Mega Tank Problems

Over the past couple of weeks I have lost a lot of fish for some reason -

1 Bristlenose Plec
3 Harlies
3 Emerald Eye rasboras,
5 cherry barbs
8 guppies.

I half expected the guppies to go, they are renowned at the moment as being a weak species, but the others are unexplained.

They have all seemed fine, none had any sign of illness, no lumps, spots, cuts, not off their food and all swimming fine. I check in the morning and they loook ok, but when I switch the lights on the next day, they have gone - some disappeared completely, others found floating.

The latest casualty, a cherry barb, looked a bit ooff last night and I noticed that on the top of her head she had a grey area- flat, ordinary scales but just no colour in them, as if they had been bleached. This morning there is no sign of her so I am assuming she has died overnight.

Water checks are fine but I am going to do a large water change and clean out today -

ph - 7 - gone down since last test, usually about 7.5'ish
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 10

I havent checked kh/gh. Anyone know how to use the Tetratec kh and gh tests - Ive lost the instructions!

Temp 27, cant get it any lower than that as the tank is in the lliving room, but is is stable at that temp and always has been

Filters working well - Fluval 4U, Fluvall 3U

I am guessing the drop in ph may be a factor - anything else come to mind?

cant think of anything else diana sounds very unusual to loss so mary in such a short time
matbe rich can throw some light on it when he comes on line.

sorry for all your lost fish


dekker

dumb question, but whats the oxygenation like? at higher temps, water hold less o2

PH can alter over time as your tank matures - you dont to do a huge water change if its going to result in a big chage in pH as a result - I dont recommend messing with pH unnecessarily ie with chemicals - as long as its stable and doesnt flutcuate suddenly (which if this happens cos of your tap water, you wpnt normally be aware of it)

You could try buffering with more bogwood or gradully adding cacium rich rocks (the sort usually used for marines)

other than that - there may be an outside factor - poisoning, stress or something?

or simply age of fish or bad luck

anyway - thats all I can think of for now but will get back if i think of more

Hope you manage to sort it out soon tho

Thanks Rich. I think the o2 should be fine - Ive got 2 filters causing surface agitation, and bubbles going 24hrs a day too so I think it should be ok, but will do a test later to check.

I have put some Interpet anti bacterial stuff in just in case the guppies have introduced anything, but other than that I cant think of anything. As I say the only thing of note is that one of the cherry barbs had a grey patch of scales on its head but whether thats important or even relevant I dont know.

How old are all the fish, Diana? I'm wondering if it's just a natural thing...pity about the BN though.

the patch vaguely sound like a fungal thing to me but if this was the cause - youfd have seen it on other fish.

Adding meds may or may not be a bright idea - tricky decision given you dont know the cause.

As Mary said - I think its just death was over zealous with the scythe and took a few out - and its a really bummer when that happens (i can sympathise from when the decor wiped out my tank)

anyway - if you want some new BN's I'll happpily keep one or two for you

Thanks Rich for the offer. I dont think I will add anything to the tank for a few weeks just in case anything further happens.

The only reason I mentioned that is because I had a similar death fest a few months back and I just think it was their time...

I appreciate it Mary, and I do wonder if that is the case, although not all the fish were 'old'

Havent had any deaths for a few days now so hopefully things have settled down and in a few weeks I will have the joy of restocking