Is this really a problem?

[OliveFish05]

Well I am stumped. My water parameters are all fine, all other fish in the tank are fine, there is not anything in the tank that should be causing stress. Two more honey gourami died. I am so stumped. There is nothing new in the tank. It is a 20 gallon long tank, aquaclear 50 filter, lots of live and floating plants, cycled. Only fish are the honey gouramis, a bn pleco, pygmy cories. There is a nerite snail. There are no visible signs of disease on the fish. What could it be? Is it just the stress of the move? I am feeling awful, and also like I wasted $30. Now I have one gourami left.

 

[Fishmanic]

get a refund for the deceased fish. Bring a water sample and tell them experienced members on the fish forum you visit says that your water is fine.

 

[OliveFish05]

get a refund for the deceased fish. Bring a water sample and tell them experienced members on the fish forum you visit says that your water is fine.

I sent them a message via facebook as they are closed. This was the last day of my 3 day health guarantee, but I am a half hour away so if I let them know they will give me an extra day to get to the store.

 

[Colin_T]

Ok, thank you. I was thinking it had to do with stress. My LFS just got a large shipment of more today, should I try to go back and get 2 more, or leave it at 3?

If a fish dies in your tank, do not add anything new to that tank for a month. This gives the tank time to settle down and recover and if it's a disease, adding new fish will simply add to the problem.

If you want more gouramis, leave them in the shop for 2 weeks before getting any so they can recover from the stress of being shipped to the shop. Find out when the shop does water changes and get some the day before they do a water change so there is less stress to the fish before you move them to your tank.

If you do get new fish, put them in a quarantine tank for a month.

Do a big water change and gravel clean your tank the day before you add new fish to your tank.

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If you post a video of the remaining fish, it might show something, and some more pictures. Put a dark picture on the tank first to try and contrast the fish and hopefully it will have slightly darker colours. But I think you just got a bad batch of fish.

How many gouramis did they have when you bought them?
How many of those gouramis does the shop still have left?
How big are the gouramis, they look pretty small?

Find out what the pH and GH of the shop tank is?
If they have a low pH, then it might have been pH shock and would explain why the shop said your pH was too high.

 

[Slaphppy7]

I'm fairly certain these fish had issues before they ever made it into your tank.

I am going to paint the back of the tank in a couple days.

Not advisable with an established tank, with fish. Consider a black posterboard cut to size, instead.

It's best to paint tank glass before it is set up and filled with water.

 

[OliveFish05]

I'm fairly certain these fish had issues before they ever made it into your tank.



Not advisable with an established tank, with fish. Consider a black posterboard cut to size, instead.

It's best to paint tank glass before it is set up and filled with water.

I have to move the tank from my dresser to its sand and am replacing the sand when I do it, but I can do a real background. My LFS FINALLY got black.

 

[OliveFish05]

If a fish dies in your tank, do not add anything new to that tank for a month. This gives the tank time to settle down and recover and if it's a disease, adding new fish will simply add to the problem.

A full month.... darn I feel impatient. Does this apply if the fish death had nothing to do with my tank?

If you want more gouramis, leave them in the shop for 2 weeks before getting any so they can recover from the stress of being shipped to the shop. Find out when the shop does water changes and get some the day before they do a water change so there is less stress to the fish before you move them to your tank.

The store does water changes on Tuesday I believe. I am not sure I want more at this point... The new ones they got in do look healthier though.

If you post a video of the remaining fish, it might show something, and some more pictures. Put a dark picture on the tank first to try and contrast the fish and hopefully it will have slightly darker colours. But I think you just got a bad batch of fish.

I'll put a dark picture up and get more photos. I can't do a video unfortunately as I don't have a youtube channel or anything of the sort.

How many gouramis did they have when you bought them?
How many of those gouramis does the shop still have left?
How big are the gouramis, they look pretty small?

They probably had 7 or so when I got them. I want to say they were 2 left when I went back for my refund, but I didn't really count or notice. They had a big group of more acclimating in a bag. They are small, but I don't know how big a normal gourami should be to compare it. I can give you an estimate when I go to take more photos.

Find out what the pH and GH of the shop tank is?
If they have a low pH, then it might have been pH shock and would explain why the shop said your pH was too high.

That could be. Is there any way to avoid this in the future?

 

[OliveFish05]

Ughhhhhhhhhh even if the LFS gave me an extension I can’t go today because the car is in the shop and a family member has the other one to go to work

 

[WhistlingBadger]

Sorry for your losses, Olive. I have nothing to add except to say that I'm going to start telling people "armpits" when they give me lousy service. Thanks, @CaptainBarnicles.

 

[CaptainBarnicles]

Sorry for your losses, Olive. I have nothing to add except to say that I'm going to start telling people "armpits" when they give me lousy service. Thanks, @CaptainBarnicles.

glad to be of assistance...its the polite way to tell someone to ....well...you know

 

[Colin_T]

A full month.... darn I feel impatient. Does this apply if the fish death had nothing to do with my tank?

New fish can introduce disease so the month is to make sure nothing new is going to happen. You don't have to leave it for a month and lots of people add new fish straight away, but every time you add new fish, you risk introducing new diseases. If the gouramis brought something into the tank and you add new fish, they could die too and you might think they died from a disease they brought in, rather than the previous group of fish brought in.

If you want more fish now, buy some and put them in a separate quarantine tank for a month.

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Honey gouramis grow to about 1 to 1/5 inches long. They are pretty small.

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Find out what the pH and GH of the shop tank is?
If they have a low pH, then it might have been pH shock and would explain why the shop said your pH was too high.

That could be. Is there any way to avoid this in the future?

Check with the shop before you get fish and see what they keep the pH at. If it is noticeably different to your tank, then reduce the pH of your tank or better still, set up a quarantine tank with the same pH and GH as the shop tank. Put the new fish in that and slowly change their pH over a month or more, so it ends up the same as your display tank.

 

[OliveFish05]

ok, thank you very much for explaining it! If I were to get more honey gourami in two weeks could I quarantine for two weeks before introducing them, if I knew the LFS had them for 2 weeks? That would put the tank having gone a month without a fish death, supposing I don’t lose more fish.

 

[OliveFish05]

Here are some photos I took this morning. There is also a photo of the two fish who died last night

 

[Naughts]

What tank mates do thy have? Honeys are gentle sedate fish and can be outcompeted for food. I have lost a few young ones as well, I'm not replacing them as I suspect my dwarf rainbows are too fast for them.

 

[OliveFish05]

What tank mates do thy have? Honeys are gentle sedate fish and can be outcompeted for food. I have lost a few young ones as well, I'm not replacing them as I suspect my dwarf rainbows are too fast for them.

pygmy cories, snails, and a bristlenose pleco.


I contacted my LFS and I apparently have a full week on the guarentee, and 72 additional hours if I am outside the town my LFS is in, which I am! So I should get a full refund as it seems like the problem is not because of anything I did or didn't do. I will be more careful acclimating the next ones if I get more