Lemon Tetras Rip

[Northern biker]

Hi all,

I'm not new to fishkeeping and have had my tank for about 2 years with few problems.

That is until last week when I returned home to find all 8 of my lemon tetras were dead!! They were fine in the morning with no signs of disease and were eating normally.

The only survivor was 1 platy which appeared ok. The tank was very cloudy (presumably because there had been 8 dead fish in the tank for several hours) filter, heater etc were working normally.

I did an immediate 50% water change and tested the water. Nitrites were off the scale which I assume was again due to the dead fish polluting the water. Nitrate and ammonia were okay.

I have continued with water changes and testing the water daily and after 4 days the readings are now what is normal for my tank:

Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10-20, PH 6.5.

I have since added 4 new platy's and plan to add another shoal of tetras later on. My tank is a 24" X 12" X 12" so I don't believe it was overstocked.

The new platy's appear fine however today I found the survivor from the earlier disaster was lying on the bottom struggling to swim. After realising the fish was suffering I chose to put him down using clove oil and water from the tank.

I am now worried about the new platy's and the prospect for further deaths if I add some tetras.

Anyone got any ideas what can have caused this?

The only thing I have changed about the tank recently was putting some silk plants in the day before the tetras died, so I wonder if something on the plants poisoned them?

I don't really want to strip the tank back and start from scratch, any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks a lot


Northern Biker

P.S Just tested the water:

Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10-15, PH 6.5, Temp 79 degrees

 

[WILDER]

How did the lemon tetra look after death, any sores on the body, just anything to go on.
Could of been the silk plants did you wash them before you added them to the tank.

Was the platy heavy breathing and darting about.

 

[Northern biker]

How did the lemon tetra look after death, any sores on the body, just anything to go on.
Could of been the silk plants did you wash them before you added them to the tank.

Was the platy heavy breathing and darting about.

Hi Wilder,

The lemon tetras had no sign of disease no sores or anything just looked unmarked.
The platy appeared to be breathing heavily but there was no darting about.

Must admit I only gave the silk plants a quick rinse (binned them as soon as I found the dead tetras).

Thanks

 

[WILDER]

If the platy was heavy breathing and lost all the tetra sounds like the silk plants had something on them.
Wonder what the plants had on them, might of been the glue.
Did the plants have an odour that you could smell.
Rinse them well in tap water and let dry out for a day'
Maybe best you have binned them, not cheap either.
R.I.P.
I would run some black carbon, replace some fresh filter floss, water changes, just to be on the safe side.

 

[Northern biker]

If the platy was heavy breathing and lost all the tetra sounds like the silk plants had something on them.
Wonder what the plants had on them, might of been the glue.
Did the plants have an odour that you could smell.
Rinse them well in tap water and let dry out for a day'
Maybe best you have binned them, not cheap either.
R.I.P.
I would run some black carbon, replace some fresh filter floss, water changes, just to be on the safe side.

Thanks Wilder, I'll keep up with the water changes and keep an eye on the platy's for the time being.

I think I'm going to go back to real plants now anyway!

 

[WILDER]

I use plastic and silk plants but never had any problems.
Best to rinse them well and let dry out for a day before adding to the tank.
Could contact the manufacture to see if they have had any complaints about the silk plants.