Let's See If Y'all Can Figure It Out.

[DreamertK]

When I put my fish in a bucket for some hours, I put the heater, the filter bag, and the air pump in there and ran it the entire time while the fish were in there. I also had all of my plants in there, but that only made the situation more crowded...The least to say my fish were freaked the bleep out when I put them back in the tank.
 
I might even put my money on weakened immune system/increased NH3/lack of surface aggitation or O2. Along with weakened immune system is stress, extreme stress from moving especially into a smaller environment which produces more NH3 which propels stress.

 

[betta fish]

Did you heat the water for the 6 hours that the fish were contained in the bucket? if not I agree that the stress involved in being kept in a bucket for 6 hours with no water flow or no heat would probably have seen them off, I find angels to be very delicate fish, regardless of whether it was done before, they may have been more stronger previously and could withstand it some what more, it's always best to have a dedicated quarantine tank with a mature filter and heater when treating fish for any ailments or better to just leave them put and dose the whole tank as the parasite is likely to be in the tank too.

 

[Wills]

I agree with Chad as well - if fish die quickly its often the most obvious reason - also if the ill one died quickly in the bucket then the ammonia spike in such a small amount of water the stronger one wouldn't stand a chance in those conditions.
 
As to why it was okay the first time - and believe me I hate to use the analogy - but sometimes fish and keepers get lucky in bad situations - like gold fish in bowls the fish manage to survive.
 
Wills

 

[Chad]

Right. It could be temp, the ratio of old to new water, what the fish had been eating, when they last pooped, etc. that made the difference between the two times.

 

[McCool]

Did you heat the water for the 6 hours that the fish were contained in the bucket? if not I agree that the stress involved in being kept in a bucket for 6 hours with no water flow or no heat would probably have seen them off, I find angels to be very delicate fish, regardless of whether it was done before, they may have been more stronger previously and could withstand it some what more, it's always best to have a dedicated quarantine tank with a mature filter and heater when treating fish for any ailments or better to just leave them put and dose the whole tank as the parasite is likely to be in the tank too.

Neither of my tanks have heaters, as I'm in Texas and upstairs. All tanks stay right around 78F. As stated previously, I could not dose my whole tank as I have two Bamboo shrimp that are impossible to catch, and the meds would've killed them. Quarantine tanks, wish I could have one. Being a 16 year old doesn't give a lot of room for extra tanks, especially one that would hardly ever get used! I've had the tank nearly three years now, and this has been my first sickness, as well as casualty! Thanks for the input



I'm also wondering if maybe my Ammonia test kit could've been off I tested right before making the thread and Ammonia and Nitrite were both 0....

 

[Chad]

The fact is we will never know with 100% certainty what happened. We can only guess. There are many factors that can go wrong in buckets, even adding extra oxygen in with the ammonia can cause changes in water parameters. Any of the various things I've mentioned, happening in a bucket, will happen very quickly. I do feel comfortable saying that some change in water chemistry caused the deaths. Just what we will never know for sure.

 

[McCool]

Thanks, tcamos! And thanks to everyone who added their ideas!