Most of you have seen me posting in this forum, and more often the cichlid forum. I have been keeping multiple tanks for some time now and have not lost an acclimated fish due to disease in so long that I became lax on quarantine procedure. I maintain excellent water quality in all my tanks through 30-50% weekly water changes, and all my fish are fed a varied diet of quality dry food, and a variety frozen foods. I began to believe in the phrase "Healthy Fish Don't Get Sick". I still believe that this is true in most instances, but here is what I have just been through:
Came home with four hatchet fish to round out the school in my main display tank. The tank already had four hatchets as well as a store bought A. cacatuoides male and four F1 females that I had raised myself (the result of my first success breeding apistos). There had been some die off in the tank of hatchets at the LFS, but I attributed this to the fact that hatchet fish just don't "ship well". I added them to the tank and went away for the weekend.
I came home to find all but one of the new hatchets dead (again, I attributed it to shipping stress). Long story short, Over the last three days I have watched every single fish in this tank die with little or no warning. Fish start to act listless, and within 12 hours are dead. I have never seen anything like it. Water changes have done nothing to slow the crash. Water tests show 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 5-10ppm nitrate (my tap water contains 5ppm). Temp was steady at 79 degrees.
Needless to say the female cacatuoides are priceless (to me at least), and I have no one but myself to blame for their loss. In short. Please.
QUARANTINE!!!!!!!
Came home with four hatchet fish to round out the school in my main display tank. The tank already had four hatchets as well as a store bought A. cacatuoides male and four F1 females that I had raised myself (the result of my first success breeding apistos). There had been some die off in the tank of hatchets at the LFS, but I attributed this to the fact that hatchet fish just don't "ship well". I added them to the tank and went away for the weekend.
I came home to find all but one of the new hatchets dead (again, I attributed it to shipping stress). Long story short, Over the last three days I have watched every single fish in this tank die with little or no warning. Fish start to act listless, and within 12 hours are dead. I have never seen anything like it. Water changes have done nothing to slow the crash. Water tests show 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 5-10ppm nitrate (my tap water contains 5ppm). Temp was steady at 79 degrees.
Needless to say the female cacatuoides are priceless (to me at least), and I have no one but myself to blame for their loss. In short. Please.
QUARANTINE!!!!!!!
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...I am now purchasing a Q tank this time!! I learned my mistake! I'm sorry for your loss!!!