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3 Yellow Perch Dead...


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#1 Guest_ja586_*

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Posted 29 April 2013 - 02:50 PM

Im away at college and recently got 3 yellow perches (~2" each) and a kili at a local lake. My plan was to ship them home Tuesday and introduce them to my 80 gallon. I got them Saturday and put them in a holding tank with some pet firebelly newts. There is only about 2.5 gallons of water. I did a partial water change yesterday and everybody seemed okay. Today (Monday) I fed a cube of brine shrimp and I came back in the afternoon and the three perch were all dead and the kili was fine.

I have no idea what happened. There is a piece of drift wood in the water which Im sure had been lowering the pH... but why were they okay for a few days, and why is my kili still fine? I have no way of testing the water because Im away at school and all of my fish things are at home. What would selectively kill like this?!

In addition I used to have a guppy fry in there by accident, but he got eaten at some point in the last few days. The guppy had been living there for about 2 weeks with no problems.

Anyway Kili is going to have to live in a cooler overnight until I can get him shipped properly. Im too afraid to keep him in the tank. I was really looking forward to having some perches....

#2 Guest_rjmtx_*

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Posted 29 April 2013 - 02:54 PM

My guess is either DO or ammonia. Can't say for sure without a water test.

#3 Guest_ja586_*

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Posted 29 April 2013 - 02:57 PM

Are perches more sensitive? The kili has NO symptoms of anything. The tank was cycled for about 3 weeks with a used fish filter. It got cloudy and everything during cycling.

#4 Guest_ja586_*

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Posted 29 April 2013 - 03:04 PM

Actually I feel pretty dumb. The kili is doing the ammonia toxicity gasping thing... Still cant figure how perches are more sensitive then him, or how it all three when from "fine" to dead in 6 hours.

I really have no way to test my water... is there anything on a necropsy that would indicate? I don't want to introduce a disease to my tank back home.

#5 Guest_Subrosa_*

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Posted 29 April 2013 - 03:15 PM

What kind of Killie? If you ever saw the way Mummichogs, Fundulus heteroclitus were packaged when they're sold for bait you wouldn't have to ask why Yellow Perch are more sensitive! A folding cardboard container like the one used for Chinese takeout completely packed with wet fish. Perch treated like that would likely start dying from the stress let alone the water.

#6 Guest_ja586_*

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Posted 29 April 2013 - 03:39 PM

Fundulus diaphanus, banded killi. I feel so awful about this. Ammonia must be an awful way to die. The perch have red streaks on their fins (well one of them) so Im almost certain ammonia was the cause. Just watch me be wrong and send the killi home and everybody in the tank dies.

In addition, now I have to pay for 2 day guaranteed shipping for only one fish... At least I didn't take home the 5" pumpkinseed and kill that in a 5 gallon bucket too. I have been keeping aquariums just long enough to forget my basics and get cocky. Maybe this is fishy fate telling me I DO want to order some darters this summer.

Sorry for the rant. Just really angry with myself.

Edited by ja586, 29 April 2013 - 03:39 PM.


#7 Guest_gerald_*

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Posted 29 April 2013 - 05:54 PM

"cycled" is relative to animal load in a tank. when you add more or larger animals (and thus more food) it takes the bacteria some time to catch up to the increasing ammonia production.

#8 Guest_Skipjack_*

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Posted 29 April 2013 - 06:19 PM

I am sure that we have all killed our fair share of fish. Don't beat yourself up too bad.

#9 Guest_rjmtx_*

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Posted 29 April 2013 - 10:50 PM

I am sure that we have all killed our fair share of fish. Don't beat yourself up too bad.


I second that.

Also, maybe try to catch your own and save on shipping costs of native fishes (while following all applicable laws and all that jazz). Keeping fish is tricky, and stuff goes wrong sometimes. Different fishes have different tolerances. That's just what you're witnessing. I respond to fish kills locally, and the majority of them are pogies (gulf menhaden) just because they are very sensitive to DO drops. You can see hundreds of dead fish in very speciose areas, and only see a couple of species, sometimes.

Edited by rjmtx, 29 April 2013 - 10:51 PM.


#10 Guest_Owain4_*

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Posted 30 April 2013 - 01:04 AM

2.5 gallons is pretty small tank for 3 2" yellow perch unless you have high aeration and filtration. Perhaps the bioload was too much as-well. I noticed you said that the tank went cloudy when you cycled it. Tanks don't get cloudy naturally unless you have a bacteria bloom which means there is too much fish waste/ left over food to get broken down by the nitrogen cycle, so bacteria that is usually counter productive to your nitrogen cycle will start to grow and eventually wreck the nitrogen cycle. Also if your tank does go through a small bacterial bloom there is very very little oxygen present in the water which is usually the first thing to kill fish. Also maybe you didn't Acclimatize them well enoug

Edited by Owain4, 30 April 2013 - 01:04 AM.


#11 Guest_ja586_*

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Posted 01 May 2013 - 04:06 PM

That's interesting about the bacteria bloom. I have always been told that this was a good thing. The water went cloudy when no animals or food was in the tank, which has happened to me on a few tank cyclings using used filter sponges.

As for catching my own fish, I did catch these guys myself, my aquarium just happens to be a couple hundred miles away.




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