Help Needed - Unexplained Dying

[kimandkelly]

Hi, please could anyone advise why my fish are dying?

I have a 260 litre community tank which had: 3 plecos, 2 catfish, 2 gouramis, 5 mollys, 4 Guppys and 4 Neons. Last week I introduced 4 new guppys from a local supplier and since then I have had problems with my fish. Within hours of introducing the new guppys I lost a Honey Gourami, throughout the week have lost 5 Guppys, ending with losing my second Honey Gourami a couple of hours ago.

My water parameters are fine with PH 8, Ammo 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrates 30 (Tap water reads 30 so I happily leave it as this - I'm not one to treat for no reason). I do weekly water changes of about 20% using Prime to condition and have a fluval 305 filter. I contacted the supplier at the beginning of the week and they state they have had no problems but will replace the fish (at this time I had only lost the honey & 2 guppys).

Honeys were lethargic prior to death but otherwise no markings on them whatsoever. Did feel quite dry when pulled them out as though they had no slime coating. (is this normal?) Guppys seemed absolutely fine within hours of death, but were found dead (again with no marks/visible signs) either in morning or on return from work.

Please can anyway advise as I am slightly concerned that I will lose the lot!

Thanks - Kez

 

[Malawi MaD]

How long has the tank been established? You sure the guppy's you bought haven't introduced a disease into your setup?

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

How did you introduce the new Guppies to your tank, including the rough amount of time? Perhaps your tank conditions were different to that at the shop and you did not acclimitise them over long enough before releasing them to your tank.

Did you add the bag water to your tank? This could have added nasty shop bacteria to your tank that your established fish were not able to fight off.

Any idea on which "Pleco" and "Catfish" species you have and their approximate size? Perhaps they are maturing and are seeing the smaller tankmates as live food, or their nocturnal wandering are freaking out your diurnal fish to the point of death.

Many of us are guilty of not quarantining new fish before adding them to our established tank, myself included at times. In an deal world we would all be keeping new fish in isolation for three or four weeks, in order to spot any signs of ill health that could contamine established, healthy stock. QTs do not need to be "pretty," a 80l plastic tub (depending on size of fish) running a spare cycled filter and a thermometer (if needed) will suffice. I've had four baby Hoplo Catfish in a 100l tub for 17 days now, to try and make sure they are healthy and be sure they are eating well before adding them to a boisterous tank with much bigger fish than themselves.

 

[kimandkelly]

Tank is about 6 months old but filter was transferred from another tank direct, that had been running for a couple of years before that. No idea what sort the plecos are but they are about 4 inches long now and have never bothered the fish before. We did get warned that one was a bit hyperactive but as long as he has plenty of caves he's never bothered the others. Catfish are Syndonitis Eruptus (Featherfin) and are only about 2 inch long. Had them just over a month and never see them except at feeding time.

When we received the fish we floated them for 15 mins, cut the knot off, left 5 mins, added an eggcup of aquarium water and repeated last two steps for half hour. Then we released fish into aquarium - I never add bag water to the aquarium.

Not sure why they are dying - we considered disease but the supplier is adamant they haven't had any problems. Was quite concerned about the dryness of the gourami today, when I picked it up to inspect it, it was so dry it stuck to my finger - Is this normal? I am quite knowledgeable about my koi and goldies but this is my first attempt with trops. Surely they usually have some coating?

 

[fishyfeet]

i use prime and cant say ive ever had any problems,did you cycle your tank before adding fish, or do you know if the fish have been used to cycle the tank and could have been damaged by the ammonia in the past, do you add dechlorinator to the water you change, stress is most possible reason for slime coat depletion. di

 

[kimandkelly]

Tank was cycled prior to adding fish, but I have monitored the tank ever since - I test my Koi and Goldies once/twice a week anyway and just test the trops at the same time. (Been testing daily since first fish died but all ok.) Highest the tank has ever been was .1 ammonia and 40 Nitrates on separate occasions but these were ages ago.

Use prime freshwater & saltwater which is supposed to dechlorinate, remove metals, provide slime coat etc. Last water change was on Friday.

Just feel that i'm playing a waiting game with my fish to see which will die next.

 

[kimandkelly]

Do you think it is worth adding some Stress Zyme to the water?

 

[fishyfeet]

not if your tests are correct it wont make any difference, do another one, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates - how do you clean the fitler di