Fish Dying

[Dibbs123]

Hi,

I have had two angel fish and one BN catfish die in the last week. Tank has been cycled for two weeks. Introduced the catfish two bronze cory and two angel fish after cycle. both angels have been replaced and seem to be doing fine. (angel now eating bllod worms)

All water stats are fine, one angel and the BN catfish died the day after a water change. only changed 40ltres on a 200ltr tank. PH is quite hight at 8. all other stats are 0 aprt fromNitrate whic is at 10-20ppm.

Do you think this is bad luck or new tank syndrome?? I am wondering that I think the BN catfish ate a angel that died in the night. could he had caught what he had?? the other angel I put down due to swim bladder problems and eventually no movement.

I have 6 black widow tetras and one dwarf Gornami which were a fish in cycle and are all doing fine.

 

[WILDER]

Was the fish bloated.
How long did you climatise them for.
What the ph of the lfs to your tank.

 

[Dibbs123]

Was the fish bloated.
How long did you climatise them for.
What the ph of the lfs to your tank.

going to check the PH of LFS fish not bloated.

Left to climatise for 15 mins. added some tank water then left for another 15 mins

 

[Dibbs123]

Was the fish bloated.
How long did you climatise them for.
What the ph of the lfs to your tank.

going to check the PH of LFS fish not bloated.

Left to climatise for 15 mins. added some tank water then left for another 15 mins

 

[WILDER]

15 minutes is not long enough.
What I do is check ph of bag water and temp.
If there was a big difference in ph they could of died of ph shock.
Also if temp was really low in bag fifthteen minutes is not always long enough.

These are the signs of ph shock.

pH Shock

As its name suggests this condition occurs when a fish is introduced to quickly into a new environment which has a very different pH from the one it came from, when the pH is adjusted to quickly and the fish have little or no time to adjust themselves, or when the pH is to far outside the fishes normal range.

It is very important that any change in water chemistry is made slowly and fish should never be exposed to changes of pH greater than 0.5 of one unit on the pH scale in either direction.

Avoidance is by far the best solution because in most cases the symptoms don't appear until the second or third day by which time the damage has been done and the fish will probably die.

A fish suffering from this condition will show all the typical signs of shock -

Lying on the bottom and paying little or no attention to its surroundings and ignoring potential threats.
It may even lay on its side or go upside down completely.
There could be other signs to, related to Acidosis and Alkalosis
Excessive mucus production.
Rapid breathing.
Swollen abdomen. (Alkalosis only).
If the condition is allowed to go on for one or two days then the chances of a successful remedy are greatly reduced because a lot of damage will have taken place. If the symptoms are spotted early enough there are a couple of things that will help.

Begin to return the pH to the original pH in steps of 0.4 of one unit on the pH scale and allow 3 hrs in between the adjustments. Make these adjustments until the pH is returned to a safe and satisfactory level.
Treat the tank with a broad spectrum anti-Bacteria/Fungus compound to prevent secondary infections of the Skin and Gills.
Prevention is easy. A successful treatment isn't!

 

[Dibbs123]

Was the fish bloated.
How long did you climatise them for.
What the ph of the lfs to your tank.

LFS PH 7.8

 

[WILDER]

That was quick did you phone the lfs.
That ph fine then.
But I would still climatise longer than 15 minutes.

Swim bladder can be caused by bad water quality, unstable temp, poor diet, injury, deformed swim bladder, parasites, bacterial.

Any signs of flicking and rubbing
Did the fish have excess slime on body or gills.
Any signs of laboured breathing.