Heavy tank losses.... please help me!!!!!!!!
Mark Allan
Of 10 Mountain Minnows I now have only 3,
Of 5 Platys I have 3
I also lost one of my 2 loaches.
I still have 4 Rosy Barbs.
I have no idea what the problem is, the Ammonia and Nitrite levels are
low, the PH is 7.8, the harndess is 18*.
All the remaining fish seem lethargic, either sitting on the substrate
or up near the surface. Wherever they are they are not swimming about,
just kind of hanging around in the same place.
Does anyone know what the cause could be? I has happened all of a
sudden, they were all very happy a few days ago and were for weeks.
The tank is 1' x 1' x 2', the water is clear. I have noticed that the
substrate is dirty but that is all.
Any help of guidance would be gratefully received.
Cookie
Is this a newly established tank?
For a 1'x1'x2' tank, you had it over populated. The first thing that
came to my mind was that there is not enough oxygen in there. Are they
at the surface gasping and/or do they have clamped fins? If the water
is too warm (mountain minnows - aka white mountain cloud minnows -
generally do best in cooler waters. . . .as low as 60 F to around 70
F,) and you don't have enough water motion, then they are slowly
suffocating. Platys also prefer slightly cooler waters of perhaps 65 F
- 73 F.
Do a 50% water change, lower the temp to around 70-74 F, and wait.
That is what I would do.
Hope this helps,
--Cookie
Mark Allan
Thanks for the advice.
The tank has been established for 2 months without previous problems,
the minnows, barbs and loaches where bought over a few weeks at the
outset and were the longest inhabitants, the Platys were recent
additions bought a week ago.
The temperature is and was always at 72F. They may have been gasping
for air, I am unsure, but my filter airates and I have a separate air
pump going. Not all fish were at the top, the platys were on the
bottom just sitting on the substrate, the Rosy Barbs either at the top
or middle but just lathargically staying in the same position, whereas
a week ago they would chase each other and be constantly investigating
the tank and looking for food.
I have lost more fish in the last day.
I am now down to 1 minnow, and 2 Rosy Barbs (both male, lost 2
females) and the 3 platys still. The remaining minnow is at the top on
his own the rest are in the middle and bottom of the tank, a little
more active than they have been but not as much as they were a week
ago.
Is there any disease that shows the symptoms of simple lethargy that
may have got into the tank? No fish where disfigured in anyway when
they died, no fin rot, white spot etc.
If it was an overcrowded tank what kind of number of fish is the
maximum for a tank of 1'x1'x2'? Books say 1cm of fish for 1 litre, the
tanks holds 55 litres. I will be going again for more barbs and a
small shoal of shoaling fish if I can support them OK.
Thanks again.
Andy Hill
do you vacuum the gravel?
My guess, given the stocking level, would be excessive nitrates. Two months at
that stocking level with no cleanings would get you into the danger zone.
Nothing can live in it's own sewage indefiniately.
Cookie
> The tank has been established for 2 months without previous problems,
> the minnows, barbs and loaches where bought over a few weeks at the
> outset and were the longest inhabitants, the Platys were recent
> additions bought a week ago.
>
Were the fish fine before you added the Platys? If yes, then I would
think that the Platys might have had some disease and could have
spread it to your other fish.
> The temperature is and was always at 72F. They may have been gasping
> for air, I am unsure, but my filter airates and I have a separate air
> pump going. Not all fish were at the top, the platys were on the
> bottom just sitting on the substrate, the Rosy Barbs either at the top
> or middle but just lathargically staying in the same position, whereas
> a week ago they would chase each other and be constantly investigating
> the tank and looking for food.
>
Sitting on the substrate. . . . . .many years ago, when I was a
"novice" and didn't read up on anything about fish tanks, I bought an
aquarium, set it up, then added about 10 fish to it in one day. The
next day, most were dead, and a few were sitting on the bottom which
died shortly thereafter. The lady at the pet store said that my
ammonia and nitrates were very very high. Never did that again. But,
you added them slowly, so that shouldn't have been a problem.
> I have lost more fish in the last day.
> I am now down to 1 minnow, and 2 Rosy Barbs (both male, lost 2
> females) and the 3 platys still. The remaining minnow is at the top on
> his own the rest are in the middle and bottom of the tank, a little
> more active than they have been but not as much as they were a week
> ago.
> Is there any disease that shows the symptoms of simple lethargy that
> may have got into the tank? No fish where disfigured in anyway when
> they died, no fin rot, white spot etc.
> If it was an overcrowded tank what kind of number of fish is the
> maximum for a tank of 1'x1'x2'? Books say 1cm of fish for 1 litre, the
> tanks holds 55 litres. I will be going again for more barbs and a
> small shoal of shoaling fish if I can support them OK.
55 litres.....I think that that is equal to about 12 US gallons.
Generally, it is about 1 inch of an adult fish per gallon, so your
maxium should be 12 inches or 30 cm of fish. I think that you were
slightly overcrowding. You number of fish should have been OK, but if
you don't do water changes (especially with a smaller tank) every
week, then your water gets polluted irregardless of having a filter.
Filters don't filter out ammonia, nitrates, etc. Do a 50% water change
now and siphon out the gravel while your at it. That should help alot.
--Cookie
Mark Allan
Done the water change and cleaned the gravel.
I am now down to just 3 platys, the 3 platys spend alot of time on the
substrate motionless. Is this normal? Does it indicate they are not
happy with the tank water? Or symptoms of some illness? I have no idea
whats going on.
Flatspin
exercise self control, especially when someone at a fish store wants to
sell you lots of stuff. I cringe at half of what I hear them tell
people at the big chain stores.
How much are you feeding the fish and how often? Less is more in this
case. With the low level of fish you're down to, much more than a good
pinch is probably too much. Fish can be pretty stupid and will eat
themselves to death if you feed feed feed. If they're not finished in
3-5 minutes, you fed them too much and are aggrevating the problems in
the tank.
I agree with the vacumme recommendation, you might also want to do
several 50% water changes, 2 or 3 over the weekend. If you have high
pollution, this should help reduce the levels in the tank. Remember,
each 50% change will reduce remaining levels by 50%. One change 50%, 2
changes drops it to 25%, 3 changes to 12.5%. Fish don't care for
multiple changes, one right after the other, it stresses them especially
in combination with the preveously recommended temperature drop. After
this do a 25% water change each weekend, I drew a line right on the side
of my tank, makes it really easy. Personally, I dump the tank water on
my houseplants, they seem to love it.
Regarding vacumming, I was always told to only ever deep vacumme 1/2 of
the tank a month, do the whole thing and you're loosing a lot of
beneficial bacteria. I do left side one month, right side the other.
You may want to deep vac one side this weekend and gently skim the
surface of the garvel on the other side.
Do you have any snails, shrimp or plants to help deal with chemestry and
waste, might want to think about adding these and again the keyword,
slowly, maybe add 1 plant, an amazon sword and a something like a Black
Mystry Snail this weekend. I can dig 2" deep troughs in my gravel and
between snails, shripm, a Pleco and CAE, they level it out in a day or so.
How often do you change filters? I read more and more about how quickly
carbon can become satureted, hours in a severely polluted tank. You may
want to replace carbon this weekend then again next weekend, give the
water a really good scrubbing. After that, monthly changes may be adequet.
Best of luck!
Shawn