All of my fish died this week

[Michaela]

What could have happened to them? They were glowlight tetras and were approximately 1.5 years old. I'm guessing it was some kind of contagious disease, but what kind? They all had the same symptoms...wouldn't eat, floating upside down, and a white, swollen underbelly.

 

[Dawn Marie]

Well, I've tried searching online for tetra diseases but I couldn't find a thing. So I can't tell you why they died. I dunno how old they are supposed to live to, either. Sorry.

 

[Key Of David]

What could have happened to them? They were glowlight tetras and were approximately 1.5 years old. I'm guessing it was some kind of contagious disease, but what kind? They all had the same symptoms...wouldn't eat, floating upside down, and a white, swollen underbelly.

It sounds like they became bloated to death....their little digestive systems stopped up and they couldn't....you know. This usually occurs mainly in goldfish that can't get the hang of floating flake foods......they aren't adept at eating from the surface....however your tetras should have had no problems. I'm no expert so I'm sorry I can't help you any further. I too tried a search but didn't turn up much...what did turn up involved goldfish. Did you feed them anything different prior to this? Change the water/temperature in a major way? Add anything? Did you do anything different?

 

[Michaela]

Nope...everything was the same...I changed foods 6 months ago lol but I don't think that would matter...

 

[pmarquette]

What could have happened to them?
need a bit more ....
type of filtration undergravel , external , corner
type of plants need live plants to balance toxins
type of scavenger need catfish / snails to clean up left overs
how often water changed replace evaportation , remove and replace 10-15% of volume monthly / bi monthly
how often gravel cleaned any build up of food or waste

They were glowlight tetras and were approximately 1.5 years old.
what other fish were in tank with them ?
tetra's only eat at mid depth ... need some top and bottom feeders

I'm guessing it was some kind of contagious disease, but what kind?
only feed what will eat in 2-3 minutes ...
sounds like swim bladder problems ... as per other post

They all had the same symptoms...wouldn't eat, floating upside down, and a white, swollen underbelly.

clean out tank , rinse gravel , clean filters with salt and hot water ...
fill tank 1/2 full , add 3-4 bunches of plants ( myrofillium , valisineria , anacharis , other ) .....

let plants grow for a week , water and filters run , prior to adding fish
check ph ... should be around 6.8

select some top feeding fish ( mollies , sword tails , platys , guppies )
and replace tetras ( glo-light , serpae , head/tail lite )
add 2-3 small corydors catfish ...

for 10 gallon tank < / = 5 guppies , 6 tetras , 2 cats ....less than 15 small fish

 

[Mulutka]

I've given up on fish due to not being able to keep my ph at a safe level (shakes head in frustration). Aquariums can be sooo finicky!

I'm sorry to hear that this happened. Even though fish aren't really the most shall I say 'cuddly' pets, it still is hard to deal with loosing them (especially when self-blame is thrown in). As cliche as this sounds, learn from your mistakes and just try again.

BTW, whenever I lost my fish, (en mass ) I would bring one of the fish to a pet store, along with a sample of the water. Do you have a helpful pet store around your area too??

 

[Key Of David]

I'm sorry to hear this happened too....I've kept fish all my life...ever since I was 6 years old. It would really bother me if something like this happened. Well they were definately bloated....but I keep having to wonder....what caused it. You had them for a year and a half and they just bloated all of a sudden. Let me ask you something.....did their eyes look like they were swollen or were going to pop out? This would have been "popeye". Did you have a lot of little bubbles in your water, especially from an airstone? If so this caused it.

 

[Key Of David]

I've given up on fish due to not being able to keep my ph at a safe level (shakes head in frustration). Aquariums can be sooo finicky!

What is your ph?

 

[Mulutka]

What is your ph?

To be honest, the last time I had fish was about 4 years ago (I switched to cats--> they're easier to keep alive, but are still a big headach!! ) The way I used to do the ph test was via the colour scale (each colour is a number, I'm sure you have this in the States too). I remember the one time I brought in a sample the pet store clerk was absolutly shocked how I was able to have such a bad ph level-- especially since I clean my water with the ph formula bottle/thingy.. I can't remember what the formula is called,,,, oh, such horrible memories though!! I remember so many times crying at night and praying over my aquarium... I tried sooooooooo hard!!!

When I moved out of the house my dad accidently ran over my tank... or so he says that it was an "accient" (lol) That ended my fish keeping days for good. I still think about setting up a tank... but then I remember all the money that went down the drain (literally )

Anyone who has the patience and care that aquariums require has my admiration.

 

[Epiphany]

What could have happened to them? They were glowlight tetras and were approximately 1.5 years old. I'm guessing it was some kind of contagious disease, but what kind? They all had the same symptoms...wouldn't eat, floating upside down, and a white, swollen underbelly.

To Life Immortal

Sorry to hear about fish. Maybe someone on forum can help. Try using google or yahoo to find out about fish illnesses.

Peace and Long Life
~*~ Epiphany ~*~

 

[* kittie *]

oh man...sorry.

 

[countrymousenc]

What could have happened to them? They were glowlight tetras and were approximately 1.5 years old. I'm guessing it was some kind of contagious disease, but what kind? They all had the same symptoms...wouldn't eat, floating upside down, and a white, swollen underbelly.

So sorry that you lost the fish. What you described is unusual in tetras. If you could answer a few questions, maybe I could help.

1. Had you recently added anything (a plant, or new fish)?

2. Was there any unusual behavior before they stopped eating or started swimming upside down?

3. Were their scales standing out away from their bodies (like a pine cone)?

4. Do you know the pH of your water?

5. How often did you do water changes, and how much? Was there any change in this routine before they got sick? Do you have well or city water?

I hope things go better with your new fish (if you plan to replace them)

-cm

 

[Michaela]

So sorry that you lost the fish. What you described is unusual in tetras. If you could answer a few questions, maybe I could help.

1. Had you recently added anything (a plant, or new fish)?

Nope

2. Was there any unusual behavior before they stopped eating or started swimming upside down?

They weren't eating as much

3. Were their scales standing out away from their bodies (like a pine cone)?

Nope

4. Do you know the pH of your water?

Nope...this time around I'm buying a water test kit

5. How often did you do water changes, and how much? Was there any change in this routine before they got sick? Do you have well or city water?

I change 75% of the water every week, no change in routine, city water

I hope things go better with your new fish (if you plan to replace them)

I did replace them yesterday with 2 dalmation mollies that I've named Jacob and Esau.

-cm

 

[countrymousenc]

You might want to call the city water department and ask whether they've made any recent changes in the water treatment; in fact, your local fish/pet store might know. It certainly sounds as though you were taking very good care of your fish. Do get a pH test and an ammonia test. If your pH is very much above neutral, it may have shortened the tetras' lives, since they are soft water fish. Hope everything goes well with your mollies!

 

[Key Of David]

A little friendly criticism....you should not be changing 75% of your water unless absolutely mandatory. This is very stressful to the fish unless you have all water parameters and temperature exactly the same was what's in the tank. The only time you should be doing major water changes is if the tank is overloaded AND the fish are ultra sensitive to the nitrates that build up. Nitrates and medicating are the only reason water changes are even necessary. Did you make sure the water was the same temperature and was dechlorinated? With a proper setup you should be changing your water say once a week at 25%. My brother-in-law (mr. know it all, hehe), changed all of the water and didn't dechlorinate the water....they all died instantly accept the hardier goldfish. If you were changing the water with water from the same source all of the time....your ph probably wasn't the issue here.

 

[countrymousenc]

Key of David is right about not doing really large water changes unless you know what you're doing (how to match temperature, and not changing hardness or pH). If you are making sure the new water matches the old, there's nothing wrong with it, and some of the more demanding fishes benefit from large changes. I change 50% every other week, carefully matching the temperature (to reset fertilizer levels in my planted tank, and to accomodate heavy-feeding goldfish in the other). There are discus breeders who change 80-90% daily. 25% per week is good enough in most cases, though.

 

[Key Of David]

BTW - that is a great pic of the mollie and a great looking mollie....I wish I could take pics like that of my fish...

 

[Michaela]

Key of David...I almost had to change my water that much. See, my mom, who isn't much into fish (or any pets) , would only let me have a little 2 gallon tank with no filter. So my water would turn murky after about 1-2 weeks. Luckily, she let me get a new tank today that came with a good filter and is 2.5 gallons. Hopefully that will help. I always had the water temperature within 1-2 degrees and was dechlorinated when I changed it though. I figured that was safer than letting them live in dirty water. Also...why couldn't ya take pics like that? I never found it hard. The tricky part was getting them close enough together. I suppose a digital camera helps too.


PS---Does anyone know about how much Mollies should be fed? Unfortunately, that teenager with 10 holes in each ear at the pet store wasn't too helpful...

 

[Starcradle]

I am sorry for your loss, Michaela.

 

[Key Of David]

Key of David...I almost had to change my water that much. See, my mom, who isn't much into fish (or any pets) , would only let me have a little 2 gallon tank with no filter. So my water would turn murky after about 1-2 weeks. Luckily, she let me get a new tank today that came with a good filter and is 2.5 gallons. Hopefully that will help. I always had the water temperature within 1-2 degrees and was dechlorinated when I changed it though. I figured that was safer than letting them live in dirty water. Also...why couldn't ya take pics like that? I never found it hard. The tricky part was getting them close enough together. I suppose a digital camera helps too.


PS---Does anyone know about how much Mollies should be fed? Unfortunately, that teenager with 10 holes in each ear at the pet store wasn't too helpful...

Well at least you will have a little bit larger tank and a nice little filter to make things more stable for your future pets. I see now what may have been wrong. If the water was becoming murky there was probably so much pollution in the water from their waste that they got really stressed. When fish are stressed their immune systems go way down in performance and they're susceptable to who knows what disease is floating around in the tank waiting to take over. It sounds like you were doing great at taking care of them....though twice a week 35% water changes may have been less stressful due to that not allowing much waste buildup.

I have a VERY cheap digital camera for now so my pics don't come out very well at all.....I'll be getting one at some point. I would think mollies get fed the same as any other fish.....

I know what you mean about the teenager comment....musta been a Petsmart huh? lol

Not knocking Petsmart though at least they do support our local shelters.

God Bless with the new setup!