Ahh I Think Everything In Tank Is Gonna Die

[STI-AQUA]

hi all, hoping someone can help.
I got 4 tanks but the 1 with the problem is a 11 Gallon tank. which i have some guppies, a siamese fighter, 4 hatchet fish, 2 kuhli-loaches and 3 shrimps in.

So far over the last few days ive had 3 guppies die, leaving 4 in the tank, the siamese fighter seems ill,my butterfly pleco has just died also, as its now turned white.
The shrimps today also decided to gather at the surface by using the filter, so i decided to move them to a 2 gallon tank i got spare- they actually flew into the net, and seemed relieved when i put them into the 2G.

The other thing is the swarming of ramshorn snails, all the snails in the tanks, 80% of which i had never seen before all decided to jump to the surface of the tank -pics can be seen at www.sti-forums.dyndns.org/pics/.

Ive never seen such a gathering before.

Ive done a water change about 40%, using tap water with conditioner, 1 day ago, but the water has also turned slightly cloudy which i thought was odd.

If any1 has any ideas, it would be appreciated thanks

 

[tttnjfttt]

Can you please post your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels?

As for the fish, are they showing any symptoms of illness before they die? Are they swimming wierd, scratching on objects in the tank, gasping at the surface, laying at the bottom of the tank, are their gills red and inflamed?

Definately keep up with the daily water changes, and you need to test your watr ASAP. Most LPS will check it for you if you do not have a test kit.

 

[STI-AQUA]

havnt got test kits as yet is my first answer.
the fish that have died, were gasping but not at the top, the y reamined listless at the bottom of the tank until they died.
Might see if they got a kit in the pet store around the corner from where i live.
Before all this problem started i had been using rainwater collected in a waterbut. Now all of my other tanks were also changed using this water in the past, but possible due to a suddenincrease in temperatue/air polluation, the water has become toxic??
I say this as this is the only tank that ive changed recently and so be recently infected.

Aslo i think that the snails might have been the death of my butterfly pleco as the sudden surge of ramshorn snails eating all the algea up left nothing for the pleco or the shrimps (the glas has a wierd feel to it now, on the inside, feels super-clean)

Thanks again

 

[dwarfgourami]

Just a couple of more questions to see if we can arrive at any diagnosis.

First, have you been able to get an ammonia reading yet? (the symptoms might suggest ammonia
poisoning)

How long had the tank been set up for?

How often do you do water changes as part of general maintenance?

What did you feed your plec apart from algae?

How much/often did you feed the others? (thinking of the snails=possibly overfeeding problems)

The tank does sound like it was rather overstocked, I'm wondering if this could be part of the problem.

 

[STI-AQUA]

No such luch with the ammonia test pack.

The tank has been set up for 7 months now.

Water change would be generally 10-20% water change done every 7-10 days

I have taken as many of the large snails out as possible, as small ones almost impossible to get.
I then have done another 10% change, afetr doing one yesturday, and noticed soon after that all the snails have dissappeard back under the gravel, where they were keeping before.
As with stock, the tank manual says i can put in abou 8 guppies or similiar with a couple of either of the following: dwarf gourami, apistogramma ramirezi. also add 1 ancistrus and 4 bottom feeders.

i had nowhere near that amount.

I really like to get this tank sorted out as ive got some baby guppies which need to get thier tank upgraded in a while (got a few larger ones, and many smaller ones, all living happily in a 5G tank)

Ive also moved the siamese fighter into my 2g tank along with the shrimp but keeping it in a display floating tank, and it perked up almost straight away.

With the pleco, thinking about it, i know thier are other foods, butits the knowing how to prepare then e.g. potato u can give cant u, but dont u have to remove the starch?

any hints would be aprecciated and thanks again.

 

[WILDER]

Need water stats or we are guessing if they were heavy breathing could be due to poor water quality or parasites.
Rain water can fetch parasites in, were the gill red and inflamed or pale, any heavy mucas on them, plus did they flick and rub against objects, also livebearers with gill flukes will peck at each other faces.

 

[tttnjfttt]

Also, you need to get the snail population under control. You have hundereds of small snails in there, and they also produce waste just as fish do. With all the snails you have in there, your tank is over stocked. Get your water tested ASAP, seriously.

try this trick to get rid of the snails. Take a piece of lettuce and put it in your tank over night. In the morning, the snails will be all over the lettuce, so you can take it out that way

 

[dwarfgourami]

"The tank has been set up for 7 months now."

ok, sounds fine

"Water change would be generally 10-20% water change done every 7-10 days"

sounds normal

"As with stock, the tank manual says i can put in abou 8 guppies or similiar with a couple of either of the following: dwarf gourami, apistogramma ramirezi. also add 1 ancistrus and 4 bottom feeders."

This suugested stocking in an 11 gallon tank would make it way overstocked unless you had super-heavy filtration and did much larger water changes than you do. A rough general rule of thumb is to allow 1 inch of fish pergallon of water; this only applies to slimbodied fish (like guppies) who stay under 3 inches and are not heavy waste producers; for fish like plecs you need to allow more. Male guppies are usually cpunted as 1 ", females as 2".

You admittedly had a lot less than this but it still adds up:

7 guppies= at least 7"
4 hatchetfish= c. 8"
1 Siamese fighter= 2"
1 butterfly plec= ? (and plecs are heavy waste producers)
2 khuulie loaches= 4" (they don't produce much waste)


"Ive also moved the siamese fighter into my 2g tank along with the shrimp but keeping it in a display floating tank, and it perked up almost straight away."

Oh that's good, so that's one worry less. But it does suggest something wrong with the water in your tank, rather than an infection, as he'd have taken that with him.

"With the pleco, thinking about it, i know thier are other foods, butits the knowing how to prepare then e.g. potato u can give cant u, but dont u have to remove the starch?"

Any lfs will sell catfish wafers, pellets and tablets. You could also try cucumber, courgette, spinach, romaine lettuce. If you ever get another plec, make sure you read up in advance about the requirements of the particular plec (different kinds have different dietary needs) so you can feed accordingly.

 

[BWBettas]

a problem with snails they go to the top if their isnt enough oxygen in the water for them to breathe so they go to the top.

 

[STI-AQUA]

2 inches for hatchetfish??
my ones are much smaller than the guppies i got and havnt gotten any larger since ive had them, even my baby guppies which are in my 5 g tank are almost as big as them.( by the way ive got about 30 in that tank running a filter thats required for 30/60 liters)(i plan to do a water change as havnt done once sisnce way before xmas)

the filter unit in my 11g/54L tank is for 80L, so pumps more through per hour.

Lost 2 more female guppies, both via the filter, obviously not very well designed as the interpet filter has a push switch which u move left and right for speed settings and if u have it on left, it leaves a gap where water is sucked though due to the propeller, and this area leaves to the filration area.

Had noticed though that one the femaules must have been pregnant, as there are about 3 baby guppies in the tank, that the male has been keeping an eye to (not to eat though).

All that is in the tank now is 4 hatchetfish@1 inches max each, 1 male guppy (1.5), 1 male platy (1), 2 baby guppies, and 2 kuhli loaches.

 

[WILDER]

Put a pair of tight over the filter it will stop the fish getting in you will also need a rubberband.
Need water stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,and ph.