Last night everything was fine, and this morning I wake up to 3 dead pim pictus (all I had) and 1 dead p. demasoni, and I'm not sure why.
Tank stats: 75gal, fluval 404, AC 70, temp: 79 F, Ammonia: 0, NitrIte: 0.5 (I think this is from 4 dead fish overnight, because 3 days ago nitrite was 0), Nitrate: 5. Did my 50% weekly water change yesterday as per usual, I used dechlorinator as I always do.
This tank was fishless cycled and on 6/20/06 I added 7 L. Caeruleus, 6 P. Acei, 6 M. Callainos, 1 P. demasoni, all juvies w/the exception of 3 adult labs. A week ago, I added 3 pim pictus, all around the 4 inch range. No ammonia or nitrite spikes of any kind until today, or some time in the last 3 days since I tested. All the fish were eating well, including the pictus, except for 2 holding labs, and the demasoni. I thought she (demasoni) was holding, though it was hard to tell because she was so small, anyways she hadn't eaten since 6/30. Now I'm beginning to wonder if something wasn't wrong w/her from the start.
The 3 pictus were active and eating last night. Perhaps I added them too soon, I know some catfish are sensitive to tanks that haven't matured, but I'm not sure if pictus are. The only other thing I can think of are internal parasites. The pictus had very rounded bellies, however they seemed to shrink between feedings, and their poo was a healthy brown color, so I'm not sure if parasites are the answer either. I took a couple of pics to see if anyone can tell what was wrong. The first one is a top view.
The second is from the bottom, note the rounded belly, this one also had red marks on the belly, the other two didn't, however, I think it is because this one was under the rocks the entire time, and the other two were floating.
So, to recap, no previous water chemistry problems, everyone feeding well (except for demasoni), 4 dead fish this morning, and I have no idea why. Anyone have any ideas? I'd really hate to lose more fish.
I've done a 60% water change to hopefully help w/the nitrite spike, not sure what else I can do.
Tank stats: 75gal, fluval 404, AC 70, temp: 79 F, Ammonia: 0, NitrIte: 0.5 (I think this is from 4 dead fish overnight, because 3 days ago nitrite was 0), Nitrate: 5. Did my 50% weekly water change yesterday as per usual, I used dechlorinator as I always do.
This tank was fishless cycled and on 6/20/06 I added 7 L. Caeruleus, 6 P. Acei, 6 M. Callainos, 1 P. demasoni, all juvies w/the exception of 3 adult labs. A week ago, I added 3 pim pictus, all around the 4 inch range. No ammonia or nitrite spikes of any kind until today, or some time in the last 3 days since I tested. All the fish were eating well, including the pictus, except for 2 holding labs, and the demasoni. I thought she (demasoni) was holding, though it was hard to tell because she was so small, anyways she hadn't eaten since 6/30. Now I'm beginning to wonder if something wasn't wrong w/her from the start.
The 3 pictus were active and eating last night. Perhaps I added them too soon, I know some catfish are sensitive to tanks that haven't matured, but I'm not sure if pictus are. The only other thing I can think of are internal parasites. The pictus had very rounded bellies, however they seemed to shrink between feedings, and their poo was a healthy brown color, so I'm not sure if parasites are the answer either. I took a couple of pics to see if anyone can tell what was wrong. The first one is a top view.
The second is from the bottom, note the rounded belly, this one also had red marks on the belly, the other two didn't, however, I think it is because this one was under the rocks the entire time, and the other two were floating.
So, to recap, no previous water chemistry problems, everyone feeding well (except for demasoni), 4 dead fish this morning, and I have no idea why. Anyone have any ideas? I'd really hate to lose more fish.
I've done a 60% water change to hopefully help w/the nitrite spike, not sure what else I can do.