My whole tank was wiped out

T

TeaPea

AC Members
Aug 26, 2002
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Brightwaters, NY
I can't believe it. My 29G crashed and all but 1 of my fish died. Some of those fish were over 3 years old. I ruled out a PH drop or spike. There are a few things I changed in the past 2 weeks:

1. I added some aquarium decor from Petco (A spongebob squarepants theme for my kids). I washed everything before hand though.

2. I did a water change about a week ago, it was a small water change, I used the drops, used a clean bucket, no soap as far as I know

3. My bio wheel hadn't been spinning for about a year. My husband realized there was some sort of blockage and freed it up. The thing started spinning freely again about 10 days before the fish all died. The only thing I can think of is maybe there was contaminants on the wheel from sitting for a year and it then circulated through the tank. I mean it was covered by the plastic filter cover though so I don't see how that would matter. We never washed the bio wheel before letting it spin freely.


The fish all looked like they had a fuzzy growth over them. We saw many of them as they were still alive but on their way out. It wasn't ick, but they were dingy and fuzzy looking. A few of them were kind of swimming bent.

As you can imagine I'm horrified, it's a nightmare. I loved my fish! My kids still don't know yet and we don't know how we're going to tell them. They were devestated when ONE fish died a few weeks ago. I don't dare buy new fish until I know what's going on.

If anyone can offer any clues/insights/advice, it is greatly appreciated!
:help:
 
We need readings on your tank AND tap water: ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, pH
Please use a test tube kit for this, strips are not very accurate.
It would also be a good idea for you to get a GH/KH test kit. Test your tank and your tap water as well.

How often do you do water changes and how much water do you change out?

This sounds a LOT like OTS to me, but I need the information above to be able to help you.

Please -- do NOT start doing massive water changes. Get the test kit and post the results. If it's OTS, I'll get you some great reading material and walk you through it. If it's not OTS, then we'll find out just what it is and hopefully fix it.

Roan
 
Thank you for the reply Roan and Bovs...

I'm not sure if my test kit is still good, don't they have expiration dates? Mine is about 3 years old, i used it to check my PH after the fish all died and it seemed fine. I'm going to test the other things in a moment.

Dumb question: What is OTS? Thanks in advance for walking me through this nightmare!
 
You need a new kit. The shelf life is 1 year from the date of manufacture.

I need the other readings, not just the pH.

OTS is Old Tank Syndrom and this occurs when pollution, which can only be removed by frequent (weekly) water changes of 25% or more, builds up to the point where it poisons the fish. There is a lot more to it than that, but that's a quick summary.

Roan
 
fuzzy fish usually (in my experience) means fungus. fungus seems to be the result of poor water conditions or a fair amount of stress and can be dealt with by using pimafix and/or temperature adjustment and salt treatment.

sorry about your loss. hopefully the water tests will shed some light on what happened.
 
Ok I'll defintiely have to purchase new test kits. I just tested with my existing test kids and the chemistry seems fine, no ammonia, correct levels of Nh2 and Nh3...GH 6 and KH 2. PH between 8- 8.5. (Of course, being that these test kits are old I don't know how accurate those readings are).

I read a little about OTS and some of it seems to fit. I have to admit that I didn't do regular water changes as often as I should have and often went more than a month without doing a change out. Another thing I realized: When I was adding the new tank decor I stirred up tons of debris from the gravel. I haven't stirred up the tank like that in ages.

I feel horrible about this, especially knowing that it was probably my fault. :sad:

Thanks for the feedback, I still haven't done a water change, I have one lone survivor of this tragedy, a zebra danio who doesn't seem affected by this at all. Three other danio's just like him didn' make it (along with a pleco, cherry barb, congo tetra, 3 glowlight tetras, a platy, and a tuxedo fish (tetra?). go figure. :huh: :sad:
 
LunchBox said:
fuzzy fish usually (in my experience) means fungus. fungus seems to be the result of poor water conditions or a fair amount of stress and can be dealt with by using pimafix and/or temperature adjustment and salt treatment.
Click to expand...
Fungus is just an indicator that something is wrong. To cure the fungus, you really need to fix what caused it in the first place, which is usually poor water conditions.

Problems with water parameters are not resolved by changing temps, or adding salt or meds. None of that will help if the conditions that caused the fungus are not corrected.

Roan
 
TeaPea said:
Ok I'll defintiely have to purchase new test kits. I just tested with my existing test kids and the chemistry seems fine, no ammonia, correct levels of Nh2 and Nh3...GH 6 and KH 2. PH between 8- 8.5. (Of course, being that these test kits are old I don't know how accurate those readings are).
Click to expand...
When you get a new kit, we need NUMBERS, please, not "just fine" etc.,.

I NEED pH, NH3/4+, NO2, NO3, KH, GH of your tank AND your tap water.

I read a little about OTS and some of it seems to fit. I have to admit that I didn't do regular water changes as often as I should have and often went more than a month without doing a change out. Another thing I realized: When I was adding the new tank decor I stirred up tons of debris from the gravel. I haven't stirred up the tank like that in ages.
Click to expand...
We don't know if OTS is the problem. I suspect it is, however, unless we have *accurate* numbers I'd hold off on a definite diagnosis.

Please DO NOT, DO NOT, start doing massive water changes!

If you suddenly start changing the water, you may kill the rest of your fish outright!

Please, get the numbers, post the numbers and if it's right, I'll walk you through getting your tank through OTS.

Roan
 
I agree, sounds like OTS. If you have a gravel vacuum good, if not I suggest getting one. Then start doing small 10-20% water changes allowing at least 1-2 hours between changes ove rht enext few days. That will hopefully keep the last guy alive and kicking. Reduce any feedings at this point to every other day as well. After a week the water should be suitable to start adding new fish back in. Also clean out the filter. The biowheel can easily be rinsed each week during a water chnage in the old tank water. This should keep it spinning.

Add new fish slowly. A few a week and you should be safe. And really try to keep up with those water changes. The fish really like freshwater.
 
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