Fish Deaths

[lukestanislaus]

Hi this is a topic for a friend of mine

He has a lage tank (4ft) and he recently added a small (jsut over 1inch) "red flame dwarf gourami" to it, the next day he found that one of his harlequin rasboras had died as well as a small angel (which was about an inch long from mouth to tail)
on the same day he also fed the fish live brine shrimp for the first time

what kind of precautions should be take and what would most likely be the cause of the deaths? his tank is pretty understocked, filtration is not a problem

 

[mark.w.jones]

Hi this is a topic for a friend of mine

He has a lage tank (4ft) and he recently added a small (jsut over 1inch) "red flame dwarf gourami" to it, the next day he found that one of his harlequin rasboras had died as well as a small angel (which was about an inch long from mouth to tail)
on the same day he also fed the fish live brine shrimp for the first time

what kind of precautions should be take and what would most likely be the cause of the deaths? his tank is pretty understocked, filtration is not a problem

1. He bought very sickly fish to begin with.
2. His tank is still cycling and he hasn't been water changing every other day to keep levels of nasties down. What are his ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels like?
3. Did he pour the water from the brine shrimp into his tank. As it contains salt.

 

[Tessla]

jonesyUK has covered all the possibilities, it would be easier if we knew the full tank stocking, history and water chemistry.

A couple of things to add: Dwarf gouramis are generally disease ridden, I wouldn't keep one without quarantine first (I've had so many problems with them that I wouldn't keep them in the first place but that's another story.) Angels are very delicate when small, they require very mature stable tanks.

 

[Amunet]

Yeah the gourami might've brought something nasty with it.

How long has the tank been set up?
Does he know the water stats? Ie Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate

 

[lukestanislaus]

he doesnt know the stats, but its been set up for about a month now, and it had filter media from the previous tank as well
and hes had the angel for over 2 months an he had had 1 death (a pepper cory) before this but he doesnt have any ammonia test kits or anything, only ph tester
he added fish pretty slowly when first setting up the tank

he says he didnt put the brine shrimp water in, he scooped them out with a net

the tank contains 5 platy, 10 neons, 9 harlequin rasbora, 5 pepper corys 1 bristlenose plec and formerly an angel

he took the gourami out today
one of the harlequins looks quite badly injured as well since today so wouldnt that indicate physical voilence?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

one of the harlequins looks quite badly injured as well since today so wouldnt that indicate physical voilence?

it could well do, however a lot of normally peaceful fish will pick on and could injure a sick fish which is one of the reason's it's good to isolate unwell fish. it could be a sign that the rasbora is unwell too

 

[lukestanislaus]

hmm interesting

is there any medication you can buy to prevent further spread of disease

 

[Miss Wiggle]

plenty of them, but you need to diagnose the disease before we can tell you which med to get.

we'll need much more detail about the tank and his set up and the deaths to do that try and get the answers to the following things from your friend


1. Water parameters. (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, PH, temp', Hardness etc)
2. A full description of the fishes symptoms.
3. How often you do water changes and how much.
4. Any chemicals and treatments you add to the water.
5. What tank mates are in the tank.
6. Tank size.
7. Finally Have you recently added any new fish?

you can use the form below

Tank size:
pH:
ammonia:
nitrite:
nitrate:
kH:
gH:
tank temp:

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):

Volume and Frequency of water changes:

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:

Tank inhabitants:

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):

Exposure to chemicals:

Digital photo (include if possible):

 

[lukestanislaus]

sorry not really much information here, he doesnt have any test kits apart fom pH
he says hell go and buy some tes tkits tomorrow

Tank size: 48"x18" high x 14" wide = 200 Litres
pH:7.3
ammonia: unknown
nitrite: unknown
nitrate: unknown
kH: unknown
gH: unknown
tank temp: 25C

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior):
1 small harlequin found dead on bottom of tank, white colour and looked like it had been eaten a bit, 1 small angelfish found recently dead untouched with lingering colouring, assumed very recent death (within 1/2 hr)

1 harlequin noticed spastic swimming, very erratic, then randomly meandered into the filter outlet current and got owned, then floated to the bottom and just lies there gasping

1 harlequin with significant physical injuries, nipped tail and large lesions on body, one side fin seems to be badly injured, unable to swim properly

Volume and Frequency of water changes:
20 Litres twice a week

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:
the water conditioner for the water changes

Tank inhabitants:
10 neon tetras, 5 pepper cory, 5 platy, 1 bristlenose plec, 8 harlequin rasbora
recent deaths: 2 harlequin rasbora, 1 small angelfish
recent removal: 1 dwarf gourami (1inch)

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration):
a peice of bogwood from the store and some fake plants about a week ago
1 drawf gourami the day befoe the 1st harlequin and angelfish death

Exposure to chemicals:
none known

Digital photo (include if possible):

 

[Miss Wiggle]

1 harlequin noticed spastic swimming, very erratic, then randomly meandered into the filter outlet current and got owned, then floated to the bottom and just lies there gasping

this bit in particular sounds like swim bladder problems, can be caused by a number of different problems, most notably stress and poor water conditions. can be treated but is very difficult to do.

what does he feed them?

how long has the tank been set up?

how does he clean his filter?

and tell him to get a bloomin test kit, without results for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate at least it's very hard to diagnose correctly the cause of the problems.