd touch them. I put him back in his tank, keeping an eye on him the rest of the night and the next day after I woke up. He was still eating, but sluggish, so I figured he was ok. Then, four days later, I tapped the turtle sticks against the side of the tank...his signal that it was time to eat...but Sam didn't move. His head and feet were out, eyes closed, and he was laying on the bottom of the tank behind the rock. I also noticed one of the goldfish was dead, lying at the bottom as well (I guessed it had been dead for a couple of days by the looks of it...and that Sam had snacked on it, because its head was missing). I pulled him out, my gut wrenching because had been acting so strangely for the past few days, and rubbed his head, hoping he was just sleeping, but he didn't move. I put him in the kitchen sink and ran to my computer to find answers. I read that there was the possibility he was hibernating, but I didn't think that was the case...we had him for 10 years and he NEVER hibernated. I also read that there was a chance he could be revived, so I followed the advice I found on the internet, but after two days of Sam in the kitchen sink, I realized there was no hope, he was gone.
A week later another goldfish was dead. I then decided to turn the tank into a regular fish aquarium. I took Sam's basking rock out, filled the tank with water treated with AquaSafe, and put an large aquarium stone in the tank that I had from when I first got the smaller tank. A few days later I went to Walmart and bought a bag of gravel, two algae eaters and two fresh water snails (the label had called them "mystery snails"), floated the bags in the water and rinsed the gravel, then added it to the tank. Thirty minutes later I added the fish and snails.
The first fish of the new tank set-up died in two days. It was one of the algae eaters. The next fish was one of my baby catfish. Then, this morning, two of the three remaining goldfish were stuck to the intake of the filter, dead. The third goldfish was barely alive, still breathing but having a difficult time keeping itself from floating sideways (I ended the poor fish's suffering swiftly and painlessly). All that remains in the tank is one algae eater, one baby catfish, and the two snails...and the catfish isn't looking so good.
I thought at first the recent deaths were caused from not cycling the tank, but that didn't explain why my turtle or the two first goldfish died...plus, I have never cycled the tank when I would change Sam's water...I would just carry the tank to the kitchen, put the fish in a bowl of the water, put Sam in the smaller half of my double-sided sink, and dump the water out. Then I'd scrub the inside of the tank with a rough sponge (to remove all the green stuff that grew constantly on the glass), the basking rock with a utility brush, and the outside and inside of the filter with a toothbrush. I'd fill the tank 1/3 full with tap water, carry it back to the stand, and then add the rock and filter. I'd add Sam (after a thorough scrubbing) and then the fish, not even treating the water for chlorine...the fish never had issues with it, even in the past when there were feeder goldfish still remaining in the tank before Sam ate them.Then I thought that maybe the first fish that had died may have been sick, and when Sam ate the head, whatever germ or disease the fish carried killed him. Perhaps whatever infected that first goldfish had spread to the other goldfish who spread it to the catfish and then the algae eaters. Another idea that came to mind after reading some information on the internet is that perhaps the aquarium stone I put in the tank to replace the basking rock was releasing foreign chemicals into the tank...the stone has been outside for five years in my yard next to a tree trunk, and although I soaked it and scrubbed it in extremely hot water, maybe something was left behind inside the stone (I noticed when I had put it in the tank that lines of tiny air bubbles escaped the stone). But again, that doesn't explain why my turtle and the first goldfish died.
I'm no expert when it comes to aquariums (obviously), so my guesses are probably way off. Does anyone have any ideas as to why my turtle died, and why my fish are now dying off one by one? Oh, and I am not sure if this helps...but for the past few days, the goldfish had been swimming at the very top of the tank...the tops of their heads above the surface of the water as they hovered almost completely still except for the movement of their mouths and gills.
Thanks in advance for any light that can be shed on what's going on in my 20 gallon waterworld.
Let me start off by telling you about my tank as it was up until 3 weeks ago. I had an eastern painted turtle, named Sam, that my husband found as a hatchling a month after we met 10 years ago. I kept him in a 55 gallon aquarium and he thrived. When we moved into this house 5 years ago, we had to downgrade our tank for lack of room, so Sam's new home held 20 gallons. During warm weather (mid-spring, summer, into mid-fall) I would put him in his "outdoor pool" every couple of days so he could stretch his legs and bask in sunlight that wasn't artificial. The indoor tank setup was simple...he had a 3-tiered basking rock and a filter. I kept the water level low enough that he could get out of the water and sit on the top tier of the stone...about 1/3 full. I fed him a variety of foods: reptile sticks, earthworms, feeder fish, slugs, crickets...he ate anything that moved. Two summers ago my boys won 2 goldfish at the county fair, and we put them in Sam's tank (he never ate anything that big). The fish and the turtle became buddies...I would constantly see the fish cleaning his shell and feet, and they swam around freely with no fear of the turtle. After visiting my mom in PA last September, I added two baby catfish and three goldfish I had brought home from her small man-made pond. The goldfish and baby catfish adapted well to their new home.
About three weeks ago I noticed a change in Sam's behavior. My husband had a co-worker over, and he asked about the turtle, so I took Sam out to show him. I noticed he had green algae growing on his shell, which was normal, but not in such a large amount. So I took Sam to the sink and turned on the water, stuck him underneath and started cleaning him off. Now, normally when i do this, I have to pull his feet out with my fingers so i can rub them clean. This time, however, he kept his legs stretched out, no reaction to my touch at all. I thought that odd, because even after 10 years of this routine, he always pulled his feet into his shell when I'd touch them. I put him back in his tank, keeping an eye on him the rest of the night and the next day after I woke up. He was still eating, but sluggish, so I figured he was ok. Then, four days later, I tapped the turtle sticks against the side of the tank...his signal that it was time to eat...but Sam didn't move. His head and feet were out, eyes closed, and he was laying on the bottom of the tank behind the rock. I also noticed one of the goldfish was dead, lying at the bottom as well (I guessed it had been dead for a couple of days by the looks of it...and that Sam had snacked on it, because its head was missing). I pulled him out, my gut wrenching because had been acting so strangely for the past few days, and rubbed his head, hoping he was just sleeping, but he didn't move. I put him in the kitchen sink and ran to my computer to find answers. I read that there was the possibility he was hibernating, but I didn't think that was the case...we had him for 10 years and he NEVER hibernated. I also read that there was a chance he could be revived, so I followed the advice I found on the internet, but after two days of Sam in the kitchen sink, I realized there was no hope, he was gone.
A week later another goldfish was dead. I then decided to turn the tank into a regular fish aquarium. I took Sam's basking rock out, filled the tank with water treated with AquaSafe, and put an large aquarium stone in the tank that I had from when I first got the smaller tank. A few days later I went to Walmart and bought a bag of gravel, two algae eaters and two fresh water snails (the label had called them "mystery snails"), floated the bags in the water and rinsed the gravel, then added it to the tank. Thirty minutes later I added the fish and snails.
The first fish of the new tank set-up died in two days. It was one of the algae eaters. The next fish was one of my baby catfish. Then, this morning, two of the three remaining goldfish were stuck to the intake of the filter, dead. The third goldfish was barely alive, still breathing but having a difficult time keeping itself from floating sideways (I ended the poor fish's suffering swiftly and painlessly). All that remains in the tank is one algae eater, one baby catfish, and the two snails...and the catfish isn't looking so good.
I thought at first the recent deaths were caused from not cycling the tank, but that didn't explain why my turtle or the two first goldfish died...plus, I have never cycled the tank when I would change Sam's water...I would just carry the tank to the kitchen, put the fish in a bowl of the water, put Sam in the smaller half of my double-sided sink, and dump the water out. Then I'd scrub the inside of the tank with a rough sponge (to remove all the green stuff that grew constantly on the glass), the basking rock with a utility brush, and the outside and inside of the filter with a toothbrush. I'd fill the tank 1/3 full with tap water, carry it back to the stand, and then add the rock and filter. I'd add Sam (after a thorough scrubbing) and then the fish, not even treating the water for chlorine...the fish never had issues with it, even in the past when there were feeder goldfish still remaining in the tank before Sam ate them.Then I thought that maybe the first fish that had died may have been sick, and when Sam ate the head, whatever germ or disease the fish carried killed him. Perhaps whatever infected that first goldfish had spread to the other goldfish who spread it to the catfish and then the algae eaters. Another idea that came to mind after reading some information on the internet is that perhaps the aquarium stone I put in the tank to replace the basking rock was releasing foreign chemicals into the tank...the stone has been outside for five years in my yard next to a tree trunk, and although I soaked it and scrubbed it in extremely hot water, maybe something was left behind inside the stone (I noticed when I had put it in the tank that lines of tiny air bubbles escaped the stone). But again, that doesn't explain why my turtle and the first goldfish died.
I'm no expert when it comes to aquariums (obviously), so my guesses are probably way off. Does anyone have any ideas as to why my turtle died, and why my fish are now dying off one by one? Oh, and I am not sure if this helps...but for the past few days, the goldfish had been swimming at the very top of the tank...the tops of their heads above the surface of the water as they hovered almost completely still except for the movement of their mouths and gills.
Thanks in advance for any light that can be shed on what's going on in my 20 gallon waterworld.
and also another recommendation. If space permits. Buy a smaller tank for quarantine purpose. Whenever u bring home new fish or have a sick patient. U can isolate it making treatment alot easier. But u will require another filter 
