If you have no nitrates, and no nitrites, your tank is not cycled. Ammonia readings? How long has the tank been set up?
Help! Weird Thing Killing Fish!
- Thread starter Alec2cool
- Start date
to be honest, it doesn't seem like the plant really has anything to do with it. yea, the gel stuff should have been removed before you put the plant in, but it's safe it wouldn't be causing these kinds of problems. i would definitely take out the decorations that have the stuff on them and clean them off. ive touched some pretty gross stuff in my tanks and im still alive 
A good size water change probably wouldn't hurt either. i'm not sure if it's fungus or some kind of bacterial bloom, but as long as the other fish are doing fine it should be something that just needs to run its course.
A good size water change probably wouldn't hurt either. i'm not sure if it's fungus or some kind of bacterial bloom, but as long as the other fish are doing fine it should be something that just needs to run its course.
Well, the white stuff is just a common fungus, I have that whenever I soak Driftwood. Fish don't eat it, but my pest snails can't stop eating it. The big brigg also likes it when it manages to get into the main tank.
What are you water parameters, the pleco could have caused the tank to cycle or suffer an ammonia spike. The white stuff didn't kill it, just take advantage of the easy food (AKA, dead fish)
What are you water parameters, the pleco could have caused the tank to cycle or suffer an ammonia spike. The white stuff didn't kill it, just take advantage of the easy food (AKA, dead fish)
BBA = black beard algae
I agree with the others...your tank definitely is not cycled if those readings are correct. What test kit?
I agree with the others...your tank definitely is not cycled if those readings are correct. What test kit?
What do you mean my tank is not cycled??? this thing has been running for over a year now, i clean it every month. I stick a test strip in and both the top 2 squares of the strip (nitrates and nitrites) both read zero. I have a 50g filter going and a 10g filter in a 37g tank! More than enough filteration, water is clear as can be. My neons zip around all day, no problem. I seriously doubt the pleco caused an ammonia spike considering its a bulldog and not those bigger, common ones with sailfins. He was really small, only 3 inches? That wont cause ammonia spike. The test kit strips says if the nitrite/nitrate is zero its GOOD so now all the sudden its bad? I doubt my tank isnt cycled considering ive been doing this for 3 years and the test strips have never failed me. This is the first time ive had some kind of catastrophe happen and i dunno what the hell to do. I apologize if it seems like im raging and ranting on but this is really stressing me out. I try hard in this hobby, i never have fish suddenly die overnight when they wer fine in the evening before. Would Black Beard Algae cause any problems with plecos/angels? Would a certain fish eat this white fungus/black algae? i know my pleco didnt eat the algae at all, he always waited for me to feed him.
- that fungus on the wood has nothing to do with your deaths.
- the fungus on your fish is a normal occurrence when dead fish are left in tank long enough.
- just because you didn't see your pleco munching on driftwood doesn't mean he hasn't. look up some good care articles for him and if you notice anything about wood, it's likely they need the fibers in their diet and rasp momentarily on it when you're not looking anyway.
- any dead fish (even a single neon) left in the tank long enough to grow fungus will cause an ammonia spike. if it's applicable to my 50gal. (with 160gals. worth of filtration) it's definitely applicable to your 37gal..
- if you have no nitrates and your tank isn't packed with plants, either your test strips are seriously off or your tank isn't cycled. the last step in the nitrogen cycle is nitrates and they don't go anywhere unless they're eaten by plants.
- how do you clean your tank every month? if you're actually "cleaning" your tank every month, you could be restarting your cycle every month. please elaborate.
- what's your ph? you say "very soft water" which could easily indicate a very low ph and possibly a less than desirable habitat for nitrosomonas and nitrobacter bacteria. you may have to buffer your water for your tank to finish cycling even after all this time.
- the amount of bba you're showing shouldn't be cause for health concerns, although it is an indicator suggestive of what might be wrong.
- 0 nitrates isn't all the sudden bad... it's always been bad... it's a sign that a tank isn't cycled for one... possibly a sign that your test kit is beyond it's useful period... a cause of a couple "pesk algaes" in planted tanks and quite impossible in a cycled tank without plants. the fish excrete ammonia waste which then is turned to nitrites and then to nitrates and that's the end of the cycle. 5 minutes after you've done a 100% w/c in a cycled aquarium you should have nitrates not only from fish waste, but from your tap water as well.
- a 3 inch fuzzy, dead fish in a 37gallon should cause a significant ammonia spike. enough to be deadly to other inhabitants.
- i tend to double check ANY AND ALL pet supplies and especially their instructions with folks who know better. seems they tend to give awfully bad instructions on the labels. i like to assume it's because the real instructions often times would go too far in depth to be printable and/or to be understood by most of the public/common folk hobbyist that's relying on the product in the first place. fish/reptile/amphibian/herp supplies seem to be at the top of the horrible products and instructions list to be honest. i can find whole sections in the isles of my LPS's full of products that either are potentially deadly by default or could be used in a deadly manner very easily by anyone who hasn't done their homework.
- do a couple 50% w/c's immediately and clean your filters in old tank water.
- as soon as you've done that go to your lps and get yourself an api freshwater master test kit and test everything and post your results.
- outline your methods for cleaning your tank monthly here for us to go over just in case.
- be specific about your filter choices... instead of 50 gal and 10 gal filter, a good example would be aquaclear 50 and aquatech 10. if there's something you need to know about your filter, there's likely to be someone who has experience about it to chime in with some insight.
- list anything that's new to the tank what-so-ever. there may be something you've thought "well that can't be the issue" and simply overlooked or forgotten about.
Test strips are notoriously unreliable and inaccurate. My tank is cycled. I have 0 ammonia (good). I have 0 nitrites (good). I have between 10 and 20 nitrates (good). I have some plants in the tank, but not enough to keep the nitrates closer to 0. You mention that your test strips provide nitrite and nitrate readings. What about ammonia? The better test strips will also have an ammonia readings as well. How do you know what your pH is?
For us, your nitrate reading of 0 is a HUGE red flag. Something isn't right, regardless of how long you've been doing it. Tenure doesn't equal expertise in every case.
For us, your nitrate reading of 0 is a HUGE red flag. Something isn't right, regardless of how long you've been doing it. Tenure doesn't equal expertise in every case.
Dun pretty much covered everything.
The BBA and fungus are not the issue here, at least not in regards to the deaths.
What is an issue is that your tank is showing no nitrate. As mentioned either your test kits are off or something is wrong with your bacteria colony ie. it's either not all there or being inhibited by something. I would definitely get a more accurate test kit (liquid) and get readings for nitrite, nitrate AND ammonia.
The BBA and fungus are not the issue here, at least not in regards to the deaths.
What is an issue is that your tank is showing no nitrate. As mentioned either your test kits are off or something is wrong with your bacteria colony ie. it's either not all there or being inhibited by something. I would definitely get a more accurate test kit (liquid) and get readings for nitrite, nitrate AND ammonia.
Most fish could really care less what the pH is between 6.0 and 9.0
I myself have tap always around 8.2-8.4
