Cloud Mountain Minnows dying

captmicha

captmicha

Le tired.
Dec 6, 2006
2,052
0
36
39
Maryland, USA
Here's the situation:

I've had a ten gallon set up for a long time. Filtrated with a Whisper in tank filter with plenty of bio media. An air pump going and temps as cool as I can get it, which are around 75 degrees. A clump of java moss and some random other plants. A shallow layer of sand. A few months ago, I put my single cloud mountain minnow in it and a salamander. Both were healthy but not happy.

Petsmart had cloud mountain minnows for a $1.00 so I figure, what the heck? I'll put them in quarantine and after that, they can be my original cloud mountain minnow's new tank mates.

One by one the Petsmart minnows started dying. Then when there's only two left, the dying stopped.

I took the two minnows out of the Q tank (because it's now holding puffers that I need to return to the store) and put them in my 10 gallon.

Tonight I see one of the Petsmart minnows bobbing upside down in the tank dead. It looks like a normal fish, color darkened, mouth agape but a dark pink spot on the tail. That's the only weird thing I can see.

My water is perfect. The bioload is tiny for this tank.

I know some diseases you can't do anything about, like Neon Tetra Disease, but since I don't know what's causing the deaths, are there any preventative measures I can take? Can I use medications to try to stop any more deaths? I don't want my original minnow that I've had for 3 years to die!

The salamander is in his own tank so I'm free to use anything that you guys think might work.

I have Nitrofuracin Green. I have Maracyn Plus. I have some others that I can't remember right now... I'd also buy something new if it meant saving it's life.

I need advice now please!
 
Right off the bat if your White Cloud is 3 yrs old you should start getting used to the idea of not having it. Under the best of conditions it's well over the hill, which is a testament to the care you've given it. As to the dead fish, were they carrying good weight when they died or were they emaciated?
 
It spent the majority of it's life in a warm tank, about 78 degrees. So it's interesting that it's so healthy and at this ripe old age.

The fish were small but with good body weight. They were eating fine, looking fine and acting fine before they died.
 
I need advice, now my three year old minnow is dying. I don't want to lose it to this stupid illness. His head is puffy and his gills and mouth are red and his mouth is gaping open. He's on his back a lot.
 
captmicha said:
I need advice, now my three year old minnow is dying. I don't want to lose it to this stupid illness. His head is puffy and his gills and mouth are red and his mouth is gaping open. He's on his back a lot.
Click to expand...

You may not want to lose it, but I'm afraid you're going to. Once they get to this stage they are unlikely to be treatable.
 
As to why the other fish died I could only guess given the lack of symptoms, but I think your old-timer has had his run. He deserves a quick end to it.
 
Too late. He died. I'm going to bring his body to Petsmart and complain about them selling sick stock. I don't care about getting my money back (the gold 3 year old has emotional value, not monetary value), I just want to make a statement about them selling sick animals. It's crazy that every cloud mountain minnow (except for the very last one that's probably going to die as well) and every dwarf frog I buy from them dies. They've even diagnosed frogs coming from Petsmart as having Chytrid.

I know it probably won't make a difference but I still feel like I should do it.
 
So you've bought white clouds from them before, and they've died? That would make me reluctant to buy them from there again even if they were on sale. My LFS sells white clouds for 99 cents regular price, so $1 white clouds doesn't seem like anything special. I would buy from another source if you are having problems with their stock...common enough fish, really.

You can try complaining to the store (they will probably assume you want your money back, and will ask you if you brought a water sample...etc...) but if it's truly a problem with the stock, and not illness at the store level, it's not something anyone at the store level can really help. It would be a corporate issue.

Rather than stomp over there and let loose my outrage, I would politely express concern for the health of their fish and describe the previous scenarios. Hopefully there will be a manager on duty who actually cares...but the odds are against you, I'm afraid.
 
I haven't bought cloud mountains from them before. Just this once when I bought a group of 5.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom