Lost two fish today please help.

david74675 · Apr 15, 2008

I have a 55 gal tank that I replaced my canister filter yesterday. I rinsed everything off before setting it up. I put all the ceramic rings from the old one into the new one. The old one was a Rena XP3 and the new one is a Cascade 1000. I have checked all my water parameters (ph, amonia, salinity, nitrates, ect.) and they are all good.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

afelder · Apr 15, 2008

how did you rinse the filter media? please post he parameters it will help to eliminate issues

david74675 · Apr 15, 2008

The parameters were:

Ph 8.2
Phosphate 0.5
Nitrate 0
Amonia 0
Nitrite 0
Temp 78.6

I washed it out by rinsing it out and wipping it out with a clean towel.

Also the onlyfish that seem ok are my Mono's

Thank you again for the help...

afelder · Apr 16, 2008

what did you rinse it with? Whats your salinity? What fish did you lose? How long had you had them?

RIPreef · Apr 16, 2008

Did you transfer the OLD media to the new one?? If you didn't you lost all of the bacteria you needed! You cant just replace old for new. Nitrates high now??

RIPreef · Apr 16, 2008

Mechanical filtration media is what I was asking about.

RTG · Apr 16, 2008

I'd expect ammonia would be the first to rise if the bacterial colonies had been upset and unable to handle the load. Even then, it's highly unlikely that ammonia would get to toxic levels overnight unless some other radical changes where made at the same time of if the system is just freshly cycled.

SteveU

david74675 · Apr 16, 2008

afelder said:

Salinity is 1.020

I lost a Yellow Tang, Half Black Tang and a i think it was a yellow head goby.

the two tangs i have had for a year or so and the goby about two months.

I rinsed it with tap water in the sink then dried it out with a clean towel.

nahtanoj · Apr 16, 2008

do you always keep salinity that low? i would recommend about 1.025-1.026.
i know back in the day salinity was kept low in fish only tanks to prevent ick. but that low of salinity was actually stressful and harmful over time to the fish, not saying that was the problem, but may have contributed.
jon

afelder · Apr 16, 2008

david74675 said:

You may have introduced chlorine or chloramine into your sytem. If you are rinsing salt water filtration media you should typically rinse it in salt water as you will kill a high percentage of the bacteria with fresh water. I also think the salinity might be a little low but not fatal. What symptoms did you observe in the fish also what did they look like after they died?

david74675 · Apr 16, 2008

nahtanoj said:

It is usually a little higher but i did a big water change last night to see if that would help and was a little short of salt. I also forgot to mention that i had a maroon and gold clown that was preaty bad yesterday he is better but still will not eat.

david74675 · Apr 17, 2008

afelder said:

I did not rinse the media at all i just transfered it to the new filter. ( I have made that mistake before with a total loss). Then i put in the new carbon ( i did rinse the carbon first) and media filters. The symptoms were disorintation and swiming upside down. As far as the dead ones they looked just the same as when they were alive as far as color and apperance besides being dead you would'nt be able to see a difference.

On a side note last night i took my other yellow tang that had the same symptoms as the other fish and put him in my hospital tank and it seamed to be much better today. My clown fish looks better also but neather is eating.

nahtanoj · Apr 17, 2008

well, just keep that hospital tank water clean with water changes, and hope for the best. i hope they pull through for you.
you might also try finding some live brine shrimp too entice them to eat.

david74675 · Apr 18, 2008

nahtanoj said:

Ok thank you i will try and pick some up today on my way home

RTG · Apr 18, 2008

Things that come to mind that will/can kill a fish quickly.

Salinity changes
pH changes
Alkalinity changes
High levels of ammonia
Low Oxygen levels

I think temperature change within reason might lead to disease but not be a cause in near immediate death.

I wouldn't think there would be sufficient residual chlorine or chloramine left in the filter media after rinsing to be a problem. I'd be surprised if the procedure of cleaning the media and wiping out the bacterial colonies is the reason for the fatalities since every other surface in the system is home of to those same bacteria. Again, the overnight death due to build up of ammonia in a system two years old and no large source such as a considerably number of dead organisms doesn't seem likely to me.

SteveU

MadMax · Apr 18, 2008

I'm guessing external factors....

Possible scenarios:

- Did you clean the outside of your glass with Windex?

- Did your wife perhaps spray Carpet Fresh throughout the room?

- Do you have a toddler running about who might have thought daddy's fish tank is a cool new toilet?

- Any other external chemicals, sprays, liquids, etc. from about the room that might have found its way into the open top of your aquarium?

No matter the culprit, I'm guessing your best course of action is a large water change and running some carbon....SOON

david74675 · Apr 19, 2008

MadMax said:

Well thank you guys for all the advise looks like everything is back to normal. I still don't know what it could have been but i am glad it has passed. I am thinking that i must have missed something when i was cleaning the new filter and i contaminated my water. Have done a few water changes over the past few days and seam like everything is just about back to normal.

Once again thank you everyone for the great advise.

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