Norman Lampeyes - 5 Dead In 5 Days.

erica234

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Hi everyone,
 
I'm having some issues with my Norman Lampeyes and am looking for some advice.
 
I have a 30l tank - cycled and been up and running for around 14 months now. It has sand substrate, bogwood and live plants/moss in it. Water is kept at 24deg c and changed once a week (about 30%). All parameters are as they should be but the water is hard because of the area I live in and ph is about 7.8.
 
I bought 6 norman lampeyes and within a couple of weeks noticed one had died. I then noticed another had had half it's tail bitten off so I took it out the tank to recuperate but unfortunately it still died. A  couple of days later another one died, leaving me with 3.
 
I rang the local fish shop and explained the situation as I wondered whether my two glowlight tetras (full adult size) were nibbling at the lampeyes. Thinking this was the reason I took the glowlights to the shop and bought 7 more lampeyes leaving me with 10 in total.
 
I've been away this week and my dad has been feeding them everyday (with specially made up food bags by me so I know they aren't being overfed). I've come back today (been away 5 days) and found one of them dead in the tank. I then noticed that another 4 were missing (presumably the carcasses eaten by my cherry shrimp). So in the space of 5 days 5 of my lampeyes have died (and have checked that they haven't just jumped out). Also, before I went away I noticed that one of the lampeyes had a swelling between the eye and gill, a whiteish colour. I thought it might die but actually this one seems to be swimming fine and isn't one of the ones that has died. Does anybody know what this is?
 
One of the remaining 5 is now hanging around the top of the tank (at the surface more than normal) around by the filter, not able to swim against the current. I'm pretty sure that it will die but would really like to know the possible cause of these deaths.
 
Having looked at my new fish book i've since discovered the ph might be too high for these fish (it says 6.5-7 and mine is definitely 7-8. Could this be killing them off? I'm a little frustrated that I got rid of the glowlights if this wasn't the cause of the deaths (saying that, something definitely nibbled the lampeye's tail in one case).
 
Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks.
 
I have never kept lampeyes so I dont know just how "delicate" they are. However sometimes a bacterial infection can affect just one species of fish which might be the cause. All fish will nibble tails, fins and eyes of dead/dying fish is natural so I doubt the glowlights were to blame. The swelling you mention is what is making me think its a bacterial problem, but what is it is I am unsure. In this instance I would recommend a broad band antibacterial medication, Esha 2000 is a good general "cure most things" medication I have used on many occasions when the cause has not been clear. Unfortunately I cannot remember if esha 2000 is safe with shrimp you would need to check on that. Hope this helps
 

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