So in my feeder tank where a predacious diving/water beetle resides, I am having a weird fish problem. I'm trying to determine the source, as I'd rather not find out it's a disease all my guppies are about to drop dead from.
It's a 20 gallon tank, about 30 guppies, most of which are small fry. I have picked 6 bodies out of the tank over the last 2 weeks since I got the water beetle (who supposedly eats fish but no matter how long I watch him I haven't caught him at it). However, as the guppies are prone to picking at their dead, I couldn't decide if the water beetle killed them or if they died from other causes. I'm assuming since the water beetle seems healthy after 2 weeks that it is in fact eating, though.
I don't think these previous fish died from the same ailment as the one I just observed. I spent over an hour watching the tank this morning and all the fish and the beetle were active and healthy. Now around 6pm I noticed one of the male guppies was having what looked like seizures and his body and fins were literally turning black. He normally has orange-red fins, but they were black from the tips to the point where it joins the body. There is also a thin black line that runs the length of the body and bisects the body in the middle. It isn't purple and bruised, but black almost like someone tattooed it with pigment. The black on the tail looks like skin pigment as well. The fish is swimming poorly and spasming.
Water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) are all 0.
The only two guesses I have are if the beetle did not actually kill the fish when it injected it with venom and sucked its "juices" out (eww) or the fact that earlier this week I added crushed coral to the tank to get the pH up from 6.6. I did this slowly, a half cup every 8 hours. It was rinsed but still clouded the water a bit.
There has been no signs of ich in this tank (my 90 is nearly over a bout of it). The fish in this tank are relatively new (2 weeks). All the other fish in the tank appear to be healthy and are swimming around.
Any ideas appreciated!
Also, for more information on my diving beetle, go here.
It's a 20 gallon tank, about 30 guppies, most of which are small fry. I have picked 6 bodies out of the tank over the last 2 weeks since I got the water beetle (who supposedly eats fish but no matter how long I watch him I haven't caught him at it). However, as the guppies are prone to picking at their dead, I couldn't decide if the water beetle killed them or if they died from other causes. I'm assuming since the water beetle seems healthy after 2 weeks that it is in fact eating, though.
I don't think these previous fish died from the same ailment as the one I just observed. I spent over an hour watching the tank this morning and all the fish and the beetle were active and healthy. Now around 6pm I noticed one of the male guppies was having what looked like seizures and his body and fins were literally turning black. He normally has orange-red fins, but they were black from the tips to the point where it joins the body. There is also a thin black line that runs the length of the body and bisects the body in the middle. It isn't purple and bruised, but black almost like someone tattooed it with pigment. The black on the tail looks like skin pigment as well. The fish is swimming poorly and spasming.
Water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) are all 0.
The only two guesses I have are if the beetle did not actually kill the fish when it injected it with venom and sucked its "juices" out (eww) or the fact that earlier this week I added crushed coral to the tank to get the pH up from 6.6. I did this slowly, a half cup every 8 hours. It was rinsed but still clouded the water a bit.
There has been no signs of ich in this tank (my 90 is nearly over a bout of it). The fish in this tank are relatively new (2 weeks). All the other fish in the tank appear to be healthy and are swimming around.
Any ideas appreciated!
Also, for more information on my diving beetle, go here.
