Whole tank died over night...

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Xarion

New Fish
#1
Mar 29, 2006
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#1
I'm not sure what happened but I had my entire tank of 10 fish die over night except for 2 aqua frogs that survived... one looks like he's about to die though, he's 90% white and his eyes are completely glazed over. The fish all seemed fine when I went to bed but this morning they were all floating even the bottomfeeder catfish. They looked like they were shedding their skin, lots of white stuff on them, I don't know what I should do, weither I should leave the tank alone or clean it out?

The water turned semi cloudy too, it's not crystal clear anymore.

please help me.
 

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X

Xarion

New Fish
#10
Mar 29, 2006
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#10
Yea, I use a water conditioner that declorinates tap water. I don't know if I should keep doing water changes each day til the water clears up or just let it go by itself, the frogs are still in there, one is fine and the other one is as I said, has a lot of big white spots covering 70% of his body and is barely moving. I don't want to buy anymore fish if this is going to happen againl...
 

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Xarion

New Fish
#11
Mar 29, 2006
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#11
Yea, I got the tank almost one year ago on the 7th of April. I never bought my own kit, the store never recommended it to me when I bought it and I didn't know about it until I was reading this forum today... I just had my water tested whenever I went in to the store (once a month or so) there were... 2 guppies, 2 black molly's, 2 red molly's, 2 frogs, a catfish and uhh... 2 blue fish, don't know what they're called but they were a bit bigger than a guppy. It's a 10 gallon tank I think, cost me about $75.00 with everything included. Was told I couldn't have more than 13-15 fish so I stopped 11. Also didn't buy all the fish at once, been adding to it over the year, started with 3 and added 1 a month up until 2 months ago.
 

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cinlnk

cinlnk

Large Fish
#12
Sep 10, 2005
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Who said anything about living? I merely EXIST!!!
#12
OH BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MAJOR OVERSTOCKING.........
Sounds like you have a fungus outbreak AND Bad water conditions.
The fish are swimming in what is basically a 10 gallon toilet. DO NOT add any fish ..Take the survivng fish back to the store and start from scratch.... and buy a test kit. Then after all is said and done...read the stickies on this forum in the freshwater beginners threads.... there is alot a great info there ....PLUS alot of great peeps on this site to help you .
 

X

Xarion

New Fish
#13
Mar 29, 2006
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#13
Alright... what would you recommend for a cap in a 10g tank since you said major overstocking? I have a feeling the place I purchase my fish from aren't that helpful, I might have to look around for a new place.
 

cinlnk

cinlnk

Large Fish
#14
Sep 10, 2005
805
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118
Who said anything about living? I merely EXIST!!!
#14
Lets see......considering a 10 gallon stock list?
there are alot of combinations you can consider....
Small school (6) of Neons and 2 cory cats
1 pair of German Rams and 3-4 otocinclus cats
platies, dwarf gouramis,etc etc
Just keep the fish numbers within reason.....and like I said b4 read the stickies.... and yes find a new LFS ... Someone who knows their stuff
 

JAWS69

JAWS69

Banned
#15
Mar 26, 2006
152
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enterprisesteaks.com
#15
I always give each inch per gallon. 10 fish, 10g tank. If the fish is biger then an inch, well, you get the point.

Anyway, this may seem crazy, but (not as crazy as 10 fish dead over night, and white frogs) was you tank poisined? Bleach perhaps? Maybe you put something in the tank without knowing it. Bleach could have been on rock, or a glass you used for water changes, or anything used to clean the things you put in your tank. Who lives with you? Any little brothers with a vandeta? LOL.
 

FroggyFox

FroggyFox

Forum Manager
Moderator
#16
May 16, 2003
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#16
Personally I think I'd clean the tank out, do maybe a 50% water change making sure I got all the gravel and any pieces of fish (eww) out. And then maybe the next day or two days later do it again. I'd wait at least a week, maybe two to add more fish into the tank once both of your frogs look good. I'd definitely do some more reading around the forums for some general guidelines. Even the stickies at the top of the beginner forum on how to set up a tank might give you some good ideas on things to do (like getting your own test kit). Most of us go to LFS that dont really help us out much...I just go in and get whatever it is that I need and leave...making a point not to ask them questions or listen to what they say :)

a 10g is not the end of the world...but you just dont have as many options as larger tanks. You could also go for a group of harlequin rasboras or check out some of the tetras that stay pretty small (say under two inches). One inch of ADULT fish per gallon is a good rule to start planning a tank...though if you have a good maintenance routine you dont have to stick to it all the time.
 

'-JIN-'

'-JIN-'

Large Fish
#17
Mar 21, 2006
393
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Penang,Malaysia
#17
Ohh man whole tank died???Omg!!!!it seems like this for me da best take out everything and clean it.After cleaning all of them put all in as usual den put let the water cycles overnight or two.Then u can add some fish but not all at once,3 per week.I think the cause of your fish death is da acidic substance dat comes from water tap or maybe present ammonia frm da tap.I got once when i filled some tap water into my fish tank,da pH drop till 6.1 n da ammonia readings grw high.Good luck,hope your new fish comunity works well
 

Pure

Pure

Elite Fish
#18
Nov 1, 2005
3,216
7
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Jacksonville, FL
#18
JAWS69 brings up a good point. Sudden mass deaths like this normally points to some sort of poisoning. I highly doubt it has any thing to do with your stock or over stocking as the case may be. If it were ammonia, nitrite or nitrate poisoning not ALL of the fish would have suddenly died like that. They would have most likely started dropping off one by one, not all at once.

If I were you I would be looking at my brothers and sisters, or any other person that may have been in the house the day before.

If you are positive no one put anything in the tank, the only other explanation I can pull outa my hat is that maybe the carbon did the ol reversaroo on you. When carbon gets old it is prone o sudden leaching of whatever toxins it had pulled out of your water over the course of time it has been in the tank.

Do as Froggy said, but with the added step of replacing the carbon in the filter, then replace it again before you add any fish. This is just in case something was in your water. The new carbon plus water changes should remove any toxins that may be in there. But then it needs to be replaced again, before new fish are added.

Sorry bout the loss I do know how much it sux!
 

cakelady204

cakelady204

Large Fish
#19
May 12, 2005
149
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Georgia
#19
It does sound like some sort of poisoning. I know this sounds weird but a friend of mine had a whole tank of fish die overnight because her 5 year old son put some gummy bears in the tank the night before. The next morning the fish were dead or dying and covered in milky slime and the water was milky too.
 

Big Vine

Big Vine

Elite Fish
#20
Feb 7, 2006
3,895
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Florida
#20
Pure said:
maybe the carbon did the ol reversaroo on you. When carbon gets old it is prone o sudden leaching of whatever toxins it had pulled out of your water over the course of time it has been in the tank.
Click to expand...
Really? Yikes! This is something I've always been a bit confused about.

I have smaller tanks right now that use the sponge/foam-covered plastic cartridges that contain activated carbon inside of them (e.g. Eclipse cartridges). I haven't been replacing them regularly or anything like that. I simply rinse them off in old tank water whenever I do water changes.

From what I've read on the forum, I should just leave those cartridges in until the sponge part completely deteriorates...
Should I be ripping a hole in them to remove the carbon that is in them?

Big Vine
 

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