Please Help...tank Death.

[Cdarmychi]

Tank size: 55g planted
pH: 7
ammonia:0
nitrite:0
nitrate:5
kH: ?
gH: ?
tank temp: See below

Fish Symptoms (include full description including lesion, color, location, fish behavior): Last night at around 11pm, Sakura was called and told her grandmother had a heart attack. She called me and told me to fill the tank when I got home, then meet her there. I got home at 12am, and the tank was 90% empty, the filter turned off. The heater was on, thrown into the bottom of the tank. It was very warm, but I didnt think to check the temp. I filled the tank via the hose, and returned the heater to the wall of the tank, and turned the filter back on. I turned the lights off, and left. When I got here this morning, aroun 8am, and every single fish in the tank is dead. No excess slime, no fungus, no anything. Fins are not clamped, the side fins are straight out and stiff. All the dead fish are sunk, not floating.

Volume and Frequency of water changes: She normally changed 15% every week. Last night she changed 90%, I don't know why.

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank: She uses tap water conditioner, plant root tabs, and flourish.

Tank inhabitants: Before: 2 adult angels, 2 juviie angels, a small group of both harlequin rasboras, and scissortail rasboras. One gold nugget pleco, a group of corys. 4 rummynose tetras.

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): She hasn't added anything to her tank in at least a week.

Exposure to chemicals: None that I am aware of.

Digital photo (include if possible): Will be forthcoming.


***Is there anything that can be done, (I doubt it) and is there anything that will prevent the tank from being restocked? Im concerned about her filter especially, the fish are past help, but will her filter be viable? (That water test was right after the water change I finished.)

 

[Alliecat420]

your deffinately not supposed to change 90% of the water with fish in the tank.. why such a mess?.. why would she leave it like that? you may as well have filled up a tub with hose water and thrown all the fish in it.... this was an all together disaster

 

[bronzecat]

Hi
Sorry to hear this news

When you filled the tank back up via the hose, was it cold water from the tap? If so, this could have dropped the temperature of the tank way down. What temperature was the water when you found the fish in the morning? Do you add the conditioner via the hose or to the tank once filled? If its once the tank was filled, the chlorine in the fresh water may have killed of the bacteria in the filter. A normal 20% water change probably wouldn't harm the filter as it would still be in the water anyway.

The only other thing i can think of is that if the filter was out of the water and dried out partially, some of the beneficial bacteria may have died off. This could cause a spike in ammonia and/or nitrIte.

Have you tested the water since finding the dead fish? May be worth doing as this may lead to the explaination.

Oh, if its an external filter, ignore most of above

 

[Cdarmychi]

I just called her, as she is still at the hospital with her GM. She said the cat fell into the tank, so she was changing that much water in case the cat put a contaminate into the tank. As to why she left it like that? Her 80 something year old grandmother has a dnr, and she went to her just in case the worst happens. Family comes first, no matter what.

The filter is a fluval, so it *should* still be wet, but I dont know how to open it without...spillage. The water stats are still normal, but that wouldnt show a contaminate in a tank, would it?