All Of My Fish Died

[attibones]

I went to my parents' houses for the holidays. They are two hours away so I stayed for ten days. I left my fish in the care of two different friends (one of them would be going to see his family a few days after I left, so I had the other friend come in after he left).

I did a water change before I left and I fed a small meal of flake and algae wafer for my 3 albino BN plecos, 9 peacock gudgeons, and 5 emperor tetras (I planned on adding ten more after my move in February). When I came home, everything in my fridge was frozen solid and the house was chilly. The space heaters were off and there was evidence that it had dropped below freezing indoors (which actually is fairly frequent).

My cherry shrimp tank is fine. No dead bodies. Only thing I am battling in that tank is hair algae growing in my java moss. The water was very cold.

My 35 gallon three footer is not fine. First thing I noticed was my favorite fish dead. Then I noticed an explosion of snails. Then the uneaten algae wafers from the food cups I left for my friends to throw in the tank. And then I saw bodies everywhere in various states of decomposition. The water was cold. Everybody was dead. I pulled out bare skeletons and rotting corpses and my favorite female gudgeon (whose stomach was open so I could see all of her eggs). I pulled out as many fish as possible. I think I got ten or so out of seventeen.

My friend is lying to me about what happened. She said my fish were fine three days ago when she checked the tank. Because I pulled out skeletons, I don't believe her. When I came home the lights in the tank were off the timing schedule. One of the friends had been using the button, so I don't know how long they had been without light which does help with the water temp.

I'm worried now about what to do with this tank. I want to wait to get new fish until after my move in a month. I want to, in the meantime, grow out my plants. I'm worried, though, about all this death. I couldn't find several of my fish. Should I swap substrate? I want to get a better heater before I add fish again. What should I do to clean out the death? I'm getting a new net later.

So how should I get this tank healthy again? Should I re-cycle the tank? Change out media in the filter? What do I do?

I'm assuming the fish died from the cold. I don't think there was any disease.

 

[star4]

Slowly raise the temperature again to the correct level. Dont mess with the filter. Rotting bodies will have produced ammonia (and rotting food) so your filter should be fine. Do an extensive gravel vac and check everywhere for anymore bodies. I would change at least 50% of the water and monitor the stats. As a precaution against bacterial infection from the rotting bodies you can either do (after the initial large water change and clean up) smaller daily water changes to dilite/remove any bacteria (10% daily for at least a week), or, you could dose the tank with an antibacterial medication.
 
Monitor the remaining fish for the next few weeks (at minimum a month) looking for signs of bacterial or fungal infections - feed brine shrimp with garlic if you have any, or any garlic infused foods to help build up the immune system. Do not add any new fish to this tank until you are 100% sure there is no bacterial infection.

 

[Ch4rlie]

 
Sorry to hear of this Attibones.
 
I hate when things like that happens. Never sure what exactly happened and whether friends or power cuts or whatever is the culprit in these instances, might be best to give your friends the benefit of the doubt.
 
Guess best to chalk it up to experience

 

[attibones]

Slowly raise the temperature again to the correct level. Dont mess with the filter. Rotting bodies will have produced ammonia (and rotting food) so your filter should be fine. Do an extensive gravel vac and check everywhere for anymore bodies. I would change at least 50% of the water and monitor the stats. As a precaution against bacterial infection from the rotting bodies you can either do (after the initial large water change and clean up) smaller daily water changes to dilite/remove any bacteria (10% daily for at least a week), or, you could dose the tank with an antibacterial medication.
 
Monitor the remaining fish for the next few weeks (at minimum a month) looking for signs of bacterial or fungal infections - feed brine shrimp with garlic if you have any, or any garlic infused foods to help build up the immune system. Do not add any new fish to this tank until you are 100% sure there is no bacterial infection.

There were no remaining fish. I came home to all seventeen dead. I am devastated.

I'm worried mostly about how to be sure that it is all safe to stock in February. I can't find at least five bodies, so I'm worried that I need to change out my substrate (dirt and gravel) before I do anything else. Are the plants contaminated or am I safe to keep growing them out?

 

[Byron]

While I would agree with star4 if fish were still alive, I am reading your post as saying all fish died (some corpses you found, others not).  If yes, then I would do a full water change with a good vacuum of the substrate.  Filter can be cleaned, in tap water is fine here.  We can assume disease is not the issue, undoubtedly it was the cold temperature, so this sort of basic cleaning will suffice.  There will be sufficient bacteria in the substrate to keep things moving along.
 
It doesn't take long for dead fish to "disappear," and you mention the snails multiplied, and beyond that the bacteria would increase proportionally.  I wouldn't add any new fish since you are moving in a month and presumably this tank will have to be drained to move it.  But it can be kept running to further get things back to normal.
 
Heaters are the single most important piece of equipment.  Remember that most however will only maintain the temperature if the ambient room temperature is not too far below the set temperature.  Ten degrees is usually mentioned as being safe, so the room should not be below 65F if you want the tank at 75F, as a rough guide.  Heaters that have to work overtime to maintain the set temperature are much more likely to fail.
 
One lesson here is how important it is to have reliable or experienced fish keepers.  They can hopefully act appropriately in emergencies.  It is always a very sad experience to lose such valued fish.
 
Byron.

 

[attibones]

Thank you, Byron. I think I will stay on the look out for another heater so that I can have a second one for this kind of temperature drop (although I hope to move somewhere with central heat).

I will also take your advice and vacuum well. The tank has less than 1/4 volume (however many gallons that may be, I'm unsure) in it now as I had to drain most of the water to reach the bodies. I'll also clean the filter media and then set it up again to run for my plants, then when I move I'll set it up for fish. It is comforting to know that I don't have to change out the substrate of replace any media. I was worried about bad bacteria hanging out in the water as a result of the bodies laying in the tank for who knows how many days.

When I move, I'm joining a fish club so maybe I can make friends with other fish keepers who can more readily take care of my pets when I'm visiting my family.

 

[Munroco]

So sorry for the loss of all your fish. It happened to me years ago when I left a friend in charge of feeding them. From a 6ft tank, all I had left was a large pleco. Don't let it spoi la friendship though.

 

[Byron]

Thank you, Byron. I think I will stay on the look out for another heater so that I can have a second one for this kind of temperature drop (although I hope to move somewhere with central heat).

I will also take your advice and vacuum well. The tank has less than 1/4 volume (however many gallons that may be, I'm unsure) in it now as I had to drain most of the water to reach the bodies. I'll also clean the filter media and then set it up again to run for my plants, then when I move I'll set it up for fish. It is comforting to know that I don't have to change out the substrate of replace any media. I was worried about bad bacteria hanging out in the water as a result of the bodies laying in the tank for who knows how many days.

When I move, I'm joining a fish club so maybe I can make friends with other fish keepers who can more readily take care of my pets when I'm visiting my family.

Two heaters in a tank 3 feet in length or longer is a good idea; here again, each doesn't have to work as much to maintain the temperature, so less chance of failure.
 
Another thing occurs to me, something I do in tanks with no fish and if I have had some disease issue.  When you clean the filter media, do it under the tap (I did mention this previously).  But also, when you fill the tank, do not use dechlorinator.  I have a QT 20g tank for new fish acquisitions that has some plants in it and it runs permanently, and I do a weekly 50% water change even when there are no fish but I never use conditioner at these times.  The chlorine will not harm plants or snails, but it will kill some bacteria and pathogens, and without fish this is not at all detrimental.  The chlorine dissipates in 24 hours anyway.
 
Byron.

 

[Baccus]

Sorry to hear about the drastic loss of fish.
 
Byron is right in that chlorine will usually evaporate off in 24 hrs, however because of this many water treatment plants are now using chloramine which will not gas off. Before rinsing filter media in tap water or adding tap water to a tank without using chemicals to remove or make chlorine or chloramine inert check with your local supplier in which chemicals they use to treat your drinking water.

 

[Ninjouzata]

I'm so sorry for your loss Atti

 

[Byron]

Sorry to hear about the drastic loss of fish.
 
Byron is right in that chlorine will usually evaporate off in 24 hrs, however because of this many water treatment plants are now using chloramine which will not gas off. Before rinsing filter media in tap water or adding tap water to a tank without using chemicals to remove or make chlorine or chloramine inert check with your local supplier in which chemicals they use to treat your drinking water.

Thank you indeed for catching my miss on the chloramine; with only chlorine in my water I sometimes forget that others may have both.  Good catch.  B.

 

[attibones]

Sorry to hear about the drastic loss of fish.
 
Byron is right in that chlorine will usually evaporate off in 24 hrs, however because of this many water treatment plants are now using chloramine which will not gas off. Before rinsing filter media in tap water or adding tap water to a tank without using chemicals to remove or make chlorine or chloramine inert check with your local supplier in which chemicals they use to treat your drinking water.

I'm not sure if I have chloramine in my water supply. I'm trying to find the water report now. Does chloramine damage plants? I'm assuming it would hurt the snails living in the tank. 
 
 

 

Thank you, Byron. I think I will stay on the look out for another heater so that I can have a second one for this kind of temperature drop (although I hope to move somewhere with central heat).

I will also take your advice and vacuum well. The tank has less than 1/4 volume (however many gallons that may be, I'm unsure) in it now as I had to drain most of the water to reach the bodies. I'll also clean the filter media and then set it up again to run for my plants, then when I move I'll set it up for fish. It is comforting to know that I don't have to change out the substrate of replace any media. I was worried about bad bacteria hanging out in the water as a result of the bodies laying in the tank for who knows how many days.

When I move, I'm joining a fish club so maybe I can make friends with other fish keepers who can more readily take care of my pets when I'm visiting my family.

Two heaters in a tank 3 feet in length or longer is a good idea; here again, each doesn't have to work as much to maintain the temperature, so less chance of failure.
 
Another thing occurs to me, something I do in tanks with no fish and if I have had some disease issue.  When you clean the filter media, do it under the tap (I did mention this previously).  But also, when you fill the tank, do not use dechlorinator.  I have a QT 20g tank for new fish acquisitions that has some plants in it and it runs permanently, and I do a weekly 50% water change even when there are no fish but I never use conditioner at these times.  The chlorine will not harm plants or snails, but it will kill some bacteria and pathogens, and without fish this is not at all detrimental.  The chlorine dissipates in 24 hours anyway.
 
Byron.
 

If I can figure out if I have any chloramine, I'll take your suggestion. It would reassure me I think.

 

[Baccus]

Depending on the type of snail, most "pest" snails are all but indistrutable, I am not sure about chloramine damaging plants but I know high concentrations of chlorine can " burn" plants. Also there is anicdotal reports on the internet about the effects of both chemcials on palnts, bees even humming birds. There would be some risk of both chemicals damaging aquatic plants because of the way most aquatic plants have water enter thier systems.

I have read that chlorine and monochloramine can provent the growth and development of important bacteria needed in fish tanks and tank filters.Hardly surprising really since these chemicals are put into water suplies to render it " safe" for human consumption i.e no dangerous bacteria or pathogens.

 

[Byron]

My water has a relatively high level of chlorine and this has not affected plants or snails in the fishless tank that gets 50% water changes, and after fish have been in it and removed I do complete water changes, for months.  But chloramine again is a different thing.
 
Bacteria are affected, but in the absence of fish this is no issue.  And here we did want to clean things up, so this would help.  I normally clean my canister filters under the tap, knowing the bacteria will likely be killed, but in my heavily planted tanks this is no concern at all.
 
Byron.