1 Oscar Dead, 2Nd Oscar Following Him

[riksworld]

Hi all,

Got a little emrergency this end, I have posted my settings below, if someone could answer my question below please, you might just save my tank.

Ive been running my oscar tank, 300ltr for 3 yrs without any issues, last month my tank decided to foam up overnight and i could smell like a clorine type smell, so i did an emergency water change all day and the foam dissappeard and all was well.

Last night the foam came back, I was up until 1am this morning fighting a loosing battle, I managed to change most the water in the tank over of the evening to try and get on top of it, I rechecked my tank settings and everything as it should be, clorine at 0, test wise, nothing unusall, came down this morning to find 1 of my beloved oscar on his side, dead

The tank has foamed up once again overnight and smeeling of the same smell, im now redoing mass water changes, well, as much as I think is safe for the fish, he is now on his side, looking sad, got an air pump running, think im going to loose him, so far I feel very guilty going to bed and now i am stuck so looking for a quick answer or solution.

as far as im aware nothing has been added to the tank, the kids are aaying they have not been the tank and the wife says the same thing, shes not been near them with an sort of cleaners, ive striped the pump to see if theres anything in there and its clear from what I can see

As i have been mass changes ive been testing every bucket for chemicals, all appear normal, no amomina or clorine etc, so im at a complete lose, I use Tetra aquasafe for my tapwater

Can any one please help with this, am i better off just putting the other oscar to sleep as he doesnt look good, dont want to be in pain?

Tank size: 300 ltr
pH: 6.5
ammonia: 0
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 40
kH: 6d
gH: 8d
tank temp:76f

Fish Symptoms:

Laying on side, lathargic

Volume and Frequency of water changes:

300lts, been doing water changes every 4 days, 30%

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:

None as far as im aware

Tank inhabitants:

2 Oscar, around 6 inch in length

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):

None

Exposure to chemicals:

None as far as im aware of

 

[vicstar078]

Are you using the stuff to remove the chlorine from the water each time (Aquasafe)??

 

[riksworld]

Thanks for the reply.

I carfeully monitor my water changes, on every bucket (10ltr) I use 5ml of aquasafe from tetra, then test the bucket for chemicals with my test kit then once its been done, I will test the tank a few hrs later

 

[guppi]

Might be worth trying some seachem prime.

 

[MartinS]

It does soud like there is some chemical(s) getting into your tank, for it to foam up. Protein can cause some surface 'scum' and a few bubbles, but not foaming.
What filtration do you use? Is the tank covered or open?
I don't think the standard tests will show anything, you'd need to get your water tested by a lab. You need to find the source of the foaming, and either move the fish to another tank whilst you investigate.
HTH
Martin

 

[moochy13]

might be a ridiculous idea, but if i was getting desperate id put the fish in the bath with the heater and pump somehow, and as quickly as possible strip and clean the tank. and the filter as much as could be done while saving the bacteria. fill it fresh and put nothing in from the old substrate/decor. then at least id have a completely fresh set up, so could rule it out. other than the filter media i guess obviously a last resort, but if your fish is on its way out what have you to lose ?

meds might help keep him going a bit longer and perk him up, but i agree with those who think this is a contaminate problem. ive never heard of fish or fish food producing foaming tanks overnight, if they did i bet we'd hear it a lot more often.

 

[riksworld]

Thanks to all so far

Sadly he is now no longer with us

Would be worth my while buying a full test kit, like the jbl ones to test for everything that I can, such as cooper etc?

my tank is completly covered with lids, so not sure if and how anything could get in, even now, with only 50% fresh water, treated of course, there is still a smell of some sort of chlorine type smell, its no longer foaming now, but i have turned off the air stone and air pump

I have been using a fluval 205 and a tetratec 1200 pump with black balls and filter pads in there, could it be possibly that there was somthing wrong with the media or the air stone?

I dont really want to restart the tank unless we could pin it down to rougthly what it was or it could just happen all again, I couldnt live with myself if i killed more fish, would white vineger be of any good cleaning the tank out completly or what you recommend on things to use to make sure the tank is thorugly cleaned?

does anyone know of decent lab that I could send some of my water to for a good testing, would like to send some while the water is still fresh?

I dont understand how a tank could foam up overnight, anyone know of anything that could do this, ie, what chemicals or airborne?

what does anyonelse recommend on this, ill try anything and do anything to try and find out what has caused this heartache for me

 

[myrtle]

Glade air fresheners (spray and plug-in) have been known to cause whole tanks of fish to die. Anyone used hairspray near the tank? Anyone used your fish buckets for washing the car or anything else involving detergents? Foam brings detergent to mind... That's all I can think of for now,hopefully it's something as simple as someone using your wter change buckets for something else...

 

[riksworld]

Thanks for your reply

Sadly I dont think its as easy as that, when this happend a few weeks back, I changed the buckets just in case this was the root cause, sadly it would appear not

As far as im aware no hairspray has been near the tank, we dont use glade or anythin else like that, the wife did spray some polish about 22ft from the tank onto the coffee table, would this cause it if it went airborne towards the tank?

Its just like looking at bucket of fairy washing liquid, thats what the bubbles look like, but we dont have of that as we use a dishwasher

the bubbles have now gone, typical, the only thing ive done is switched off the air pump, surly that wouldnt cuase it?

 

[riksworld]

Just a quick update

Ive striped down all my cleaning equipment and the tube i use to empty the water out of the tank and have some mould growing inside of the tube and 1 way valve, its about 3 - 4 inch in length, would this have caused anything with the fish, I know mould isnt very healthly for us humans?

I might be cluthing at straws, but its just an idea, if anyone could confirm this as a possible suspect?

Many Thanks once again

 

[guppi]

Could be, Molds are ubiquitous in nature, and mold spores are a common component of household and workplace dust. However, when mold spores are present in large quantities, they can present a health hazard to humans, potentially causing allergic reactions and respiratory problems.

Some molds also produce mycotoxins that can pose serious health risks to humans and animals

 

[riksworld]

Does anyone know if its possible to identify a particular type of mold?

 

[myrtle]

Not without a lab and microscope I believe and I can't see a mould causing froth. I wouldn't have thought the polish would get in the tank from that distance either. Sorry I can't help much.

 

[riksworld]

When I clean the tank out over the next few days, would people recommend to clean the tank out with, I really dont want this to happen again, so if you could possibly check over my checklist and see whats good or bad?

1 Replace all filter media

2 Change hoses from pump and to the pump

3 Rinse tank out with white vineger

4 Change to Prime as my only water conditioner

5 Pre-mix the water inside a big container from the tap to climatise the water before pumping it back into the tank, such as a heater for 24hrs

6 Wash and rinse the pumps

7 Remove and bin gravel

8 Remove and bin ornaments

9 Change heaters

10 Change all cleaning tools for new one, such as buckets water syphon

11 Anything else somone might want to add please?


Would like to thank everyone so far with all there inputs onto this problem

 

[guppi]

I use chlorine tablets to sterilize my accessories,plasic water storage cans, just remember to use your prime before using.