R.I.P. my little fishies :(

Well this certainly is not a good week for pets at AF :(

For the past 2 weeks we have been treating our fishtank for ich ("ick") and things seemed to be getting better excecpt for one cardinal tetra that just kept getting more spots on him.

So last night I get in from work and come home to find nearly all of my fish dead and the ones who were still left at the surface gasping for air. I called Alex and he said to start 50% water change immediately. We had been doing 25% changes every night as part of the treatment for the ich.

I started to pull out the dead fish, among the dead were my favorites, all of my darters, which were like my little "aqua dogs" because they would come up and watch people and follow you if you moved from one side of the tank to another. I almost filled a gallon-sized ziplock bag with dead fish :crying: Before changing the water I did a test for nitrates, nitrites and ammonia, and all the levels were low. The PH was around 7 which is where we normally keep it.

So it's hard to say what the heck happened. Everything with the filter was ok, all chemical levels normal. And we checked to make sure the CO2 system didn't get messed up, it was fine. Since we had a huge 25 lbs log with lots of tunnels in there we had to pull it out so that we wouldn't miss any dead fish. We also had to pull all the plants (trust me you don't wanna miss a dead fish).

Now our tank is reduced down to a big sword plant, and 5 smaller plants. We put the log outside so the sun would bake it dry and kill any other potential harmful elements. As for surviving fish, out of nearly 80 creatures I had in there, we are now down to about 15 :cry: All the work we did in plants and building up the collection of fish, down the drain.

However now we have an opportunity to change the scenery a bit and maybe try other kinds of fish.

This is what it looked like a few days ago:

http://members.aol.com/katwoman097/tnk_plants005.jpg

Most fish in the pic are gone. Picture just the big plant toward the right and a few other smaller plants near ground level, and a few fish and that's all we got now :( I'll post a new barren tank pic when I get things up n running at home again.

:crying:

Sorry to hear about that Kat, must be awful to have come home to something like that.

Good luck with rebuilding the tank, I hope you can get it all sorted out soon.

Thanks :) For now we are going to leave the tank barren, at least for a week maybe 2. This way if any of the surviving fish die we can easily remove them. It was pretty discouraging since all the fish that died we had for 1 to 2 years and most of the plants we got last year and took care of them etc. That's alot of money gone, but not discouraging enough to shut down the tank. This is the 3rd "crisis" we've had and we usually think about things for a bit, do a little research and rebuild it. Alex is good with plants so I am sure he'll make something up that eclipses this. I just hate to think of what the fish had to go thru before they died. I know they aren't loving like dogs, but they were still living creatures and probably suffered before the end.

:(

No - it hasn't been a good week for the pet crowd :frown:

I hope your next tank of fish don't run into the same issues. Maybe when DVS is back he can help shed some light. He's into aquariums too.


The highspot is still you guys setting your date so that probably takes a bit of an edge off :smile:

Originally posted by YogsVR4
No - it hasn't been a good week for the pet crowd :frown:

I hope your next tank of fish don't run into the same issues. Maybe when DVS is back he can help shed some light. He's into aquariums too.


The highspot is still you guys setting your date so that probably takes a bit of an edge off :smile:

Definitely. We seem to go thru a "crisis" every now and then, so I am glad if it had to happen, it happened now and not while we were away on the honeymoon. Hmm maybe with the wedding not being far off maybe I should just suggest to him to leave it alone til aterward.

yes it has been a hard day or 2 on AF for pets..

sorry to hear about your fish.

i tryed fish one.. never got them to live either.

it looks like you know what your doin though.

Originally posted by KatWoman

Hmm maybe with the wedding not being far off maybe I should just suggest to him to leave it alone til aterward.

That sounds like a great idea :cool:

It will be one of your 'starting out new' projects then.

Wow... what's the deal with everyones pets dying and getting sick... crazy lately.

Sorry about your fish Kat.

I am sorry also Kat :(

I love fish :(

Sorry to hear the bad news....not a good week for AF Pets

I'm sorry Kat; I hope the next set of fish bring you both enjoyment for a long time:smile:

Hey Katwoman. Sorry to hear for your loss. I've been losing fish also.

Today, my biggest albino catfish just died, he was 1ft and a half. So far I've lost 5 fish in a week. I believe that this heat wave has caused me the most. I've gotten pretty much discouraged and before they get sick or die, I'm selling my 2 oscars, 1 Tilapia, and 1 leporinus. I'm going to keep my gouramis, but the rest are going to be sold. I hate losing them especially since my fish have gotten so big. My biggest was almost 2ft.

:( That's no good Kat. Still, why have fish? Get something that can cuddle up to you at night;) (NOT YOU ALEX! :p)

Have u tried salt, I know u can get all the little fish shop chemicals etc, but good old salt works wonders. We used to have Cichlids

I used to keep around 3 aquariums (planted community like yours, African Cichlids, and a Severum tank). I got out of the hobby because of the work and money involved, but I did enjoy watching the fish when I was stressed. I had my run arounds with ich and stuff like that. The best way to avoid it would be to quarintine your fish before putting them into the main tank. That should also go for plants. Right now, I'd suggest setting up a smaller tank to Quarintine the fish you have right now and let the ich die out of the larger tank. With no subjects to feed on, they should die off. Then, if your still living fish are showing no signs of problems, you can return them to a redecorated tank. All that can wait until after the honeymoon. And if you don't already know about it, www.aquariacentral.com has some really informative message boards and such. That's where most of my knowledge comes from. Looks like your tank was set up by an expert, but even the experts need help from time to time. :wink: Good luck!!

Edit: hmmm...seems like their site is down right now. Have to try again later. I'm sure that's the url though.:dunno:

Originally posted by DVSNCYNIKL
Hey Katwoman. Sorry to hear for your loss. I've been losing fish also.

Today, my biggest albino catfish just died, he was 1ft and a half. So far I've lost 5 fish in a week. I believe that this heat wave has caused me the most. I've gotten pretty much discouraged and before they get sick or die, I'm selling my 2 oscars, 1 Tilapia, and 1 leporinus. I'm going to keep my gouramis, but the rest are going to be sold. I hate losing them especially since my fish have gotten so big. My biggest was almost 2ft.


Kat sorry to hear about your loss,


DVS just curious on how big your 2 oscars are? i got 2 of them also, i love fish and i used to work in a fish store about a year ago.

Dad keeps an Oscar and Angelfish (1 breeding pair in their own tank). The oscar is around 13" long and about to be moved into a 75 Gallon tank. Aquariums are pretty cool IMO. I worked at Petsmart for a short period of time, but it didn't last

As promised here is the new "Barren Tank Shot" :D

http://members.aol.com/katwoman097/tnk_barren001.jpg

Still no idea what went wrong, but the surviving fish are doing ok. The suviving German Blue Ram is still stressed but it usually takes him a few days to calm down after any kind of change.

As for cuddly pets, I have the 2 dogs and one loving bird....yes a bird. I got my gramma's Cockatiel after she passed away. She had the bird from a baby and treated it like a little baby so it will cuddle and loves to have his head scratched. My 18 year old Cockatiel is not as friendly but she will sit on a my finger and whistle to her hearts content.

We've been thru a few catastrophies with the tank. Yes its discouraging and this time around we lost a big "investment" if you wanna call it that. We're looking at it as an opportunity to start over again. It's a hobby Alex enjoys alot, and he loves maintaining the plants and "decorating" the tank.

As for quarantineing, the shops we deal with always quarantine new stock for a week before actually putting the fish up for sale. Ich is a parasite and can also be transferred when buying new plants too. Long story short, they can detach themselves from the fish and sit in gravel or plants...so we suspect that perhaps it came in on a recent plant. Most of the fish that were infected with ich and all the other ones that died had been long-time residents (1.5 to 3 years) We dont think ich was the cause of death because the ich was limited to only a small number of fish. We suspect that there may have been a possible chemical spike. The electricity for the house never went out and the filter was running fine so electrocution was ruled out as well.

Kat, is that an Amazon Sword?? The thing is huge. I'll take a pic of our tanks here later...we don't have anything like what you did, but I still don't think yours looks that bad. If the piece of driftwood was picked up from nature itself instead of the pet shop, it could've leached out chemicals. I'd say the ich got in on the plant also.

Another idea of why all the non-infected fish might have died is the ich medication. I know that Cories can be sensitive to some medications and salts. Another idea could be a large temperature swing...but the only reason I could think of that is the house getting warmer than that the heater keeps the tank at, therefore heating the tank past where it normally stays. Just ideas.

I've been thinking on setting up my 29 gallon tank with a couple of Rams. How do they do with the rest of the fish?? Is it hard to keep the water within their prefered parameters, or are they fairly hardy?

Originally posted by Diesel2NR
Kat, is that an Amazon Sword?? The thing is huge. I'll take a pic of our tanks here later...we don't have anything like what you did, but I still don't think yours looks that bad. If the piece of driftwood was picked up from nature itself instead of the pet shop, it could've leached out chemicals. I'd say the ich got in on the plant also.

Another idea of why all the non-infected fish might have died is the ich medication. I know that Cories can be sensitive to some medications and salts. Another idea could be a large temperature swing...but the only reason I could think of that is the house getting warmer than that the heater keeps the tank at, therefore heating the tank past where it normally stays. Just ideas.

I've been thinking on setting up my 29 gallon tank with a couple of Rams. How do they do with the rest of the fish?? Is it hard to keep the water within their prefered parameters, or are they fairly hardy?

I am not sure exactly what kind of sword it is, but I do know they are pretty rare and its the only time Alex has seen them available. It was $15 when we got it, small, 5 tiny leaves. If we sold it back to a shop or to another enthusiast it easily be worth $100. As for our wood we get all that thru a privately owned shop. We have never taken anything from outside to put in a tank because you never know where stuff's been or what's come in contact with it. Believe it or nor, all our Cories made it thru. One of them is an OG member from when we first got into fish 3 years ago....he's been thru everything we have with the tank and still keeps on going. Still no ideas yet. The temp was fine too when I checked it while pulling bodies.

As for Rams, they are a type of cichlid, but can reside in a regular community tank. They still exhibit some typical behavior such as being territorial or chasing other fish away when they get too close. We have a crown ruby (looks like a large ram) and one german blue ram left. They do ok together and have their own space on different sides of the tank. They are still a bit stressed because the tank went from jungle to open wasteland within hours. The crown ruby is ok but the blue ram still looks a bit lost. Rams, in my experience, seem to take a bit longer to adjust to changes.

Originally posted by esp



Kat sorry to hear about your loss,


DVS just curious on how big your 2 oscars are? i got 2 of them also, i love fish and i used to work in a fish store about a year ago.


One is about a foot and the other is a little under that. But now for an update. I've now lost all 3 channel cats, 1 black convict, 1 Bala shark. All that's left are the two Oscars, 1 Tilapia, 1 Leporinus and about 5 gouramis of different varieties. The two Oscars have now come under the same condition that the others died from. I've done pretty much every thing I possibly can to save them, but it's futile. They haven't been eating for a week now, I think I'm going to sell them to my pet store and hopefully he can save them and give them another home as I've grown out of love with them due to my losses.

Originally posted by DVSNCYNIKL



One is about a foot and the other is a little under that. But now for an update. I've now lost all 3 channel cats, 1 black convict, 1 Bala shark. All that's left are the two Oscars, 1 Tilapia, 1 Leporinus and about 5 gouramis of different varieties. The two Oscars have now come under the same condition that the others died from. I've done pretty much every thing I possibly can to save them, but it's futile. They haven't been eating for a week now, I think I'm going to sell them to my pet store and hopefully he can save them and give them another home as I've grown out of love with them due to my losses.

Sorry to hear that :( Sounds like things arent going as well for your fish. I did end up losing another one last night, and the Crown Ruby has taken to chewing on my last Clown Loach, who is also not doing too well. On the bright side though, the survivors are eating well, and most of them bounced back pretty quick. Alex and I decided we're not going to do anything with the tank til after our wedding. That will give us some time to make plans for it,not to mention saving some money so we can rebuild.