Fed My Fish Some Mosquito Larvae, Now Everyone Is Sick Or Dead!

[CherryBerry]

Hello I have a 5.5 gallon tank with a betta and 5 neon green tetra.  They've been living happily for about a week or 2, I've been doing water changed, everyone was doing outstanding, beautiful water and several beautiful plants (anubias, wysteria, moss ball).  I've fed them betta pellets, tropical fish food, and the occasional freeze-dried bloodworm.
 
Yesterday I caught about 15-20 little tiny mosquito larvae that I grew in a bucket and fed them to the fish as a treat, I had no idea this would make them sick!!

Today when I look in the tank I see about 3 of my tetras swimming funny, and looking funny.  I look for my betta and he's nowhere to be seen!  I take the lid off and I find that he's wedged himself between the filter walls and he's sticking his head out of the water.  I thought he was dead but I touch him and he freaks out and swims off.
 
The other 2 tetras that are missing are stuck in the filter intake, totally dead!

My tetras that are alive look like they have tiny white dots on their back and tail fins, and they sort of look like they don't have their fins on their sides.  Either they don't have them anymore or they are not using them.  I'm afraid everyone is very sick!
 
My betta still keeps wedging himself between the walls of the filter and sticking his head out of the filter!
 
I put a little bit of anti-fungal medication in the water, but I'm not sure of this will fix the problem.  Help!  All I can do is pray to Jesus at this point >.<  What should I do?

 

[star4]

Feeding mosquito larvae shouldnt have this affect. Did you get any water from the bucket into the tank? I would recommend a large water change and see if there is any improvement in the fish. The spots on the tetra do they look like ich? tiny grains of salt on the body? have you added anything else new to the tank?

 

[Baccus]

Did you net the mozzie wrigglers out of the other water and then release them into the tank water or did the mozzies go into the tank in the tub water? The tub water may have had a chemical in it that has made the fish ill.
How ever if your tank is only 2 weeks old, then I would say what is more likely to have happened is that the tank is now poisoning the fish with ammonia due to the filter not being cycled prior to adding the fish.

 

[CherryBerry]

no, while the fish are only about two weeks old, the tank itself is well over a month old, getting close to 2 months old.
 
I know that it must have had something to do with the mosquito larvae, because ever since I fed them this, the fish have been acting erratically.  They are swimming into the glass walls a lot.  My betta had himself wedged in the walls of a filter which I've never seen him do.  
 
The mosquito larvae were caught from a bucket of old tank water that I had left sitting out for maybe a week or two, and a tiny bit of water might have gone in the tank.  Like maybe a teaspoon, give or take.
 
I went to a fish store and the people said ich.  I got some ich treatment and a water heater, that... doesn't seem to work... But my thermometer is reading a hair over 80 degrees farenheit.
 
I've added a dose of ich treatment and half a dose of fungal treatment, and a water heater that doesn't seem to be working.  I hope this fixes it!!

Yes the spots, they do look like ich!  Yes they do.  I'd never seen this disease before... I should have just stuck with regular food!  >.<  live and learn!

 

[bluesword23516]

The larvae wouldnt have caused ich. It would have been water conditions. 
Was your tank previously cycled? What do you do to water before you add it in? 

 

[CherryBerry]

Hmmm another tetra down... 2 left !

I cleaned my tank out about 3 days ago.  I did about a 25% water change.  
 
The water, I added the appropriate dosage of Betta Water Conditioner.  I vaccuumed up the gravel and removed as much of the poop and stuff that I could.
 
I think my plants help to keep the water healthy, the wysteria has been showing tons of new growth and the anubias are growing as well.  
 
I know you guys think that it wasn't the mosquito larvae, but ever since i added them within hours the fish were acting erratically and today they died.  I got a tiny bit of the old water into the new tank, but a very small amount.  Probably less than a teaspoon.
 
By cycling my tank, I'm not sure exactly what you mean.  I've had the tank for quite a while, do weekly water changes of 25%...  I keep my filter on and just changed it a couple days ago.  The tank is not brand new by any means, its 6-8 weeks old.

 

[Lillefishy]

It sounds to me like your filter isn't cycled & the mosquito larvae is just a coincidence.
You say you've just changed your filter, how did you change it?

 

[CherryBerry]

I just changed and added new filter.  The last carbon filter was old and had a lot of brown stuff on it. 
 
I can see white dots on my betta.  I believe that's ich, is that correct??
 
I think I know what you mean when say cycled, I've read a lot about fish tanks, but that's always seemed like a weird word I'm not sure exactly what you're asking.

 

[Lillefishy]

Was it just the carbon you changed?
If the white spots look like grains of salt then yes it's probably ich

 

[CherryBerry]

Do I need to do another water change and re-add the medicine?  If so, how much

Was it just the carbon you changed?
If the white spots look like grains of salt then yes it's probably ich

Yes a few days ago I changed the carbon.  About 2-3 days ago I also vaccuumed the gravel and changed about 25% of the water.
 

 

[Ninjouzata]

Did you mess with anything in the filter besides the carbon or are you only running carbon in it?
 
Have a read of THIS to understand more about cycling. This is what you should do before adding fish.
 
Do you have a test kit? If so, what are the water parameters? (pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)
 
I agree that this was likely not the mosquito larvae.
 
The tank is overstocked and not cycling the tank/changing out the filter is likely leading to poor water quality, even with the weekly water changes. Sorry, what is your water change schedule like?
When doing a fish-in cycle you sometimes have to do daily or twice daily changes, especially in a tank this small.

 

[CherryBerry]

Besides for the carbon filter I just have put a sponge in the outflow to slow down the rate of flow.  It's a very powerful filter for a 10 gallon, and when I leave the filter on normally I actually have it push my fish around too much.  
 
I do water changed every 6-7 days of about 25%, and I vacuum the gravel.  I just did a water change a couple days ago.
 
I also did a water change today before adding some Rid-Ich Plus, because I heard that this helps to fix the disease.  I have a water thermometer that says the water is about at 82 degrees.
 
Oh I know about cycling too, it just sounds weird to me, I think it has a different meaning when I hear it.  I've read a lot of those articles.  Yeah, the tank is established and I have quite a few plants in my tank to keep the water parameters okay.  I don't have a test kit though.

 

[colleen0309]

Cycling isn't weird at all. It's how you successfully keep a healthy aquarium. You really need a test kit. You don't know if your water parameters are okay unless you test your water. You have ich alright, but I wouldn't be surprised if your amonia and/or nitrites are sky high. I go out to my garden pond every day during the summer and collect mosquito larva. It's free live food. If it was my tank, I would do a 75 - 95% water change every day until I tested for amonia and nitrite. Make sure to follow the directions closely on the medication. Good luck with your tank

 

[star4]

If you have carbon in your filter you need to remove the carbon before you add ich medication, else the carbon will remove it all.
 
You do need a test kit, or take a sample to your LFS and ask then to test it and post the results, (dont go on the shop telling you its fine, you want the readings of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate)

 

[elmo666]

Sounds odd that you only have carbon in your filter and, as you explain, sponge in the outflow to slow the flow. At the very least you need a decent sized sponge within the filter to give somewhere for the nitrifying bacteria to colonize. Other filter medias are available to do this but sponge helps with water clarity to. My thoughts are that the bacteria have colonized the gunk on the carbon, when you changed it you have taken all that bacteria away and your fish are now suffering from ammonia poisoning. Its crucial you get your water tested, get a media into the filter that permanently stays there, but most of all do as big a water change as you can until you establish your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels. Your tank isn't cycled as you've stalled that process and that's why your fish are stressed and dying.