Fishes Being Killed - Emergency Help

[desired.one]

Hi,

I have had a tank running for nearly 4 month. I have been quite successful in keeping things nice and happy until this week. So far I have lost one Angel fish and one guppy. Right now my betta is severely damaged ( fins ripped apart). The angel fish had all of his fins destroyed and when i found him floating on water, he even had an eye missing. The guppy also had his tail destroyed. I am not sure who the culprit is among my tank's residents and I was wondering is anyone could help me. I have the following:

*neon tetra
*leopard danio
*blackwidow tetra
*dwarf gourami
*Golden pleco
*killi fish
*upside down catfish
*glass catfish
*betta
*guppy
*marbled hatchet fish


Please help me find the culprit before it kills everything else.

Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Westwood]

First thing, that jumps to mind is fin Rot?

Fin Rot Can be either bacterial (fins rot with red [blood] outline on edge) or fungal (white, cottony grows on edge of fin)

Symptoms The fins will have a ragged, uneven appearance that will eventually, if left untreated, disintegrate to the point where only a stub remains.

Treatment There is a range of medication including penecilin.

 

[fluttermoth]

At a first guess, I'd point the finger at the black widow; they can be nippy little b*****rs.

Just to help us rule out any other causes of your trouble, can you give us some more info? How big is the tank; have you tested the water for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates and, if you have, could you post the results; also, how many of each species of fish?

 

[desired.one]

Hi,

Thanks for your replies. I suspected fin rot as well, however the damages were incredibly fast (almost over night) and I suspect that fin rot takes a little while to do this much damage or can it really do damage this quickly.

The tank is 80 liters and I just did a test:
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 50
PH: 7.6

Here is the list of the fish:

*neon tetra x7
*leopard danio x1
*blackwidow tetra x1
*dwarf gourami x1 (male)
*Golden pleco x1
*killi fish x1 (male and female pair)
*upside down catfish x1
*glass catfish x4
*betta x1 (male)
*guppy x2 (male - used to be 3)
*marbled hatchet fish x1

Also if it is of any help, The most recent additions were the killis and the upside down catfish.

I really appreciate your help.

 

[notg2009]

Blackwidow tetras, bettas, angels, gouramis in one tank?! Aren't these species at least semi-aggressive toward other fish? gouramis and bettas are from the same family, so they might not be very compatible as well. I had 2 male gouramis in my 29 USG tank (~110 L), and they were nipping at my small tetras' tails so I returned them to lfs, although I liked them very much Also I had a betta and some guppies in one tank and the betta was always chasing the guppies.

Also if you have an 80L tank (~21 USG) then you are pretty overstocked. The rule is 1 inch per 1 gallon (2.5cm per each 4L). Meanwhile having schools of fish (min of 5) is better than having a variety in terms of stability. I myself prefer to have one of each kind, but based on what I have learned so far, it does not work that way.

Max nitrate tolerated by fish is about 40ppm, so you want to do a 50% water change to bring it down to about 25, and another day do another ~20-40% to lower it even more. Chemical imbalance and overcrowding in a tank causes stress to the fish, which then results in higher susceptibility to diseases.

By the way, check some pics of fin rot on the net and compare with your fish. I think bite marks are quite different from fins with fin rot problem.

Good luck.

 

[Bexx]

Could they be getting eaten once dead? Hence making the tails jagged? You did say one had an eye missing. Or was the tail dodgy when alive. Whats your poorly fish like now? Is his tail dodgy? Just thinking it could be fin rot or maybe another disease killing them then they are getting pecked at.

I lost lovely Guppy this week! ;( know how you must be feeling. Hope you get it sorted so you dont lose anymore fish. x

Could they be getting eaten once dead? Hence making the tails jagged? You did say one had an eye missing. Or was the tail dodgy when alive. Whats your poorly fish like now? Is his tail dodgy? Just thinking it could be fin rot or maybe another disease killing them then they are getting pecked at.

I lost lovely Guppy this week! ;( know how you must be feeling. Hope you get it sorted so you dont lose anymore fish. x

 

[desired.one]

Hi,

Thanks for your replies.

Just to add that I have had the gourami with the betta and guppies for 2 months now and there has not been any agression.

The angel was also extremely calm and had also been in there pretty much since the beginning.

Also the betta was never ever agressive towards the guppies.

Like I said, the new additions were the killis and the upside down catfish before all the mayhem started.

could it be them?

 

[fish2000]

In my experience Male Beta and Angel fish do not get along, even when they were okay in the beginning. As they grow and become more confident and stretch out their own teritories, friendships or normal tolerance for each other can become aggression. Which includes destruction of each others fins, tails and 'feelers'.
The guppies seem to be the victim of the Angel fish.

 

[moochy13]

as mentioned, the fin nipping and certainly the missing eye could have happened after the fish had already died. were they in bad condition before they died ? my mate has a large tank with a lot of the fish that you have, and he says the most aggressive fish in his tank are his hatchets, which are some of the smallest fish he has.

 

[Squidward]

It could be the blackwidow. They prefer to be kept in groups of 5+, where they will prob be nippy with each other. Instead, your single fish could be having a go at the angel etc.

 

[star4]

The first thing that springs to my mind is the golden pleco, any chance of a pic to id what sort it is just in case you have a golden algae eater (Chinese algae eater) these are notorious for attacking the slime coat of other fish once they get bigger.