5 replies to this topic

[Ktvokdheart606]

Hey, Im really new to keep fish in general and the fish are actually my husbands but he is gone working all the time so I take care of them. He is new to fish as well. We have, I believe and 15 gallon tank maybe 20 not really sure. We have minnows, darters and two crawdads. The other day I found one of the smaller darters dead. No clue what happened. I woke up this morning and noticed the darters were very dark in color, like a lot more black and not really eating when I fed them. I am curious if them turning darker is okay or is there something wrong? We have had them a month and they had been doing fine eating. I dont know any of the terms for the stuff in the take but they have bubbles going in from filter and a bubbler thing in take so Im pretty sure they have plenty of oxygen as well. At one point my husband decided to give them worms, they ate them but I noticed the pieces not eaten become a giant like white blob almost like mold. I pulled out the pieces I could find but he cleans the tank and I dont how to correctly. Just want to make sure they are okay because Ive become attached to the little fellas. I dont talk to my husband much while he is gone to another state working and like I said he is fairly new to all this as well. Ive attached two photos as well of what they look like right now.

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[Ktvokdheart606]

Update: just found two more darters dead. I dont know what to do and its killing my soul that this is happening! Please help!

[keepnatives]

Hard to tell but how big are the crayfish?

[UncleWillie]

Uneaten foods will foul the water.  A tank that is not established with a healthy load of beneficial bacteria (i.e. a new tank that have not been "cycled" properly) will sometime experience spike in ammonia.  Until the bacteria has built up to levels that can handle the nitrites/ammonia (toxic to fish), the spikes in ammonia can cause fish deaths.  Look up "cycling new aquarium".  With the tank only being a month old, I suspect this may be the issue.  Can you test the water?  There are some cheap water quality testing strips sold at most pet stores.  If you aren't sure of the cause and can't test the water for nitrites/ammonia, I suggest a partial water change.  

 

As the name suggests, partial water changes are when you remove a portion of the existing tank water and replace with new treated water.  Usually this is paired with a gravel vacuum, which will syphon water out of your tank while sucking up fish waste and uneaten food items from your substrate.  This will "freshen up" your tank while removing common culprits of ammonia spikes.  When adding new water, make sure it is properly treated for chlorine/chloramine, and close to the same temperature as the existing tank water.  For your fist water change, I suggest doing a 1/3 water change, and maybe continuing with 1/4 water changes every couple of days until you can get the ammonia until control and bacteria can start to keep up.  Feed sparingly too.

 

So sorry about the darters!

[Ktvokdheart606]

Update: So we had another couple darters die. There are 4 left and 2 still not doing so good. My husband come home finally and we cleaned the tank out, done a partial water change and add some Tetra Cleaning bacteria. We had hoped this would help them but still like I said 2 are still not doing well. Everyone else seems to be fine. The crawfish is a about 3inched long I would guess maybe 4. We did find one the fish this morning with his tail end gone so Buster (crawfish) definitely got ahold of one.

[Fleendar the Magnificent]

What are your water parameters? Ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, etc.... If the tank isn't cycled and the bacteria established that turns the ammonia into nitrite and then into nitrate, THAT kills fish quickly. Nitrite is more deadly than nitrate, but nitrate is still deadly to fish, it just takes a lot longer.

That being said, uneaten food rots and turns into ammonia which turns into nitrites. If the tank isn't cycled and you have food rotting on the bottom, that can do it. The craws just come by and eat what's left. Go and buy a water test kit. I myself like the 10 in 1 test strips that test ph, hardness, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, etc... The way I seed my tank with bacteria is to get a quart jar of water from where I caught the fish at and add that water into my tank. It jump starts the bacteria culture.

 

Check your parameters.

The Grumpy Old Man.