2 Tropical fish died after a week

[sprocky]

yes methylene blue does turn your tank blue, but it fades in a matter of time, but i do strongly advice it.

[Tinyshiny]

Hi there

 

Thanks again for all your advice.

 

The guy in the aquarium shop said it sounds like it had velvet so he's given me a solution that kills velvet and all spot diseases. I'm using this over the next three days as advised so hopefully all the other fish will be fine. He said clown loach's are ver prone to white spot and velvet disease so I'm not going to get another one of these.

 

I did ask the guy lots of questions before I purchased the fish and also asked him how long I had to have my tank set up for and he said 1 week. I also asked another aquarium place and they also said 1 week. Since googling this though I think it should have been more like 2-4 weeks, however I did test my water before putting the fish in and all was fine.

 

Thanks again all for your comments

[Grandad.Malky]

I was looking for the pet section but couldn't see it

 

Sheffield interest groups - Sheffield pet owners

[Gluggy]

Hi

 

I'm just wondering if anybody has experienced this and knows what the cause is? I have several tropical fish and my tank has been set up for over two weeks now and I have had the fish for just over a week. Today I've seen two of my fish dead. One is a neon and the other is a clown loach. The loach used to hide a lot but I saw him the other day and he seemed fine. However when I bought him I noticed he had little speckles on him and thought at the time that wasn't normal. I had three neons all together and one of them went really bloated the other day but then yesterday they were all the same size again. I can't be sure if it was the one that was bloated that has died or not. I tested my water yesterday and everything is as it should be. I am going to the aquarium tomorrow where I got the fish from to ask them what may have caused them to die but just wondered if anybody on here might know why they have died?

 

Thanks

 

Hi,

 

By setup do you mean leaving an empty (no fish) tank with the filter and heater running? If so i suspect this could be a large part of the problem is the filters wouldn't have been mature, in effect the fish will be swimming in their own (toxic) waste and far more susceptible to illness until the bacteria that break it down become established - this is know as the "Nitrogen cycle", its a bit mad scientest but some good info can be found at...

 

http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/Cycle.htm

 

Again assuming this is the case, the water test done before you added the fish would of course come back up ok as there was never a source of ammonia in the first place to give any bad results. At the same time there wouldn't have been any way for the bacteria to develop either, you could have left the tank for two months or even years and nothing would have happened until the fish were added to provide said ammonia and start the cycling process

 

Can you do another water test and report back on the results?

 

The advice from other posters about being picky when buying fish is sound - there are plenty of shops and choice out there, if your not sure then walk away as its always better to err on caution than risk introducing illness to a tank.

 

Cheers

Gluggy

[Tinyshiny]

Yeah I set up the tank and left it for just over a week before adding the fish, this is the advice I got from two different aqaurium places. I tested the water before I put the fish in and then a week later and the results were as they should be. I've been advised to do weekly tests for anohter month or so to make sure the water is still alright. After reading on the net though I think I should have left the tank for 2 weeks or longer for the reasons you have said.

 

The good news is all my other fish seem fine, they have no white spots or markings on them, which is great.

 

Oh and I'll do another water test tonight and let you know the results.

 

Thanks again

[Nutbrown]

Leaving it for 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks or any number of weeks makes it no safer for the initial stock of fish if you don't cycle the tank before hand.

 

Your water tests will have looked perfect because all you were testing was tap water.

 

Right now I'd imagine it has sky high ammonia and probably also at the very least trace nitrites.

 

Please get the water tested ASAP. Shops don't need any sort of knowledge of fish to sell them. The advice you've been given shows this. And shock horror... often white spot is caused as a result of poor water conditions stressing the fish and causing them to have a lowered immune system.

 

Best advice, go here - http://www.fishforums.net

It's a dedicated forums with lots of active members, stickied posts and everything you could ever need to know. Including some things you didn't realise you needed to know.

 

Please go post this over there and follow the advice you recieve. Just cause you've not had more deaths for a couple of days doesn't mean there is nothing that needs sorting. And the advice you've been given by the shops is pretty awful.

 

Edit: Just to say sorry for the bits I've repeated of Gluggys post, but I guess it doesn't hurt to say it twice.

[Hanksy]

Not sure if you will have read any of my tank problems, I'm 4 fish down, but I'm doing ok now!

 

Fish Inc are great, they have loads of time for me (if I go at the right time) and I must spend 30 mins min each time I go asking questions!

 

When I started with my tank problems, I went to a petshop and came out £15 less and with a product I'm not sure I needed, well it didn't help anyway!

 

Fish Inc haven't sold me anything, they gave me stuff and some great advice! I love the fish in there, there is millions!

 

Good luck in sorting your tank, I don't think there is always a right answer!

[Tinyshiny]

Leaving it for 1 week, 2 weeks, 4 weeks or any number of weeks makes it no safer for the initial stock of fish if you don't cycle the tank before hand.

 

Your water tests will have looked perfect because all you were testing was tap water.

 

Right now I'd imagine it has sky high ammonia and probably also at the very least trace nitrites.

 

Please get the water tested ASAP. Shops don't need any sort of knowledge of fish to sell them. The advice you've been given shows this. And shock horror... often white spot is caused as a result of poor water conditions stressing the fish and causing them to have a lowered immune system.

 

Best advice, go here - http://www.fishforums.net

It's a dedicated forums with lots of active members, stickied posts and everything you could ever need to know. Including some things you didn't realise you needed to know.

 

Please go post this over there and follow the advice you recieve. Just cause you've not had more deaths for a couple of days doesn't mean there is nothing that needs sorting. And the advice you've been given by the shops is pretty awful.

 

Edit: Just to say sorry for the bits I've repeated of Gluggys post, but I guess it doesn't hurt to say it twice.

 

 

Hiya

 

When I got my tank they gave me two solutions, one was called cycle and another one. I had to use one of these for a day and the other one for three days. After just over a week the aquarium guy pointed out which fish I could have to start my tank off and I chose neons. I got the clown loach from a different shop, which was already ill. I admit I've never seen a clown loach before so didn't know it was ill but I thought the speckles on it was strange but thought it must just be the colouring of them.

 

The course for the velvet and white spot treatment I got ends tomorrow and it says you can repeat it if need be, It tells you to do a 50% water change and also use esha 2000 with the esha exit as its highly effective.

 

I know what you mean about pet shops not knowing anything about fish but you would expect an aquarium to know. The guy was very helpful and answered my questions when asked but I had to ask all the questions, he never just told me what to do when setting up a new tank etc. and by the sounds of it didn't give me the correct info needed.

 

My boyfriend tested the water for me while I was at work and he said that they are all within what they should be. He said the NO2 is higher than last time but still within what it says.

 

I am going to do a participial water change on Saturday (once treatment has finished) and keep testing the water to make sure its ok.

 

 

Thanks for your help and I will take a look at that site.

[Tinyshiny]

Not sure if you will have read any of my tank problems, I'm 4 fish down, but I'm doing ok now!

 

Fish Inc are great, they have loads of time for me (if I go at the right time) and I must spend 30 mins min each time I go asking questions!

 

When I started with my tank problems, I went to a petshop and came out £15 less and with a product I'm not sure I needed, well it didn't help anyway!

 

Fish Inc haven't sold me anything, they gave me stuff and some great advice! I love the fish in there, there is millions!

 

Good luck in sorting your tank, I don't think there is always a right answer!

 

 

Hi Hanksy

 

I'm sorry to hear about your fish but I'm glad they are doing well now. Somebody at my work got her fish from fish inc and she said its really good. He told her to leave her tank two weeks before putting fish in. She didn't know that you have to do water checks and water changes though, so it's a good job I've told her.

 

I will let you know how my fish get on

[Nutbrown]

Cycle is meant to be a live bottled bacteria product. Problem is that there is actually no proof it works, and biologically speaking it's unlikely that there is likely to be ANYTHING living in it past a few days of it being bottled.

 

If it's newly bottled and has remained refrigerated then there is a chance that they can work. But also there were a few 'bottled bacteria' products that actually had the wrong type of nitrifying bacteria! So although it 'instantly' cycled your tank, the bacteria then all died a day or so later. Madness what manufacturers can get away with.

 

Another good reason I would point you towards the fishforum is because they can also give you advice on stocking your tank. I would never advise people to go to a fish shop with the theory of 'I'll buy something when I get there'... unless you've already picked a specific species and have checked future size, compatability etc.

 

Just a note, neons are actually extremely sensitive to ammonia and nitrites, they're definitely not good fish-in cycle fish. I mean if the fish in cycle is monitored strictly and ammonia and nitrite are kept as low as possible (recommended below 0.25ppm), then they stand a better chance. But don't be surprised if you do still lose them.

Tbh we've found they often don't actually do well in new tanks at all, even if they are fully pre cycled. They used to be 'hardy' fish, but we're seeing more and more people buying them for new tanks (that have been cycled and some that they're doing a fish in cycle with), and they're just dropping like flies.

 

How big is the tank by the way? Just a thought, although it's not nice that the clown loach died they should be in groups and although they're slow growers they can easily hit 12" and eventually need 400l +

If you fancy loaches and have a min of a 60l tank (pref bigger) and like loaches (and have soft/rounded gravel/sand) then kuhli loaches could be a nice alternative. Still need to be in groups though, or dwarf chain loaches