5 Fish Dead In One Day - No Previous Symptoms

[tintin]

So I got home from home at 6pm to find 2x rainbow tetra, 1x cardinal tetra, 1x glass catfish, and 1x pink paddle eel dead. I did my usual 25% water change on Saturday and there have been no indications that there was anything wrong until today.

In terms of the fish left, one of the corys appears to have a distended stomach and is freaking out a little and there appears to be some kind of growth/red mark on the nose of my large gold sucking loach that I could've sworn wasn't there yesterday. All other fish seem fine.

Sods law I ran out of testing strips last week so I haven't been able to check the water params. Instead, I immediately did a 33% water change and added Interpet Anti-Internal Bacteria Meds. Other than crossing my fingers, and adding the 2nd med dose in a few days, is there anything else I could do/should've dome?

Any ideas what would cause this, given that the water is completely clear, and recently changed??

TT

 

[WILDER]

Test strips are not that accurate, liquid test kits are the best.
I would take a sample of your water to the lfs, and ask them to write the readings down for you.
Can't of been anything that gotten into the water as would of expecting gasping and darting around the tank.

Sound like a bacterial infections if one of your fish has a red nose.
Do you think the red nose might of been caused through digging in the substrate..
Red marks can be septicemia.
What do you mean by a distended stomach, do you mean bloated or sunken in.

 

[tintin]

Its feasible that the mark is from digging but it seems coincidental that its appeared when other fish have died.

The cory's stomach appears bloated to me.

 

[WILDER]

Carry on with the interpet med but it only good on mild bacterial infection.
This is a good article on bacterial infections.

http/www.petsforum.com/cis-fishnet/afm/G29060.htm

 

[siscokid]

I had the same problem, went to work came home and 5 neon tetras had died, the next day by clown loach had died and today my siamese fighting fish....i don't understand what i'm doing wrong.
I have 2 sunset platys & 1 mickey mouse platys though that won't stop breeding...i'm thinking my other fish are dying due to over crowding.
If anyone lives in the Manchester area and is interested in some free platys let me know. i've got about 30 fry and 3 frisky adults to give away.

 

[tintin]

I also wondered if my deaths were due to stress from over-crowding. I added 4 small Platys the other week and maybe that tipped everything over the edge. Alternatively, they could have been carrying something (I don't have a quarantine tank.)

As an update, i've only lost one more fish since Monday (one of the new platys) and the growth on the gold sucking loach seems to be getting smaller. The cory also looks better. I think things are settling down. Have to do do the second dose of meds at some point today.

TT.

 

[WILDER]

Glad there some improvement.
Good luck.

 

[tintin]

Well so much for being out of the woods. Three more deaths since Friday. 2 more Cardinals and this morning one of the larger fish, a Curvicep Cichlid i've had quite a while. Thats a total of 10 fish since last Monday. =(

Like the others, none of them show any signs of disease or stress. I just go down in the morning and see them dead. Been keeping fish for 5 years and never experienced this before. Before doing another 33% water change this morning, I took a sample of the water and will go to my lfs when they open this morning for testing.

TT.

 

[kris1978]

hi, my wife has been having the same problem also,she has a 200L tank and she has lost about 15 fish in 2 weeks, neons, guppies and gouramis. i have checked the water and all is good there, there are no markings on the fish to tell if its a disease, i have treated for ich and internal infections but there still dying, i have started to do 20% water changes every 2 days now but we got up this morn and there was another guppy dead.
the tank has been running a while and have had no problems like this before, my wife is getting to a stage of giving up now and starting again!!!!
how did it go up at the lfs, any help would be very much appreciated.

 

[tintin]

Nothing conclusive in terms of the test results, really. Ammonia was higher than they would've expected from water that was only changed a week previously but all other tests were ok.

I'm quite happy to concede its high ammonia levels but it just seems so odd that a tank that has been stable and routinely cleaned for so long would suddenly start to lose fish - and as many deaths in a week as the previous 12 months.

I've already done a water change this morning (the water they tested was before this morning's 33% change) so my plan is to keep things as they are and do another change in a few days, depending on any further deaths.

TT.

 

[kris1978]

we checked our water this morning with the api liquid master kit and ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrates 10 and ph is 7.6 so all is fine our end, so i dont have a clue whats wrong with my wifes tank !!!!!!

 

[WILDER]

Signs of bacterial infections with no symtoms to go on are being pale or darker in colour, being listless and lethagic, not eating.
Any excess mucas on the fish.
Any signs of flicking and rubbing.
[URL="http/www.petsforum.com/cis-fishnet/afm/G29060.htm"]http/www.petsforum.com/cis-fishnet/afm/G29060.htm[/URL]

Taken from the above link.

The third type of infection produced by Aeromonas is by no means the least. This form is often the most virulent (potent) and can be rapidly fatal. This insidious form does not produce any noticeable external ulcers. The most notable feature is a behavioral change in which the infected fish generally become listless and lethargic. Some fish may lose color or appear darker. The fish do not feed, frequently seem off balance and may sink to the bottom laying on their sides. The course of the disease is rapid, and by the time the behavioral changes are noticed, the entire population of a tank may succumb, sometimes in a day or so. This is an internal infection, with the bacteria being found in the kidneys and blood of these fish. The bacteria produce potent toxins that account for the severity of the disease.