spider Posted October 11, 2011 Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 (edited) Hi Guys, Still having a problem with a fish dying every now and again. (once a week) Water quality is spot on, loads of water surface friction for oxygen. Only thing we have found is elevated phosphates in the water. What affects does this have on the fish?? The tank is 8x2x2 with a 4x1.5x1.5 sump. Fish consist of 5-10 cm africians (yellows, blues, frontosa, white knights and hump heads). About 30 in total including a few bristlenose. Have treated for everything i can think of, but the fish keep dropping off. Syptoms include heavy breathing/gasping prior to death. Occasional rub on the gravel. No white spot, no velvet. Any help would be appreciated, even prepraed to throw some beer a fish guru to come and have a look. I have kept fish for years without a problem. Only difference is a sump on this system. Cheers Dale Edited October 12, 2011 by spider Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shon982 Posted October 11, 2011 Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 Nobody is putting anything into the sump? or any chemicals and things getting in? Are the fish getting skinny at all? stop eating and then eventually die one at a time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadFishFloating Posted October 11, 2011 Report Share Posted October 11, 2011 if phosphates are up, likely so are nitrates. which are much more likely to impact on fish health. Also look into nutrition. symptoms sound like nitrite poisoning to me tho Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neyund2 Posted October 12, 2011 Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 what about gill and skin flukes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spider Posted October 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 Hi All, Thanks for your input. Just did another water test with the following results. PH 7.8-8 Ammonia 0ppm Nitrite 0ppm Nitrate 0ppm Sump is clean, nothing being put in it. Fish feed well and are healthy looking (until they die) Can you see gill or skin flukes with the naked eye??? Dead fish floating, will test for nitrites again right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dditt Posted October 12, 2011 Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 well that's your problem. How long as the tank been setup? You shouldn't have 0 Nitrates... are you sure the test kit read 0? what test kit are you using? Nitrates are the bi-product of the nitrification process and you should always have a readable amount on a cycled tank. you say you found elevated phosphates? what was the reading? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shon982 Posted October 12, 2011 Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 (edited) Perfectly fine to have 0 nitrates Search older threads about the topic Fish aren't wasting away? But it happens one at a time Maybe parasites then Edited October 12, 2011 by shon982 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shon982 Posted October 12, 2011 Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 (edited) double post Edited October 12, 2011 by shon982 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spider Posted October 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 Tank has been up and going for nearly 1 year now...... all was good till i brought a fish home from the auction and this is where things went south. Have re done Nitrite test and still shows 0ppm, using API freshwater master test kit. Have also had water tested at 3 other fish shops and all said water was fine. Cant say what the phosphates were as test was done at the aquarium. Dont know what else to do to treat the tank. Keep the info coming please..... i really need to solve this problem Cheers Dale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gollys Posted October 12, 2011 Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 From my understanding higher posphates does not harm the fish but rather causes more of an algae issue (particulary Black Beard Algae). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craigo Posted October 12, 2011 Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 Are you doing your water changes from town water or tank water matey? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spider Posted October 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 craigo, tank water mate. We dont have access to town water. I have another tank using same water and fish are fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spider Posted October 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 pics of tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spider Posted October 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 having a problem uploading pics...... keeps coming up with an error. Anyways can email pics to anyone who might be interested. Basically water comes into sump from both end of the 8x2x2. 1 end goes into filter wool, then drip try, then filter foam, then coral, than noddles, than matrix. other end goes through filter wool, onto drip tray, through bio balls. The water is then feed back to the tank via 1 pump. An imporatant note is that the bristlenose/plecos dont seem to be worried about the issue and dont die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dditt Posted October 12, 2011 Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 Shon: i get that its perfectly fine to have 0 nitrates but i very much doubt this tank would have 0 nitrates in its current state. a high phosphate level goes hand in hand with high nitrates. The only way (in my mind) that you could have high phosphates and no nitrates is if the tank was cycling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shon982 Posted October 12, 2011 Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 well it's been running for a year now and problems started when fish from auction were introduced... was it the fish from the auction that died first? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeadFishFloating Posted October 12, 2011 Report Share Posted October 12, 2011 its possible to have nitrate eating microbes in ya filter/rocks/sandbed and thus have them eat nitrates and leave behind phosphates but its not common. curious if its a low GH thats killing the cichlids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mackayman Posted October 13, 2011 Report Share Posted October 13, 2011 Sounds like it could be some sort of parasite, theres plenty of weird ones out there. I had a somewhat similar problem. Have a look at this and see if it helps. In the case of Trichodina, the fish will flash from time to time and they build up an extra thick slime coat to help protect themselves. This affects the gills and can cause heavy breathing / gasping http://www.qldaf.com/forums/diseases-fish-care-water-discussion-12/persistent-parasite-49843/ http://www.qldaf.com/forums/diseases-fish-care-water-discussion-12/ammonia-rising-54595/ Brendan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spider Posted October 13, 2011 Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2011 Hey Brendan, Sounds spot on, will try and get some of the medication now... will let you know how i go. Ta Dale Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
