Loosing All Of My Fish One By One.

[littlen]

I would appreciate some help at this moment please as I am about to throw in the towel!!

I have had my tropical tank for 8 years. I cycled it properly and for 8 years it has ran fine, all fish have lived long and healthy lives and for 7 years it has gone on like that.

It is a 70litre tank. Internal Filter. Live plants which are all thriving.
Last week it was stocked with:
- 3 armano shrimp.
- 6 Pristella tetra (which are breeding regulally)
- One dwarf pencilfish.
- One female swordtail.

Now, on Monday I decided to stock up on some more fish and so went to local fish shop and purchased 10 neon tetra and 4 bronze corys to add to the tank. Please bear in mind I understand stocking levels to an extent and have been overstocked before with no problems. I water change 20% weekly and have never had issues with unhealthy fish. My tank is heavily planted and there is plenty of room/hiding places for fish to escape eachother. My tank always looks bare so I thought a shoal would brighten it up.

Now the problem is that ever since monday I have lost a number of fish, at least 2 a day since then.
At first it was a bronze cory, then 5 neons, and now the pencil fish has gone.

I am at a loss and cant understand what could be wrong. I have not done anything differently than I have done in the past 8 years and I have never had a problem. I changed 20% of the water and still they are dying.
I dont have a water test kit to hand and shop is shut until tuesday (and is 10 miles away) so im afraid i dont have water stats for you.

There is no signs of disease, the fish look healthy one second and then are found dead. The only thing I have noticed is that on some of the neons the head area looks white as they die, but this could just be loss of colouring I suppose when they die.
All fish are behaving normally, eating fine etc.
The swordtail is a bully but im sure even she couldnt kill them all this quickly...

Any ideas anyone?!

 

[fishyfeet]

could it be that the neons had neon tetra disease, and this has infected the tank, did you quarantine the fish first, di

 

[littlen]

could it be that the neons had neon tetra disease, and this has infected the tank, did you quarantine the fish first, di

Thankyou Di for your help,

In all honesty I have never heard of neon tetra disease, are there any symptoms?
As i said the fish all look healthy and then a little while later I find them floating. It struck the neons first i think, and then has spread to the others. Water temp etc is all fine.

I didnt quarantine them im afraid, I didnt really know I had to as LFS didnt say this. They said just leave floating for 30mins, adding more water until they are acustomed. I left them in the bag for a good hour before releasing them, and then left the lights off for the rest of the day/night as the shop said.

 

[fishyfeet]

Quaranting fish is just a safe guide many people with large setups do to ensure nothing brings infection to the tank. Not everyone has room for another tank though. Restlessness and muscle tissue turning white are the first symtoms, finrot and bloat are secondary infections. Although its called neon tetra disease because thats where it was first discovered, in neon tetras, it does spread to most other fish. There is no cure other that to isloate and euthanise infected fish. I cant think what else it could be, di

 

[WILDER]

We really need water stats as it's the first thing to look at when fish die.

Also your tank is overstocked, it causes stress and desease.
Also the filter might not be coping with all the fish in the tank.

Bleached out patches on the head region can be columnaris.
Is the white on the head area fluffy like cotton wool, or bleached out.

Neon tetra desease usually starts off as losing colour in the red stripe area. Or a milky subtance on the red stripe area.

I would go to the lfs to test your tank water, and ask them to write the readings down for you.

Water changes and increase aeration.

 

[littlen]

We really need water stats as it's the first thing to look at when fish die.

Also your tank is overstocked, it causes stress and desease.
Also the filter might not be coping with all the fish in the tank.

Bleached out patches on the head region can be columnaris.
Is the white on the head area fluffy like cotton wool, or bleached out.

Neon tetra desease usually starts off as losing colour in the red stripe area. Or a milky subtance on the red stripe area.

I would go to the lfs to test your tank water, and ask them to write the readings down for you.

Water changes and increase aeration.

I know it is overstocked on paper, but to look at it does not look overstocked at all, if that makes sense.
One neon had what looked like fluff on the head area, the rest havnt had a mark on them. All fish are healthy coloured when they die, except the pencil fish who went very pale last night. (no loss of colour on neons) What is columnaris and how would I treat it?
I have some basic meds, melafix etc. but i doubt this would do any good as the fish have no external symptoms?
Looking at them now, all are swimming healthy and eating. Although a couple had a nip at the dead fish before I had a chance to get them out, so im worried any disease is already passed on. The only fish I have not lost were the original pristella and the shrimp, maybe these are hardier than the neons, pencilfish and cories?

I will certainly be going to LFS at the next available oppertunity, but as I said it is shut until Tuesday. I have done frequent water changes but I am worried it is stressing them out more!
As i said, it could well be water stats, but its hard to believe such problems could occur in a very established tank which has had the same routine for so long.

Thanks for all of your help.

 

[WILDER]

Water stats will tell you if your tanks is overstocked.
With adding the new fish is getting to be on the side of severely overstocked.
If you overstock a tank you need another filter to cope with the fish load.

Fluffy cotton wool on the head regions is usually columnaris.

Uk. Myxazin by waterlife and pimafix.
United States, Maracyn one and two.

If in the uk lower temp by 2 degree's.

You need to keep doing water changes to dilute the bacteria down in the tank, till you get the meds.
Columnaris lives in the background of a tank. Only takes a stressed weak fish to come down with the desease. weak immune system.

Also soak there food in garlic juice to boost there immune system.

Columnaris is caused by stress, over stocked tanks, dirty tanks, unstable temp, over crowding.

 

[littlen]

Thanks Wilder, on reading about columnaris I dont think its this, as none of the fish show any of the syptoms before dying. It could be that the fluff around the head is from other fish nipping?
All fish look healthy right up until the last second, no external symptoms at all.

I will take your advice though so thankyou for your help!

 

[WILDER]

Fungus can grow on dead tissue.

I would get your water tested as soon as possible.

Ntd usually starts in the red stripe area. Will look like patches of loss colour, bleached out, or milky substance on red stripe area.

Also neons red stripe can go pale due to stress, and bad water quality.

There also false ntd which will look like fluffy cotton wool on the fish.