Tropical fish suggestions?

[NickAu]

One more thing, I've noticed my heater doesn't seem to be working properly. Like the light will be on and then off for awhile. And the water does seem colder than usual...

Are you using a thermometer? The old stick a finger in the water is a bad indicator, In colder weather the water will always feel warm while in warmer weather it will feel colder.

If you think your heater is faulty please DO NOT stick your hand in the tank while its plugged in.

In fact you should turn off heaters and filters before sticking your hand in the tank.

 

[Colin_T]

Can you post a picture of the sick fish, and a short 20 second video of any fish that is swimming funny?

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Heaters that are thermostatically controlled will come on for a bit while they heat the water, and then turn off for a bit. Then they come back on for a bit. They normally have an orange light that comes on when the heater is warming up the water and the light goes out when it is not warming the water.

If you have a thermometer in the tank, then see what the temperature is. You want the temperature between 20-30C (72-86F), with an optimum temperature between 24-26C (75-79F).

If the temperature is low, try turning the heater up a couple of degrees if you can. Some heaters have an adjustable thermostat and others don't. Monitor the temperature with a thermometer in the tank water.

If you don't have a thermometer and have to buy one, go to a pet shop and take a number of thermometers off the shelf and put them next to each. Check the temperature on each thermometer, they should all have the same temperature. Sometimes they are faulty or not calibrated properly and these ones will have a different temperature to most of the others. If 9 out of 10 thermometers say 25C and one thermometer says 22C, then get one that says 25C.

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Stop feeding the fish for a couple of days and do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day until we work out what is going on.

If you haven't cleaned the filter in the last 2 weeks, you could clean that. If you have a power filter, wash the filter materials in a bucket of tank water, and rinse the filter case under tap water.

 

[Rachel524]

Yes we bought a thermometer from Walmart last night but doesn't seem to be working.. it said it was like 88F right when we put it in the cold water, and now our heater seems to be working and has warmed the water up quite a bit, but the thermometer has the same reading...

Update on the angel fish... sad to say he didn't make it and found him dead this morning.

Wasn't able to take a video, but if you YouTube swim bladder disease in angel fish he was swimming a lot like that. And kept inhaling deeply and going up to the surface of the water and sticking its mouth out of the water like gasping for oxygen.

What's weird is my last 2 fish seem to be doing fine oxygen wise, breathing like normal for the most part. However, I just tried putting a couple flakes in and the severum ignored it. I dont think the severum has eaten in several days from what I've noticed. And dont think I've noticed the smaller flying fox (or algae eater) has eaten either from what I've seen. The severum used to rush up and eat food wheb I put it in and almost bully the other fish in order to get more food. So definitely not normal behavior. Severum has been kinda moping around really slowly, just seems sickly.

I did the 75% water exchange last night and tried to clean the gravel at best I could with a siphon (still trying to get the hang of that), and water seem to be much warmer.

Please any advice would help as I dont want to lose my last 2 fish! Still not sure if the larger flying fox and angel fish died from the same cause or not? Just weird 2 fish would die within 2 days. Maybe stress has caused it since the tank was considered overstocked and didn't have the right fish in their together? I'm just not sure...

 

[Colin_T]

If the temperature dropped and the water got cold, then that would cause the fish to slow down and become sluggish and not really show much interest in food. Once the temperature is back to a normal level 24-26C (75-79F) the fish should start eating again. But don't force food onto them because uneaten food will cause ammonia problems. Fish won't starve if they don't eat for a couple of days.

Hold the new thermometer in your hands and keep it warm for a couple of minutes. if the temperature doesn't change on the thermometer then it is stuffed and needs replacing.

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The angelfish might have had an internal infection that damaged an organ and caused the fish to die. However, without seeing the fish or doing a necropsy (autopsy) on its body we can't be certain. But if a fish suddenly starts swimming funny, having trouble with balance, stops eating and starts gasping, then it is usually an internal issue and normally always fatal.

 

[Rachel524]

Ok, that makes sense about fish turning sluggish from cold water. I'll try the thermometer in my hands trick. But yeah, goes there's no definitive diagnosis for the flying fox and angel fish. Could've just been their time to go. Not even sure how old they were.

Ant recommendations for fish food for the severum and flying fox I have left? I'm currently giving them some generic tropical fish flakes from Walmart which is what I've been giving all of them the last month or so. Also, just been giving them a small pinch a day. Is that enough? The severum likes skinned peas a lot so may get more of those. But as far as their daily food type/amount is their anything you recommend or think the flakes I've been giving them is ok?

 

[Colin_T]

Normal fish flake or pellets are fine. You can offer other types of plant matter to the severum, they might eat pumpkin, zuchinni, spinach, or other types of fruit or veg. Do not feed them onion or any onion relatives (spring onion, shallots, leeks, garlic) and no potatoe. Pretty much everything else is fine just make sure it is free of chemicals and give it a good wash before using it. You can feed them fresh and raw or partly cooked. Try different things and see what it eats.

If you have a pond or container of water outside, you can have some Duckweed (floating plant) growing in that and feed the Duckweed to the fish.

 

[Rachel524]

Thanks for the tips! I'm kinda in another predicament though (it never ends!). The severum has stopped eating... And don't thinking the little flying fox is eating either. I realized the last several days (maybe closeto a week now) the severum has no interest in food. Everytime I drop flakes, blood worms, or peas in, he literally swims away from it like not wanting anything to do with food. What does this mean?

I'm thinking with the other 2 fish dying maybe that made it depressed? Also I cleaned out/rearranged the tank/decor and changed substrate out a number of weeks ago. Could that be a reason? Only other thing I can think of is I tried adding a couple fish (at different times) to the tank a few weeks ago. Tried an electric blue jack dempsy and a blood parrot, both of which I had to take back to the store cause the severum tried to get them. Could that have caused the severum stress? Maybe even those 2 fish had introduced some sort of parasite or something to the water which possibly caused the death of my other 2 fish?

Ugh. I just dont know. Seems so hard to pin point what's really going on when it comes to fish..

 

[Byron]

Ugh. I just dont know. Seems so hard to pin point what's really going on when it comes to fish..

This is very true, and is exactly why it is so important to be preventative rather than reactive. In other words, we make every attempt to prevent problems by ensuring the requirements of the fish species are met, rather than the opposite as was initially done here--and not by you, this was an inherited problem that was doomed to begin with as I outlined earlier on in this thread. Your friend who put this combo together sealed the fate of the fish, and so often what was done cannot be undone. We cannot ignore or cross nature without consequences.

 

[Colin_T]

Check the water quality for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & pH.

99% of fish health issues are related to poor water quality. If you cleaned the tank out a couple of weeks ago you might have wiped out the beneficial filter bacteria and that will mean you have ammonia and or nitrite in the water. Both of these products wills tress and kill fish.

Do a 75% water change and gravel clean the substrate each day until the water is tested and this matter is resolved.

Stop feeding the fish for a few days.

Post a picture of the fish and if they are swimming unusually, then post a short 20second video of them acting funny. Set the camera resolution to 2MB so the images will be small enough to fit on the website.