my mystery

suziebow

suziebow

smile fishies
Aug 15, 2005
21
0
0
51
Pennsylvania
Hi everyone. I'm new to this site and wish I found it months ago when I first started my journey but anyhow, I'm having a problem with my panda cories. I had three for about 3 months and this week, 2 died on Monday and the 3rd was belly up this morning. They didn't look bad leading up to this but I did add new fish a week before they started dying. Here's what I got:
20 g tank with a total of 13 living fish after the 3 pandas died
1 chinese algae eater
1 neon tetra (the same one that survived 2 different schools of neons b/c I just could not keep them alive except for him - he's tough)
1 female guppy
1 female platy
1 baby black molly (the parents died a couple weeks ago - unexplained but they did have some color change, looking grayish instead of black)
then the 3 deceased pandas
SInce my black mollies died, I wanted more fish so this is what I got a couple weeks ago:
4 pink zebra danios
2 sailfin mollies (orange)
2 male guppies
These new fish are doing great. I even saw some zebra fry a couple days ago which shocked me b/c I'm not use to egglayers and now I don't see them anymore so I guess they were lunch for the others (any tips on raising eggbearer fry would be helpful too). I'm hoping for some more livebearers babies with the guppies and mollies but I have to solve this problem. Do you think my mollies had something and spread it to my pandas? Maybe the tetra episodes months ago started something. I usually do 50% water change once a month. I have undergravel filter in addition to my regular filter (don't know what it's called - hangs over side of tank). I don't use the under gravel filter b/c I've had fish get lost underneath in the past especially when babies were being born. I don't like it. I don't have a hand-held gravel vacuum which I think I need. All my tests checked out normal and I do them once a week. Haven't had any abnormal tests since Jan when I started my tank up. Feed once a day with flakes and a sinking veggie round every couple days. Hope I didn't leave anything out. Any tips or advice is appreciated. Thanks in advance!
 
Well, I don't know that any one of these things are the problem, but there are several things you could improve on :) ! You are overstocked, 13 fish are alot for a 20g tank, even though it may not look that way. I would at least not get anymore fish, consider returning a few even. You definately need to use a gravel vac. That is crucial. Without doing so, waste and food is allowed to build up in the gravel (which may explain why the corys died, they forage through that all day... Yuck!!). Your tests are still showing ok readings b/c the tank has not been running for very long, and there are obviously problems regardless of the tests if fish are dying. I would recommend getting a gravel vac ASAP, and start using that once a week, while doing a 25-50% water change at the same time. 50% / monthly is really not enough for an overstocked tank. Many people on here do 50% weekly :) For now, I would let the fry continue to be food, unless you can get another tank to raise them in. Also can you afford to get another tank for a QT tank?? Introducing new fish means you may be introducing disease and its always best to QT newcomers for several weeks if at all possible.

The increase in water changes and the gravel vacs. is the most important thing for now, start doing that and see things don't improve in a couple of weeks, in the meantime, focus on maintenance and hold off on getting more fish!
good luck
 
Thanks Holly! I never even thought about the tank being overstocked. I always just want it to look full. I have returned fish in the past when my mollies had a fry. I raised them for a few weeks and then took some back to the store for fear of hving too many. I'll get me a gravel vac and more frequent water changes. I just assumed that since my numbers always checked out, I was good to go. Thanks again. I really love this site!
 
Try adding some more plants to make the tank look more full, that should help some, plus the fish will probably appreciate it!!
 
I think with regular, weekly water changes and gravel cleanings, the number of fish in you tank will probably be fine. Adding live plants offers lots of benefits, including giving the fry a place to hide. The fry will sure make your tank look full :) Also, when you say your water is "fine" what are the actual numbers?

I agree that you should not add any more fish, though. Bottom dwellers need the substrate to be very clean so vacuuming is very important! I also read that chinese algae eaters can be a bit nippy toward other fish as they get older, so be watchful of that.

Good luck :)
 
My numbers are pH 7.2 and NH3, nitrite and nitrate are 0. Temp is 80ish. Am I suppose to have some level of nitrate? I kept reading other posts that do have it. Just wondering. Thanks again for the tips.
 
great info from Holly! no more new fish - more frequent water changes and if you can a quarantine tank - everytime you bring in new fish you are probably bringing other stuff in - there could be a lingering sickness in the tank if your losing that many fish or the tank hasn't fully cycled
 
since you don't use the undergravel filter, you should take it out. a lot of gunk can get stuck underneath there and build up, leading to bad water quality even with water changes and gravel cleaning.
 
Test Kit is Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshawater Master Test Kit and tank started in Jan 2005. Thinking about taking out the undergravel filter but not quite sure what to do with everything else (fish, water, decorations) Sounds like a huge job. Don't have a 2nd tank yet.
 
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