Murderous Filter?

[kbonnell1114]

In the last 2 days my filter has killed 6 of my guppies. Is there anything I can do to prevent them from getting stuck to the intake? Or is it that the fish are just weak? One of my glass fish has strange white marks on its fins. Originally I thought they were injuries caused by the other 2 (he is the smallest of the 3,) however, I'm starting to think it could be a disease, if so, could that be what is making the other fish weak? I've had my tank for 4 months, and have previously had only 1 fish killed by the filter. Also, one of my guppies survived the filter but with a mangled tail. Its not completely gone (about 3/4 of the tail is left.) What, if anything, can I do to help him recover? Any help is appreciated.

 

[Gatorbait]

How big of tank and what filter?

I don't think it's the filter causing this unless you have it massively over-filtrated which I doubt. They may be sick and getting weak and just end up in the filter.

If just the part of the tail is gone on the one fish, try daily or every other day 10% wc's and it should grow back in a week to 2 weeks.

 

[lilfishie]

are they spots? do they look fluffy at all? is there anyway you could turn you filter strength down? does its breathing seem normal?
tank size? tank stats (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, etc)?

 

[rdd1952]

Rarely is a filter strong enough to hold a healthy fish. If they are getting stuck, most likely they are sick and weak. I've never had one get stuck to the intake.

 

[kbonnell1114]

How big of tank and what filter?

I don't think it's the filter causing this unless you have it massively over-filtrated which I doubt. They may be sick and getting weak and just end up in the filter.

If just the part of the tail is gone on the one fish, try daily or every other day 10% wc's and it should grow back in a week to 2 weeks.

its a 10 gal tank with a whisper filter.

 

[kbonnell1114]

are they spots? do they look fluffy at all? is there anyway you could turn you filter strength down? does its breathing seem normal?
tank size? tank stats (ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, etc)?

no spots, but it does look somewhat fluffy. the filter has no strength settings. as for the guppy, he got stuck again. i got him free but most of the tail is gone now. hes breathing faster but not alarmingly. hes kinda just staying in one spot now also. i have a 10 gal tank. i dont know the stats, what kind of testing kit would you recommend?

 

[rdd1952]

You need some type liquid master kit that will test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. Have you recently added new fish that could have brought a disease into the tank? Even though the tank has been running for 4 months, you could still have ammonia and nitrite problems, especially if you added more fish.

Your tank is actually overstocked too. A 10 gallon tank is really only suitable for 3 to 6 small community fish. You apparently had at least 6 guppies and a glass catfish.