Fish dying...please help. Stumped.

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Z

Zorcher

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Jan 9, 2014
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I have had a very healthy 38 gallon tank set up for about a year, but I am new to the hobby. In the past week I have had two dwarf gouramis, one swordtail, and one platy all die. There is no sign of illness or disease that I can see, and my basic water parameters have remained unchanged. What am I missing, and what should I do??

38 g tank
0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 5ppm nitrates, 8.0 pH (same readings since setting up tank)
aqueon 55 HOB filter
25% water change per week.

fish remaining: 1 angel, 5 minor tetras, 3 Cory cats, 1 silver dollar, 1 ram

ps: I understand that I may have been slightly overstocked, but my ammonia and nitrites have not changed and I do not believe this to be the problem.
 
huapala

huapala

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Jul 25, 2013
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Your tank is was overstocked for its size and provided filtration (Aqueon HOB 55/75?). Silver dollars can reach 6 inches in length and the same with fresh water angels. Are you injecting oxygen? Do you have plants? Are you injecting CO2? What test kit are you using? Sword tail and platy are both Poecilia species that do best in high pH and/or brackish conditions. What were/are the tank's water temps? What is the tank's dimensions? I would work on balancing your stock out and answering the questions I asked. Perhaps someone here can help you better than myself.
p.s. Schooling/shoaling fish (like cory cats, tetras, silver dollars) enjoy groups of 6 or more. If I were you I would remove both the silver dollar and the angel, then you can add more cats and more tetras and keep the ram as your center piece.
 
Z

Zorcher

Registered Member
Jan 9, 2014
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I understand the stocking mistake of the silver dollar. Noob mistake.

I have a good amount of live plants (swords and ferns).

I use an API freshwater master test kit.

temp stays between 79 and 81.

aqueon HOB 55/75

i understand that my pH is high, and that I overstocked. It hasn't been a problem for a year, and my water parameters haven't changed (unless there is something I should be checking other than ammonia, nitrite and nitrate).
 
Glabe

Glabe

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May 10, 2011
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Could have been a nasty minicycle, a pollutant, or any number of things that we could guess :( maybe even voltage in the water

I have no disagreement with huapala at all except that swords and platies are xiphophorus i think
 
Glabe

Glabe

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May 10, 2011
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huapala said:
You are correct Glabe, but I believe they are all in the family Poeciliidae, hence my confusion ;)
Click to expand...
Ahhh, my bad. I'd have kept my mouth shut if I'd known the family name
 
huapala

huapala

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Glabe said:
Ahhh, my bad. I'd have kept my mouth shut if I'd known the family name
Click to expand...
Never shut that beautiful mouth of yours, there is too much good that comes out of it. I was wrong. I said that platy and swords were Poecilia species (meaning they are in the genus Poecilia), when they are actually in the genus Xiphophorus and in the Poeciliidae family.

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Vincenia

Vincenia

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I would remove the Silver Dollar due to their size and will eat live plants, but you can leave the angel in the 38 gallon. The min size tank for a single angelfish is a 29 gallon tank. So the angel is fine in the 38 as a centerpiece fish.


As for me, I have an Angelfish pair in my 37g with a trio of rams and 8 bottom dwellers. No issues.
 
ZorroNet

ZorroNet

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Have you changed anything at all? What about food? Decor? Heavy metal toxicity is a possibility depending on your water or your playlist. Maybe you should back off the Pantera just in case.


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ZorroNet

ZorroNet

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I just thought about my insensitive comment, and I shouldn't be making a joke when you are stressed about losing fish and can't find your problem. For that, I apologize. I'm sorry about that and that you are losing fish!

About the water... It's a long shot, but if you are on city water, you need to look at their water quality report. They usually have a chemical treatment schedule, and if they added a chemical recently that wasn't there before, it could be a problem. I know our city only adds certain chemicals periodically, and their schedule and tests are public record. Look into it. They HAVE to disclose what they do to the water to treat it.


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