Bunch Of Dead Fish!

[lildozer74]

my timer kicked the lights on in my 55 gal tank this morning, and to my horror there were 6 or 7 dead fish in the bottom of the tank! dont know what happened. my tank has been up and running for almost 2 years without a problem. Ive always done everything I was supposed to, change the water, clean it every week, they never went hungry, never any parasites or diseases. I just dont know what happened. somehow i got snails everywhere too somehow. they LITERALLY appeared overnight. now they are everywhere. dont know if that would have something to do with it though.


55gal
1 pleco
had about 15 cichlids, down to 7 now

 

[WILDER]

Was there an electric shock.
What are your water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.
Any rotting snails in the tank.
Is there plenty of aeration.

 

[lildozer74]

Was there an electric shock.
What are your water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.
Any rotting snails in the tank.
Is there plenty of aeration.

no electric shock i know of, i have an airstone, and the powerhead mix to max. the snails are all pin head size still, so if theres any rotting i wouldnt be able to get them out anyways. I use crushed coral sand for substrate

 

[WILDER]

What are your water stats as water quality is the first thing to rule out.
Whats your tap ph to tank ph.

 

[Truck]

i bet its the high PH that may have finished them off, what species were they? and what is your PH?

 

[lildozer74]

i bet its the high PH that may have finished them off, what species were they? and what is your PH?

mostly mbunas, two jewel cichlids, but they are still alive. and my beautiful demasoni died

havent yet checked the ph though ill get back to you on it.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi lildozer74

Columnaris is a bacterial infection that can literally sweep through a tank of fish overnight. If their is no other logical explanation for the deaths, I would suspect that's the problem. The cause might be uneaten food settling into the gravel which would also contribute to a rapid increase of the snail population.

Before you do anything else, a good water change and bottom cleaning is in order.

 

[lildozer74]

Hi lildozer74

Columnaris is a bacterial infection that can literally sweep through a tank of fish overnight. If their is no other logical explanation for the deaths, I would suspect that's the problem. The cause might be uneaten food settling into the gravel which would also contribute to a rapid increase of the snail population.

Before you do anything else, a good water change and bottom cleaning is in order.

would it only affect certain fish? cause I have 7 others that survived without any trouble so far. I cleaned the hell out of the tank yesterday. and i remove any snails that i can see.

 

[Inchworm]

It's possible that the remaining fish were younger or for some other reason have stronger immune systems. Let's hope they stay well.

 

[lildozer74]

It's possible that the remaining fish were younger or for some other reason have stronger immune systems. Let's hope they stay well.

ok sorry ive been really busy lately. the fish that are still alive are doing great. they look good too. i bought all the fish within a 3 month time frame so i still dont know what killed them. had some beauties and unique cichlids too , o well i guess ill have to restock it again someday. thanks all!