Losing fish

[dragon14]

Hubby and I are getting frustrated at the amount of fish we have lost since we started fishkeeping last year in June.

First fish we lost from dropsy, our beloved male betta, after having him just 4 months.

Since then, we've lost about 5-8 pygmy catfish
2 panda cories (they dropped dead for no apparent reason over night)
2 habrosus catfish (1 of which died today)
1 young guppy
and we lost 1 amano shrimp because he climbed out.

He kinda just wants to give up on fish after the ones we have pass. I am frustrated too.

Just wanted to vent. Any input appreciated though

[Mebbid]

When I entered the hobby for my first year I considered quitting as well for that same reason. It's tough to find healthy fish (buying unhealthy fish is likely a reason they keep dying) but once you have some healthy ones then they tend to stick around.

My school of harlerquin rasbora are a good example of this. I bought a lot of fish over the years, but these are the one school of fish that have persisted. Minus my Orinoco angel pleco my harlequins are my oldest fish. I've only lost 2 out of my school of 10 (one jumped) in over 2 years.

Just keep at it and you will eventually get some healthy fish that stick around for a long time.l;

[dragon14]

Thanks Mebbid

Our Harlequin Rasboras are the only group of fish that we've bought that we have NOT lost one of (I hope I didn't just jinx myself!).

We barely ever see them eat anything, though. We unplug the filter for about an hour when we feed everybody so their food doesn't get sucked up right away, and we turn on the bubbler about a half hour after feeding them to help the food drop down.

Apparently the rasboras are eating something, because we haven't lost any, but we've been concerned about that. We've had them 2 months and a week now. Our pygmys and our male guppy swim with them, and the habrosus does too sometimes. It's so cute

[thing fish]

i just want to say that i love your gandalf quote. i am a total tolkien nerd.


it is frustrating to lose fish but if you stick with it you will be rewarded. what if frodo had quit? stick with it for the Shire!

[Brookster123]

Just keep on trying, I've lost a ton of fish too, just keep padding the numbers and soon you'll realize you've had the same shoal for over a year. I bought 2 groups of cory habrosus, 5 each time, one group died one after the other and the original has been in my tank for almost 2 years!
Edit- padding the numbers with quality stock assuming it's not error on your part that's causing the loss in the first place
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

[dragon14]

Brookster -- what do you mean by pad?

Thanks for the encouragement

[Brookster123]

Adding to

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

[coralbandit]

Keeping fish can be different from keeping many other pets.
It is less common for any of us to buy a dog,cat,even a hamster with a disease.
Compound that with the fact many other pets go to the vet for physical care and most other pet keepers don't have the losses we get with fish.
Then take into consideration that we stock our tanks with several fish that can stress,fight,breed or almost anything nature allows to happen(including infecting other fish) in the tank and our chances of success without incident go even lower.
Since you made it through the first year(congrats!) then you could be on the getting better side of keeping.
Many give up quickly as the learning curve can be steep and long depending on the conditions you have provided.
You seem to have found a great source of info and knowledge and are actively participating in doing better for your pets.
So keep asking and learning and know none of us were expert keepers when we started and even years later still learning.
If you enjoy your aquarium keep at it.
No one wants to kill fish but unless you bought some of the most rare fish(not on your stocking list),I really would not get all upset or disappointed for the fishes sake.
Most of these fish are bred in farms where people are paid to do this for people just like me and you.
ENJOY YOUR TANK!

[dragon14]

Originally Posted by Brookster123

Adding to

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Thanks Unfortunately, they don't have these little guys very often

[dragon14]

Originally Posted by coralbandit

Keeping fish can be different from keeping many other pets.
It is less common for any of us to buy a dog,cat,even a hamster with a disease.
Compound that with the fact many other pets go to the vet for physical care and most other pet keepers don't have the losses we get with fish.
Then take into consideration that we stock our tanks with several fish that can stress,fight,breed or almost anything nature allows to happen(including infecting other fish) in the tank and our chances of success without incident go even lower.
Since you made it through the first year(congrats!) then you could be on the getting better side of keeping.
Many give up quickly as the learning curve can be steep and long depending on the conditions you have provided.
You seem to have found a great source of info and knowledge and are actively participating in doing better for your pets.
So keep asking and learning and know none of us were expert keepers when we started and even years later still learning.
If you enjoy your aquarium keep at it.
No one wants to kill fish but unless you bought some of the most rare fish(not on your stocking list),I really would not get all upset or disappointed for the fishes sake.
Most of these fish are bred in farms where people are paid to do this for people just like me and you.
ENJOY YOUR TANK!

Thanks for your input! It makes sense.

We've put so much time and money into it it would be a shame to quit it. And obviously we'd at least keep everyone we already have.

[PB_Smith]

I'll admit the other morning waking up and seeing my dead cleaner shrimp was pretty gut wrenching considering it was the 6th animal I have lost in as many weeks and all were completely healthy.
It also doesn't help that we are talking about around $200 in livestock....
(shhh...don't tell my wife)

Sadly losses are a part of the hobby, sometime for no apparent reasons, four of my six losses are a complete mystery.

What is funny is I still have the first fish I bought when I got back into salt a little over a year ago along with some hermits. They were the very first things in the tank and even cycled it and they are still going strong.

A lot of what coralbandit says is spot on concerning the vagaries of the health of the animals we keep, especially ones that are still wild caught.

[J.Mcpeak]

Fish tanks get gradually harder (more abundant with minerals) as time passes.
Take longer to acclimate fish and periodically do larger than necessary water changes to keep things in balance.
Only pure water evaporates, if your tanks are giving good readings for nitrogenous waste tests, my guess would be osmotic shock.
It's horrible when things die, but stick at it! People here will help.

What are your tank schedules?
I found it necessary to keep a diary so I could monitor what I was doing with each tank, certainly with multiple tanks I think it is very important.

Get yourself a hardness test kit, test source and tap (I assume).
They should be very similar.
Make notes, good luck to you both.