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Daharkazangel

My fish are dying and i dont know why!

By Daharkazangel, in Help with Fish Health, Diseases and Water Quality

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Daharkazangel

Daharkazangel

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Problem:- FISH AREA DYING, Seems to go off food, bloat or go skinny and die with mouths open. ALL FRY.

Ph:-7.2

Ammonia:-0

Nitrate:-10-15

Nitrite:-0

Gh:-NA

Kh:-Na

Size of tank:- 4x18x18 and 2x15x15

Temperature °C:-26

Been running for:-3 yrs

Filtration:-Canister/Sump/Internal Filter/Sponge:- Four foot has a internal and two foot has a sponge

Fish in tank:- Ellioit and convict fry in four foot. Niggripinnis fry in two foot

Plants in Tank:-Java fern

Feeding:- What food and How often, Spirulina flakes three to four times daily.

Recent Medication Treatments:-None

Last water change:-Last week

Water change every Day/Weekly/Monthly -Weekly

I had this issue for about a week and I cant work out whats going on :( I lost two more niggs this morning. Any ideas?

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Daharkazangel

Daharkazangel

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What are you feeding them? What brand is it? Is that all u feed them?

I would've thought the nigs should've been in more 8.2+ph

Its aqua one spirulina flakes? Yes that's all I feed them atm. As for PH I don't mess with it. 7.2 is what they get lol, even bred in it.

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Daharkazangel

Daharkazangel

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Did you ever treat with meth blue?

I'd put a fresh lot of carbon in the tanks, and double or triple dose with prime or water ager CN.

No meth blue, no meds ever. Im off to do massive water changes now in case there is something killing them in the water.... going to use TAP instead of TANK. Building near by could be the problem.

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smicko

smicko

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Do you test the water your using for waterchange?

Can you test gh/kh as water hardness could be an issue

You need more filtration in the 4ft. Internals aren't very good a biofiltering, more for mechanical filtration

With feeding that much I would be waterchanging daily especially in the 2ft

Even if the nigs bred in 7.2 doesnt mean the fry will survive in it, they need higher ph.

Do you clean the filters at the same time as waterchanging?

Could be an oxygen issue as well

Hopefully we can help you have 3 of the nicest fish around imo.

Cheers mick

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thatsright99

thatsright99

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Yeah that could be a problem. Have a shower, yes you in the shower and smell the water. Sometimes when I have a shower before I go to muck around with my snakes and do water changes, I can smell dirt in the water ( and how bad the chlorine is ) so I don't do any water changes. If you get one of those 20lt mayo buckets and fill that you will be able to see if there's any dirt or discolouration to the water, like when the fire brigade purges the hydrants upstream of where you live.

If by tank water you mean rain water, rain is poor in chemicals to boost ph/kh so you'd have to ad African salts ect unless you have soft water fish.

The other thing is the food...that's a basic food. You have to feed a variety to get more nutrients for the fry/babies, even adults. Try some frozen for variety as well. Match size for size.

See what the ph is in the tank, the "tank water", and the tap water adjust slowly if need be. :)

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goneself

goneself

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I'll knock out three ideas for starters- could be something nasty in the tank water, I'd rather use a hang on than an internal, because internals Suck at bio filtration, and I havent bred ellioti before but I'd think they would need more protein than just algae flakes?

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Daharkazangel

Daharkazangel

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Prob should have been more clear. I reply property after i eat lol. Im building a canister for the four foot, im aware a internal is not ideal. Tanks are undertocked, 20 ellioti fry at 3-4 cm some smaller in the four foit, and 2-4cm nigg fry in the two foot, think im down to 13? Fish wont eat anything but bbs abd flakes, ive tried. Maybe need to be bigger??? Ill be back in a min and do post quotes.

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Daharkazangel

Daharkazangel

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Do you test the water your using for waterchange?

Can you test gh/kh as water hardness could be an issue

You need more filtration in the 4ft. Internals aren't very good a biofiltering, more for mechanical filtration

With feeding that much I would be waterchanging daily especially in the 2ft

Even if the nigs bred in 7.2 doesnt mean the fry will survive in it, they need higher ph.

Do you clean the filters at the same time as waterchanging?

Could be an oxygen issue as well

Hopefully we can help you have 3 of the nicest fish around imo.

Cheers mick

Ok right don't have a GH KH tester, should prob get one. I don't test the water I waterchange with, its from my rain water tank, also prib should. Im aware of the filtration issue in the four foot, canister nearly there. My niggs bred in my six foot and I moved the fry to a two foot after stipping mum. My six foot is also 7.2ph, in fact all my tanks are?? I doubt Ph is a issue but I can raise it easily if needed (don't like playing with ph tbh...never have) I NEVER clean the filter at the same time as a water change, Oxygen levels are fine , it been hot I am aware of added oxygen. This issue has only popped up in the last week.

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Daharkazangel

Daharkazangel

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Yeah that could be a problem. Have a shower, yes you in the shower and smell the water. Sometimes when I have a shower before I go to muck around with my snakes and do water changes, I can smell dirt in the water ( and how bad the chlorine is ) so I don't do any water changes. If you get one of those 20lt mayo buckets and fill that you will be able to see if there's any dirt or discolouration to the water, like when the fire brigade purges the hydrants upstream of where you live.

If by tank water you mean rain water, rain is poor in chemicals to boost ph/kh so you'd have to ad African salts ect unless you have soft water fish.

The other thing is the food...that's a basic food. You have to feed a variety to get more nutrients for the fry/babies, even adults. Try some frozen for variety as well. Match size for size.

See what the ph is in the tank, the "tank water", and the tap water adjust slowly if need be. :)

I use rainwater not tap water, but as their is building in my estate it is possible my water is contaminated?? Again I need a GH Kh tester.

As for food, they wont touch anything else! Ive tried frozen food, pellets yada yada and the only thing they will eat is spirulina flake and that was hard to wean them onto. Any ideas what else I can try?? Ellioiti are fussing small mouthed fish, esp 4cm or under! Niggs are similar, fussy eaters and atm some are not eating at all :/ Im thinking it may be poisoning from the rainwater tank or a virus/bacteria that is internal?

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Daharkazangel

Daharkazangel

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By the way, what colour are you going to "dye" the fish? lol :P

You didn't say how many fish were in each tank either. That could be a big factor too. How much do you feed them?

4 foot, was about 30 fry down to 20 or less at 2-4cm

2 foot was 18 fry down to 13 I thinkat 2-4cm.

I feed TINY amounts, biggest feed is midday, sometimes I only feed twice pending work etc

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Daharkazangel

Daharkazangel

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I'll knock out three ideas for starters- could be something nasty in the tank water, I'd rather use a hang on than an internal, because internals Suck at bio filtration, and I havent bred ellioti before but I'd think they would need more protein than just algae flakes?

Yep aware they need more variety, but unless its flaked or BBS they wont touch it. Fussy ****s.. Ideas on changing/mixing it up a bit? Remembering my biggest is only just 4cm.

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thatsright99

thatsright99

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You could let the tapwater run for a few minutes to get cr.p out of the line, you can get a 70lt bin and filter with a power filter full of carbon.

Newly hatched baby brine and graduation in size of, rotifers,cyclops, small to larger mossie larvae, - the live foods should trigger the feeding response.

Remember their stomach is about the size of their eye, as a rough guide. When you feed whatever that they eat, you should ad a little of another food that u want them to eat. Yes be ready to clean the uneaten food out.

Also try crushed tetrabits.

...and get a test kit..... How much are they? How much $ in fish have you lost?

Also, if you put in a fast growing plant, that'll help get rid of some nutrients not needed.

Edited by thatsright99
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smicko

smicko

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Thanks for all the answers and info.

With construction in the estate their is a good chance that the rain water could be contaminated, concrete dust, treated wood shaving and anything else would be landing on your roof.

Their is a few types of flake food. I use crushed cichlid flake or cyclopeeze for fry.

The tanks definitely aren't overstocked. Sponge filters should be sufficient, I've had a 5x2x2 running on two extra large sponges with 50 full grown africans

Hope this helps

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Daharkazangel

Daharkazangel

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Thanks for all the answers and info.

With construction in the estate their is a good chance that the rain water could be contaminated, concrete dust, treated wood shaving and anything else would be landing on your roof.

Their is a few types of flake food. I use crushed cichlid flake or cyclopeeze for fry.

The tanks definitely aren't overstocked. Sponge filters should be sufficient, I've had a 5x2x2 running on two extra large sponges with 50 full grown africans

Hope this helps

Yeah im going with bad tank water :/ Could have issues on all my tanks yet :/

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thatsright99

thatsright99

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If there's a problem with the rain water, you're drinking it too...

It's a shame you can't divert the rainwater. When I go to collect it, I let I rain, not light showers or drizzle ect, for a good half hour before I start to collect it. Where the downpipe goes into the ground is loose, so when its time to collect I lift that up and collect in buckets. Good luck

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ozmo

ozmo

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IMO Aqua-one food, especially flakes, would not provide sufficient nutrients to any fish especially fry.

As others have mentioned... try switching to a more protein enriched diet.

I feed all my fish, including fry, a staple mix of NLS, Hikari and New Era. I also use The Tech Den food on my bigger Central Americans.

All my fry, including Ellioti, thrive on NLS Grow and I don't think I have ever lost any due to diet issues.

Hope that helps.

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