Dead Fish In My Tank

[sussexgirl]

I noticed over the weekend that one of my German Rams was gulping for air quite fast. She wasn't at the top of the tank, just swimming very slowly around half way down my tank. Her tank mate was fine and swimming all over the place - still is.

My water parameters taken just 10 minutes ago remain the same as they was when I last tested on Saturday:

Amonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
PH 7.8
Tank temp 76 degrees

The only thing I can think of is that I did a 30% water change on Saturday and I know that my LFS said that these fish preferred more acidic water and that you have to ease them in to more alkaline water very gradually. That said, I treated my water with dechlorinator and left it for 10 minutes before adding. I had used filtered water from my electric kettle to get the water to the correct tank temperature.

Any ideas? No sign of ich in the tank or anything untoward. It's a 95 litre tank by the way. Thanks

 

[kev_kb]

Yes they do prefer more acidic water, but if you took your time when introducing it to the tank it should of been ok, as shown by the survival of the other one. I would guess you introduced it really quickly or just got unlucky and bought a poor quality fish. If its a recent addition go back to the LFS.

I wouldn't use water from a kettle to do your water changes, just dechlorinate and let it stand for a while, in a 95 litre tank the temperature drop should only be small, and shouldn't cause any problems.