When 1 Fish Dies....

[reda9]

i've just watched 1 of my fish die of dropsy. i didn't realize what was wrong with her till a couple hours ago (thanks to help from this site), as i'm new to this and thought she was heavy with babies. . . .

anyway, what about the rest of the fish and the tank? should they be treated as a preventative? my tank is just under a month old & i know that it was populated far too quickly. (husband took daughter to get a fish and came back with a bag full). as one would expect, my nitrite level is too high.

another question...i'd run to the shop to get a quarintine tank for my molly, got her in it and dropped in the med and an hour later, she died. i want to cycle this tank. should i empty it and start over, or go ahead with what is in there (water and substrate from community tank)?

thanks for you help.

 

[Tolak]

I would attribute the deaths to ammonia & nitrite poisoning in an overstocked, uncycled tank. Dropsy is a symptom of an illness, the same as nasal congestion or a fever is a symptom in humans.

It is not uncommon to lose a weaker fish or 2 doing a traditional cycle. That would be stocking with the guideline of 1" of slim bodied fish of les than 3" of length for every 5 gallons of water. If you exceeded this, some losses are almost certain. This being the case, you know the cause, and it's someting meds won't help. Water changes will, daily 50% water changes to keep the nitites & ammo down.

The molly was probably stressed from the cycling tank, add in netting, moving, and adding meds and you have a dead fish. The best way to keep a hospital/quar tank cycled is to keep a smaller filter running on your main tank, along with the main filter. When you need to set up the smaller tank, fill with dechlored water of the proper temperature, add a heater and the smaller filter from the main tank. The filter media is what holds the nitrifying bacteria, the tank only holds water.

Hospital or quar tanks are best kept without a substrate, you want as spartan an environment as possible. This helps with cleanliness, as well as observing the fish.

 

[reda9]

Thank you so very much!