wildfire, power outage, dead Ram-connection?

E

euglossa

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Nov 9, 2006
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My power was out for about 11 hours last night when a brush fire took out the power lines. The fire burned several hundred acres about 2 miles from my house, a bit too close for comfort, but not dangerous-it's just about out now.

It was a hot evening, tank temperatures rose to the low 90s.

My goldfish seems fine, but there are some problems in my 75 gallon community.

I did a quick 10% water change this morning and plan to do water tests and a bigger change this evening when I have more time.
Last time I tested, on sunday Am 0, nitrities 0, nitrates 20

One of my Rams was dead this morning-I thought they were doing ok, but a close look showed a small lesion on his flank, right along the lateral line midway between the dorsal fin and the tail. It looked like a couple of raised scales, slightly greyish in color.

so I looked really closely at all other fish-the biggest ram has what looks like a missing scale on her nose, the other big male has a raised bump on his forehead-he looks a bit like a frontosa right now. The pearl gourami has a few missing scales. One of the rummynose tetras has a dull patch on its back, behind the head.

None of the other fish (congo tetras, angelfish, corydoras, otoclinus, one other ram and the rest of the rummys) show any sign of blemish or distress.

Is this something about to erupt or evidence of fighting? What should I do?

Ellen
 
How many inhabitants? Was there any source of surface agitation while the power was out?

Higher tank temp can raise metabolism rates slightly which could then cause additional respiration = more CO2 + less gas exchange due to loss of surface agitation. May not have been a factor, but something to consider.

As for the loss of scales and other "injures"...I'd try to keep a close watch on all the fish for a few days. Scale loss can be caused by disease (like Fish TB ><) as well.
 
no, those parameters were sunday evening to see if I could postpone my usual sunday water change to wednesday-which didn't happen last night after all.

I haven't tested the water since the power outage, that's my first task when I get home this evening.

There was no surface movement in the tanks while the power was out.

One other thing, I forgot to turn off the lights when the power was out, so the fish were sound asleep when it came back on at 3:30 this morning. I wasn't asleep and was was able to them back off pretty quick, but the fish were definitely disturbed, swimming around and bumping into things and each other.

The 75 gallon has a canister and an HOB, the goldfish tank has a canister.


I'll go do a quick websearch on fish TB and see what it looks like, thanks,

Ellen
 
Would it spike while the filter is off and then go back down again once it started?

I tested water when I got home:

75 gallon community
amm 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 20

20 gallon planted goldfish
amm 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5

The spot on the male ram looks has changed, from a pimply bump to a flat scraped area-like the bumped up scale fell off. The female ram has a orange scabby spot around one nostril. The third ram looks fine.

I couldn't find the funny spot on the rummy, all looked normal.

The pearl gourami has two abbrasions on its left flank, maybe three scales high by two wide in size, grayish in color. It is eating, has great color and is tearing around the tank like usual.

Back in January I lost several Congo tetras to an unknown problem similar to this. They developed bruises on one flank and would die within a day-all parameters were fine then too. The first might have been an injury but I got suspicious when two more died of the same thing within a day or two.

I hope it isn't fish TB, doesn't look there is much I can do about that. My water has always stayed at 0 ammonia and nitrite since cycling was completed last november and with weekly water changes the nitrates stay between 10 and 20 ppm.

Ellen
 
i suggest that you look up columnaris or 'saddleback disease'. it seems like a tough one, starts with skin damage on weakened fish, which brings along fungal issues on the dying flesh and bacterial infections as well. i think it can be either gram positive or gram negative depending on the strain, but that may not be correct.
 
most bacterial infections take time to do their work. tho in this instance the stress might speed things a bit.
the damage seems to be at specific fish..how many rams??
male -female ratio?

while I doubt an ammonia spike or nitrite spike cause any issue..I do believe that warm water in the 90s= low dissolved O2..no aggitation at the surface can cause isses like co2 build up , but I would be more concerned with high temp and low 02...11 hrs is enough time to cause some slight issues in a normal tank.

I wonder if you have a dominance issue..
at this point watch the fish that survived for signs of illness and react accordingly..
I'd be a bit hesitant to add any antibiotics until I was sure.
 
I am not sure what it is, though some good suggestions above. The high temps may have been the stress inducer to bring it all on. Close observation and water changes are a must.
 
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