My Fish are Dying

[MyanRan]

Hey All,
I'm new to the forums, and mainly here to find a solution to my dying fish problem. I have had my tank running for roughly a year now, and my fish have been wonderful. However, in the past week I bought 6 new Ember Tetras from the pet store. One died within 3 days, but the other five seemed great. The huge problem here though, is that I have had 8 fish die since then, and am wondering if they got some kind of disease. I see no signs of white spots, or anything like that, so does that mean "ick" is not the cause? The fish that seem to be dying are hyperventilating. No loss in colour, but just acting strange and breathing really fast. Half the tank seems fine, and the other fish are doing the hyperventilating. Let me know what other information is needed.
Ryan

 

[BettaGal]

Hey All,
I'm new to the forums, and mainly here to find a solution to my dying fish problem. I have had my tank running for roughly a year now, and my fish have been wonderful. However, in the past week I bought 6 new Ember Tetras from the pet store. One died within 3 days, but the other five seemed great. The huge problem here though, is that I have had 8 fish die since then, and am wondering if they got some kind of disease. I see no signs of white spots, or anything like that, so does that mean "ick" is not the cause? The fish that seem to be dying are hyperventilating. No loss in colour, but just acting strange and breathing really fast. Half the tank seems fine, and the other fish are doing the hyperventilating. Let me know what other information is needed.
Ryan

Welcome.

What are your levels of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH? What size tank and what kinds of fish are in it? What about water change schedule - how often and how much at a time? It's possible that by adding in the tetras, you introduced a disease unintentionally, but, at least to me, it seems odd that all but one were fine. I would think, as long as they all came from the same store, that they all would be sick if one was, but who knows? They could be strange. When they start breathing really fast, do their gills look red or irritated?

 

[Andrew McFadden]

to AA! We hope ya enjoy

 

[Aqualady40]

Welcome.

What are your levels of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH? What size tank and what kinds of fish are in it? What about water change schedule - how often and how much at a time? It's possible that by adding in the tetras, you introduced a disease unintentionally, but, at least to me, it seems odd that all but one were fine. I would think, as long as they all came from the same store, that they all would be sick if one was, but who knows? They could be strange. When they start breathing really fast, do their gills look red or irritated?

+1 agree......also as stated above, its vital to know your water parameters, pwc schedule and amount, and also "how' did you acclimate them into your tank? As BettaGal stated you may have also introduced an infection/disease but one thing at a time first....

 

[MyanRan]

Info

My tank is 55 gallons, it has 5 ember tetras, 4 neons, 4 red eyes, 1 black skirt tetra, 2 columbian tetras, 4 plecos (they are completely fine have had them for a year), i can't check the water for you yet, but it's 80 degrees, i change the water every 2-3 weeks, and i clean my aquaclear 70 gallon filter once a month usually, important to mention I also have all real plants, and they are all doing very well, i have had them for a month now, so before this incident occurred. The gills look fine, however the tip of their moths seem flatter if the makes sense? Like their lips are blunt now. Maybe it's just how the fish were born but thought I'd mention it.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

What are you.feeding them?

 

[Oceangirl]

Holy batcave! You should at least be changing 30%-50 % water change every week.
Those Tleco are poop machines! did you drip acclimate or float the bag? I highly suggest you Quarantine new fish before adding to your tank. they may have brought in anything from gill worms to Ich. Which is what I am dealing with now, because I broke my Q routine.
I highly suggest you do a 50% water change right away and see how everyone is. And please post your parameters.

 

[Bish67]

Are you or have you been testing the water for ammonia... nitrate... nitrite...and PH ? Its vital this is done regularly as this can determine whats going on in there and what actions to take....ie....how much of the water to change.
I test weekly...I also change around 20% each week....hope this helps??
If your not testing...may I suggest API liquid master kit....probably one of the best out there.

 

[MyanRan]

Water Change

Well, I would like to say my tank is always very clean(for what it's worth), and I did just do a roughly 25% water change two days ago, then 4 neons died. Should I do another aater change? I don't know if that's necessary or not cause I don't wanna be too clean cause that could affect them too right? I usually float the bad for 20 mins then out they go, never had problems with it for years, but who knows what happened this time.

 

[Bish67]

Your tank may look clean...and you may have been lucky in the past....but you really should test your water quality.High levels of the previous list are fatal for fish.I assume your tap water Ph is ok? Are you treating the tap water to remove chlorine? Has the tank fully cycled?

 

[BettaGal]

Well, I would like to say my tank is always very clean(for what it's worth), and I did just do a roughly 25% water change two days ago, then 4 neons died. Should I do another aater change? I don't know if that's necessary or not cause I don't wanna be too clean cause that could affect them too right? I usually float the bad for 20 mins then out they go, never had problems with it for years, but who knows what happened this time.

The cleaner the better, especially if something is wrong with your fish. The next step to figuring this out is to get a liquid test kit and post the numbers of all the tests. Then you'll know if the water is ok or if its toxic right now, and if its toxic, it can be fixed before anything else happens.

 

[thomasina]

Along with WC and testing the water, gasping is sometimes caused by not enough air getting into the water. Air stones are a great way to help that out.

 

[molliwopp]

To me it sounds like something came in with the fish or the plants you added. If youve had the tank up for a year then unless your filters bioload was at max or you over cleaned the filter, i wouldnt of thought ammonia is the problem. But without testing your water youll never know.

Is there anything else unusual youve noticed? Thrashing scratching, anything like that?

Gasping can also mean parasites.

 

[MyanRan]

I feed them tropical fish flakes, and occasionally brine shrimp, or bloodworms.

 

[MyanRan]

Test Kit

I will be purchasing a test kit, and then I'll inform you of all those stats. I feel as though a lack of oxygen wouldn't be the case, because there is good surface penetration, and the live plants produce oxygen do they not? I will also do another 25% water change tomorrow morning.

 

[MyanRan]

Crushed Coral

I should also mention that the gravel is half, regular grey substrate, and half crushed coral, or calcium carbonate, whatever it is. That helps with the water quality does it not? pH level maybe? I guess I also left out a big issue in the fact that just after I added those new fish a week ago I added another bag of grey substrate to the tank. Something to add a little bit of depth for the plants to live in. Plus the bright, white coral was overpowering.

 

[BettaGal]

I should also mention that the gravel is half, regular grey substrate, and half crushed coral, or calcium carbonate, whatever it is. That helps with the water quality does it not? pH level maybe? I guess I also left out a big issue in the fact that just after I added those new fish a week ago I added another bag of grey substrate to the tank. Something to add a little bit of depth for the plants to live in. Plus the bright, white coral was overpowering.

Half a 55 is crushed coral? Your pH must be sky high. Only use crushed coral in small amounts to raise really low pH.

 

[ktomminello]

Half a 55 is crushed coral? Your pH must be sky high. Only use crushed coral in small amounts to raise really low pH.

I have to agree- you're into brackish status doing that unless your base ph is 5.5 or less, or is it because of your other substrate?

For planted tanks I wouldn't suggest ph higher than 7.2, and that's even too high for a lot of common aquarium plants..

 

[MyanRan]

Tests

Well, I'll be doing my water test tomorrow hopefully. Jeez didn't realize fish-keeping was this labour intensive . I guess I've just been lucky, being ignorant about all of these details for so long. And to answer whoever's question: I usually fill water up in a bucket and leave it under my sink for a minimum of 24 hours, then fill up the tank. Been working like a charm for as long as I've been doing it.

 

[BettaGal]

Well, I'll be doing my water test tomorrow hopefully. Jeez didn't realize fish-keeping was this labour intensive . I guess I've just been lucky, being ignorant about all of these details for so long. And to answer whoever's question: I usually fill water up in a bucket and leave it under my sink for a minimum of 24 hours, then fill up the tank. Been working like a charm for as long as I've been doing it.

You haven't used dechlorinator?