Two Zebra's Died After Weekly Water Change, Should I Be Worried?

[Cory_Dad]

I did my weekly water change today (40%) and when I was finished I noticed that one of my Zebra Danios was dead. I thought maybe I hit him with the Python siphon, but then 5 minutes later I noticed that another Zebra was gasping at the surface and it's gills looked red. I put him into my hospital tank with Pimafix and Melafix. I could see that another Zebra's gills looked red but gave up trying to catch him after about 30 tries. Later today the Zebra in the hospital tank died.

This was 8 hours ago. So far no one else has died, at least there are no bodies floating on the surface. Should I be concerned (even though I am)? We're talking about a 60 Gal. community tank. Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10, PH ~7.4. Should I go ahead and medicate the whole tank or wait and see?

Thanks.

 

[murphyk32]

im no expert with that stuff, and its late... us canadians are of a few on here at night and i dont gotta clue what to tel yea for that... was the temp of the water u added in rly (and i mean rly) hot or cold? maybe it wasnt gd water, idk,.... more answers in the morning for sure... all the europeans are on then, which is most of this site.

Murph

 

[Cory_Dad]

Thanks for the reply Murphy.

The water temp was ok. All the other fish look fine even the 9 juvenile C. Napoensis I added a few days ago. It's because of them I'm really worried. They look ok but because they are still small, if there's something going around they'd be pretty vulnerable (I think).

Ya, guess I'll just have to wait it out.

Cheers.

 

[murphyk32]

yea i understand that worry completely. hopefully they will be good or somebody will come along and tell u whats up.

gdluck

Murph

 

[Colin_T]

I gather you added tap water and then added dechlorinator to the tank. If so you chlorinated your fish.
I recommend making the water up the in a seperate bucket, adding dechlroinator and getting the PH & temperature correct before adding it to the tank. If possible make the water up the day before you use it and have an airstone bubbling away in it. This allows the dechlorinator to break down all the chlorine before it goes into the tank and you don't lose fish after water changes.
There is no need to add medications, however you might want to add something along the lines of StressCoat to help the other fishes recover.

 

[Cory_Dad]

Thanks Colin_T.

I hear ya but I've done it this way for quite some time now. Also, with a 60 gallon tank I'd have trouble storing that much water. As soon as I filled the tank I put in dechlorinator.

This morning it's getting worse. One of the juvenile corys was swimming oddly at the top so I moved him. Then I saw a couple more that were just hovering in the water and am trying to move them as well. I noticed that their barbels were a shorter than some of their sibblings. I managed to get one of them into the hospital tank but I won't be able to get them all. I think there's something in my main tank.

I bought so erythromycin, should I start treating the main tank?

I'm really worried.

 

[geo7x]

To me it sounds like it had nothing to do with the water change, so you don't need to change the way you carry out water changes, don't worry. You probably just thought it did because when we do water changes we tend to examine the tank more and notice these things.

Are the fish flicking or rubbing themselves on anything at all?

 

[Colin_T]

I don't think Erythromycin will make any difference. It is an antibitotic and the description you gave of the fish going up to the surface and gasping for air straight after a water change, is pretty typical of poisoning.
Antibiotics will wipe out your beneficial filter bacteria and possibly cause ammonia and nitrite levels to go up thus putting more stress on the already weakened fishes.

If the fish have other symptoms besides the gasping at the surface then it could be disease related. Did the first dead danio look normal besides being dead? Was its colour good or did it have white patches or anything on it?

Increase surface turbulence to maximise the oxygen levels in the tank and add some Armour Coat or StressCoat to help the fish recover from the damage that has occured to them. And if you have any carbon put that in the filter for a few days in case there was a chemical in the water besides chlorine.

If you don't have water holding facilities then make up the water in a bucket, add some dechlorinator, stir it up and leave for a minute or two. Then add it to the tank. It will take longer but should reduce the chances of chlorine getting to the fish.
Alternatively invest in a couple of 72litre plastic rubbish bins or a bigger plastic storage bin. Fill it with water, add the conditioner and leave to aerate for a little while. Then use a water pump with some plastic hose to pump the dechlorinated water into the tank.

 

[Cory_Dad]

Thanks for all your posts.

As an update:

I turned all the lights off and looked at them with a flashlight. The scales on their middle upper body look milky white. I checked in my main tank and on the active ones there are tiny patches of white but not as bad as the really sick one.

Is that fungus?

I've just noticed that a couple of the juveniles in that large tank are rubbing themselves on plants. Some are also just hovering in the tank.

I've also been posting this in the Corydoras Catfish forum and I've gotten a reply from Jollysue:

"I most likely would treat like I do for columnaris. Treat with API Fungus Cure or Triple Sulfa. I have also had good success with Mardel Maroxy with Trisulfa. Mardel is milder and easier on the tanks, but API is very effective. Next would be a Jungle anti fungal. Jungal Buddies Fungal Clear is helpful."

I don't know if we have any of these here in Ontario, Canada, at least I haven't seen any of these in the local fish stores.

What a great way to spend by birthday.

 

[Colin_T]

fungus is white and fluffy. It's a couple of mm long and stands up off the body of the fish. If it is smooth and flat then it is most likely a skin irritation causing excess mucous.

Triple sulpha (or Trisulfa) will treat fungus, bacteria & I think whitespot, but if it is a skin parasite like costia or trichodina then it won't do anything. You will need something like Waterlife Protozin for that.

Not sure what Mardel Maroxy is.

 

[Cory_Dad]

fungus is white and fluffy. It's a couple of mm long and stands up off the body of the fish. If it is smooth and flat then it is most likely a skin irritation causing excess mucous.

Triple sulpha (or Trisulfa) will treat fungus, bacteria & I think whitespot, but if it is a skin parasite like costia or trichodina then it won't do anything. You will need something like Waterlife Protozin for that.

Not sure what Mardel Maroxy is.

It's just white but not stringy. Jollysue mentioned using salt to control parasites. My local pet store has Jungle parasite clear. I'm going out to pick some of that up then. The pet store hasn't heard of Waterlife Protozin so my options are limited.

Thanks

 

[Cory_Dad]

Update:

To the 60 gal I added:

Jungle Parasite Clear

Pimafix

Melafix

To the 2.5 gal I added:

Coppersafe

Pimafix

Melafix

1 of the juveniles in the 2.5 is floating on it's back and is pretty near to death, the other 2 are off and on floating.

In the 60 most of the juveniles are at the top either just sitting there or floating.

This is a disaster...

 

[Cory_Dad]

Update:

As it turned out this morning there was only 1 juvenile dead in the hospital tank and 1 in the 60 gallon which is a far better outcome (so far) than I was expecting.

Most of the fish in the 60 (including the parent Napoensis <shudder>) were very sluggish,maybe from the meds(?), the water had a greenish tint, so I did a 25% water change. That seemed to perk them up. I can't re-medicate with the Jungle Parasite for 48 hr. but I will put in some more Pimafix and Melafix for the 7 days it specifies. The Corys in the hospital tank were relatively perky (except for the dead one) but I did a 50% water change (it's only a 2.5 Gal) and re-medicated with all the meds.

I don't think I'm out of the woods yet but at least there's progress.

I like to thank all of the people that helped me out with this. It just proves how strong this forum is.

Cheers.

 

[Cory_Dad]

Update:

Everyone is still alive.

I checked my adult C. Napoensis this morning with a flash light (torch for you Brits) and the female looked like she had some gold colored specs. Velvet! The Jungle Parasite Clear doesn't say it treats Velvet so I've just dosed with Coppersafe. It's been over 48 hours since I had dosed with Jungle PC plus a 20% water change so it should be ok.

A couple of the adult Red Wag Platties are swimming with their fins clamped but they show no sign of velvet.

Cheers.

 

[fisH2O]

I agree with Colin_T. You probably poisioned the fish by treating the water after it was added, and not adding treated water. The stuff I use says it neutralises chlorine and heavy metals straight away, so I simply add the required amount to a 5 litre bottle, then fill it with fresh tap water (doing it this way round mixes it better), then add some water from the kettle to bring it up to temp. Get 4 of these bottles and you can do it in batches then which saves time.