How will I ever know if my fish are dead?

[AmyKieran]

Hi I’ve recently set out my African cichlid tank in a way that there are rocks everywhere for the fish (ocean rock). If one of my fish die for any reason while in or behind the rocks, how will I ever know? And also won’t this just cause ammonia without me even knowing?

Advice please?

 

[Wills]

You kind of wont, if you cant see the body then you will get an ammonia spike and have to look for other signs - eg fish gasping or clamping, sometimes when you get ammonia in your tank you get a foamy surface scum which is an indicator of ammonia too.

Daily head counts of the fish are always a good idea, either when the lights go on or at feeding time. Also when you are building your rock structure try to make it accessible for you not just for this situation but also just for cleaning, if you have dead spots where detritus can gather you can get ammonia spikes too - if you can build it so that there is good water flow all around the tank this will help too.

Wills

 

[Deleted member 149562]

@Wills has hit it on the nose....however....

There is also likely to be a smell that is unmistakeable that will get you testing the water, when the water is off, it smells foul.

The smell from the aquarium and possibly some mild cloudiness that tends to give the game away when you have a dead fish. A friend of mine experienced this and it hits you when the water is bad, so you will know when something is wrong.

 

[AmyKieran]

You kind of wont, if you cant see the body then you will get an ammonia spike and have to look for other signs - eg fish gasping or clamping, sometimes when you get ammonia in your tank you get a foamy surface scum which is an indicator of ammonia too.

Daily head counts of the fish are always a good idea, either when the lights go on or at feeding time. Also when you are building your rock structure try to make it accessible for you not just for this situation but also just for cleaning, if you have dead spots where detritus can gather you can get ammonia spikes too - if you can build it so that there is good water flow all around the tank this will help too.

Wills

I try to do my best with a headcount but it’s difficult with 47 fish lol but yeah I try that. I’ve been testing recently and ammonia was 0 I was just wondering what happens. How long would a dead fish actually take to put ammonia into the water?

 

[Lynnzer]

What you have to remember is that a dead fish is often eaten by its tankmates. Especially if you have shrimp.
Most fish that are "unwell" seem to seek the top of the tank to breathe extra oxygenised water, or skulk around in a corner, so if the time comes for them to die they first of all drop to the bottom of the tank then float up with internal gases so you should be able to pick up on that.

 

[AmyKieran]

What you have to remember is that a dead fish is often eaten by its tankmates. Especially if you have shrimp.
Most fish that are "unwell" seem to seek the top of the tank to breathe extra oxygenised water, or skulk around in a corner, so if the time comes for them to die they first of all drop to the bottom of the tank then float up with internal gases so you should be able to pick up on that.

I have also just asked this question to the person in the aquatic shop and they said that if you have a lot of scavengers they will most likely eat the body anyway. I have 1 syno, 1 bumblebee, 1 pictus, 1 spotted talking and 1 bristlenose plec, I’m assuming that these would quickly destroy the carcas of a fish? Or at least help show that the fish is dead?

 

[gilpi]

I've had my battles with African cichlids, call me a glutton for punishment but I keep going back to them. So this is my third time around with them. To get to the point, I had many disappear and at times I have just found a clean skeleton. You shouldn't have to worry about the water, the dead fish will be eaten faster than you think.

 

[AmyKieran]

I've had my battles with African cichlids, call me a glutton for punishment but I keep going back to them. So this is my third time around with them. To get to the point, I had many disappear and at times I have just found a clean skeleton. You shouldn't have to worry about the water, the dead fish will be eaten faster than you think.

Ahh that’s reassuring I guess, I was only worried about a fish dying in the rocks, me not knowing and caused an ammonia spike which causes more dead fish

 

[gilpi]

Ahh that’s reassuring I guess, I was only worried about a fish dying in the rocks, me not knowing and caused an ammonia spike which causes more dead fish

Wow, you have 47 fish?!! What size tank? Must be a. Awesome sight, would love to see a picture of that!

 

[outofwater]

An ammonia spike would be the surest indicator, then again with that number of fish the carcass might get picked clean before significant/threatening levels of ammonia is released in the water.

 

[Colin_T]

Every time a fish has died in a Rift Lake cichlid tank, it has been eaten within minutes of dying, if not before it died. Fish are brutal in that respects, especially a tank full of hungry Rift Lake cichlids.

Regarding your catfish.
What is the GH, KH & pH of the water?
What species of Synodontis do you have?

Synodontis multipunctatus and S. petricola live in groups, as do pictus catfish. If you only have one of these fish, it will be stressed out.

 

[AmyKieran]

Every time a fish has died in a Rift Lake cichlid tank, it has been eaten within minutes of dying, if not before it died. Fish are brutal in that respects, especially a tank full of hungry Rift Lake cichlids.

Regarding your catfish.
What is the GH, KH & pH of the water?
What species of Synodontis do you have?

Synodontis multipunctatus and S. petricola live in groups, as do pictus catfish. If you only have one of these fish, it will be stressed out.

I am currently buffering my gh and kh so I know they are low but kh is 5 and gh is 6, ph about 7.5. I have a featherfin squeaker. I have 1 syno, 1 bumblebee, 1 pictus, 1 spotted talking and 1 bristlenose plec. I’ve been told I shouldn’t get anymore bottom feeders, would you recommend something different if they live in groups? I have a 190l trigon

 

[AmyKieran]

Wow, you have 47 fish?!! What size tank? Must be a. Awesome sight, would love to see a picture of that!

It’s a 190l trigon. The idea is to greatly overstock Malawi to spread out aggression. I have attatched an image

 

[AmyKieran]

An ammonia spike would be the surest indicator, then again with that number of fish the carcass might get picked clean before significant/threatening levels of ammonia is released in the water.

How long do you think it would take for an ammonia spike to occur? But yes most likely the rest of the fish will deal with it first

 

[outofwater]

From what I've read in most places, within the hour. I've read some comments before where fellow forum members mentioned that ammonia starts leeching almost immediately after death.