Mystery Deaths **long post warning**
Hullo.
I was wondering if anyone could help.....
Back in August my partner and myself set up a 4 foot tank. We cleaned it thoughly, rinsed it out, put in 2 inches of gravel (that was cleaned as well), a couple of rocks and a big chunk of bogwood (soaked for 24 hrs and then rinsed).
We filled it up with water and ran it for 4 weeks without fish or plants. It has an eheim filter (no idea which one but was around £70) and a branded heater (the box looks like its from Miami Vice era).
After 4 weeks we put in 7 White Cloud Mountain Minnows and some plants. They were fed alternate days on flakes and frozen food. Water changes were 25% every Sunday.
After a further 5 weeks we added 6 Red Platies and some more plants. Feeding and water changes as above.
2 weeks later we added 1 Red Tailed Black Shark (he was mine) and 2 Clown Loaches plus some plants. Feeding/water the same as above.
Again after 2 weeks we then added 6 Serpe Tetra. Feeding/Water as above.
Then a week later I bought 2 more Clown Loaches.
Every time we added fish we took a water sample to the fish shop for testing.....all the levels were fine.
Everything went swimmingly :joke: for a further 5 weeks. My partners friend came round one day - both him and his father have kept fish for over 30 years between them - and he commented on how good they all looked. I had gone out early so hadn't seen them that morning. In the evening, around 4pm we gave them a block of frozen bloodworm, they all ignored it which was unusual.
I looked at them and they appeared to be gasping for breath even though the water was saturated and an airstone had been added a few weeks before, the Platies and the Loaches loved playing in the bubbles. I called for my other half as I was really worried. We took the fish out and immediatly did a water change but there was no difference after adding them back in.
So we turned out the lights and then my Shark hit the roof of the tank...!! about 30 mins later after we had both been searching on the internet for possible causes, we found the shark dead..
We immediatly fished him out and put him in a tupperware box. All the others were still gasping. The platies appeared to be nosediving, they were verticle with their mouths pointing into the gravel (eventually all the fish did that) then they went belly up. They survived belly up for about 30 mins before appearing to have one last burst of energy (or having a fit) and flying across the tank before dying.
It took each one 45 minutes to go....I could have set my watch by it. As each one went we took it out. The next morning (I stayed up all night looking after them and crying) we called several fish shops looking for an explaination. No one had any....they went through the ususal stuff...levels, visible diseases, etc. They all looked fine...well they had all lost their colours by that time but you understand.
One guy sugested that it might be high chloring levels and to check with the water board if they had been doing any work the previous week in our area. I phoned them on the Monday and they denied any work had been done.
So....all in all a complete mystery. We never had the fish autopseyed (sp).
Now I panic about my new lot ...we started over by bleaching the tank and cleaning it, threw away the gravel and the plants, we soaked the rocks and bogwood in salted water for 4 days then in clear water for 3 after that.
We now have 12 5-lined barbs in there and 3 female bettas. I am hoping to get another RTBS and Clown Loaches, the other "must haves" are an Upside Down Catfish (for him) and a male Betta for me. He also wants a Silver Shark but it could be a bit too much.
So...can anyone give me any idea what could have caused them all to go so quickly...? and will the new fish be compatable...?
Sorry for the long post.
Regards
Claire
Hullo.
I was wondering if anyone could help.....
Back in August my partner and myself set up a 4 foot tank. We cleaned it thoughly, rinsed it out, put in 2 inches of gravel (that was cleaned as well), a couple of rocks and a big chunk of bogwood (soaked for 24 hrs and then rinsed).
We filled it up with water and ran it for 4 weeks without fish or plants. It has an eheim filter (no idea which one but was around £70) and a branded heater (the box looks like its from Miami Vice era).
After 4 weeks we put in 7 White Cloud Mountain Minnows and some plants. They were fed alternate days on flakes and frozen food. Water changes were 25% every Sunday.
After a further 5 weeks we added 6 Red Platies and some more plants. Feeding and water changes as above.
2 weeks later we added 1 Red Tailed Black Shark (he was mine) and 2 Clown Loaches plus some plants. Feeding/water the same as above.
Again after 2 weeks we then added 6 Serpe Tetra. Feeding/Water as above.
Then a week later I bought 2 more Clown Loaches.
Every time we added fish we took a water sample to the fish shop for testing.....all the levels were fine.
Everything went swimmingly :joke: for a further 5 weeks. My partners friend came round one day - both him and his father have kept fish for over 30 years between them - and he commented on how good they all looked. I had gone out early so hadn't seen them that morning. In the evening, around 4pm we gave them a block of frozen bloodworm, they all ignored it which was unusual.
I looked at them and they appeared to be gasping for breath even though the water was saturated and an airstone had been added a few weeks before, the Platies and the Loaches loved playing in the bubbles. I called for my other half as I was really worried. We took the fish out and immediatly did a water change but there was no difference after adding them back in.
So we turned out the lights and then my Shark hit the roof of the tank...!! about 30 mins later after we had both been searching on the internet for possible causes, we found the shark dead..
We immediatly fished him out and put him in a tupperware box. All the others were still gasping. The platies appeared to be nosediving, they were verticle with their mouths pointing into the gravel (eventually all the fish did that) then they went belly up. They survived belly up for about 30 mins before appearing to have one last burst of energy (or having a fit) and flying across the tank before dying. It took each one 45 minutes to go....I could have set my watch by it. As each one went we took it out. The next morning (I stayed up all night looking after them and crying) we called several fish shops looking for an explaination. No one had any....they went through the ususal stuff...levels, visible diseases, etc. They all looked fine...well they had all lost their colours by that time but you understand.
One guy sugested that it might be high chloring levels and to check with the water board if they had been doing any work the previous week in our area. I phoned them on the Monday and they denied any work had been done.
So....all in all a complete mystery. We never had the fish autopseyed (sp).
Now I panic about my new lot ...we started over by bleaching the tank and cleaning it, threw away the gravel and the plants, we soaked the rocks and bogwood in salted water for 4 days then in clear water for 3 after that.
We now have 12 5-lined barbs in there and 3 female bettas. I am hoping to get another RTBS and Clown Loaches, the other "must haves" are an Upside Down Catfish (for him) and a male Betta for me. He also wants a Silver Shark but it could be a bit too much.
So...can anyone give me any idea what could have caused them all to go so quickly...? and will the new fish be compatable...?
Sorry for the long post.
Regards
Claire
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