One Fish A Day Dying!

[ToriphileMaria]

So we have had a stable aquarium for 4 months now (since we moved, but prior to that we had a stable tanks w/ some of these current inhabitants)-- see stats below; and since this weekend we have one fish per day die!! First our male Beta died, the next day black Red Tail Shark, next day our Platy died (who we had had for over a year!!), then today our Rapahel Striped Catfish died. Our African Butterfly was sluggish today, so it may be next!!!!

The only things that is different that we have noticed is that there has been a bloom of diatoms in the last 2-3 weeks; we had hoped it would resolve on its own, but since it hasnt; from what I have been told, diatoms arent supposed to be fatal to fish though...*shrug*

Any ideas of what may be happening or suggestions on treating the tank would be appreciated! Thanks.


Tank size: 55g
pH:6.8 (we added chemicals to raise to 7.0 10 min ago)
ammonia:0
nitrite:0
nitrate:0
kH: what is this??
gH: what is this?
tank temp: 80 degrees

Fish Symptoms : All the current livng fish look healthy; the dead fish look like they have been snacked upon by the other fish, so it would be hard to tell if there were some lesions or anything prior to this.

Volume and Frequency of water changes: Monthly water changes; last changed 1 week ago. The first fish death occurred 2 days after.

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: water conditioner after water change

Tank inhabitants: Current: 8 Tiger Barbs, 1 African Butterfly, 1 Needle Nose, 2 Green Severum Cichilds, 1 African Brown Knife, 3 Silver Dollars, 1 Pleco, 3 (? small silver-tipped little brown fish -can't recall the name), 4 (barbs? that red&green w/ black/silver spot on its belly).

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): none

Exposure to chemicals:None

More About the Fish:
a. What are the fishes body weight like? Bloated/fat, underweight/skinny etc at all? Any sunken looking stomaches? look normal and healthy
b. What is their poop like- white and stringy looking at all? no
c. What are you feeding them? Few flakes of Tetra Color Extreme Granules 1x a day, 3-5 algae wafers/ day, 5-6 sinking pellets/day
d. What are the activity levels of the fish like in general?
g. How long are the tank lights kept on per day? 18hrs/day on
h. What are their colours like- are they faded looking at all, whether overal or just faded looking in patches etc? no fading.

 

[*Fishkies*]

Have you done a water change since this problem has started?
Do you remove the dead fish as soon as you find they have died?
You may want to lower your use of light in the tank. Only have them on for a bit shorter amount of time.

 

[Christine1014]

oooh--- all those fish were in the same tank? They probably WERE being snacked on. Male bettas should be kept alone. They're very agressive, and their fins are also very tempting for nippy fish. I think the betta would probably love to attack the african butterfly, the shark (which I think might get a little big for your tank) will go after the betta ... my guess is that the fish have been fighting and are all injuried and/or under stress ... I hope with the most aggressive members of the tank already gone, though, the butterflies might recover (I don't know much of anything about that fish though, so no specific advice; I'm sorry!)

Sorry for two posts... I just re-read the list of your current inhabitants. I'm pretty sure Cichlids need to be kept in a tank with only other cichlids. They're very territorial. That's likely a big part of your problem. In addition, I *think* you're over stocked. But something's up with your water test readings. If your tank is cylced, you should have a nitrate reading. In some heavily planted tanks, you won't get one, or will get a low reading, but if you don't have plants, something may be wrong with your test kit.

 

[ToriphileMaria]

oooh--- all those fish were in the same tank? They probably WERE being snacked on. Male bettas should be kept alone. They're very agressive, and their fins are also very tempting for nippy fish. I think the betta would probably love to attack the african butterfly, the shark (which I think might get a little big for your tank) will go after the betta ... my guess is that the fish have been fighting and are all injuried and/or under stress ... I hope with the most aggressive members of the tank already gone, though, the butterflies might recover (I don't know much of anything about that fish though, so no specific advice; I'm sorry!) I'm pretty sure Cichlids need to be kept in a tank with only other cichlids. They're very territorial. That's likely a big part of your problem.

Well, first of all, the male beta was not agressive towards any of our fish, except for a dwarf gourami, which we removed after we noticed the problem. No one messes w/ the Beta, his fins were fine until he died. The shark was about an inch long and stayed at the bottom of the tank 99% of the time, the beta was at the top most of the time, so again no problem there.; The Severum cichilds are less-agressive cichlids and do not bother anyone; they were suggested as tank mates by a very knowledgeable LFS owner.

So, I dont think the tank mates are the problem. I spend a lot of time watching our fish and dont see much agression; in fact its much more peaceful than the previous community fish tank I had before this.

Sorry for two posts... I just re-read the list of your current inhabitants. In addition, I *think* you're over stocked. But something's up with your water test readings. If your tank is cylced, you should have a nitrate reading. In some heavily planted tanks, you won't get one, or will get a low reading, but if you don't have plants, something may be wrong with your test kit.

As for the levels - I guess they could be off. We just got the test kit today; it was $30 and had tests for everything. I will take our water to be tested by the local fish store and if the levels dont match, then I'll take it back. Thanks for the heads up about that.

 

[Amunet]

Have you gotten any new fish? Maybe one brought something with it that is killing the fish?

 

[djceri_g]

Was thit tank cycled? No NitrAte. There should be some reading from a fully cycled tank

 

[Miss Wiggle]

the lack of nitrate readings is certainly cause for concern. i think your test kit is dodgy as you should have some reading, particularly if you are only doing water changes monthly.

water changes should really be done every week unless the tank is stocked pecifically low enough to allow for fortnightly. I wouldn't say you should ever be doing changes just monthly.

your stocking is unsuitable in the long term, while these fish may be fine together now and have been fine for some time the harmony will not last forever, when the fish mature they will start to fight.

i think there are three possibilities.

firstly the low maintenance has caused water problems which has lead to a disease - get your water tested at the lfs and let us know the readings and we can then work this out

secondly one of the aggressive fish is maturing and going hunting at night, i believe the african brown knife could be the culprit

thirdly, even if the aggressive fish are not yet hunting and killing fish they could be getting increasingly boisterous, particularly at night time, this combined with poor water quality is plenty enough to stress a fish out and when stressed they can develop diseases

first thing to do is get some more water tests done to rule that out.

 

[ToriphileMaria]

Thanks for everyone's advice. I thought It was odd that we didnt get any Nitrate readings, and even did the test twice. I will take my water to get tested at the LFS today. The test kit I had been using is API Freshwater Master Test Kit. Can anyone suggest other test kits they recommend?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

thats a good test kit but it does have a shelf life of about a year, could be time to buy a new test kit?

the nitrate tests (in all test kits) are notoriously dodgy though, apparently whatever's in bottle 2 is prone to clump up and then not work properly, so you can give bottle two a really good shake, bash it on the side of the table or something make sure there's no clumps stuck inside it then try again.