I Feel Dumb Even Posting This.

Test kits are something most of us agree we "should have," but I wonder how many of us actually do. I have some, but they are all expired because I almost never use them. After a while, you know what's going on most of the time without them.

Not everyone hates you ....I dont, good post who knows it could be a disease.

You said that "looking at their bodies it looks like red blood spots on the fish". When I read that I cringed. It's not the ammonia, it's a disease. And not a fun one.
Here is a list of fish diseases that cause red bloody spots on fish:

Viral hemmorrhagic septicemia. Info and pictures: http://www.invasives...ities/vhs.shtml

Bacterial hemmorrhagic septicemia (Aeromonas Hydrophila). Info: http://answers.yahoo...24184131AAPCpvv
And this is a good page: (scroll down if the page doesn't immediately show up) http://www.daff.gov....typical_strains

Furunculosis. Info and pictures: (scroll down if it doesn't immediately show up) http://www.daff.gov....sh/furunculosis
Once I had a zebra danio with it. It looked like someone took a melon baller to the side of the fish. This isn't quite what you described, but I hope your fish had furunculosis instead of viral hemmorrhagic septicemia.

I don't mean to disagree with the people who already said stuff, but if it was one of the above diseases then it wasn't the person who was watching your fish's fault. They aren't familiar with fish and they wouldn't know how to diagnose and treat a disease. Actually, everyone on this website hates me already so it doesn't seem to matter what I say any more, but I just thought that someone should stick up for this poor person who was watching the fish. It's not their fault this crazy killer disease struck. That's why I always leave the people who watch my fish with the instructions that, "Fish are gonna die while I'm gone. You can't avoid it; it's gonna happen. Check the tank every time you feed them for dead bodies and remove them. But don't stress out too much. It's not your fault." Then usually no fish die. But it's worth telling someone, that way they remove the diseased bodies.

Edit: Oh, and I'm adding this to my post. I just saw that you did a 100% water change at one point. Never do that. If you read Diana Walstad's book, she has some [pretty crazy sounding] ideas about how you never actually need to change the water at all (she does it I think she said once every couple of months, 10 to 15 percent). Anyway, I used to think that the woman was insane, but as I age I'm starting to agree with her. Or at least I'm starting to admit that water changes stress fish. For some fish, especially fragile fish who are possibly diseased, a 100% water change might be the final straw and might break the camel's back (kill the fragile fish). So never chance 100% of your water at a time. It stresses out fish. And sometimes a sick fish won't be able to survive it.
Except, of course, in the instance of poison in the water. But I've poisoned my fish a couple times now, and they survive much better if you change the water 10% every two hours than if you do one 100% water change. *shrugs* I'm a horrible person, I know. You don't need to tell me that. Everyone on here hates me today. *sighs* Anyway, good luck with your fish. I feel your pain.

the fish kill has stopped...no deaths in 2 days.


i have to disagree with "owning a test kit" I have had stable water for over 3 years. since before natives. i never had an issue. i have well seasoned tanks and i know how to establish new tanks instantly. so having a test kit that has a "use by _ _ date" would do no good for me. when i first started out i had one. and i do have a salt water one currently because i am new at that. although i did use live sand, and live rock from the ocean as well as media from my parents tanks. you will find that most of the members here who have been doing this awhile do not have test kits either.

Choosing whether or not to own a test kit is up to the individual. But if the choice is not to have one there will be questions that can't be answered. Of course aquarium test kits are no good for chemicals such as glass cleaner, herbacides or pesticides.

It is awfully difficult for anyone to be able to diagnose a problem with fish over the internet, disease or especially water quality. All we can do is speculate and hope we were able to help. As Lotsapets implied even if the tests aren't used on a regular basis they are a definite need when issues arise with the fish.

If it was Ammonia would fish die the next day? You bet. Ammonia burns the ends of the gills suffocating them. Depending on the amount each is "burned", oxygen requirements and other extenuating circumstances it is highly possible.
The same with chemicals. It would also depend on the metabolism of each fish on how fast it would travel through the nervous system.

You stated you use a well and you have had stable water for over 3 years. I assume this is known because the well water has been tested regularly. And that you are aware water qualities such as nitrates, pH, and total dissolved solids (TDS)can/do change in wells. I don't know how the weather has been where you're located but if it has been abnormal it could affect the water quality. Just a thought.

Anyway glad to hear there have been no more deaths recently. Hopefully it's behind you.

Test kits are something most of us agree we "should have," but I wonder how many of us actually do. I have some, but they are all expired because I almost never use them. After a while, you know what's going on most of the time without them.

Bingo! I don't even know what the expiration date on mine is (was). Good to have, but never gets used.

I generally keep an ammonia, a Ph, hardness and a Clorine kit around. I check ammonia at the first sign of a problem and to check our tap water during the summer. I know what our Ph is but I keep a lot of soft water fish so I use along with the hardness kit and reverse osmosis to adjust the Ph and hardness of out tap water. I also use the hardness kit to check the water coming out of the reverse osmosis filter. I only use the clorine kit during the summer because they sometimes use more during the summer. I do regular partial water changes so I don't use nitrite or nitrate kits. I don't even use them on the rare occasions when I have a marine aquarium up. SO yes I think that they are something most aquarists should have and use as needed. In this case it might have given a clue as to what happened to the water if anything.

I have been keeping fish for most of the past 47 years, there have been very few years that I have not had at least 1 aquarium going. I look at them as tools.

You stated that you "have had stable water for over 3 years" but that was while you were taking care of the aquariums, keep in mind someone else was doing it while you were away.

I have to agree with keeping a kit around. My water is generally super stable, but once in a while something happens. I test the tanks at random every month or so.