Fish are dying and I don't know why (found reason)

[mcrudd]

I bought three mollies two weeks ago and they all three died, they were very skinny almost no flesh on them as if they starved to death, however I knew they were eating. When I went to our petshop (will not name for their sake) from where I bought them, I saw that their tank was in quarantine and they were treating them all. The petshop gave me some furan 2 for free to treat my swords who were showing the same symptoms. I treated them and they were all well and still is. Yesterday I noticed that my shortfinned zebra had a deep cut on his side and I put him in quarantine with some melafix and I just flushed him, found him dead on the bottom of the tank, he looked really gross he was all opened where the wound was. As I fed my others now, I noticed one of my cherry barb's on the floor aswell, he was just about dead, did not even move as I lifted him out, so I flushed him too. Poor guy I have earlier last week also removed another cherrie barb with the same death, she seemed fine just dead on the floor. By floor I mean the gravel in the tank, not my wooden floor in the house. I don't know what to do, I am getting some zebra pleco's in two months time and something is wrong in my tank now and I can't see what. I have done water tests and all is normal. What to do?

[Stella]

wow, seriously unpleasant!

Sorry, no idea what would cause that, but when you get your zebra plecos (and any new fish) make sure you quarantine them for at least 2-3 weeks before they go in their new home.

It is a shame this is not standard practice in the hobby, as learning the very hard way like this totally sucks

(please don't flush fish, dead or alive. You don't know where you are spreading that disease to. I have seen a goldfish that turned up alive at the sewage treatment plant! Dead fish should be buried or put in the rubbish, and the most humane way to kill a fish is by whacking it into something hard. I put fish in a thin produce bag and whack it several times quickly onto concrete to be absolutely sure it is dead)

Sorry, I wish I had something positive to say.... I am not actually wanting to make you feel worse!

[BikBok]

oh that is really awful for you and frustrating not to know what is wrong.

I've had a similar problem with my guppies, one after the other dieing, but mostly males. This was after adding imported guppys.. never again! I have since learned that mixing imported with NZ bred guppies can cause this.

Have been clear for a few weeks now.. until tonight :-( just noticed another of my male guppys with a tell tale whitish spot developing. agggh, Only my guppies are affected , nothing else thank goodness. I had already broken down my quarantine and disinfected it and was in the process of cycling it again when i noticed the new one. Hopefully he'll pull through.

am getting some zebra pleco's in two months time

which sort??

I finally saw my chocolate zebra again today, he comes out of hiding but then dashes for the driftwood when he sees me.

[mcrudd]

Thanks for the reply Stella. I will try to put them in the trash next time, I just feel so guilty when I do that I burry my big ones, like my one bristlenose that died of a broken heart (will never split a breeding couple again) If it comes to whacking them, then I will have to ask my hubby, I will never be able to do that, my little heart is too soft for that. I even had a hard time lifting the dead ones out of the tank :-? I will deffinetly have to just put all the babies in the big tank and hope for the best so that I can have a quarantine tank again. I seem to permanently have a nursery going, my fish love having babies.

[mcrudd]

BikBok, I saw my chocolates too today, they come out for the protien tablets My one was even cheeky enough to have a little shuffle about with my big ten cm bristlenose male :lol: My husband is getting me the real zebra's (black and white from HFF). I am going to get two in about two months to one and a half months time, so I am very weary. I am thinking about going only pleco tank, since they seem to be the only ones not getting sick. We will just see how it goes. Sorry about your guppies, hope your new guy pulls through

[phoenix44]

are you going to put the L46 with the L260?

Hypans can be aggressive with each other. now im not a stickler to the rules, but when you spend that sort of money on something you should leave no room for error.

now when you treat with furan II, don't make the mistake that most stores do; and complete the treatment like you would if you were on an antibiotic dose. do lots of water changes and seriously consider adding a cannister filter to the tank if you are adding L46 in there. They like moderate water flow and clean, good quality water which is easier achieved if you have a cannister filter.

HTH

[BikBok]

My husband is getting me the real zebra's (black and white from HFF). I am going to get two in about two months to one and a half months time, so I am very weary. I am thinking about going only pleco tank, since they seem to be the only ones not getting sick. We will just see how it goes. Sorry about your guppies, hope your new guy pulls through

oh wow ! how exciting! You'll want to make sure everything is going well before you put those in. Let us know when you get them! Hmmm, how far is beachlands from wattle downs ;-)

[mcrudd]

are you going to put the L46 with the L260?

Hypans can be aggressive with each other. now im not a stickler to the rules, but when you spend that sort of money on something you should leave no room for error.

now when you treat with furan II, don't make the mistake that most stores do; and complete the treatment like you would if you were on an antibiotic dose. do lots of water changes and seriously consider adding a cannister filter to the tank if you are adding L46 in there. They like moderate water flow and clean, good quality water which is easier achieved if you have a cannister filter.

HTH

I don't know the L numbers, I google imaged that one and I don't have them. I have chocolate zebra's two and two bristenose plecos. I just spoke to hubby and he said we would go pleco only, which means I will rip out all the fake plants and put a lot of different caves and logs and things in the tank instead. When I treated with furan 2 I did it in a small little 20 litre tank with a fry filter, I washed all of it out completely before filling it with some of the water from my main tank and also a bit of noodles from my main tank to house the newest little fry I have. I never treat the whole tank cause I have glass catfish and they are finicky with medicines and water parameters.

My water quality is good, I have tested it myself and it has been tested by my petshop.

I use the API Freshwater Master Test kit

My results were as follow:

Ammonia 0ppm

Nitrate 0ppm

pH 7.0/7.2 between those two

Nitrite 0ppm

[mcrudd]

oh wow ! how exciting! You'll want to make sure everything is going well before you put those in. Let us know when you get them! Hmmm, how far is beachlands from wattle downs ;-)

Not that far http://www.wises.co.nz/d/11/Wattle+Down ... 942826/11/

[phoenix44]

everything in my post above stays the same except i meant L270 not L260, all those numbers are making me a little confuzzled at the moment. :lol:

[BikBok]

i think phoenix means the L270 Choc zebra and L46 b&w zebra

[mcrudd]

everything in my post above stays the same except i meant L270 not L260, all those numbers are making me a little confuzzled at the moment. :lol:

aha, now I see, you mean the normal white and black zebras with the chocolate ones I now have. i was hoping that I would be able too. I am going to give them tons of hiding spots, so they should be fine, but I will run it by the staff at HFF first before I buy it. Mind you I did buy the chocolate zebra's from them and then my husband looked at the white and black zebra's and tell them we will be getting those soon, they did not reply to it, so we will just have to see. Thanks for the heads up though, will be more prepared. You can see I am a newbie in this hobby Those L numbers confuse me too

[mcrudd]

Damn :-? I wanted to ask hollywoodfishfarm about mixing the chocolate zebra's and the normal zebra's but their thread has been closed. Where would I start a new thread about that, i am not quite sure where it would go

[Jennifer]

If it were me, I would not put those new fish in or near any of the fish who have been in the sick tank. If the disease is viral, it might lie latent for a while before rearing its ugly head again. Actually, it could be any number of other diseases bacterial or parasitic as well. Frankly, two months is potentially not enough time to ensure that the illness is not spreading.

[mcrudd]

If it were me, I would not put those new fish in or near any of the fish who have been in the sick tank. If the disease is viral, it might lie latent for a while before rearing its ugly head again. Actually, it could be any number of other diseases bacterial or parasitic as well. Frankly, two months is potentially not enough time to ensure that the illness is not spreading.

Aaaargh!!! Why now? All my hard work, earning to get these little fish and now everything is going pearshaped What would you all suggest I do now. I thought of going pleco only and getting homes for all the other fish. I am going to get my new gravel soon as well, that is darker and apparently make fish more relaxed than the fruitsalad gravel I currently have. I feel completely lost and will listen to any suggestions you might have

[Discusguru]

Why not ring them tomorrow?

[phoenix44]

even with all plecos, you will probably want some sort of small tetra like cardinals or rainbows or something active and constantly there - you wil find the plecos will hide less then.

now you have a BP vista right?

the tank is like 3ft something long but really high and not so wide.

I personally think its like treading on thin ice. I'd certainly add more L270 in there but with L46 costing what they do, I'd be cautious.

[Jennifer]

If you are really keen - and it sounds like you are considering the valuable fish you have chosen - my recommendation would be to get another new tank set up just for them. Get a bigger tank than you think you will need with lots of floor space and carry out fishless cycling on a very good high flow filter. Be absolutely fastidious by keeping the sick tank and all equipment separate from the new tank. Considering the value of these fish, I would keep them on their own, or carry out a 3 month quarantine and antiparasitic treatments on any new fish you wish to add to that tank. Your zebras will be spectacular fish all on their own and if you are careful you can at least be assured that you are not introducing a disease that could kill them unnecessarily.

[fishplants]

now when you treat with furan II, don't make the mistake that most stores do; and complete the treatment like you would if you were on an antibiotic dose.

HTH

Hi P44,

what do you mean by this? A friend of mine is just about to treat with Furan 2 (fin rot), is there something special he should know about using it (before he does!)?

Thanks.

[BikBok]

Hi P44,

what do you mean by this? A friend of mine is just about to treat with Furan 2 (fin rot), is there something special he should know about using it (before he does!)?

Thanks.

probably just means - do the whole course as per instructions on card, the same as if you were on antibiotics,. Drs always tell us to complete the course, even if symptoms are gone.

[fishplants]

probably just means - do the whole course as per instructions on card, the same as if you were on antibiotics,. Drs always tell us to complete the course, even if symptoms are gone.

Cool, thanks for the reply BikBok.

[mcrudd]

even with all plecos, you will probably want some sort of small tetra like cardinals or rainbows or something active and constantly there - you wil find the plecos will hide less then.

now you have a BP vista right?

the tank is like 3ft something long but really high and not so wide.

I personally think its like treading on thin ice. I'd certainly add more L270 in there but with L46 costing what they do, I'd be cautious.

I have thought about it and agree with you, I currently have cherrie barbs and harlequins as a school fish so will keep them and perhaps up the numbers since I have six harlequins and four cherriebarbs. I have a Blue planet vista, I quickly took some measurements and they are as follow. Length is 90cm, Width is 37cm and Height is 50cm.

If you are really keen - and it sounds like you are considering the valuable fish you have chosen - my recommendation would be to get another new tank set up just for them. Get a bigger tank than you think you will need with lots of floor space and carry out fishless cycling on a very good high flow filter. Be absolutely fastidious by keeping the sick tank and all equipment separate from the new tank. Considering the value of these fish, I would keep them on their own, or carry out a 3 month quarantine and antiparasitic treatments on any new fish you wish to add to that tank. Your zebras will be spectacular fish all on their own and if you are careful you can at least be assured that you are not introducing a disease that could kill them unnecessarily.

I wish I could do that, but unfortuanatly I don't have the space for another tank. After getting the zebra's I don't think I will be adding any other fish for a long time, that is why I want to get everything ready now, I ordered some nice new gravel and is looking at some nice hiding type ornaments, perhaps another piece of bogwood and so on. I will phone hollywoods and hear what they suggest, I will understand if I would have to get rid of some of the other fish to get the little zebra's. I really would love them

[mcrudd]

I found out why all my fish are dying and solved the problem

My male swordtail is extremely .... now how can I say this politely .... well his hormones are working over time. I had three swordtails, one male and two female. I darkened the house and had only the one light in the tank on, hoping to see my little chocolate zebras have something to eat. When I saw quite disturbing behaviour from my male. He started of chasing the two females trying to mate with each and when they swam away not wanting too. He got violent and bumped into them very hard. He also bumped and tried to bite any fish that came close while he attempted to mate. I watched for a while to make sure that its him causing the chaos. And he even had a go at my bristlenose male which is big when he swam down to eat some algae wafer. So now I knew it was him. I went to wake my husband so that he could help me set up the small tank to put him in and then we noticed that the female sword he earlier bumped around was dead, probably stress from being handled that way. So now he is no longer in the tank and all the fish are more happy. Choccies even came out during the day to play. I think he might have bumped the danio with the cut into something in the tank, maybe the side of the bridge, and all the other fish had no marks on them and was in a good condition, so I think they just died like my poor female swordtail from being bumped the whole time. I could be wrong, but eitherway I am taking him and his offspring to animates. I will stick to small peacefull schools instead.

[BikBok]

that's great you found the culprit!