# What I did wrong causing 5 death?



## ug.mac (Jul 13, 2010)

I have 5 tetras dead since Thursday, plus one red cherry shrimp too. Three I have left are showing finrot....

All of this happened just after I changed the water on Thursday. After water change I noticed tetras were acting strange, ie restless and stress. Then short after two tetra found stuck in between glass and inflow sponge (I have sponge prefilter on inflow) and they didn't want to get out, this was around 8:00pm. At 10pm I found the first dead tetra, water tested the same time, 0 ammonia, 6.7 ph as usual.

10:30 Friday morning two more dead tetra found along with one dead red cherry shrimp. In the afternoon, all five tetras left are showing rotting fin. I did a small water change then dosed antibiotics (amoxicillin). Came back from the dinner found two more dead tetras. I kind knew they won't make it because they were very sick in the afternoon.......

I'm following a maintenance schedule since dayone. Daily water topping up and glass cleaning if need, weekly 30% water change, biweekly 50% water change and equipments cleaning..... To making sure all of these done on time I use 2do on my iPhone as check list and reminder.

I never had a single problem in this tank since beginning. My fishes were always heathy and water was also stable. I had fin rot in other tank with no death after the same amoxicillin treatment, never sudden death like this time.

I will be appreciated if someone can tell me what could cause all these death. Any input are welcome.

ug.


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

how long have you've had your tank running? what was the GH?

Causes may be from the follow:
-lack of osmosregulation (0 GH)
-a spike in the parametres due to new tank syndrome
-did not use water conditioner to rid the chlorine and metals in the water when doing a water change
-fish/shrimp feel stressed due to lack of hiding spots
-LFS you bought the fish had water issues/etc
-ammonia may be zero, but what about your nitrate and nitrite levels?
-you do quite frequent water changes, do you have enough of a bio-cycle going in your tank

hope those give you an idea or trace back to where the problem may lie.

good luck.


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Agreed, start by checking your water parameters. What is your Nitrite, Nitrate and GH?


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## Sandy Landau (Jun 4, 2010)

I can sympathize because something went way wrong in a water change that I did for a friend and some of her fish died, too. I never really figured it out for sure but we have some guesses.

In your case, you're clearly putting lots of work into the tank, so it's not a question of neglect. The fish aren't new, so it's not likely a quarantine problem unless you brought in new plants. I would first guess that your water is too soft and you should add a little Equilibrium or Replenish or similar (see all of Rastapus's posts) or even a little aquarium salt (not too much). My second guess would be that you forgot something. Third guess is that you added the wrong thing, mistaking one bottle for another. (I think this is what I did.)

I notice that you clean your equipment often. Equipment doesn't need to be cleaned very often. Just rinse your filter media in the expelled tank water and replace part of it if needed. If you do end up cleaning everything, don't replace all the media at once and, obviously, don't add soap.

Those are my thoughts. I know how bad you feel as I just went through it. 

If you think that you've imported a disease through plants, equipment or fish, then it's probably just a question of getting the right medication and letting time run.


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## ug.mac (Jul 13, 2010)

Thank all you guys so much for all the input.

Now the water parameters are:
Ammonia: 0.00 ppm
PH: 6.7
GH: 4 dGH, 71.6 ppm
Nitrite: 0.01 mg/l
Nitrate: 3 mg/l
Nitrite from tap water: 0.00 mg/l
Ammonia from tap water: 0.00 ppm

Test kits are API Ammonia, PH, GH/KH, Seachem Nitrite/Nitrate kit.

This is a 5 gallon tank, so small changes to the water can cause a big disaster like the one I'm experiencing right now. I had two more dead shrimp today but tetras are doing good. Thanks to amoxicillin, finrot is under control now. 

I did put a new filter I got my Mykiss the same day. Mixed of new ceramic rings that came with the filter and mature biomedia from AC 20. Filter was new except sponge was used but cleaned.

What should I do next? Water change 10% daily for 7 days?

Thanks.

ug.


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## jobber (May 14, 2010)

i feel for you. i've had my tank crashes in my old 5gallon tank before. it's easier for a small tank to experience a tank crash more frequent since there is less water volume. what type of substrate you using? and type of filtration?


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## EDGE (Aug 24, 2010)

Was the sponge used in this tank prior to adding to the filter or a different tank?

Medication should be done in full cycle. Not a great idea to stopped in the middle of dosing because the sickness might not be completely out of the system. follow with the instruction and continue the treatment. 

Check to see if the medication is invert friendly or not. Shrimps/inverts are usually more sensitive to medication.


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## ug.mac (Jul 13, 2010)

jobber604 said:


> what type of substrate you using? and type of filtration?


Substrate is Fluval Shrimp Stratum Substrate, thinest at 1 1/2 inches, 2 3/4 inches at thickest. Filter is canister filter rated at 60 gal/Hr filled with Fluval biomedia and ceramic rings.



> Was the sponge used in this tank prior to adding to the filter or a different tank?
> 
> Check to see if the medication is invert friendly or not. Shrimps/inverts are usually more sensitive to medication.


Sponge in the filter was from a different tank but completely dry when I got it. I had it washed, soaked until no more debris.
The amoxicillin I'm using is for human. That's was emergency and I don't have a choice and I don't know if it will effect shrimps.

Today is the day three since amoxicillin dosing, tetras are acting like normal now. Finrot has stopped completely. Shrimps that survived are OK I guess, busy as usual, eating as usual.......

BTW: What's the best GH for shrimp tank?

ug.


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## EDGE (Aug 24, 2010)

3 gH is a good place to start for the slightly acidic shrimp species.


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## ug.mac (Jul 13, 2010)

EDGE said:


> 3 gH is a good place to start for the slightly acidic shrimp species.


Thanks EDGE.


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