4sticks Posted May 4, 2007 Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 Hi I have been having trouble...my fish are dying during the night (tropical fish). In the last three weeks have had four die with two of those in last two days. Had water tested yesterday and showed nothing. Do water changes weekly (approx 20%) and nothing obvious showing wrong. Running a Jebo cannister filter, approx seven months old. Had fish in Christchurch for approx 18 months and only ever lost one but here death is upon us!! Only difference in setup, in Chch had an under gravel filter and now have cannister filter, and piece of wood off beach which didn't have before. Water quality in general does not seem to be as good here as Chch either. Any ideas or help, anyone have similar problems?? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dixon1990 Posted May 4, 2007 Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 Would probably be the piece of wood off the beach. You should use wood bought from your local petshop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4sticks Posted May 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 The wood has been in there for 5 months & the problem ths just started in the last mounth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted May 4, 2007 Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 Silly question I know but... you don't have any species that is a nocturnal feeder/predator do you? Just checking, as I notice you said that they are dying overnight... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted May 4, 2007 Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 Yes, I think the "dying overnight" is a clue too. Not necessarily a nocturnal predator either. I get all by driftwood from the beach, it would never occur to me to BUY it :lol: I assume the substrate was all thoroughly washed when you set the tank up again after removing the UGF? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4sticks Posted May 4, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 I assume the substrate was all thoroughly washed when you set the tank up again after removing the UGF?--------yes the tank was in storage for about 1 year after moving & fully washed. By the way Caryl the driftwood from Rarangi beach. We have 8 Neon tetras 3 zebras & 1 pearl/lace Gouramis & 3 small algae eaters & 4 angles 2 small black 1 large black & 1 large White. it has been mainly pearl/lace Gouramis & golden Gouramis that have been dieing. Of lately I have notised the large black angle has been bossing the large white angle a lot mostly when the light comes on in the morning. the white one will eather go & hide or sit there with its head/mouth facing straight up & hardly move while it is being terrorised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted May 4, 2007 Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 What sort of fish are dying? Is it only one particular species? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted May 4, 2007 Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 Sorry I should have read it properly. I know angels can cause problems because they nip fins, do the dead fish show signs of bite marks or by the time you find them can you not tell? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr pleco Posted May 4, 2007 Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 two things that might be happening and its only a guess as stated the wood from the beach might be slowly leaching toxins into the water ie heavy metals ..and yes this has happened to me once (think about all the pollutants in the ocean esp at shore line and imajine all that being absorbed like a sponge into the wood or something has gotten inside the wood or maybe the wood itself is toxic once found a beaut piece of driftwood stuck in the sand at low tide excellent holes and shape dug it out for like 1/2 an hour only to find the wood had been tanalised at some stage not to look at it you wouldnt have known except the part most buried gave it away (still had a red H4 mark )musta been there for years ...( secondly you havent stated and its prob nothing but is there a temperature fluctuation overnight ? how many heaters are you running and what wattage just a leaving thought it could be soley related to gouramis thou i dont know of any disease that is can you describe better the condition of the fish that are dying post mortem ? bloated /red areas/spots or anything like that and ...what was their behaviour like the night before ? like i said stabbing in the dark a bit without knowing more info Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted May 4, 2007 Report Share Posted May 4, 2007 Another thought, you"re not spraying anything in your rooms at night are you seeing as its your airbreathing fish that are dying? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4sticks Posted May 5, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2007 Not spraying anything at night. We are running 1 300w heater, temp at the moment is 28oC. the tank size is approx 0.900Lx0.470Wx0.500H.The fish appear normal the night before, I normaly feed them in the morning & the morning before they feed normaly. The last I fish 1 pearl/lace Gourami that died I notised a small slight red colour underneath the body just before the tail fin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kazz Posted May 5, 2007 Report Share Posted May 5, 2007 Do you have any airstones bubbling in your tank? Is it heavily planted? If it is bigger fish dying it could be lack of oxygen as plants use oxygen at night taking it away from the fish. Try putting an airstone in the tank for better water circulation. Might work. Good luck, its a pain when things seem right and you can't pinpoint the problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted May 5, 2007 Report Share Posted May 5, 2007 Do you have any airstones bubbling in your tank? Is it heavily planted? If it is bigger fish dying it could be lack of oxygen Not actually a problem with Gourami etc because they have a labrynth which lets them breath air directly from the surface, pretty neat little guys. Only thing not suggested above would be your tap water, not sure where yours comes from though. If it's rain water you could be having pH swings etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4sticks Posted May 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted May 8, 2007 Ph is ok. I spoke to a fish shop in Rotorua to day & there susgestion was hard water, as Gouramis don't like hard water. The air bubbles from the air curtain are going 1/2 way around the tank before popping which he said was another sign of hard water. many thanks for all your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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