Sudden fish death

[maui]

Hello all,

:help:

Over the two months, I've had at least 15 fish die on me. Most of them have been neon tetras but I've had 3 skirt tetras, a glass fish plus a male mollie die. None of the fish appear to have any external problems. They seem fine one day and them I just find them dead in the morning. Seem like one every few days. Most of them last about 1-3 weeks and then die. I've gotten the fish at different stores to make sure it wasn't the store being the problem.

It addition to my checking of the water, I've had the water checked 3 times in the last week alone at the fish stores just to make sure and they can't find anything to explain the reason for the fish dying. They test for ph, ammonia, nitrates, hardness, salt and everything is "normal".

I'm at a loss as to what might be the problem and was wondering if any of you might have any suggestions/ideas. I'm ready to go back to painting pictures of fish instead of trying to keep them in a tank!!!!

Thanks for your help.

My set up is:

75 US gal tank that has been set up for 13 months. Fluval 304 canister filter as well as an under gravel filter with power heads. The ph of the tank is 7.0 and the temp is 76. I change 25% of the water every week and clean the Fluval once a month making sure to only change 1/3 of the media.

Currently, I have 3 mollies, 3 swordtails, 2 angel fish, 4 skirt tetras, 9 neon tetras, 1 glass fish, and 1 cat fish. I've been replacing some of the ones that die.

Regards,
Joe

 

[Reddog80p]

I would get a test kit, and test the water parameters myself. Many LFS say things are "good or ok". Also do you run a reverse ugf or standard ugf? AP Master test kit is only $13.49 if you go to petsmart.com and print the page out and take it to your local store. If you don't keep up with maintenence (gravel vacumming,etc.) your ugf could hold tons of nitrates. Not sure what your LFS would call "ok" nitrate wise. You should keep your Nitrates under .40 ppm always.

 

[Mgamer20o0]

never know when they just lie cuz they know you will come back and buy a new fish after every death. i would do what Reddog80p said. get a good ap master test kit from petsmart or where ever.

 

[jessicar613]

Has your aeration dropped for some reason in the last couple of months?

 

[jedoubblese]

well think of it this way i worked at a lfs a really crappy one and reformed there whole aquatic center but the fish you are getting are either caught and throw in containers and then to a holding area then in bags and shipped via plane and then trucks to the LFS where they sit in bags for a bit while they are opened and dumped in tanks usually not aclimated at all other than temp and then you buy them they are stressed caught and transported by you then added to there final home where if things are not just right with the strss they endure they last a short while and die.

 

[Flaringshutter]

hey maui,
I'm wondering if you have high chlorine levels in your water. If you live in a wet climate the chlorine levels can be highly variable, as many cities around the country add extra chlorine to the water after heavy rains. When changing water I always add Prime, and if the rain has been heavy I use a double dose. I like Prime specifically because it's almost impossible to overdose and harm the fish.
I definitely recommend getting a test kit of your own and checking the water. There are a million different kinds but buying the multi-kits is your best bet. Usually you can get nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, ph, and hardness all in the same kit, sometimes more.
As far as buying fish from your LFS, if the place has fish that seem healthy in their tanks, and no other customers have had problems with their fish (do a bit of casual polling perhaps) then it's probably not the store. Most stores (excepting Petco, Petsmart, Walmart... they can be sketchy) buy healthy fish and ship them humanely and ethically.

 

[maui]

Thank you everyone for the advice.

I have a basic ph and ammonia test kit but will pick up one that tests for more stuff.

I never thought about the chlorine being a problem with the rain. I do use a water conditioner but I'll get some prime and give it a shot.

I do use a ph decreaser to lower the ph to 7.0 since the tap water ph is 7.6-7.8. Should I stop using this and let the fish adjust to the tap water over the next couple of water changes?

Also one of the store suggested get rid of the under gravel filter. 20 years ago I only had that as my filter and the fish did very well, so that's the main reason I set it up again when I restarted my tank. But if it might be a problem then I'm willing to get rid of it. Should I pull it out? If so, do I need to put some air stone in since currently the only aeration I have is the power heads on the ugf?

Thanks again.

Regards,
Joe

 

[drgold]

I know of very few (read: none) folks who used ph decreasers and kept their fish healthy. A ph of 7.6-7.8 is fine, and it's what your fish are likely used to in the store. I would stop messing with ph immediately.

 

[Kyohti]

I used UGFs myself for a long time when I was younger. I'd check to even see if high nitrates are your problem before you go yanking it out. Maybe you should supplement it with a good HOB as well, just to keep the water extra clean? That's what I'm thinking of doing when I set up my 36-gallon cichlid/bichir tank. The nitrates will probably be higher with those carnivorous fishes, so I figure I'll need all the help I can get in keeping my water balanced. ^_^;;

So do some testing first, adjust your pH, and keep a very close eye on your fish. Any that are being excessively shy and reclusive, have clamped fins, are experiencing erradic movement, or are gasping or have excessively red gills are showing signs of stress or illness. Sometimes the very best method for figuring out what's wrong is paying careful attention to your tank's inhabitants.

 

[drgold]

I used UGFs myself for a long time when I was younger. I'd check to even see if high nitrates are your problem before you go yanking it out. Maybe you should supplement it with a good HOB as well, just to keep the water extra clean? That's what I'm thinking of doing when I set up my 36-gallon cichlid/bichir tank. The nitrates will probably be higher with those carnivorous fishes, so I figure I'll need all the help I can get in keeping my water balanced. ^_^;;

So do some testing first, adjust your pH, and keep a very close eye on your fish. Any that are being excessively shy and reclusive, have clamped fins, are experiencing erradic movement, or are gasping or have excessively red gills are showing signs of stress or illness. Sometimes the very best method for figuring out what's wrong is paying careful attention to your tank's inhabitants.

Why adjust the ph?