Not again.....

[FlameTetra333]

Crap...I just got home from my 7 day cruise, and I found many fish dead in my 20G, my neon tetras with a bad case of ick in the 10G, and in the 5.5G, well at least my endlers survived, but I can only find one oto.

So, I moved the survivors from the 20G to the 10G; so now, hold on to your seat, 'cause this isn't pretty:
4 sick neons
2 dwarf gouramis
1 ram cichlid (thank goodness she survived!)
2 sick flame tetras
4 cory catfish (3 Emerald Green & 1 Julii)
(overstocked.....)
and finally,
2 Sick Cherry Barbs

Crap, crap, crap, crap. No matter what I do to the 20G, it always turns out to be a disaster.
I'm going to get a 10G tomorrow, and completely tear down my 20G and get another hood for it...

Luckily, I have MONSTER filtration on my 10G (live plants + an AC20 + A tetra whisper power filter 10).

So, any advice on what I should do?

Thanks...

 

[Fishman1995]

10 gallon 1(new/uncycle)
---------------
2 Sick Cherry Barbs
4 sick neons
2 sick flame tetras

10 Gallon 2 (current cycled one)
-------------
4 cory catfish (3 Emerald Green & 1 Julii)
(overstocked.....)
1 Dawrf Gourami

Clean the 20 gallon completely, i mean CLEAN IT! and restart a cycle on it
put the other Dwarf Gourami in your 5.5 gallon and put the ram in with the Corys and Gourami for now, after done cycling let us know and we will help get this straight...keep sick fish in one tank PLEASE!

 

[FlameTetra333]

10 gallon 1(new/uncycle)
---------------
2 Sick Cherry Barbs
4 sick neons
2 sick flame tetras

10 Gallon 2 (current cycled one)
-------------
4 cory catfish (3 Emerald Green & 1 Julii)
(overstocked.....)
1 Dawrf Gourami

Clean the 20 gallon completely, i mean CLEAN IT! and restart a cycle on it
put the other Dwarf Gourami in your 5.5 gallon and put the ram in with the Corys and Gourami for now, after done cycling let us know and we will help get this straight...keep sick fish in one tank PLEASE!

I couldn't keep all the sick fish together as it was late in the night and all the LFS's were closed.

Also, can't put the dwarf gourami in the 5.5 as it will eat my endlers.

And shouldn't I keep the neons in the tank they are CURRENTLY in, because the 20G has a different sickness than the 10G; I'm sure all the fish in the 10G has some amount of ick, just some more visible than others.

Well, at least I can redo my 20G.... I hated the rainbow gravel.

 

[Fuzz16]

honestly...
you have bad luck.

do what you can to save the fish you have and then set up the 20g the right way...give it the month to cycle, or however long, then what fish you have alive transfer to the 20g. use a storage tub if you have to, dont have to have glass, plastic works the same

i doubt any of the sick ones will make it, maybe the corys. do what you can, put up the heater to 78-80F and do daily gallon water changes, which is easy enough.

this time, do it right. stock it right. do your research, you know more now. this shouldnt happen again.

 

[KcMopar]

Monster filtration does not make up for oxygen being used up by the fish!!!! I would try not to go no more then 50% overstocked if it can be helped. Be sure you have a LOT of surface tension and water change a LOT.

 

[FlameTetra333]

I think the fish died because the temperature dropped too low during the vacation and they got stressed (I do not have very good heaters and I don't have light timers).

What heaters do you recommend I use?

 

[Thyra]

What temp do you keep your tanks at? What kind of heaters do you have now and what makes you think they aren't very good? I don't know where you live or how cold it gets, but we just returned from 9 days and we left the house thermostat set at 65 and although it got down to freezing, all was well. I would have gotten concerned if the power was off for more than a couple of days but that didn't happen. All my tanks are on the circuit with the generator, but the furnace is not and it is my understanding that tank heaters don't heat much over 5 - 10 degrees above room temp.

 

[FlameTetra333]

I have pretty much the cheaply made ones, like the Tetra and Top Fin heaters. And my tanks stay in the 72-82 range.

 

[Thyra]

That temperature range should not hurt your fish, although a consistent temp between 76 and 80 is what I believe is normally recommended. Fish do okay with temp changes as long as it is not sudden and stays within the range you said yours is - at least it won't kill them. I don't see anything wrong with the heaters you have - it just depends on how long they last as compared to more expensive ones and whether they are consistent. I am using one in a 10g tank that is not submersible and it looks just like one my kids had which isn't made anymore so I will bet it could be as much as 45 years old!