yesterday 3 of my big fish died ive had my cichlid tank for abt a year and havent lost any then the other day noticed all my fish gasping for air at the top of my tank..also noticed that most of my rocks were covered in wat looked like thick black hair..ive sinced changed half the water...and they were happy for a few hours then where at the top again i then removed all my plants and rocks...they have gotten there color back...but im still worried that they may die...any help please..??
3 of my fish died yesterday..help..
- Thread starter camothebeast
- Start date
What are your water parameters? Test your water for pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. I highly recommend getting a product called Freshwater master test kit by API. Do not get the test strips. They are worthless and inaccurate waste of money.
Welcome to AC by the way.
Welcome to AC by the way.
The black hair stuff and the fish death are most likely unrelated (probably an algae) Gasping at the top of the tank in my experience has usually been not enough dissolved oxygen in the tank (add air) or pollutants. Do a big water change 30-50%, add an air supply, get a quality water conditioner (seachem prime is nice) and your problems should be solved. As for the black hair stuff, either clean it off manually or pick up something that eats it.
Welcome to AC - sorry your first post is about fish death. Can you give the following details :-
1) Tank size.
2) How long set up and if recently how did you cycle ?
3) What filter you are using ?
4) What inhabitants are in the tank ?
5) Anything at all added recently (plant/decor/fish/invert etc.)
6) What's your maintenance regime (how often do you change water and how much do you change. How often do you gravel vac).
7) What water conditioner do you use ?
8) Test the following with a good liquid drop test kit (paper strips useless) and post results : ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. Ph too why not.
Fish gasping at the top of the tank is indeed generally a sign that they are not getting enough Oxygen. 'Organic'/chronic cause can be overstocking the tank, insufficient surface oxygenation. Acute cause can be pollutants, nitrite poisoning. Also, sick fish will often head for the surface/shallows as they are weakened and it is easier for them to breathe up there and in the wild the water is warmer.
Are there any other physical symptoms ? How are their gills ? Any 'cottony' patches/red streaks ?
If you give the info sought above we can start narrowing down the causes and address them. I'll hold the thread here in cichlids pending that - may be you are dealing with a disease isssue, may be a tank issue.
1) Tank size.
2) How long set up and if recently how did you cycle ?
3) What filter you are using ?
4) What inhabitants are in the tank ?
5) Anything at all added recently (plant/decor/fish/invert etc.)
6) What's your maintenance regime (how often do you change water and how much do you change. How often do you gravel vac).
7) What water conditioner do you use ?
8) Test the following with a good liquid drop test kit (paper strips useless) and post results : ammonia, nitrite, nitrate. Ph too why not.
Fish gasping at the top of the tank is indeed generally a sign that they are not getting enough Oxygen. 'Organic'/chronic cause can be overstocking the tank, insufficient surface oxygenation. Acute cause can be pollutants, nitrite poisoning. Also, sick fish will often head for the surface/shallows as they are weakened and it is easier for them to breathe up there and in the wild the water is warmer.
Are there any other physical symptoms ? How are their gills ? Any 'cottony' patches/red streaks ?
If you give the info sought above we can start narrowing down the causes and address them. I'll hold the thread here in cichlids pending that - may be you are dealing with a disease isssue, may be a tank issue.
my tank is 3 foot long...not sure how many gallons...from Australia..dunno wat a gallon is..i have 3 convicts.. a electric yellow..electric blue... a peacock...jack dempsey and 3 bristlenose...left...before 3 died i added 2 plants a week earlier...and 2-3 days before they died i feed them a cube of frozen blood worms for the first time...soon as a added ther plants 2 days later the thick black hair like substance appeared on my rocks...every 2 weeks i changed half my water ...everytime i change water i use gravel vac and i clean my filter every 2 weeks but on alternating weeks..ive done the same thing for a year and abit with no dramas... im gettin my water tested tommorrow at the aquarium... all my fish atm are fine since i removed the rocks and plants...and have regained there color still wont to know so dosent ever happen again..
at the top of this site there is a converter that will convert most any measurement from to what most anything you need if that would help.
What specific type of filter and it's rating? All measurements on the tank and we will tell you gallons/liters.
I would be doing 50% WEEKLY water changes....
How do you "clean" that filter exactly? You might be trashing some of your good bacteria.
And I wouldn't rely on the aquarium shop to test my water accurately.
I would be doing 50% WEEKLY water changes....
How do you "clean" that filter exactly? You might be trashing some of your good bacteria.
And I wouldn't rely on the aquarium shop to test my water accurately.
cheers for tip abt converter...i think my main problem may be my filter isnt powerful enough...aquarium shop said it was...lying *******s...not cool..i clean my filter in abt 2 litres of my tank water...i rinse sponge and entire filter in it is this wrong..?
Bad mix of fish - rift lake (your yellow, blue and peacock) and South American/Central American species do not do well together medium to long term.
Feeding Malawis Blood Worms is basically a recipe for disaster. This is one of the reasons you don't keep 'em with CA/SA species - the blood worms are far, far too high in meaty/fatty protein. The non carnivorous malawis have massively long intestines for their size due to a specialised diet of veggies. They can not cope with meat proteins and it can kill slowly or quickly.
This I doubt killed your fish or had anything to do with it although it is possible that the plants brought in something nasty from the pet shop.
You will need to get yourself a water test kit to make sure your practices are keeping your tank healthy - ammonia, nitrite and especially nitrate.
Get yourself a test kit. Best money you will ever spend.
