# Help fish dying rapidly no apparent cause



## Vmax (Mar 16, 2013)

I have had 8 fish die in the last 24 hrs. 
The only sign of a problem was a glass fish that had a whitish cotton on tail beginning of tail.
Have watched & pulled out dying, 2 neon tetras, one hatchet fish(3 died), one clown loach ( swam slowly and then couldn't hold themselves self upright)
and 3 hillstream loaches.
There is no visible sign of damage.
It all started with 1 marble hatchet found dead in the tank

Temp - 25.2c to 25.7c (after llights on all day) 
pH -7.3
Ammonia - 0
Nitrites - 0
Nitrates - 10
GH -80
KH - 50

recently added - 2 clown loaches, 6 marble hatchets, one moss ball
the tank is well planted
Any help is appreciated

I would add pics but can't


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## MEDHBSI (Sep 4, 2011)

Do you use any cleaners like febreeze? And I'd move the clowns temporarily I've had them kill fish before


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## Foxtail (Mar 14, 2012)

The white cotton at the base of the tail sounds like calumnaris.. Get an antibiotic.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## Vmax (Mar 16, 2013)

No we don't use febreeze, too many allergies.
I watched a couple of them die....no loaches present


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## Vmax (Mar 16, 2013)

any particular anti biotic? will it kill the plants?.... only one glass fish had any signs like this



Foxtail said:


> The white cotton at the base of the tail sounds like calumnaris.. Get an antibiotic.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

you use co2?


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## Vmax (Mar 16, 2013)

charles said:


> you use co2?


No I don't use co2

I started them on a course of Furan-2 (1/2 dose)
Have lost all but one hillstream loach,,,doubt it will survive
lost another marble hatchet

went to island , with pics and still no definitive cause,,,,just guessing


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## Fltengalan (Feb 21, 2012)

Sounds more like poisoning than a disease, way too fast, have you used anything around the tank at all?


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

I'm assuming you are doing water changes?


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## stargazer86 (Sep 22, 2011)

this is definitely poisoning. 8 fish in 24 hrs is highly unusual unless there were symptoms over the last 3-4 days prior to the massacre that you missed. 
think back to anything (and i mean absolutely anything) that you allowed to come into contact with the water in the tank or the water going into the tank or the interior of the tank. 

the only time this happened to me was when i was a newbie and i scrubbed the interior of my cichlid tank with a new sponge, the kind that is usually used for scrubbing kitchen surfaces...and the only solution that worked was a very serious water change regiment. day 1 50%, then 25% every day for the next week. in your case, i think you have very little to loose. go all out and start with a massive 75% water change, then do 50% water changes every day.

the cotton tail may be irrelevant to your massive death situation. it may just be a coincidence that the two are occurring at the same time. parasites, bacteria, protozoans etc dont kill that fast!


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

I wonder where you get your water from, perhaps they started adding chlorine in your area? Like Chilliwack?


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## Vmax (Mar 16, 2013)

Thanks guys, I was wondering about poisoning too , but it's weird that 2 hatchets died, then 2 days later another one then another day and the big hit
I haven't had one die in 40hrs now, put 2 -1/2 doses of furan-2 in 
If there was a contaminant (poison) introduced, the only thing I can think would be the ink on the bag the fish came in.... I usually take 45min to an hour to acclimate new fish.( maybe hand sanitizer?)
I have done a couple of water changes....but I don't have anything to skim the top of the water....any suggestions how to do that? 
More water changes coming up!


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## Vmax (Mar 16, 2013)

Reckon said:


> I wonder where you get your water from, perhaps they started adding chlorine in your area? Like Chilliwack?


Not sure but I add prime to the water & temp & ph in a bin before changing the water


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## Vmax (Mar 16, 2013)

Just an update....no more problems all fish seem healthy and water quality is good.....I'm now thinking (as was mentioned before) it was a poisoning of some sort
I'm thankful for all the support this community has shown and am happy everything is back on track
now I just need to replace some of the fish

Cheers!


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## Clownloachlover (Apr 21, 2010)

Vmax said:


> Thanks guys, I was wondering about poisoning too , but it's weird that 2 hatchets died, then 2 days later another one then another day and the big hit
> I haven't had one die in 40hrs now, put 2 -1/2 doses of furan-2 in
> If there was a contaminant (poison) introduced, the only thing I can think would be the ink on the bag the fish came in.... I usually take 45min to an hour to acclimate new fish.( maybe hand sanitizer?)
> I have done a couple of water changes....but I don't have anything to skim the top of the water....any suggestions how to do that?
> More water changes coming up!


Your mention Hand Sanitizer...most of those are alcohol based, which could poison your fish, but I would think limited exposure to your tank water and the fact the alcohol in hand sanitizers "flashes" off as it dries, I would be lead to believe that would be a low percentage cause. Maybe take a water sample to a fish store and see if they can test for any strange elements or something in the water.


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## Vmax (Mar 16, 2013)

Clownloachlover said:


> Your mention Hand Sanitizer...most of those are alcohol based, which could poison your fish, but I would think limited exposure to your tank water and the fact the alcohol in hand sanitizers "flashes" off as it dries, I would be lead to believe that would be a low percentage cause. Maybe take a water sample to a fish store and see if they can test for any strange elements or something in the water.


I was hand feeding bloodworm at the time (bad idea) so I was figuring the fish may have touched my fingers and ingested something.
I now just pop the frozen bloodworm in (without touching it) and let them peck at it until it sinks and feed the bottom dwellers.

(I am now hoping no one is going to say that frozen is bad to give as i do it for the marble hatchets and it does a great job of distribution)


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## SeaHorse_Fanatic (Apr 22, 2010)

Agree. Maybe some aerosol or a visitor gave the fish some beer or something. I know someone whose college roommate had a party and lost all his fish because a guest thought the fish would like some beer like everyone else. Alcohol is toxic to fish, that little "joke" didn't end well at all. But I agree that disease or parasites don't kill this fast usually. Only Marine velvet in sw kills large numbers this quickly that I know of. Perhaps the mossball came into contact with something and is releasing that toxin into your water. 

Best bet is massive water changes. Match pH and temp. but change frequently and large volumes. "The solution to pollution is dilution"


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