Whole tank wiped out!

[breezer40]

I have just lost my whole collection of L134 plecs and I have no idea why. I checked them and the water stats this morning (I always do this just before a water change).

Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitate = 20
PH = 7.4
GH = 7
Temp =28

All were looking fine and water stats were normal. The tank has been up and running for over 8 months . I did a 25% water change exactly has I have done thousands of times..made sure the temp of the water was the same as that in the tank..used the declorinator.

About an hour ago I noticed one of them looking a little too still so put my hand in and he was dead..thought I would make sure the others were alright..all dead! I retested the water and the stats are the same as before so what could be going on here?

I am so upset about this and in all my years of keeping fish have never had anything like this happen before.

 

[breezer40]

If anyone has any thoughts as to what the cause might be then please let me know. Any ideas would be really welcome

 

[james04]

i dont know m8, the only thing i can think is something in the water. there is obviously something wrong if they were ok before.

 

[MAM]

i'm not sure what could have happened, but did you use a different water conditioner than what you normally use? what product DID you use this time? have you added any chemicals or anything to the tank recently? is there anything else in the tank? um, silly question, but after you cleaned, did you turn the filter back on (if you turn it off when cleaning), how about the heater? i'm grasping at straws here, but trying to learn more about your situation...............

sorry to hear of the loss of your plecs though..................

 

[MissClaire]

Oh thats terrible, dont loose heart and give up Breezer! I say start again fresh *hugs* Not sure why that has happened, but I know I would have been devestated

 

[CFC]

How long have you had these fish? There is a theory on the cause of early demise in the first few weeks of purchase with many of the L number species that they have a symbiotic relationship with bacteria in the gut which helps them digest the vast quantities of vegetable matter that make up their diet. Many of the wholesalers that hold these fish before they reach the shops will treat all the stock with a broad spectrum anti bacterial medication to destroy anything that may have sneaked in from the wild and in doing so accidently wipe out the good bacteria in the gut too. This leaves the fish unable to digest its food and although the fish seems plump and well it actually starves to death within a few weeks.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi breezer40

I felt so bad when I read your thread that I didn't know what to say at first.

My first thought has to be that something is wrong with your water, perhaps from the water supply itself. I suggest that you contact your water authority and ask if they have done anything, such as add additional chemicals, to the water in your area. Even if such a thing were undetectable to humans, it could still effect your fish.

And, of course, there is always the possibility that one of their employees made an error............

 

[breezer40]

Mam-

I used the Same water conditioner as always(safe guard- King British). No other chemicals where added and the plecs were the only fish in the tank. All filters and heaters are working perfectly.

CFC-

I only had the plecs for two weeks so thats an interesting theory and one I will try to find out more information on.

Inchworm-

That thought had crossed my mind that chemicals might have been added by the water board and I will be phoning them in the morning to see what they have to say.

Thank you everyone for comming up with ideas and just sharing this loss with me. I really do love my fish and the L134's are ones I had been trying to get hold of for over 7 months .

 

[Ob1]

This is a long shot

What type of water container are you using to transfer water, for the water changes? I had used a garden water butt (20gallons)

It had taken almost 3 months to work out the fish were not happy - My plecos were going mad in the water.

I now understand the green water butt was not only recycled but also was not fit for storing drinking water. I ended up buying a 26-gallon UN approved water storage container. All is well now thank god – its crazy but I now see these UN approved Blue water storage containers everywhere – horse farms ect.. Really good investment

Also really long shot - When I start keeping fish I never treated the water before the water change - really stupid and I did lose a lot of fish that I had inherited from a friend. I am sure this is not the case but I will always pass on what little knowledge I have J

cya ob1

 

[Kerryk]

I'm so sorry to hear about your fish. Could it be possible that maybe someone cleaned the glass with windex (even vinegar?) Sprayed Air freshner near the tank? Chemicals from steam cleaning?? Posioning through a new decoration what do you clean your decorations with? Any kids around that could have added anything?? Just ideas...

 

[Ob1]

ps

i am really sorry to hear about the loss of you fish - i am really close to my fish - it sound mad but true. Do not feel to down about it - the answer to why the fish die is out there. and whatever the results you will become a better fish keeper in the long run.


good luck

Jason (OB1)

 

[breezer40]

ob1-

I am using a white plastic tub that I got from the supermarket some months ago. I use this for all my water changes but this is the first problem. Might be worth looking into though.

I always treat the water before putting it in the tank with Safe guard.

Kerryk-

All the fish tanks are in a fish house away from the main house so they don't come into contact with any of the household chemicals. I clean the outside of the tanks with just hot water and a cloth and dry with a paper towel. Can't blame any kids don't have any.

 

[Ob1]

Hi breezer40

I have thing about water containers and will never use anything unless it is drinking water safe/food safe.

I understand that most plastic is manufactured using some really nasty chemicals and that this can leak out of the plastic – by rising the water temp may even increase the amount of chemical released.

I do not mean to alarm all – but you should only use food/drink water safe plastic –sorry that my option. My plecos were acting very strange and now they are fine. It is worth noting that you may need able to measure the effect of using different plastics with any water testing kit.

 

[jams.alaskan]

If they were all dead in such a short amount of time perhaps it was electrical in nature...

ALASKA

 

[breezer40]

I have the answer to why all my fish died and I am not impressed First thing this morning I phoned the water board and they claim "they have had several reports of this happening during the course of the last 24hrs and are taking steps to identify the problem" I was reasured that "the water was fit for human consumption"..how would they know? If they don't know what has poisoned our fish then how can they know its safe for humans?