Strange Occurence

[twistedlink]

Okay i got my fish a couple months ago now, had a few fish deaths, but then i have had 2 1/2 months of no death, and very healthy fish, did a water change before i went on holiday for 3 days, 25%, water treatment, and 2 days in they were fine, went on holiday, come back and noticed theyre all seriously ill.

The rummynoses are just pale and no red on the nose, the neons are almost white, my keyhole cichlids are black and flared gills, the guppies are lying on the stones, the bottom dwellers are just sitting there, and the phantoms are really bright red gilled.

Ive got a fully functioning API test kit in which i cycled with and its tests are accurate and ive done many now, and the ammonia is 0, nitrites 0 and nitrates about 15-20


WHAT THE???

The person i got to look after them only turns the light on for a couple hours, and its a dark room to begin with, could this be lack of light? Like humans having lack of light causes illness???

 

[twistedlink]

Since turning the light on the neons have got colour back, the guppies are swimming about, and the phantoms gills are less red, and the cichlids are going normal colour, the rummy noses still look really bad though...

 

[waterdrop]

Wow, sorry to hear that twisted, and your temps been steady?

Hopefully someone will come along with an idea!

 

[Colin_T]

fish change colour at night, most go pale but some darken. During the day they are more colourful. It is possible the fish are just resting and showing their nocturnal colours.
If you have the lights on a timer then you won't have to get anyone to come in and look after them. And if you go away for a couple of days you don't have to worry about getting them fed while you are away. The fish won't starve if they aren't fed for a couple of days.

If the fish aren't feeding properly then maybe do a water change. There might be something that got into the tank and is causing them problems. A water change will dilute any potential poisoning problem.

 

[twistedlink]

Thanks for the replies guys, you are right colin_T they do go paler during the night (or when lights are off) but they were all on the floor and looking ill too, i have observed them being paler when i turn the lights on but this was the worse id seen it.


I left the light on all night and went to sleep, woken up and every single one of them is vibrantly coloured and swimming about like they used to, rummy noses have vibrant blood red noses and jet black markings on the tails and the rest are just as prominently coloured

Thanks for the help guys i was scared some weird substance got in the water like colin said with the poisons.

Waterdrop-yep temps staying steady, i have been checking temps daily for a month actually because a month ago i did a water change and forgot to turn the filter and heater off, and i heard this weird loud clicking and grinding, and realised the water level was way below the filter and 90% of the heater, and i was like "ahhh crap!" LOL, but its been working fine since, but ive got a standby ready and check often so i should be able to avoid that particular disaster.

 

[Colin_T]

the lights might have been out for the entire time you were away. The fish would have just slept during that time and were probably asleep when you returned home.