# 80% of my tank died while away whyyyyyyy ..... ....????????



## Travo (Dec 16, 2012)

First ill say what was in tank it was a 72gall tank with an fx5 filter I had 9 3" Malawi hap cichlids , 2 7" bala sharks , and 6 1-4" gourami in . I left from kelowna to Vancouver for a few days for work and to look at new fish in Vancouver my 2day trip turned into 3 . I did a water change probably 3 days before I left . I usually will have my friend pop over and feed my fish every 2 days when I'm gone on extended holiday or work but I figured since I was only gone for 2 days and I was gunna boot home on in the morning that my fish would be okay for food. But I didn't expect to come home and find all but 1 cichlid and my gourami alive they were gasping for air so I quickly replaced 90% of my water and added ammonia and nitrate remover to my fx5 , my ammonia read 1.4-2 on the test kit I didn't have nitrate or nitrite tests available but the ammonia alone was deadly , just stumped as to how this happened so fast in my years of keeping fish ill admit I used to neglect water changes and filter media changes but over the last few years I have on top of every thing and almost anal . My thought was that maybe one fish died because I had to cichlids that were not getting along one was always hiding by heater I would separate them occasional in my other tank but I didn't have a permanent tank for him , I was thinking maybe he died and ammonia spiked or my heater gave out and killed off a bunch of fish hence the high ammonia and heater started working again ... Any have any suggestions I'm stumped I raised the sharks for over 3 years they were going into my 300 g I just bought in a week .


----------



## Diztrbd1 (Apr 21, 2010)

Sorry to hear and wish I could provide an answer , but I cant. I think you can rule the heater out. IME they don't usually go out then start working again unless there was a power outage. Usually when they die...they die. Possibility one of the fish could have died and caused this, but I would think an FX5 could keep that under control for a couple days.


----------



## Travo (Dec 16, 2012)

Diztrbd1 said:


> Sorry to hear and wish I could provide an answer , but I cant. I think you can rule the heater out. IME they don't usually go out then start working again unless there was a power outage. Usually when they die...they die. Possibility one of the fish could have died and caused this, but I would think an FX5 could keep that under control for a couple days.


Yaa I'm absolutely stumped this is why I've stuck with freshwater for all these years


----------



## bottles151 (Apr 21, 2010)

You said that you've been anal about filter media changes. 
Did you change any of that recently? Maybe there wasn't enough beneficial bacteria and it caused an ammonia spike?
Just a guess.
Sorry to hear that.


----------



## Travo (Dec 16, 2012)

No hasn't replaced in about a month , about par for fx5 and if I'm cleaning out sponge ill only replace single media basket in any one of my tanks .


----------



## William Wilson (Apr 7, 2012)

Sorry to hear about your loss. That really sucks!

This is exactly what happened to my daughter's 120 gal tank when one of her Geophagus died and decomposed in the tank. As it decomposed over 3 days, the ammonia went through the roof and killed almost all of the other fish. The Geo was visibly stressed and was being harrassed by its tank mates before she left and it probably died soon after she came over here for the weekend. She had plenty of filtration (two Fluval 305's) and it didn't make any difference.


----------



## Travo (Dec 16, 2012)

Thats exactly what I think happened I have went way longer without filter media changes and water changes in past I could understand a fish or 2 dying but 12 fish doesn't make sense to me . It was a quick spike caught me off guard


----------



## Travo (Dec 16, 2012)

Rip fishes


----------



## Travo (Dec 16, 2012)

I just lost 2 large tilapia during shipping from Vancouver to kelowna , this is a real setback for me in terms of confidence I just ordered a 300 gall and was just figuring out how to move this tank from alder grove to kelowna now I'm second guessing my self I guess I just went so long with out something like this happening I maybe lost a fish here n theree


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

It happens to the best of us. With the 300 gallon you'll have a lot more water as a buffer for incidents. A dead fish in a 70 gallon will have a lot more impact than a dead fish in a 300 so it's a positive move so don't second guess yourself.


----------



## Chassan (Apr 2, 2012)

I agree a fx5 should keep even a dead fish"s ammonia spike off for a few days should not be a filter problem , what heater are u using ? I once lost all fish due to a heater that I got second hand that screwed me over ! Also any sprays or chemicals around tank or by air pump maybe it was chemical


----------



## Travo (Dec 16, 2012)

A stealth pro heater I think made by fluvall , my fx5 seems to be running a lot less quite than usual so I unplugged heater and felt flow it has good flow still but I think it's less than usual .. Quite strange since I just cleaned it yesterday after the fish loss


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

Did you clean the impeller and the impeller well? It might be all gummed up in there. I am too lazy to clean the impeller every time on my FX5 as you have to take a screwdriver and unscrew it instead of just popping it off like other filters. I only clean my every 3rd or 4th time, unlike my other filters, where I clean the impeller and the impeller well every time.


----------



## Chassan (Apr 2, 2012)

That is strange ! U could check the impller I have eheims and when that happens I just clean the impller and housing and its good , other than too much food ESP worms sucks up in canister and ammonia spikes while feeding or too much left ,sorry that must be a buzzkill loosing so many fish !


----------



## Travo (Dec 16, 2012)

Yaa it's no good losing fish especially a whole tank at once  I never cleaned Impellar will give me something to do 2nite


----------



## Travo (Dec 16, 2012)

Just found out my power was out for over 4 hours while I was away this could have contributed to my ammonia spike for sure.


----------



## 2wheelsx2 (Apr 21, 2010)

I guess besides the monitor it might not be bad to invest in a battery air pump that kicks in when power goes out, or a UPS of some sort. I keep meaning to do that myself but haven't done it yet but really should. It's just that 6 tanks with a UPS each = ouch$$


----------



## Travo (Dec 16, 2012)

Yaa I here you , even three tanks will add up , but I've never been aware of these preventive measure devices I'm going to look into them


----------



## Chassan (Apr 2, 2012)

Sounds good ! I need to aswell ! Keep me update on what u get and how it is


----------



## Travo (Dec 16, 2012)

For sure man


----------



## mrbob (Aug 9, 2012)

Hey Travis sorry to here about your loss! i hope that Jag wasn't one of them if so that's a shame sorry again for your loss I been there! after 4hr power outage while away loss some expensive Africans!


----------

