Dying fish

[Steve Peglar]

I have lost 10 fish in the last couple of weeks, 3 in the last 24 hours. I've taken samples of water to maidenhead aquatics and they said it's fine.
Any ideas please. Steve

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

How long has the tank been set up for?
Is there a filter on the tank?
How often do you do water changes and how much water do you change?
How often are you feeding the fish?

What do the fish look like when they die?
Are there any funny colours, patches, spots or markings on them?

What fish do you have in the tank, including the ones that died?
Can you post a picture of the remaining fish or any fish that look sick?

When you get water tested at a pet shop and they say "it is fine" ask them what the results are in numbers and then write the results down.

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Right now you should stop feeding the fish and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day until this is resolved.

If the tank has been running for more than 6 weeks you can clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks. If you have a power filter, wash the filter materials in a bucket of tank water.

Take pictures of the sick fish and post some on here. Make sure the pictures clearly show any marks or issues.

If you can get the water tested again for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate & pH, and post the results here, it would help.

Do Not add any new fish or plants at this stage. Just do daily water changes and get some pictures on here asap.

 

[Steve Peglar]

Hi Colin.

Thanks for getting back.

Tank has been set up for about 3 months, yes I have a fluval filter, I do a 20 to 25% water change each week and feed the fish once a day for 6 out of 7 days.

The fish look absolutely fine (accept dead looking[emoji16]) but faded in colour.

Dead fish now up to 7 gourami 4 mollies 2 tetra 1 harliquin.

Remaining 1 gourami 2 angles 1 Molly 4 harliquin 13 terra and 3 Cory cats.

All looking good.

I'll post the when I get it tested again at weekend

.

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[Colin_T]

If the filter has been running for 3 months and you haven't washed it under chlorinated tap water, the ammonia and nitrite levels should be 0, so that is good.

When was the last time you cleaned the filter and how did you clean it?

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What fish did you add within 2 weeks of this problem starting?

Neon tetras and Harlequin rasboras usually die from bacterial infections.

What gouramis did you have, Dwarf Gouramis?
If yes, Dwarf Gouramis carry two main diseases, Tuberculosis (TB) and the Iridovirus. They also get bacterial infections pretty regularly.

Mollies die from soft water and protozoan infections. If your water is soft (has little to no mineral content) the mollies will struggle. Your water supply company usually has the general hardness (GH) on their website or you can call them and ask them what it is. If they don't have the info, take a sample of tap water to the pet shop and ask them to test the GH for you. Write the results down in numbers when they do the test.

At this stage, clean the filter if it hasn't been done in the last 2 weeks, and try doing a 75% water change each day. It will help dilute disease organisms in the water and might help.

 

[Steve Peglar]

Thanks Colin.
If I do a 75% change every day do I need to treat the water each time and it might seem a silly question but how the heck do i keep the temperature up?

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[Steve Peglar]

P.S.
Filters were cleaned 3 weeks ago in a bucket of tank water.
The gouramis I had were 3 small honeys, 3 dwarf flame and 2 dwarf blue neon which were added last but not before my problem started.
Regards Steve

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[The Lumpfish Guy]

Thanks Colin.
If I do a 75% change every day do I need to treat the water each time and it might seem a silly question but how the heck do i keep the temperature up?

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Yes you do need to treat is every time you change water

When you do a water change, you should try to add water which is the same temperature as the tank water. you can do this by adding a heater to your bucket before adding to the tank, mixing hot and cold tap water to get the desired temp or letting the water come up to at least room temp before adding it.

 

[Essjay]

..... but how the heck do i keep the temperature up?

As you mention Maidenhead Aquatics, you are obviously in the UK. If you have a combi boiler, you can use a mix of hot and cold water to get the new water to roughly the same as the tank water. But if you have a hot water cylinder in an airing cupboard you'll need to boil some water in a kettle to get the new water temp right. Or one of Lumpfish Guy's suffestions




Once you have sorted out the problem you should do at least 50% water changes every week.

 

[The Lumpfish Guy]

But if you have a hot water cylinder in an airing cupboard

The reason why I don't like using hot tap water for Water changes,

 

[Essjay]

We have a hot water cylinder so I always boil a kettle. My husband is not a fish fan, so leaving water standing to get to room temp is not an option for me - he would object to me leaving 90 litres water standing round........

 

[Steve Peglar]

Thanks to everyone for the info.
I've done what Colin and others have suggested and all seems normal.
Water numbers are
PH 7.6, Ammonia 0-0.25, Nitrite 0 and Nitrate 10-20. What do people think,
OK or not. Ta in advance

 

[Colin_T]

The water seems ok but don't add any new fish for a while. You need the tank and fish to be healthy for at least a month before you add any new fish.

If you want more fish, get a quarantine tank/ storage container and put the new fish in that for a month. If they are fine after that then you can add them to the main tank.

 

[Steve Peglar]

Thanks Colin will do

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