Angel Fish Dying

[delta]

Last Sunday I purchased some angel fish. two silvers, one koi and three platinums. They were all around the same size, bodies around 1 inch, except one of the silvers who is around 2 inches in the body. So. all was fine until Thursday when I noticed one of the platinums hiding by the filter pipe, but he did come out to eat. A couple of hours later he was dead. The rest looked fine. Next day I got home from work and the remaining two platinums were dead. No sign of disease or injuries at all. Today the little koi died so now I just have the two silvers.

Tank - Roma 240L with a Fluval 406 external filter.
Decor - Sand substrate, Redmoor wood and live plants.
The tank had been fishlessly cycled.

Water parameters:

Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 40 (weekly water change due tomorrow but they come out the tap at 20 where I live.)

I decided I might as well check my pH and found it's 8.2 on the pH high test (I use the API liquid test kit)

I have six Odessa barbs in the tank who have been in there for around three weeks and are happy as larry. I bought them from a shop where they were being kept as tropical rather than cold water so are used to tropical temps.

Am I right in suspecting that it's the high pH that's done for these angel fish?

Any advice would be hugely appreciated.

Thank you for reading.

 

[WILDER]

What the brand name of the test kit you are using.
Full stocking list.
What is your tap reading for PH.
How long did climatise the new fish for.
Did the fish show any symptoms before dying.

I see you added a Koi. Not the pond, coldwater fish.

 

[delta]

Hi there

It's the API Freshwater Liquid Test Kit

Full stocking list at this moment.

6 Odessa Barbs
2 Sliver angel fish (See below).

Before the deaths
6 Odessa Barbs
2 silver angel fish (1 about 1inch body size, 1 about 2 inches body size)
3 platinum angel fish (all around 1 inch body size)
1 Koi angel fish (just a tad bigger than the platinums) An orange, black and white coloured angel fish labelled as Koi in the shop, you may know it as 'Gold Marbled Blushing Angel Fish'.


I acclimatised the angels for almost an hour adding a little tank water to their bags every 10 minutes or so.

The only symptoms I noticed was that the first of the platinum to die was lurking on his own by the filter pipe whereas before he'd always been in with the group. The 'koi' angel also was on his own in the same corner before he died.

They were purchased from my local MA at Bourne End in Bucks so has the same kind of water as we do where I live in High Wycombe. Tap water pH is 7.6 on the normal range pH test and 7.4 on the high range test. What the heck is causing it to be 8.2 in the tank!!!! The sand is Unipac Silver Sand, the plants are all live, Anubais, Java Fern and Giant Vallis. The rocks were from the LFS two of the exact same type actually in their tanks.

 

[wirralbull]

he uses api and he said a koi angelfish

 

[delta]

I just tested the pH in my 200L community tank which has been running for a year. It's the same, 8.2 on the High Range test. It's moderately to heavily planted, has bogwood, sand but not the same type as the 240L, I use liquid carbon in this one. It has a mixture of tetras cories and kuhlis and some amano shrimp who have all been in there for ages.

 

[WILDER]

Sorry.

The redmoor wood. Never heard of it before. Can the wood higher PH.

Get a jug of water from tap. Add water condtioner.
After two hours, test the water in PH.

Were the fish acting fine at the LFS.
Always watch the fish for a while at the LFS, before buying.

Did the fish look pale in colour, or darker in colour.
Any signs of laboured breathing.
Did the fish not notice there surroundings.
Any excess slime, or mucas, on body or fins.

 

[Essjay]

When you tested the tapwater, was it straight out of the tap? If yes, can I suggest you leave a glass of water to stand for 24 hours and test it again. You'll probably find it has changed, maybe even gone up to 8.2.


Edit: Wilder posted as I was typing!

 

[delta]

As far as know, wood, if anything, tends to make water softer due to the tannins. Redmoor is that rooty twisty wood, more delicate than bogwood or mopani.

I'll do the jug thing right now and report my readings later.

The fish were fine in the LFS. I always observe fish before I buy as too often shops will try to sell listless fish or fish from tanks containing dead or blatantly diseased fish and I won't accept that.

The fish that died did not change colour at all, well, hard to tell with the platinums as they are basically white but they looked exactly the same as they had when they'd been happily prowling the tank looking for food when they'd been alive. The Koi's colour was as rich as it had been since he'd regained it after the move from the LFS. There was absolutely no sign of anything at all. No damaged fins, no reddened gills, no excess slime. No bloated bellies or sticking out scales. Nothing at all.

 

[WILDER]

OK.
just wanted to check about the wood.

It could of been the PH.
But the fish hardly showed any signs of PH Shock.


I bought new fish only to lose them a few days later.
It happens i'm afraid, Stress got to much for them to cope with.
Stress lowers there resistance.

 

[delta]

I'm gutted these fish have died. This is the most I've lost in such a short time. I've lost fish before, obviously. The odd tetra here and there but usually only one very occasionally, never four within the space of three days like this and two on the same day !!!! I am now paranoid about getting any new fish until I can find the cause of these losses.

Thank you for taking the time to read my posts and offer advice. I'll post my non-tank water readings in the morning after it's sat in the jug overnight.

Fingers crossed my remaining two angels make it through this.

 

[WILDER]

I know how you feel.
You could always ask the lfs if there willing ro give you some money back
Write your test results down before going. So you can show them.

Another suggestion, check your fish bag water in PH.

 

[delta]

I did speak to the LFS and they asked me to bring in a water sample which I will do.

I was especially sad to loose the Koi as he was a real little cutie

 

[delta]

Good Morning.

I tested the water that I'd left overnight, it had been dosed with my usual de-chlorinator as suggested. It tests as 7.4 in the high pH test. So, why, if my tap water is a reasonable pH level does my tank water read 8.2 ?

The two silver angels are still with us this morning. Keeping my fingers crosses. As far as the Odessa barbs are concerned, there's nothing wrong at all.

Today is tank maintenance and water change day. So I'll test the pH again after the water change.

 

[DrRob]

pH of 8.2 is suggestive that there is a buffer source in the tank. Redmoor isn't the culprit.

Do you have any limestone by way or rocks/gravel/sand? Unipac should be well behaved. Can we get a photo of the rocks? It won't necessarily mean that we can identify them, but it might be possible. If you have any limescale remover then you could try chipping a piece off and seeing if it makes it fizz (clean, dry section and don't put it back in the tank).

 

[delta]

pH of 8.2 is suggestive that there is a buffer source in the tank. Redmoor isn't the culprit.

Do you have any limestone by way or rocks/gravel/sand? Unipac should be well behaved. Can we get a photo of the rocks? It won't necessarily mean that we can identify them, but it might be possible. If you have any limescale remover then you could try chipping a piece off and seeing if it makes it fizz (clean, dry section and don't put it back in the tank).

I have some rocks that I bought from my local Maidenhead Aquatics.

I'll take one out and do the fizzing test. The only thing is, when I tested my other tank which has only bogwood, mopani wood, some of those Feng Shui pepples you can buy in P@H and aquarium sand bought from another LFS, that also read 8.2. Nevertheless I will take out a rock and test it.

I did a 40% water change this morning and when I tested the water afterwards it read 7.4 on the high pH test. I'll test it again this evening to see if there's any change. The two remaining angels are still with us. I think I might also take some sand from each tank and place it in to containers with tap water and dechlor, test, then leave overnight and test again. That way I might be able to eliminate the sand as a culprit. What do you think?