Fish mysteriously dying?

[jo3olous]

My tank is a 30gal, fish include: 1 Ghost Knife Fish, 2 Neons, 2 American Flag Fish, 1 Green Phantom Pleco, 2 Dancing Goby's, 1 Red Tail Shark, 1 Dwarf Gourami, 1 Glass Catfish, and 1 Half Beak.

I know that my Ghost Knife Fish is a bit big for this tank right now, I'm working on getting a big one, although he seems to be quite fine and loving my tank. As of lately, I probably had too many fish really... but I had a smaller Pitbull pleco who was fine until several days ago he passed, then next to go was my Anablep (just recently purchased as well) and then after that was my Twig Catfish, and today my other little Half Beak. When I took my Anablep back to the pet store they tested my water and she said it didn't seem like anything was wrong with my water. "Maybe it was of stress?" she says. =/
My Dad has a 75gal tank with WAY more fish than he should so I wasn't really worried about how many fish for the space I had. My Dad's tank is fine and no fish of his seem to be dying, but mine just keep dying off.

My Green Phantom Pleco is starting to lose some of his color and this really worries me, not to mention he was super expensive!! When I first got him I was worried because he never moved from under the rock I've got. Recently he's been moving around everywhere, so hopefully that was a good sign. I've got algae wafers that I put in there to make sure he gets enough food. He's gone back to just laying around in one spot and his tail seems to be fading a bit to white. My Red Tail looks like he's getting a little lethargic and his top fin he barely raises anymore. Other than that my other fish seem to be going fine. For my Ghost Knife Fish being the biggest in the tank and the one to seem like he'd be unhappy with the amount of room he's got he seems perfectly fine. He hasn't changed any habits and as far as I know he looks like he's loving it. I'd be devastated if I lost him, that's for sure.

A few days ago I did a water change for the fact that my water looked super cloudly, it was almost impossible to see through my tank. It looked like someone had poured hot water into my tank. My tank's temp is at 78 and I have a testing kit... pH is at 8, Ammonia is at 0, Nitrate is at 5, and Nitrite is at 0. Nothing is too out of the ordinary, my Nitrate has been at 5 since I've had the tank which is probably over 2 months or so now, but only has it been in this past week that all of my fish are dying. My water looks a lot less cloudy now but still looks as if it's got floating particles in it? There's been a brown algae or diatom possibly after researching that has been growing on my fake plants and rock in my tank. Everything I've read has said this is not a problem.

I'm just at a loss for words at all of my fish dying within a week. Just hoping I don't lose anymore, especially my bigger fish, that cost a lot. Does anyone have any ideas of what could be happening? Oh and not sure if this matters but it's almost seemed as if lately there are more bubbles from my air stone resting at the top of my water. Not sure if that's a good thing or bad, or neither really? Just worried about my lovely fish and trying to save the ones I've got left. PLEASE HELP!!! Thank you!

Don't take advice from your LFS workers. They know less about fish than you do. They just want your money really, and since you just want to put as many fish that you like into your tank well, you are feeding them bank.

Just because your dad doesn't know how to stock a tank and care for fish doesn't mean it's okay/intelligent to follow suit. In this case, like father like son I guess.

In your other posts you seem intent on just getting opinions of your situation and only listening to what you want to hear, not making constructive use of feedback going against your own. If you're that one-dimensional then it seems you are strictly in the hobby to let fish die at your entertainment and expense. Seems fun, but personally I'd feel like an idiot throwing money away, even if it was 5-10.00

 

[seastaar88]

While I agree that some in this hobby can be overly pedantic, certain best practices in this hobby cannot be ignored.

Among these, the most important is maintenace of water quality and parameters and fish compatibility. These are not rules, they are facts and vital to the long term survival of your fish. if you disregard these facts, you will end up with dead fish.

Well put, Blue Ram.

Sometimes it takes mistakes to realize how imperative it is to monitor the water quality, etc. Glasseater, do what you feel is best for your tank - you will figure things out as you go along. I know I made my fair share of big mistakes when I first started out which resulted in a lot of deaths!

 

[glasseater827]

I never said I wasn't going to listen to any of the advice. Obviously, as stated, I came here for opinions and advice. I didn't even know what I'd do with my tank once I got the advice, and frankly I still don't. It's just not as easy as people keep saying to "go back/restart".

I agree with "seastaar88", I am taking this input from everyone, but there's bossy ways to be about giving your tips or calm. I didn't come here to be bossed around. I feel as if I'm going to make mistakes I kind of have to learn on my own. But after those mistakes, yes I would like other peoples' thoughts on the situation.

I do change my water often, I do keep track of my water parameters, but there are things I may not do properly, or haven't done. Especially the compatibility for sure. I'm the person who if I see a fish and want it, I'll get it without researching. I never said that was a good thing. I'm learning a bit as I go along, and the nicely put tips are great, and will definitely be thought about more if I start a whole new tank. And yes, I do have hiding places for the fish, I don't see a problem with the "picking on" now, it was just while I had the Anablep.


I'm listening to all of the opinions, not just what I want to listen to. But no, I'm not going to follow everyone's opinions. As I have stated before I'm sure a lot of you know what you're doing, more so than me. But if I wanted you to run my tank for me, I'd ask that. I just wanted ideas, as to why things were going the way they were... and I got that. Also if you word things nicer sometimes people have more tendency to want to listen to your ideas, whereas if you're a jerk about it they take offense to that.
And I never said my Father knows everything, just stating that not everything has to be strictly rule followed, and like Father like Daughter... but thanks for assuming.

 

[RexyTexel]

And I never said my Father knows everything, just stating that not everything has to be strictly rule followed, and like Father like Daughter... but thanks for assuming.

I'm pretty sure he meant your dad and your brother. Not calling you a boy.

Also you can't really blame the people on here. A lot of them have been in this hobby for quite some time and when a person comes on here looking for opinions/ideas/thoughts/advice whatever and then goes "well everyone does things differently" it gets very frustrating. Why even bother asking for any ideas or opinions if you're going to blatantly ignore them?

I'm the person who if I see a fish and want it, I'll get it without researching.

It's also frustrating when people come on here and freely admit they don't bother to research anything and just see what happens. Now you're putting a living things life in danger because of your own lazy ways. I don't care if you waste your own money but to just put a fish in a situation they have no control of that will result in it's early death is just cruel.

If you came here for advice and then stated you aren't going to take the advice then what's the point of even asking for any advice/opinions/ideas?

 

[homebunnyj]

Also you can't really blame the people on here. A lot of them have been in this hobby for quite some time and when a person comes on here looking for opinions/ideas/thoughts/advice whatever and then goes "well everyone does things differently" it gets very frustrating.

If you came here for advice and then stated you aren't going to take the advice then what's the point of even asking for any advice/opinions/ideas?

I agree. It feels to us as though you came here just to toy with us. Why pretend that you want to know what we've experienced relative to the situation that you claim has you so worried.

BTW, the anableps is a brackish-water fish. That may have contributed to his early demise somewhat.

 

[jo3olous]

I never said I wasn't going to listen to any of the advice. Obviously, as stated, I came here for opinions and advice. I didn't even know what I'd do with my tank once I got the advice, and frankly I still don't. It's just not as easy as people keep saying to "go back/restart".

I agree with "seastaar88", I am taking this input from everyone, but there's bossy ways to be about giving your tips or calm. I didn't come here to be bossed around. I feel as if I'm going to make mistakes I kind of have to learn on my own. But after those mistakes, yes I would like other peoples' thoughts on the situation.

I do change my water often, I do keep track of my water parameters, but there are things I may not do properly, or haven't done. Especially the compatibility for sure. I'm the person who if I see a fish and want it, I'll get it without researching. I never said that was a good thing. I'm learning a bit as I go along, and the nicely put tips are great, and will definitely be thought about more if I start a whole new tank. And yes, I do have hiding places for the fish, I don't see a problem with the "picking on" now, it was just while I had the Anablep.


I'm listening to all of the opinions, not just what I want to listen to. But no, I'm not going to follow everyone's opinions. As I have stated before I'm sure a lot of you know what you're doing, more so than me. But if I wanted you to run my tank for me, I'd ask that. I just wanted ideas, as to why things were going the way they were... and I got that. Also if you word things nicer sometimes people have more tendency to want to listen to your ideas, whereas if you're a jerk about it they take offense to that.
And I never said my Father knows everything, just stating that not everything has to be strictly rule followed, and like Father like Daughter... but thanks for assuming.

Like father like son is a quote, idc what you are (no offense).
I also don't care if you follow any constructive advice or not. You already did 99 things wrong (once again not literally), and you obviously seem easily offended by text via the internet (idk how people can interpret text as insults, must have a defensive imagination). I don't make any money or benefit from you following advice I give. No one here does. You post a situation and we give you factual responses. You don't like it and tell us you're going to do the opposite, okay fine but do not waste the time people put into attempting to give you help. You should be thankful people are giving you a hard time when you post your situation then freak out, they want you to do well with your new hobby, at the cost of nothing

 

[tropicalcrazy]

Yeah, I think the death of the Anablep was definitely other fish picking on him. The Ghost, being mostly blind doesn't realize it and runs into the top feeding fish. And my Gourami and American Flag fish are somewhat aggressive, I fear they all may have been picking on him, which was most likely the cause of death combined with stress of being new to my tank, and quite possibly I shouldn't have bought him. I couldn't resist, he was adorable! As for my dead half beak, I think he didn't eat much. I got both half beaks at the same time and one is quite larger than the one who passed, he hid behind the filter mostly, in fear I'm assuming. I never saw him eat much... so perhaps starvation? And yes I do condition my water.

As for MissFishy, I'm not really concerned about having too many fish for my size of tank. I'm not much of a rule follower. Not to mention I don't see "poor water conditions" as my water levels are pretty normal. As stated my dad has a 75gal tank and is hugely over crowded yet his is doing just fine. Not to mention you can't just return the fish for a store credit, especially when having them for as long as I have now... nor do I want to return them. I love them and I think they're all quite settled for now. When the time comes perhaps I must upgrade to a bigger tank, but not now. Thanks for the suggestions, and by any means am I saying you don't know what you're talking about but I like my tank the way it is. This fish place nearby me knows a lot and always tells me not to do the things I want to do but just because it's the "norm" doesn't mean I must follow. We have 2 other 75gal tanks in my house, Dad and Brother, both of them just do what they want for their tank and it seems to work out well.

I think my tank is finally at the point of the perfect fish for it. Rules, Rules, Rules... not much for them![/QUOTE]


your asking for advice from people here that have done these things, been down the same road as you and when they give you the proper advice you call it rules rules rules, and these are the things that are needed to be done and you wonder why your expensive rare fish are dying. come on seriously. dont ask for advice if your not going to use it. for one i hope you know your knife will get up to 16-18" in captivity and all those other larger fish.

 

[tropicalcrazy]

and buying a fish without researching is animal cruelty. just because daddy always bought you things in life because you saw it and you wanted it DOES NOT mean that goes same with PET CARE. these are animals to and should be treated as cats, dogs, birds, horses, whatever your pet may be

 

[tropicalcrazy]

and just a piece of advice if you choose not to take any advice and be as critical and not taking proper care of your fish the way you are, NEXT time you ask a question advice or whatever it is the PEOPLE ON HERE WILL remeber you and will choose not to give you advice or help you nor will they ever want to

 

[seastaar88]

OK people I think it's time for everyone to take a deep breath and move on We're getting well off-topic now.

IMHO, at this point, Glasseater, focus on the tank's water quality and go from there. Don't do anything drastic with the tank for the next few weeks to allow it to finish the cycling process. Let us know if you run into more bumps along the way and would like some advice.

 

[glasseater827]

Thanks seastaar88, I'm doing that. Everything is appearing to be fine and no deaths.


I'm also aware of how big my Ghost Knife will get, hence getting a bigger tank in time. I did research my fish, just not before I got them. So yes, I did it backwards but I did research to find out more information on which fish I have in my tank and all of the details.

 

[seastaar88]

Well hopefully things will now get back on track for your tank. Glad to hear that you haven't had anymore deaths.

 

[Matt Nace]

Glasseater,
When overstocking tanks,
As your fish start to grow, you will feed more and they will produce more waste. Make sure as said you have some extra filter media for the bacteria needed to live in. I also used to(and still do it seems) overstock and if you don't keep extra media in your filter(or use bigger filters or even in my case.multiple filters)..I find you can eventually get ammonia readings or cloudy water.There is a point where the bacteria wont be able to instantly transfer that ammonia to nitrite to nitrate in over stocked tanks if the ammonia is being produced faster than the number of bacteria in the tank can handle.

Of course weekly water changes help but there may be a point where weekly wont be enough.

I usually have extra sponges, bio-max media or bio-wheels as options. Also, having these mentioned items allows you to clean the filter if needed or the really gunked sponge..even replace them at some point if needed as the bacteria are more concentrated and dont have to be touched(as often) in on the bio-wheel, bio max or the secondary sponge that is after the first one.

Good luck.

 

[glasseater827]

Thanks a bunch Matt Nace, I'll definitely have to look into that. I am thinking I need to invest in another filter. I'll see what I can do! =)

 

[tropicalcrazy]

Thanks a bunch Matt Nace, I'll definitely have to look into that. I am thinking I need to invest in another filter. I'll see what I can do! =)

yeah when i first setup my tank i got a filter that hangs on the back that would filter up to 60g and it was placed on one side. i know when i was new to the hobby that i overstocked and for that reason my levels in the water were going crazy. algae bloom and i think bacterial blooms were happening all the time and my ammonia level was always spiking. i was getting green, white, and brown cloudy water. i dropped a 2nd filter rated at 60g on the other side of the tank so one on each side (as you can see in the pictures in the general discusion area under the thread pictures finally from beginning til now) and i have only had cloudy water once. since about 6-9 months ago (having this tank setup since april of 2008) i started drastically reducing the amount of fish in my tank. donated a bunch to some friends, i slowed the feeding down to once a night with a tiny pinch of flake food, couple shrimp pellets for my bichir which the sharks like also, and a couple algae wafers at night for the plecos. since then i have kept a stable level of everything, water stays clear as hell, and all fish seem to be doing much better and happier. just thought i would share my experience with you sorry to drag out so much

 

[tropicalcrazy]

i believe in keeping a larger filter than what is rated for your tank or doubling up filters (when not using canister of course) seems to make things much easier and things stay a lot cleaner. if you have a tank smaller than 30g i would recommend maybe getting a filter rated at 40g or higher as long as it fits top to bottom. once you start going so high the filters get a lot bigger. oh and i forgot my 2 filters systems are also dual filter systems helps out

 

[glasseater827]

Tropicalcrazy, that sounds like a good idea. My boyfriend just upgraded to a 55gal tank and so maybe I'll steal back the filter I gave him and put it on mine since he doesn't need it. Thanks for sharing your story.

I just tested my water, ammonia is at 0 still, nitrite is at 0 still, the nitrate actually went down from 5 and is not at 3. I thought things were looking up but my pleco is laying on his side/back on the bottom of the tank. He's still sucking, still alive. I give him algae wafers to feed on at night, so he shouldn't be starving. I tried to poke him with my net to see if he'd move, he didn't swim away or attach to the side of the tank. So I'm assuming this shall be another fatality. =( Which makes me extremely sad. Probably not much advice I can get for that... grrrr!!

 

[glasseater827]

I just changed some of my water and further inspected my pleco. He looks starved, which I don't understand because I give him algae wafers often. He's barely moving, but I believe he is still alive. I put a wafer right beside him and turned off the light, hopefully he won't be dead by morning. =(

 

[tropicalcrazy]

I just changed some of my water and further inspected my pleco. He looks starved, which I don't understand because I give him algae wafers often. He's barely moving, but I believe he is still alive. I put a wafer right beside him and turned off the light, hopefully he won't be dead by morning. =(

he possibly could be getting bullied by another fish for food and therefore may be pretty stressed and isnt eating. ive had a pleco do that before. in fact when i gave my common away he got put in another 55g with 2 oscars, a black knife, a senegal bichir like mine, and a chocalate pleco. at this time that chocolate was 3 1/2" and my common was like 7-8" and that chocolate bullied my pleco so bad that he had to be trasfered to another tank but then later died

 

[WildBirdVal]

I work at a LFS which i hate how we get slammed on these boards. A lot of us (though clearly not all) love the hobby and would rather see someone care for their fish properly then make the sale. There are many times i have ticked off customers b/c I was politely adamant that certain fish could not go together, or that they would be overstocking their tank, we all aren't out for the quick sale you know. But that rant aside, we generally recomend not adding any algae eaters for at least 3 months, so that by the time they get added they have something to eat. A lot of algae eaters will not eat the algae wafers, have you actually seen your pleco eat the wafers? Just because they are dissapearing does not mean he is eating them. Its your first tank and you are still learning how tricky the hobby can be at times. I wish your LFS would have told you to go with some hearty cheapy fish to cycle your tank, so it was properly cycled by the time you added the expensive fish and since they were only a few bucks if you didnt want them you could donate them. It sucks when fish die and it sucks even more when you have spent alot on them. I know its tough when you get your first tank to not buy a lot of fish, and I think most people are guilty of overstocking when they get their first tank, not because they are meaning to harm the fish but because you can get so infatuated with the hobby. I would definetly let your tank settle for a bit before purchasing anything, and I am big on extra filtration, overstocked tank or not. Good luck with you tank, let me know if I can help at all.