rockgurl89 Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 Got home from work yesterday and found a poor bumblee goby dead. I fished him out and tested all my parameters (Ph 7.4, ammonia 0, nitrate 0 and nitrite 0) which were all fine, so I wrote him off as being the weakest link. Woke up this morning to another dead one, so fished him out,did a water change and all was fine again. Got home from town this afternoon and my Bristlenose was dead :tears: Poor Rodney didn't know it was coming. Now I am not the best at keeping them alive sometimes, but have never had 3 within 24 hours die on me before. I have 2 angels, 4 Bumblebee gobys, 2 balloon rams and 4 clown loaches left in my 160l planted tank. I have a slight green water problem (lights on for 8 hrs a day) and only add prime to my water (with some PH regular as my tap water is a bit high, around 8, and I was sick of using PH down and always having it rise up again) and some Aquarium complete every now and again. Will a UV sterilizer help with my mysterious deaths at all? I'm thinking of getting one for the green water problem anyway, but will it also help with the slight algae on my plant leaves? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 Without knowing what the problem is I'd be inclined to start doing rather frequent PWCs. Have you introduced anything new into the tank recently?? ( assuming it's not coincidence, then presume either it's a toxin or bacterial/viral disease ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockgurl89 Posted September 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 I set up the tank just over a month ago, cycled it and have slowly stocked it up. added the two balloon rams last weekend and that is the only new addition I have made in two weeks. I have been doing at lest 3 water changes a week until last week as everything was on track. All the fish seemed fine (except my bristlenose who had been hiding a bit more than usual for about a week - which has happened to me before) before they died. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 One possibility then is that you introduced some disease with the new fish, and the frequent water changes you were doing were containing it. I know it's not practical for many but it's recommended to isolate new fish in their own quarantine tank for a month before adding to the main tank ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 playing with the pH can cause issues, all of those fish will do ok in pH of 8.0 also seems strange to me that you have a green water problem and a nitrate reading of 0 also, in the long run your angels, loaches and rams will either eat or bully your bumblebee gobies. you might have had an internal parasite that got released when the first carrier died, or you might have had a mini cycle if you have tried using any algae rid products due to the increase in dead and dying algae best course of action if increase PWC's, make sure your tests are correct and keep an eye out for any potential symptoms Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockgurl89 Posted September 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 have never used any product to remove algae, would a uv sterilizer help if I have parasites etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockgurl89 Posted September 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 silly me though a bigger tank would make this hobby easier :facepalm: maybe I'm just one of those people who should just stick to cats, at least you know when they're sick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 UV sterilizer will kill free floating algae, bacteria and parasites. It won't touch anything that does not pass thru the UV light. I'd imagine a partial colectomy for a cat's megacolon would be somewhat more expensive than treating a few freshwater fish! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockgurl89 Posted September 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 would the amount of water that did pass through the sterilizer be enough to make a difference and start declining the algae and bacteria in the tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 I used a UV sterilizer to clear green algae from my 180L tank. It only took a day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 the UV will clear up your green water in a day or so, but it won't treat the cause of the green water, it will more likely add to it it works better as a preventative than a cure, even for parasites. btw ime cats are fine and healthy till they disappear and die, fish are a lot easier to tell with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 UV sterilizer will kill free floating algae, bacteria and parasites. It won't touch anything that does not pass thru the UV light. I'd imagine a partial colectomy for a cat's megacolon would be somewhat more expensive than treating a few freshwater fish! the shovel is cheaper is cheap enough :digH: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 A total black out of your tank will also get rid of the algae. A Uv sterilizer is the more expensive option and will kill of anything passing through it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 possible cause of algae issue.... what pH regulator are you using, some are phosphate based and can cause issues Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 My UV sterilizer was built into my cannister filter .. I just turned it on for as long as it took to clear the algae, and then turned it off again. The bulbs have a finite life, and shouldn't really be necessary in a planted tank. But it should help if it's a free floating bacteria/virus/parasite. If it's a parasite attached to the fish, it won't help there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockgurl89 Posted September 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 My lights are only on 8 hrs per day and I keep the curtains closed in the morning to keep any additional sunlight away from the tank, so have no idea why the water is green and why I have algae! It doesn't bother me toooooo much (most days) but would be nice to get rid of it and make my tank look perfect to me. You are always your harshest critic. I'm using Seachem neutral regular, but had the algae before I switched off Ph down. I plan on only using the UV Sterilizer initally to correct these two problems and then only when need be if the problem arise again sort of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepsnana Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 I had green water once. 2 blocks of aqua one pH buffer cleared the green water, and I haven't used the blocks again since (or had an algae issue). They look like white chocolate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 Algal problems are most acute in new tanks, where the balance between fish, plants, filtration and fishkeeper has yet to be established. 8 hours a day is a lot of light for a tank that is fairly newly set up. How many plants are in there? Kept up water changes and I wold cut back on how much you are feeding. With regards to your fish deaths I would suspect pH swings to be a contributing factor. It's better not to mess with pH. Most fish can adapt as long as the pH is stable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockgurl89 Posted September 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 I have approx 10 Dwarf sagittaria, 5 Twisted Valisneria, 1 H. corymbosa Stricta, a few bunches of Hydrocotyle verticillata, 5 of amazon swords, 5 crypts and attempted a christmas moss tree which has taken off. I also only feed every 2nd day (one block of frozen blood worms is the amount I feed). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 best to defrost and drain the bloodworms as they are full of really polluted water i.e great algae food Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 best to defrost and drain the bloodworms as they are full of really polluted water i.e great algae food Really? you would think that would make them dangorus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sup42 Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 I set up the tank just over a month ago, cycled it and have slowly stocked it up. added the two balloon rams last weekend and that is the only new addition I have made in two weeks. I have been doing at lest 3 water changes a week until last week as everything was on track. All the fish seemed fine (except my bristlenose who had been hiding a bit more than usual for about a week - which has happened to me before) before they died. I'm no expert but based on my experiences with Fish in Cycling and in my case over stocking, I wonder how much stress your fishes came under during the Cycling and on top of the PH changes whether they have slowly dropped off when you least expect it when the Water parameters are sorted. Sorry to hear you lost fish. I had a bullied Dwarf Gourami give up the ghost last week because the new tank to move the Bully into took too long to sought out. Then there was the Mysterious disappearance of our Betta fish ( not even a carcass to be found or a forensic trail of ammonia ) Good luck with finding the Cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 What sized tank and what filter are you running? How well are your plants growing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 Really? you would think that would make them dangorus probably no "dangerous" as such, (although maybe in an uncycled tank, its just polluted water and bloodworm poo) more just excess nutrients that are suspended in the water column Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted September 15, 2012 Report Share Posted September 15, 2012 Algae can be encouraged by an imbalance in nutrients--usually too much phoshate over nitrate and the phoshate generally comes from the food. Another good reason to thaw and rinse your frozen worms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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