Fish Spits Out Food And Some Fish Dying

[wiseguy_75]

My tank (55 Gal) has been well established for about 1 yr now. It was doing perfectly fine but now I have had 4 fish die in the last month or so. I did add 3 iredecent sharks 1x4", 1x6", 1x8" about 2 months ago but everything looked normal for the first month. The sharks were pretty wild in the begining but after a week they calmed down.

This week 2 of my cat fish died... and these guys have been there since day one when water conditions were very poor. several fish died the first month as I did not know how to properly "cycle" my aquarium. Anyhow, I thought nothing could kill these guys after all they've been through.

Also, my 2 big tinfoil barbs, who are by far the most aggressive eaters in the tank have suddenly stopped eating. One tries to eat but spits the food right out. They still swim normally and play together as they have done since day one. They are about 8 months old and 4" diameter.

All the fish look and act fine except the 2 tinfoil barbs but yet some are dying. I am all out of water testing kit... so I will go have the water tested this weekend and buy more. In the meantime, any ideas?

2 x tinfoil barbs 8 months old (4" dia.) not eating and spitting out food.
2 cat fish, 1 yr old - died this week
1 sucker fish (looks like a regular fish but sucks on the window some times) was 6 months old. Looked fine then died 2 weeks ago.
1 yellow cichlid - 5 months old - seemed fine... he was the first to die about 3 weeks ago.
3 iredecent sharks (4", 6", 8") all seem fine and are eating (come from a friends healthy tank)
1 Bala shark - 8 month old - 4" length - acts and eating fine

I have rocks, wood and fake plants and bubbles going. Temperature seems fine... and I do about 20% water changes every 7 - 10 days.

 

[WILDER]

We want to take a look at your full stock list of fish.
Going to be hard without water stats.
Spitting food out can be a sign of flukes.
Any signs of fish flicking and rubbing, or heavey breathing.
Also check the gills for being pale with excess mucas on them, or red and inflamed.

Spitting- This is almost always from an advanced infestation of flukes. But you should do the following 2 things:

(1) Capture the fish, and do an oral exam looking for an ulcer, check the gills for swelling, paleness, white streaks around the edges of the gill or through the gill tissue, or any kind of foreign body (rock, pebble, etc.).

(2) Scrape the gill and examine under a microscope for flukes. ( best done by someone who knows what they are looking for)

 

[JoanneH]

I have experienced a similar thing over the past few weeks/months - unexplained deaths really, no apparent signs of flukes, no flicking or rubbing, just spitting food out, hanging around the top of the tank and eventually dying.
Then last weekend Inoticed one of my platies has what was diagnosed on here as internal parasites - it seems these may have been the cause of the other deaths, just I hadn't noticed the parasites.
Wormer plus was recommended to me on this forum, I've only treated them today, but hopefully this should rid me of the problem and any more unexplained deaths.
Don't know if that' s any help to you at all.

 

[nynex]

If your fish are hanging out at the top of the tank. That could mean your Oxygen
levels are low. Most times if fish are hanging out at the top and breathing heavy.
It means you have Oxygen depleation.. But you said you have an airstone

They would also hang out at the top if they had flukes. But there would be rubbing
against rocks and decor and not so normal behavior. Are you sure there are no flukes?

The only other thing I can think of..is NEW TANK SYNDROME..
Meaning your tank is going through a cycle again. Which means your nitrite
levels spiked to a toxic level. Which would give most of your fish Nitrogen Toxicity..

Of all times for you to not have a test kit. Most LFS test water for free. What are you
waiting on??

The symptoms are fish gasp for breath at the surface. or hang near the water
outlet/exhaust. gills appear brown and move more rapidly. Then after awile they
are so weak they cant swim and fall to the bottom and Die.

The treatment would be...Very Important you must move your fish to a Hospital/QT tank
with clean fresh water.

Then In the display tank.. Do a 50% water change now. Add PRIME from
Seachem (This removes ammonia and Nitrates and Nitrites.). Test your water in your display
tank and if nitrogen remains high. Do another water change..add PRIME again.

If this is not it..I would still remove the suspect fish that act sick and put them in a
QT/Hospital tank. Melefix the QT tank and see if they have flukes. If so I would use
parasite clean from jungle labs. This will wipe out the parasites. Dont do this in your
display...only in the hospital tank.