Mysterious Fish Death (I don't know what happened!)

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valleyvampiress

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Feb 28, 2005
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Hello everyone. My goodness, I'm still in shock about this. I just found out right now that one of my little black mollies, Dot, was dead. I don't know for how long. It might have been a day or two. The reason why it took me so long to figure out she was dead is because she is really small (about an inch) and was black. She was at the back side of the suction part of the filter which is right next the the back glass where I can't see. The filter is also black so that didn't help matters that she blended in. Also, the reason I didn't notice this until now is because I honestly don't recall if she was present yesterday or not. I know she wasn't today, but I didn't notice (I know, bad of me, but she likes to be behind the fake plant sometimes so I don't always keep track of where she is). I noticed her because I saw one of my ghost shrimp at the back of the filter and I wondered if she might be stuck. So I looked really closely at the side of the tank and saw this black thing that I couldn't tell what it was. Well, I found out after I brought the net out. Poor Dot. Her body was already decomposing (some of the other fish might have nipped at her after she passed).

Gosh, I'm so sad. I feel so bad, but I don't even know what I did! She seemed fine! I didn't notice anything at all that would tell me she was sick the last time I remember seeing her (2 days ago). She looked healthy, she ate fine, she was acting spunky and cute as usual. None of the other fish seem to be acting strange. BTW, I'm in the process of cycling (5 weeks in), but I change 50% of the water every other day (instead of 25% every day). But I don't see how that could effect her that badly that fast and not effect any of the other fish. She didn't always seem frightened or stressed or anything like that! I don't know what I did!

I feel so bad. I wish I could have her back. It makes my eyes water.
 
Well, I just called my g/f who was at my house yesterday, and she said Dot was there with the other fish that day so it must've happened overnight, whatever it was.
 
Did you check your water parameters? Check ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH. Fish can die seemingly without cause because of ammonia poisoning. Even a small amount of ammonia or nitrite can be deadly.

Also, do a large water change (50%) for the next few days. Even if it's not poisoning, water changes are always beneficial and welcome by the fishes.
 
I check my water ever other day that I do water changes and ammonia is at 0ppm, nitrite is at .25ppm, and nitrate is at 10ppm. This is before I do a 50% water change. I always keep track of my water, so that's why I'm so confused.
 
dechlorinate?

Might you have forgotten to dechlorinate?
 
I don't know how big your other fish are, but being that little, the nitrites, amonia whatever may have effected it more so than it did the other fish!
 
anonapersona said:
Might you have forgotten to dechlorinate?
Click to expand...

Nope. Always put it in before adding new water, and I always matched the temp.

Holly, that could be true, but wouldn't I have seen signs of stress or some other abnormal behaviour before hand, or is ammonia/nitrite a silent killer?
 
me too!

I was just reading your post and the same thing happened to my goldfish! He was fine, I fed him, he ate, and then later in the evening, my mother found him sucked up against the filter. She turned the filter off to give him a break, but in the morning he was gone. The other goldfish i have in the tank was doing fine until the other morning, at least a week after my other fish died, and got very weak right after my mom fed her. She is still hanging in there, but she is very lethargic and I had to tirn the filter off again because she cant swin away from it.
 
You wouldn't have necessarily seen signs, especially since sometimes those levels can go up quite alot in just a day or two. I would check your water everyday for a while and try to get your amonia (if it goes up) and your nitrites to 0. Good luck
 
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