Help! Murderer In Fish Tank?

[j3nnif3r]

I am a newbie to fish tanks and have purchased my first beginners tank in the form of a biube - not really a proper fish tank I know but it's a start. It's been running really well for about 8 weeks but this week i've lost 4 fish and am not totally sure of the cause. The first to go was my female swordtale and since her demise the male has gone mad - I'm not sure whether i'm wrongly accusing this 'fish' if indeed it is a fish and not a shark in disguise but 2 guppy's and a neon have all died in suspicious circumstances . THe guppy's were missing body parts which i'm pretty sure they needed to swim and the neon had a hole in his stomach . I've also got a pair of Pearl Gourami's which i've had since i started the tank and have been with the guppy's for some time although they can be aggressive i've not noticed any difference in behaviour whereas the swordtail is swimming eratically about the tank looking for what I can only imagine is his next victim!! Are swordtails aggressive and what should I do???

THe other problem which could also be the reason they have died is the 2 of the Neon's I added on Saturday have White spot which I'm currently treating none of the dead fish had any symptons but I cant find anything that states White spot can kill in a matter of days???

Some advice would be appreciated i'll have no fish left at this rate

 

[littlest]

wow, sounds like your fish aren't in a good way.
First question: did you cycle the tank before you added fish? If not the fish would have been exposed to high levels of ammonia and nitrite which are potentially fatal.
Cycling is explained in detail here though it is too late for you to do a fishless cycle now, it is important you understand what is involved.
You need to test your water for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. If you don't have test kits, buy some, they are vital. Liquid tests are much better than strips. Your filter may not be coping with the waste your fish are producing and this could be contributing or causing the deaths

What size is a biube (in litres or gallons). I know they aren't that big, and I'm concerned that you may be overstocked. What fish (and how many) do you have in total? Pearl gouramis in particular strike me as being too big for a biube.
Also, you didn't mention water changes. How much and how often are you changing water?

It would be hard to say whether the deaths were the result of poor water quality or whitespot, but often poor water quality and disease go hand and had, so just treating the whitespot without looking at the water quality may not be enough to save your fish.

 

[Mikaila31]

I agree with Littlest, it sounds like poor water quality and disease. Although swords can be aggressive, I have two females that would rather kill eachother than be tank mates. That isn't the norm, and I have never had any swords bother other types of fish. He is most likely swimming eratically, because something is wrong.

 

[DarkEntity]

I am a newbie to fish tanks and have purchased my first beginners tank in the form of a biube - not really a proper fish tank I know but it's a start. It's been running really well for about 8 weeks but this week i've lost 4 fish and am not totally sure of the cause. The first to go was my female swordtale and since her demise the male has gone mad - I'm not sure whether i'm wrongly accusing this 'fish' if indeed it is a fish and not a shark in disguise but 2 guppy's and a neon have all died in suspicious circumstances . THe guppy's were missing body parts which i'm pretty sure they needed to swim and the neon had a hole in his stomach . I've also got a pair of Pearl Gourami's which i've had since i started the tank and have been with the guppy's for some time although they can be aggressive i've not noticed any difference in behaviour whereas the swordtail is swimming eratically about the tank looking for what I can only imagine is his next victim!! Are swordtails aggressive and what should I do???

THe other problem which could also be the reason they have died is the 2 of the Neon's I added on Saturday have White spot which I'm currently treating none of the dead fish had any symptons but I cant find anything that states White spot can kill in a matter of days???

Some advice would be appreciated i'll have no fish left at this rate

Can you tell us exactly what size the tank is, If memory serves the Biube things are about 35litres? If thats the case from the sounds of it you are massively overstocked. I see above Swordtails, Guppys, Pearl Gourami, Neons...The Biube has very little surface area thus can hold very few small fish. What are your water stats..Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite and PH. Also how many fish and did you cycle the tank, if you did how?

 

[funkycat]

Agreed with all above - we need to know more about your tank before anyone can really make a guess as to what happened

Also alot of the time when fish are partly eaten it, usually they die first and then some other fish begins to eat them.

 

[loachman]

Can you describe how you cycled the tank (what you did before fish were added)? Did you just add fish after filling the tank up or follow some other procedure?

When were the fish added? When did the fish die/disease show?

The fish in your tank are not known to eat other fish they couldn't swallow. It is most likely that hte fish died first and then was consumed, as this is pretty common. Many fish are opportunistic in that manner.

It sounds like poor water quality and whitespot lead to fish deaths, but some more details could help nail it down.

 

[j3nnif3r]

My Biube is 35 L capacity and recommended amount by the makers is 12 small tropical fish however in light of my newbie status I didn't want to overstock the tank or buy huge fish that would suffer so I consulted the nearest aquatic centre and spoke to the person who runs it.

He has suggested every fish I have put in the tank and I've bought them all from there - suprisingly he wasn't overly helpful on saturday just suggested I up the temperature in the tank and add white spot killer. I was at my maximum for fish and had changed the water and filter as per the biube's instructions. THe pearls and swordtail seem to be thriving now the little fish are all but gone (2 died today) he is calming down i'm not sure whether fish attack one's that are ill?? I'm left with the 2 pearls, a swordtail, a guppy and 2 neons. But I dont expect the neons to survive much longer.


I will do a Ph test will buy a kit tomorrow although I have added white spot remover to the tank so probably wouldn't get a good reading. My family members biube has had a casuality and lost the male swordtale I dont know whether to add the female to my tank to see if it calms the male down or do you not advise this?? I dont want to kill anymore fish it's upsetting. I still think the swordtail has a hand in removing some of the fish especially the guppys as they looked like they had been attacked.

My koi pond doens't give me as much stress as this!

 

[Larissa]

A pearl gourami gets much to big for a 35L - as do swordtails I believe. Guppies and neons are not good fish to cycle a tank with since - as you have experiened - they are not very hardy. They probably died and then were nibbled on my other tankmates. I would recomend you take back the fish you have left and do a fishless cycle on your tank. That way you wont loose any more fish and then you can stock your biOrb more appropriately.

 

[littlest]

I agree with Larissa about taking the fish back. You can't keep the pearl gouramis or swordtails in that tank anyway as it is too small for them.
Of the tests I mentioned before, ammonia and nitrite are probably most important. Both ammonia and nitrite can kill fish so you really need to test for these. Until you get the tests, do regular water changes. Probably 25 per cent a day.
I'm particuarly concerned that you changed the filter (presumably you mean the filter media). By doing this you just threw away all the bacteria you had. You need that bacteria to convert the ammonia (from fish waste) to nitrite, and from nitrite to nitrate . By throwing away the filter media you have gone back to day 1 I am afraid. Ammonia will build up in your tank, then nitrite will build up.
I know the manufacturer said to change the filter media, they all do, but it is the worse possible thing to do. You need to read up on cycling to understand what happens with fish waste.
don't add anymore fish. If possible return the fish you have and do a fishless cycle. If that's not possible you will have to do a fish-in cycle. Either way you need test kits. If cycling with fish be prepared to do daily water changes so ammonia and nitrite remain below 0.25.
If you do keep the pearl gouramis and swordtails, you will need to get a larger tank as well.

sorry, i know this isn't what you want to hear. Many newbies make the same mistakes by listening to shop staff and manufacturer instructions.

this explains a fish-in cycle
the link I posted earlier in the thread explains a fishless cycle.

 

[j3nnif3r]

Thanks for responses - will read a little more.

I haven't thrown the gravel in the bottom of the tank away - the instructions say you shouldn't touch this once a tank is established. THe Biube has a cartridge pack which is the filter and a air tube that runs in the centre of the tank all you have to do it unclip the centre column and remove the filter cartridge, put a new one in its place and click the tube back with a 30% water change and they provide you with a stress coat enzyme and a solution which you leave for 24 hours beforehand in the new water so that it can reduce the chlorine in the water and make it safe for fish. It really is a fish tank for dummy's - which makes it even more humiliating that my fish have died.

I know i cant have gourami's and swordtails but if I shouldn't have guppy's or neons as they aren't hardy what fish would people recommend??

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Thanks for responses - will read a little more.

I haven't thrown the gravel in the bottom of the tank away - the instructions say you shouldn't touch this once a tank is established. THe Biube has a cartridge pack which is the filter and a air tube that runs in the centre of the tank all you have to do it unclip the centre column and remove the filter cartridge, put a new one in its place and click the tube back with a 30% water change and they provide you with a stress coat enzyme and a solution which you leave for 24 hours beforehand in the new water so that it can reduce the chlorine in the water and make it safe for fish. It really is a fish tank for dummy's - which makes it even more humiliating that my fish have died.
I know i cant have gourami's and swordtails but if I shouldn't have guppy's or neons as they aren't hardy what fish would people recommend??

it really isn't a tank for dummies at all i'm afraid. it is marketed as such but because it's marketed for people who don't know about fishkeeping, they haven't felt any ened to actually make it any good

the tank design is awful the filter is seriously under poweredd, the recommendation of no of fish is way off as are the set up instructions. if you followed them it's no surprise at all that you lost fish, while you can't absolve yourself of responsibility entirley (you should always do your own research before buying any animal) you can at least rest assured that a lot of blame lies squarley with the manufacturers of the biube and the bloke who sold you the wrong fish for the tank.

IMHO I would just start over, return the remaining fish to the store, read up about fishless cycling and fish suitable for small tanks (there are pinned topics on both subjects at the top of this forum in the begginers resource centre). It's entirley possible to make a lovely little set up in these tanks, but it does require a little research and work before hand.