Ive lost 9 fish in a week!

[Nic]

Gday guys,
This isnt really Discus related but its definately an emergency!
Over the last few nights ive woken up to discover that ive lost 6 Cardinal tetra, 1 Rummynose, 1 Black Ghost Knife and 1 large gold vieltail Angelfish.
My ph is at 6.7-7.0
Temp is 28 degrees
Dont know the hardnesses

And i have no idea what it could be!!


Other tankmates include....
Another 2 angels
9 Rummynose now...
2!! Cardinals
1 Keyhole Cichlid
1 Rainbow Shark
1 Clown Loach
1 Kribensis
1 Bristlenose

Help would b much apprieciated as i have a lovely Gold Spot pleco that im very keen to pick up....dont want it to go in there and die tho...:(

Cheers
Nic

[Hollowman]

What is your water change regime? Size of tank? planted or bare? Substrate ?

Ammonia?
NitrIte?
NitrAte?

Have you added new fish recently?

[Nic]

Hi mate,
the ammonia nitrate and nitrite i actually dont know.
Its a 2 footer and i change around 40-50% of the water weekly.
Its planted and add plant food once a week and theres no nutrition in the subtrate, its just an everyday natural coloured gravel

[ILLUSN]

A standed 2 footer is only 80L

a tank that size is good for 2 angels and a handfull of tetras MAX, your way to over stocked I'm assuming youve had an ammonia/nitrite spike thats wiped out all your fish.

whats your filtration, can you step up your water changes to 50% daily? how long has the tank been set up.

[Nic]

The filtration is an Ehiem 2012 internal filter,
circulates the water 8 times an hour and does a great job!
The water is changed by me once a week as i dont like the look of the tannins from the driftwood..

What causes these spikes bud?
and how can i fix it so it doesnt do it again...:(

[ILLUSN]

The filtration is an Ehiem 2012 internal filter,
circulates the water 8 times an hour and does a great job!
The water is changed by me once a week as i dont like the look of the tannins from the driftwood..

What causes these spikes bud?
and how can i fix it so it doesnt do it again...:(Its due to too many fish producing too much waste, basicly ammonia diffuses across the gills of all fish and elevates the ammount in the water, leftover food has the same effect.

the best way to prevent this is to remove all left over food, keep up good water quality (regular water changes) and a moderate stocking level.

check your ammonia and step up your water changes if need be.

you should look at removing the clown loach and the rainbow shark both will gorw way too big for your tank.

[BigDaddyAdo]

OT but thought it worth a mention
Clown loaches need to be in groups of 5 or more.

It may be that your angel died from being harrassed by the other 2 (maybe pairing up?).

Dont get a pleco. Your tank is way too small. Same goes for fish like the Ghost knife.

I would suggest that a little research is done before any future fish purchases.

All in all i see an overstocked/under filtered tank with inappropriate fish and no way of testing the water to see whats going on. ;)

[Hollowman]

I would suggest that a little research is done before any future fish purchases.

All in all i see an overstocked/under filtered tank with inappropriate fish and no way of testing the water to see whats going on. ;)

Same here :cry: Get some test kits, research the Nitrogen Cycle.

[Nic]

Hi again guys,
Just an update on my situation. Im two weeks into losing ALOT of fish and am continuing to lose them every 2-3 days. Ive treated for Ich to no avail and used a 'multi-cure' that also has done nothing but stain the rocks in my tank.
I really am at a loss as to what to do about this and thought maybe emptying the tank and starting again maybe a possible solution.
Any help would be much apprieciated. Cheers
Nic

[rwel4809]

Hi Nic,

It is tricky to help without having all of the details. Please could you post a complete list of your remaining fish, and the results of your amonia, nitrite and nitrate tests.

To keep your fish healthy the best thing to do is stock your tank lightly, make regular water changes with heated, treated, and aged water, and gravel vac with each water change.

It sounds like you are overstocked, and that your water change routine has not been frequent enough. This has probably stressed your fish and lowered their immunity to diseases.

You should also be careful not to use medication too freely. It can actually do more harm than good if the source of the problem (eg overstocking/poor water quality) hasn't been addressed.

Please give us all of the details of your set up and water tests and hopefully we can help you before you loose all of your fish!

R.

[BigDaddyAdo]

What do you mean you're at a loss? We have told you what the problem is.

have you bought a test any test kits yet? Are you doing more water changes?

Throwing random meds into the tank will only make things a whole lot worse. Did you remove the first lot of medication before adding others?

[ILLUSN]

mate, your fish are sick for 2 reasons.

1) your tank is too small for the number and type of fish your keeping.

2) your tank is not cycled!

heres how to fix your problem.
1)go to bunnings or k mart and buy yourself a 60lt garbage bin and a cheep 100w heater and air pump.
2) fill bin with water, add dechlorinater, add heater and plug it in, and turn on the air pump. add 3 teaspoons of ROCK SALT or SEA SALT. This bin is going to become your new best friend.
3) once the water in the bin heats up drain as much water out of your tank as you can and refill it with water from the bin.
4) repeat this process daily, you will still loose some fish for the first few days then you will stop loosing fish and your remaining fish will start to recover.

you will have to keep this up for a month by then your filter should be catching up, at this stage you can drop back to changes every 3 days for another month then to once a week.

again in an 80L tank PLEASE limit your fish to say a pair of angels and a few tetras (6-10).

DO NOT PUT A GOLD SPOT PLECO INTO YOUR TANK IT WILL GROW TO OVER 2 FEET IN LENGTH!!!