Author Topic: help (Read 3740 times) 10 replies

chris213 · « **on:** May 09, 2014, 04:09:11 PM »

seems i must be doing something wrong this week i have lost 3 clown loaches and today was my water change day and half way threw my water change while still draining the water out i noticed that one of my gourmai is now lieing on its side half dead at the bottom he gets up swims around and the sinks again , iam useing the api liquid test kit , ammonia is o ppm nitrite 0 ppm nitrate is at about 40 ppm has been slowly riseing all week but as i say was planing a weekly change for today , i cant understand why i am loosing fish during the week i have been under the conclusion that maybe the loch was down to shop or stress but now to loose a gourmai purchased from a different shop iam confused

Sue · « **Reply #1 on:** May 09, 2014, 04:19:07 PM »

How are your amano shrimp? If there is anything iffy about the tank itself, they would be the first to go.

It is possible that the gourami was from a bad batch, though I have to confess that I know little about kissing gourami.

Have you noticed any problems with the ruby shark I see listed in your signature? They can be aggressive fish, especially towards shark shaped fish (loaches) or other algae eaters, such as kissing gourami.

chris213 · « **Reply #2 on:** May 09, 2014, 04:44:59 PM »

the shrimp are fine i just managed to count all 8 of them they are constantly moving around unphased by anything going on and molting. i did examine the deceased gourmai(passed away a few mins after my post ) and i noticed it seemed it either had black spots on or just under its skin , is is a ich or some sort of parasite infection possibly an maybe this is what killed the loach to , the ruby shark is fine he is very timid and calm certainly dosen't chase the other fish he tries to avoid them

chris213 · « **Reply #3 on:** May 09, 2014, 05:31:27 PM »

just as a bit more information i can see that one of the other gourami looks like his lips are sore

Sue · « **Reply #4 on:** May 09, 2014, 06:56:52 PM »

Sorry to hear about the gourami.

The sore lips could be due to lip locking, their way of fighting ie a dominance thing. But since more than one are showing signs of something not quite right, I would be inclined to suspect they weren't quite right when you got them, and it's now beginning to manifest itself. It would be interesting to take a trip back to the shop and look at the tank they came from.
I don't know what the black spots are, I'm afraid. One of my ember tetras had what looked like black markings but when I caught all my fish to move them to the new tank I had chance to see it better, and they weren't pigment patches but raised lumps. I never did find out what they were.

Sorry I can't be more help $:-\$

chris213 · « **Reply #5 on:** May 09, 2014, 07:08:02 PM »

i went back to the shop today they had just restocked most of there tanks so was hard to tell , but the fact i have lost fish this week from two separate shops is weird .
i guess the best thing i can do for now is to do plenty of small water changes and keep a very close eye on levels.
sue your help is always welcomed with opened arms and gratefully received.

dbaggie · « **Reply #6 on:** May 10, 2014, 09:10:41 AM »

Fish death for unknown reasons is the worst

It happened to my Bristlenose Plec recently. It was one of the first occupants of my tank when I set it up last year and appeared perfectly healthy but then I noticed the other day that it hadn't moved for a while (not unusual for a Plec I know, but it was also in an odd place) - gave it a gentle prod and discovered it was dead but couldn't see anything wrong with it visually.

All other fish were fine (and still are), water parameters good, Plec had been feeding and acting normally beforehand. Unexplained!

chris213 · « **Reply #7 on:** May 10, 2014, 09:56:31 AM »

yes its hard to loose any fish but even worse when cant seem to find a reason and this has been a tough first week introduction to fish keeping for me after a night of heavy research i have a few ideas to try that might work to solve the problem. i was pleased to see that the sick gourmai was still alive this morning i honestly thort it wouldnt survive the night if anything he seemed a little more active this morning but still very ill.I am hopeful that when i return from work later he will still be there.going to do another small water change today aswell althow tests still show amonia at 0ppm nitrite 0 ppm nitrate seemed to have droped slightly after yesterdays water change to around about 20 ppm.
what sort of levels of nitrate should we be aiming for ?

dbaggie · « **Reply #8 on:** May 10, 2014, 10:48:53 AM »

I think anything under 80ppm is usually considered ok, although under 50 is better - your reading looks fine to me. There could perhaps be a contaminant from something else in the tank, or could it even be something like forgetting to add declorinator (or not adding enough) when doing a water change?

ColinB · « **Reply #9 on:** May 10, 2014, 10:50:32 AM »

I had quite a few unexplainable fish deaths when I first started, but as my tank matured then these all stopped. It's very stressful for a fish to be transported to the shop, put into new water, chased around and netted, transported home and put into another tank of new water. Then pecking orders have to be sorted out, then sorted out again if you add more fish, etc. This stress reduces their immunity and can lead to death for no obvious reason. You're not doing anything wrong.

chris213 · « **Reply #10 on:** May 10, 2014, 11:14:32 AM »

thanks guys , iam going to stick with it and keep learning and hopefully everything will settle down and the tank will mature into a lovely happy place for the fish

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Author Topic: help (Read 3740 times) 10 replies

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