Where Are My Fish Going!

[indir-emir]

Hi everyone,
ill give you some background first.
4 Foot Tank - 340L (90G (US))
Stocking in sig - has however changed (will explain below)
Tank has a 4000L pump that pumps water from the sump to the tank. Tank has the corner wierd and drilled and piped so has a working sump.
Tank was upgraded from my 2 foot to this beautiful 4 foot tank.

Reasonably heavily planted. Not a jungle, but its got alot of plants
What has been happening lately is that im losing fish. They just seem to disappear from the face of the ... tank?
Tank has a tight fitting lid, with a hood also. There is a "hairbrush" to keep fish out of the overflow to the sump so i doubt they are there (only place im unable to check clearly, till i take the hood off (heavy to lift on my own) so will need to ask brother for some help soon )

I have lost a bunch of adult guppies (2inch +), which i didnt really notice to much untill i realised ive got about 5-10 left out of like 20 originally. I have lost a krib who randomly disappeared, male died shortly after (They were a pair, he must have been very upset?) who were between 6-8cm roughly. 1 silver angel fish (8cm without fins roughly), shortly after 1 black/zebra ange fish (8cm without fins roughly). And 2 sword tails (2-3inches roughly). 9 danios also gone (2inch or so). Fish were not lost in this order, just my dodgy memory lol.

Took apart my entire filter looking for them, the entire tank was turned over. Ive checked around the tank. No cats/dogs or children...

So where could they be? Any ideas what i can do to prevent this happening over and over?

P.S Sorry for a lengthy post, but im about ready to give up my hobby because of this.

Regards,
Indir

 

[WILDER]

What are your water stats in ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph.

Any signs of bullying.
If you looked everywhere and can't find them the fish have probably eaten them.

Any fish showing any of these signs.
Long stringy white poo or clear mucas poo.
Enlarged anus or red inflamed anus.
Fish that look bloated or skinny.
Sunken in bellys.
Bent spines.
Fish swimming on there sides.
Any signs of darting, erratic swimming, flicking and rubbing, excess mucas, laboured breathing or gasping at surface of tank.
Do any fish hide.
Do any fish look pale or darker in colour.
Any fish acting listless and lethagic.
Any fish that can't maintain there balance in the water.
What do you feed your fish.

 

[indir-emir]

Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 10 (Out of tap)
PH = 7.4 -- This was edited due to a typo on my part

Long stringy white poo or clear mucas poo. - Not that i have noticed, but will keep a closer eye on this.
Enlarged anus or red inflamed anus. - No
Fish that look bloated or skinny. - No
Sunken in bellys. - No
Bent spines. - No
Fish swimming on there sides. - No
Any signs of darting, erratic swimming, flicking and rubbing, excess mucas, laboured breathing or gasping at surface of tank. - Not that i have noticed, again will keep a closer eye on this too.
Do any fish hide. - Just the BNs in their caves, but thats normal as far as i know. And the male Appisto also likes his cave a fair bit. But will keep an eye out again
Do any fish look pale or darker in colour. - Not anymore then there normal colours
Any fish acting listless and lethagic. - Not that i have noticed, will keep a closer eye out
Any fish that can't maintain there balance in the water. - No
What do you feed your fish. - Flake, Pellets, Wafers, Vegies here and there. Frozen blood worms. Have tried baby brine shrimp once (Frozen) but they didnt take a notice of it. These are fed atleast every night, sometimes i miss a night. And will give a small pinch in the morning occasionaly after i skip a night.

Could a fish the size of my Angel fish (8cm or so body size without fins) be eaten within like 12 hours? I check my tank every morning before going to uni and at night at feeding time. They seem to disappear at night, however the black angel must have disapeared sometime between morning and about 6pm that night when i came home. So i was gone maybe 7 or 8 hours?

Thanks for the reply Wilder, i know your the expert fish sickness person here

Regards,
Indir

 

[indir-emir]

UPDATE:
Took off the hood today, and searched EVERY nook and cranny of the tank and sump. Found the silver angel stuck in the over flow bit... Which is VERY suprising considering the only gap to the bit is 2cm wide and 1cm high. He was 8cm long, like 1cm thick, and like 15cm high including fins.... VERY wierd to me... Found a couple of guppies in the sump area. But still no sign of atleast 10 fish. No idea whats going on.

Any ideas?

Could an angel the same size as i just described be eaten within like 12 hours?

 

[WILDER]

Ok.
Are you sure a fish isn't picking them off.

Appistograma Agassizzi - Will sex soon as i get time
What type of fish is this. I know fish more by there common names.

It could be bacterial with the fins if no nipping.
If you have lost alot of fish and there not showing any symtoms I listed. I would try a bacterial med to the whole tank.

Been using any household chemicals near the tank?
No ph changes.
Is there a strong current in the tank thats blowing the fish about.

 

[Littlemonkey]

Don't give up indir, I'm sure some-one will come up with a possible solution. You may have an invader, have you live plants, if so have you introduced any recently, just a possibility there may be a hitch hiker that's causing a problem.

 

[indir-emir]

@Wilder - Thanks for the reply. Definitely no bullying, Appistos are dwarf cichlids from south america, they are small. male tops at about 3 inches. Female at 2 inches. I see no aggression between any fish.

Not sure what you mean by the "no fins" bit... All fishes fins are in great shape, no tears or rips or anything like that. Not sure if i said something that may have pointed at fin rot/nipping earlier.. Sorry if i did.

No chemicals. No changes. There was a stronger current then usual for maybe 10-15 minutes while i was testing something with the sump. But this was after i had lost the second angel... No fish are getting blown about even on full blast.

The strange thing to me is that the fish just disppears... I dont believe a fish the size of my angels could be eaten by the rest of the stock within 12 hours? And now my BN have spawned....

Any other ideas? Or should i just treat for bacterial infection?

@Littlemonkey - Mate thanks for the encouraging words. Believe me, i was going to take down the tank within the week because of this. Could not stand to lose any fish. So i took everything apart to check everything and dont see what could have happen, hence why i made the decision to take it down. Then out of no where one of my BN pairs spawns, first spawn, clutch of atleast 50 i believe. So looks like tanks staying up after all. And, no mate, imposibble of hitch hickers since i have no new plants for a good month now And even then it was just the upgrade i did from my 2 footer

Regards,
Indir

 

[Curiosity101]

Can we have a picture of the overflow section...

Someone may be able to suggest a mod to it to stop any other fish getting stuck there.

 

[indir-emir]

Np mate will try to do my best for you. I will however explain it to you.
There is only a small gap because i had accidently cracked it when i brang it in the house lol. It has like a hair brush styled thing... A black bar with | things... These bars are prob 5mm wide, and there are game 5mm wide between them. Just at that one section i snapped it there isnt this.. Figured it was to small for anything to get in.

Pic will be up tonight, 4am at the moment. Awoke to find BN eggs lol. Uni in a few hours,
Regards,
Indir

 

[WILDER]

8cm or so body size without fins

That the bit I read wrong so sorry.

Are you sure fish can't fit throw as it suprising where they can get.
I'm at a loss like you.

 

[indir-emir]

Unless e could fold in half twice, i have no idea how he got there lol. Im telling you mate, the only gap there is 2cm wide, 1cm high. There is a glass lid fitted snuggly over it with no gap between the "teeth" and glass. I guess a guppy MIGHT be able to fit through, but an angel? I dont think so. Im confused.

Any other ideas on whats going on? Or just write it off as alien fish lol.

Thanks for the help, again.

Regards,
Indir

 

[WILDER]

I would consider copying and pasting the thread over to tropcical discussion.
More members go over there. Might be able to shed more light on what could of happened to the fish.