I got a 30 litre tank in December 2012 and gradually stocked it with:
6 x danios
3 x minnows
3 x hillstream loach
2 x amano shrimp
The tank is cold water (18-20 C).
The first death was a loach about 3-4 months in, followed by another dead loach a couple of weeks later. I think they weren't eating because there wasn't a great deal of algae I there and they weren't touching wafers or veg that I was adding. With hindsight, I think I should have left it longer before adding them. The other one still seems to be doing fine.
After about 3 months the light broke so I had it replaced then 3 months later it broke again. The shop gave me a replacement 54 litre tank so I added a big flat rock for the remaining loach, an extra 5 kilos of gravel (rinsed thoroughly before adding) and three live plants (I only had plastic ones until then) and I transferred all the fish using nets borrowed from the shop. I transferred the fish after syphoning all the gravel and half of the water from the old tank, then added the remaining old tank water and topped up with dechlorinated tap water at 19C as per a water change.
Sunday 2nd June:
After this tank had been set up for about a week I decided to add a few more minnows to keep the other three minnows company. I added them by floating the opened bag in the tank for about 30mins, adding some tank water in small amounts every 10 mins or so, then fished them out of the bag into the tank and discarded the water in the bag. All seemed well...for about one week.
Sunday 9th June:
I did a routine 25% water change the same as I had been doing weekly since the tank was first set up; I also added 1.5ml (1 pump) of dennerle S7 and 1.5ml of dennerle V30 plant food as part of my new plant feeding regime as per the instructions with the dennerle kit. One slight difference with this water change to the weekly ones I had previously been doing was I added water a couple of degrees C cooler than the rest of the tank (21C instead of 23C) because we had had some warm weather and the tank was a warmer than it had been in the past.
Monday 10th June:
The next morning I found one of the new minnows dead and being eaten by a shrimp. He was quite eaten away but didn't show any noticeable signs of illness. Tested the water with test strip and all parameters seemed ok to me. That evening I noticed that the minnows were flaring their fins and fighting a bit (video in link below):
Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life
I read that this could be a sign of stress but I wasn't sure why they might be stressed?
Wednesday 12th June:
One of the original minnows died in the same circumstances (eaten by shrimp but no visible signs of disease).
Friday 14th June:
Another new minnow dead. Still no signs of disease.
Sunday 16th June:
Old minnow dead. Water test still ok. No signs of disease.
Monday 17th June:
About half of remaining fish very lethargic and ignoring food. The others swimming a bit crazily and going mad for the food.
Tuesday 18th June:
Final old minnow died, plus three danios. Still no signs of disease but the fish had been swimming around very erratically. Something is obviously seriously wrong so I took a water sample to the shop where I got all the fish, and their water tests showed all parameters to be spot on. The people in the shop were rather stumped by my description of events and had no ideas about what was causing the deaths.
I was now left with 3 x danios, 1 x minnow (one if the new ones), 1 x loach and 2 x shrimps. Loach, minnow and shrimps seem to be fine but the danios are looking lethargic.
Thursday 20th June:
Noticed the danios had a slight greyish film down their side (see linked video):
Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life
I showed the video to a staff member I the shop and she sold me some antibiotics for the tank (API melafix) although she was unable to diagnose the problem. I've been adding 5ml of this per day since then but with no improvement...
Friday 21st June:
Noticed deterioration in the danios. Colour fading towards the back end and turning a reddish colour, also slightly bowed body and the largest danio had slightly puffed out fins (dropsy?):
Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life
Saturday 22nd June (today):
Two dead danios and one extremely poorly. The poorly one was rapidly heading downhill and looking even more puffed and bowed so I took him out and put him out of his misery with a sharp knife to remove his head
The one remaining minnow isn't showing any sign of disease but he's not very energetic so I don't expect him to last long, I'm afraid. The shrimps and the loach seem to be fine to me. If anything, the loach seems to be a bit more active but that might be due to having no fast swimming fish left I the tank...
Actually, I've just noticed that the loach is going right to the surface, almost poking his head out of the water (for oxygen?) see this video but he moved down just as I started to film him:
Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life
One other thing I have noticed since all the deaths is these tiny white "bugs" hopping round the gravel. There aren't very many of them but I'm suspicious that they could be some sort of parasite that needs to be dealt with (see video):
Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life
So I'm at a loss what to do with the tank now and I would be grateful for any advice.
- Should I continue with the antibiotic treatment? It says do it for a week on the packet but I've got no fish left!
- What should I do about these mystery white bugs?
- What should I do about re-stocking? Wait 6 weeks? How do I know this isn't going to happen again?
- Do people think this was dropsy caused by the tank move and the addition of the three new fish?
I've also noticed that there is a pond snail I the tank that must have come in on a plant. Probably harmless but thought I'd include all information...
Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life
Finally, here is a picture of the tank as it stands so you have as. Much information as possible.
Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life
Sorry for the massive details but I thought it best to put down everything that I can say about this situation.
Thanks,
Nick.
6 x danios
3 x minnows
3 x hillstream loach
2 x amano shrimp
The tank is cold water (18-20 C).
The first death was a loach about 3-4 months in, followed by another dead loach a couple of weeks later. I think they weren't eating because there wasn't a great deal of algae I there and they weren't touching wafers or veg that I was adding. With hindsight, I think I should have left it longer before adding them. The other one still seems to be doing fine.
After about 3 months the light broke so I had it replaced then 3 months later it broke again. The shop gave me a replacement 54 litre tank so I added a big flat rock for the remaining loach, an extra 5 kilos of gravel (rinsed thoroughly before adding) and three live plants (I only had plastic ones until then) and I transferred all the fish using nets borrowed from the shop. I transferred the fish after syphoning all the gravel and half of the water from the old tank, then added the remaining old tank water and topped up with dechlorinated tap water at 19C as per a water change.
Sunday 2nd June:
After this tank had been set up for about a week I decided to add a few more minnows to keep the other three minnows company. I added them by floating the opened bag in the tank for about 30mins, adding some tank water in small amounts every 10 mins or so, then fished them out of the bag into the tank and discarded the water in the bag. All seemed well...for about one week.
Sunday 9th June:
I did a routine 25% water change the same as I had been doing weekly since the tank was first set up; I also added 1.5ml (1 pump) of dennerle S7 and 1.5ml of dennerle V30 plant food as part of my new plant feeding regime as per the instructions with the dennerle kit. One slight difference with this water change to the weekly ones I had previously been doing was I added water a couple of degrees C cooler than the rest of the tank (21C instead of 23C) because we had had some warm weather and the tank was a warmer than it had been in the past.
Monday 10th June:
The next morning I found one of the new minnows dead and being eaten by a shrimp. He was quite eaten away but didn't show any noticeable signs of illness. Tested the water with test strip and all parameters seemed ok to me. That evening I noticed that the minnows were flaring their fins and fighting a bit (video in link below):
Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life
I read that this could be a sign of stress but I wasn't sure why they might be stressed?
Wednesday 12th June:
One of the original minnows died in the same circumstances (eaten by shrimp but no visible signs of disease).
Friday 14th June:
Another new minnow dead. Still no signs of disease.
Sunday 16th June:
Old minnow dead. Water test still ok. No signs of disease.
Monday 17th June:
About half of remaining fish very lethargic and ignoring food. The others swimming a bit crazily and going mad for the food.
Tuesday 18th June:
Final old minnow died, plus three danios. Still no signs of disease but the fish had been swimming around very erratically. Something is obviously seriously wrong so I took a water sample to the shop where I got all the fish, and their water tests showed all parameters to be spot on. The people in the shop were rather stumped by my description of events and had no ideas about what was causing the deaths.
I was now left with 3 x danios, 1 x minnow (one if the new ones), 1 x loach and 2 x shrimps. Loach, minnow and shrimps seem to be fine but the danios are looking lethargic.
Thursday 20th June:
Noticed the danios had a slight greyish film down their side (see linked video):
Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life
I showed the video to a staff member I the shop and she sold me some antibiotics for the tank (API melafix) although she was unable to diagnose the problem. I've been adding 5ml of this per day since then but with no improvement...
Friday 21st June:
Noticed deterioration in the danios. Colour fading towards the back end and turning a reddish colour, also slightly bowed body and the largest danio had slightly puffed out fins (dropsy?):
Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life
Saturday 22nd June (today):
Two dead danios and one extremely poorly. The poorly one was rapidly heading downhill and looking even more puffed and bowed so I took him out and put him out of his misery with a sharp knife to remove his head
The one remaining minnow isn't showing any sign of disease but he's not very energetic so I don't expect him to last long, I'm afraid. The shrimps and the loach seem to be fine to me. If anything, the loach seems to be a bit more active but that might be due to having no fast swimming fish left I the tank...
Actually, I've just noticed that the loach is going right to the surface, almost poking his head out of the water (for oxygen?) see this video but he moved down just as I started to film him:
Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life
One other thing I have noticed since all the deaths is these tiny white "bugs" hopping round the gravel. There aren't very many of them but I'm suspicious that they could be some sort of parasite that needs to be dealt with (see video):
Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life
So I'm at a loss what to do with the tank now and I would be grateful for any advice.
- Should I continue with the antibiotic treatment? It says do it for a week on the packet but I've got no fish left!
- What should I do about these mystery white bugs?
- What should I do about re-stocking? Wait 6 weeks? How do I know this isn't going to happen again?
- Do people think this was dropsy caused by the tank move and the addition of the three new fish?
I've also noticed that there is a pond snail I the tank that must have come in on a plant. Probably harmless but thought I'd include all information...
Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life
Finally, here is a picture of the tank as it stands so you have as. Much information as possible.
Dropbox - File Deleted - Simplify your life
Sorry for the massive details but I thought it best to put down everything that I can say about this situation.
Thanks,
Nick.