Help - Too Many Fish Dying

[heckuvapeach]

Hi

Two days ago I added, as per manufacturers recommendations, King British Snail Control to my tank as I have so many snails - since then on the first day 3 of my fish died within 2 hours of putting the snail control in. The next day about 3 more fish died but today within 3 hours 7 fish have died. The dead fish include platys, guppies and white clouds. However all my neons and quite a few rof my baby guppies, sword tails and platys have managed to survive so far.

I have tested my water and the results are :

Nitrates 20
Nitrite 0
Amonia 0
pH 7.6

Before the fish die they are swimming upside down and are 'U' shaped for a couple of minutes and then they die.

Could the snail control have poisoned them - oh, and the snails are thriving instead of dying.

Does anyone know what may be the problem???

 

[cokers]

well if they startd die after the Medication then its probably the snail control.
1.you might have overdosed. Snail controls and parasite medications are basicly just poison, the right doses won't harm your fish but too much can kill them.
2.the fish are eating the poisoned dead snails in big amounts causing the medication to stack up inside their bodies.
These are all just guesses so it might not be completly reliable

 

[Katty]

It's possible the snail control is poisoning the fish. Is there anything else you recently added to the tank, other than the snail control?

Right now, do a water change if you haven't already.

 

[WILDER]

How many gallons or litres is the tank.
How many fish and which type.

Signs of toxins and overdose of meds are as follows.
Darting, erratic swimming.
Flicking and rubbing.
Gasping at surface of tank, or laboured breathing.
Turning upside down.
Being pale, with excess mucas on body and gills.
Gills might change colour to a lilac colour.

Have you removed the dead snails as they become toxic to fish once they start rotting.

Do your fish show any of these signs also.
Long stringy white poo, clear mucas poo.
Worms sticking out of the anus.
Fish will look skinny or bloated.
Enlarged anus, red inflamed anus.
Sunken in belly.
Bent spine.

 

[the biffster]

i thought you had to remove the fish
to use snail control or move the plants in to a bucket
i though it wasnt fish safe or is that something totally
different also how long as the tank been up and running

 

[the_lock_man]

i thought you had to remove the fish
to use snail control or move the plants in to a bucket
i though it wasnt fish safe or is that something totally
different also how long as the tank been up and running

According to the leaflet, Interpet NO.11 Anti-Snail is safe for fish at the stated dose. That said, it does say that it only stuns the snails. I couldn't comment on the other brand. You would have to remove any snails, shrimps (anything with a shell) that you wanted to keep.

To the OP, I personally would do a large water change, add some activated carbon into the filter to remove any traces of the Snail Killer, and then buy some Assassin Snails. They worked beautifully, and naturally, for my snail problem (it took a few weeks, though).