I am having a horrible start to the day - fish die off

[Fishfriend1]

I don't believe this was parasitic etc, because it was so sudden and the signs of Nitrite poisoning was there. And, it tested at 5.0 this morning which of course is excessive. I know that the amount of ammonia/nitrite a fish can handle typically varies from fish to fish. Some of these Cichlids do require very good water conditions. My Rainbow Cichlid survived and I know that they are typically considered to be very hardy.

Here's what I don't get though... I went home at lunch break today to do another water change and I tested the tank before the change and the Ammonia and Nitrite was at 0. How did that happen? I didn't have a chance to change the water before work when it read 5.0, so I moved as many fish as I could to another tank and dosed with Prime. So I don't see how I came home 4 hours later and got 0 readings? There's no way the bacteria could have caught up and eaten that much Nitrite that quickly is there?

When would it be safe to put fish back in that tank? How many days worth of consecutive 0 Ammonia/Nitrite readings would you feel comfortable moving some fish back in there? I'm flabbergasted as to what is going on.

The reason it spiked could well have been the, you know, dead fish. They started to decay and caused the ammonia to begin to spike up massively. The fish that survived probably just hadn't be affected by the spike yet because they died recently. The loss of the spike could be due to the lack of ammonia source + any surviving BB in your filter/tank. I would give it a good week or so of good readings before you put the fish back in.

A good way to speed or even skip the cycle would be to put the filter from the currently empty tank onto your overstocked tank. That filter will be seeded/colonized by the existing filter and will build up the needed BB, allowing the cycle to be shortened by moving it back to your existing tank.

*NOTE: I am not saying you should do that and then dump fish in. Make sure the ammonia and whatnot stays down at 0ppm and 20ppm respectively before you all all your fish, and stagger adding them to prevent crashing the tank.

 

[rufioman]

Don't add fish, whatever you do. Fix the problem and add some of those swords by themselves to test the tank. Once you really have it going, preferably before the swords are in there, you can remove the swords and slowly add your beasties.

I agree with the above post, I guess, is what I am saying. You have a remarkable set of circumstances that would crash many tanks. It has happened to me during at power outage and sucks big time. Good luck!

 

[LMOUTHBASS]

Thanks. The nitrite spiked somehow and that must be what killed the fish. I had changed the water the night before because I saw a spike in nitrite that night. I woke up and they were dead. They hadn't been gone long. Eyes were still clear, bodies weren't stiff. So I'm assuming the spike killed them and then I found the bodies, not the other way around where they died and spiked the nitrite as suggested.

Changed water twice yesterday about 15%-20% each time, once before bed. Checked readings this morning and it was all zeros across the board. Will check again when I get home from work. How long would you wait before adding fish back? I'm thinking a week of 0 ammonia/nitrite readings?

The Swords are still in the tank. I removed my more valuable fish. I just don't have room in my other tank to move the Swords for now too. They seem fine though... none of them died somehow during the initial spike.

 

[Fishfriend1]

Thanks. The nitrite spiked somehow and that must be what killed the fish. I had changed the water the night before because I saw a spike in nitrite that night. I woke up and they were dead. They hadn't been gone long. Eyes were still clear, bodies weren't stiff. So I'm assuming the spike killed them and then I found the bodies, not the other way around where they died and spiked the nitrite as suggested.

Changed water twice yesterday about 15%-20% each time, once before bed. Checked readings this morning and it was all zeros across the board. Will check again when I get home from work. How long would you wait before adding fish back? I'm thinking a week of 0 ammonia/nitrite readings?

The Swords are still in the tank. I removed my more valuable fish. I just don't have room in my other tank to move the Swords for now too. They seem fine though... none of them died somehow during the initial spike.

The swords are far hardier than people would think. Most fish are, but livebearers more so even than most fish. I wouldn't use Prime anymore in that tank... it *is* possible that you have been having high ammonia/nitrate/nitrite and the Prime was keeping it from hurting your fish without fixing the problem and then it wore off and caused the spike. Let the tank balance itself out without needing additives, it's more stable in the long run that way.

 

[LMOUTHBASS]

Thanks. Yeah, I'm going to leave it be for now and just monitor the levels. I'll change water if it spikes again, but otherwise will let the cycle take its course.

 

[LMOUTHBASS]

Also, I've been doing some reading....... I fed live blood worms the night before the nitrite spike and fish death. I've been reading that sometimes fish die after eating blood worms. Is there any truth to this and do you think this perhaps could have contributed to the die off?

 

[dougall]

I've only ever heard of problems with frozen bloodworms, not live.

what was the source of your worms?

 

[Byron Amazonas]

I wouldn't connect live worms with nitrite suddenly rising. Be careful with live worms though on other fronts. And not too many worms of any type, live or frozen, as they are very high in fat and protein. Cichlids too do have issues with these. As a treat once a week is fine.

 

[LMOUTHBASS]

I wouldn't connect live worms with nitrite suddenly rising. Be careful with live worms though on other fronts. And not too many worms of any type, live or frozen, as they are very high in fat and protein. Cichlids too do have issues with these. As a treat once a week is fine.

Yeah, I had heard they carry parasites. I trust the LFS I use and the owner said she uses them with no issue. It was only the second time I had fed them, about a week apart.

I'm just wondering if perhaps they couldn't digest the worms, or they had deadly bacteria on them or something... Only the larger fish dropped dead. The worms were fairly large themselves and I'm not sure how much of them the smaller fish were really able to consume... I don't know... seems far fetched but I don't think I'll feed live worms again as a precaution. I'll stick to frozen as a treat.

 

[wesleydnunder]

Also, I've been doing some reading....... I fed live blood worms the night before the nitrite spike and fish death. I've been reading that sometimes fish die after eating blood worms. Is there any truth to this and do you think this perhaps could have contributed to the die off?

Blood worms are the larvae of the chironomous midge. Very difficult to keep alive once harvested. It's likely that what you fed the fish were blackworms, which resemble small earthworms. I fed these to discus and other species for years with no issues. Like Byron pointed out, not a good daily food.

Mark