I just got about 50 rosey red minnows 3-4 days ago. I expected a bunch to die but this seems very strange.
The fish are in a 55 gal barrel which already had about 35 gambustia and just simple aeration and water changes about every 2 weeks or so.
The first morning i found one dead fish, expected. Each morning after i go out side between 8-10am and there are no dead fish, then i feed them and within 30 min there is a totally dead fish floating. I noticed the coincidence today so i fed them 2x and each time within 30 min, a dead fish each time. I just ran out of food the first day i had the fish so i went and got food from the .99 store. I have also been feeding it to my bluegill and they are still fine.
any ideas? I was thinking it might be fatheads dying that were not eating, buy the last one did not seem skinny.
Thanks Rob (noobie)

I just got about 50 rosey red minnows 3-4 days ago. I expected a bunch to die but this seems very strange.
The fish are in a 55 gal barrel which already had about 35 gambustia and just simple aeration and water changes about every 2 weeks or so.
The first morning i found one dead fish, expected. Each morning after i go out side between 8-10am and there are no dead fish, then i feed them and within 30 min there is a totally dead fish floating. I noticed the coincidence today so i fed them 2x and each time within 30 min, a dead fish each time. I just ran out of food the first day i had the fish so i went and got food from the .99 store. I have also been feeding it to my bluegill and they are still fine.
any ideas? I was thinking it might be fatheads dying that were not eating, buy the last one did not seem skinny.
Thanks Rob (noobie)

The fish (feeders) were in bad shape already. feeding them may have been enough to kill them
feeders are starved before shipping. this may seam cruel but its true.feeders general health is of
little concern to the growers there goal is live shipment. as in mass # only.
you may have better luck keeping flathead minnows alive from a bait shop these minnows are intended as bait
and are cared for a little better.

but it maybe the food for a total of $0.99 i would toss it!
just my $.02 from a old fishermen

Fasting any fish before shipping is a good idea - it cuts down the amount of waste excreted during shipment and helps keep the ammonia lower. This isn't just done for feeder fish. I fast any fish I send out to friends, and people who send me fish do the same.

I threw in a few pellets(not the normal flake food) this morning and then came back a little later and found a straggler on top, then another one about an hour later. So it should not be the food just poor condition of the fish from the pet shop. Both fish were still alive so i fed them to my bluegill. Hopefully the dying will stop soon as their stress reduces. Unfortunately the gambustia i left in the barrel when i stocked the fatheads. I used to dip some gams for my bluegill about once a week so they were very skittish, diving to the bottom when they see me. Well they are teaching the fatheads to do the same.
Anyone have an idea of the breeding size of a fathead? Mine are about 1.25" long and was hoping it would not take them more than a month to start trying to lay eggs.

A barrel with simple aeration? I'm willing to bet there was an ammonia spike, I would check the water parameters. Going from 35 fish to 85 is quite the jump and I doubt any bacteria in the barrel could handle it, especially without a filter.

A barrel with simple aeration? I'm willing to bet there was an ammonia spike, I would check the water parameters. Going from 35 fish to 85 is quite the jump and I doubt any bacteria in the barrel could handle it, especially without a filter.

And the ammonia will spike after each feeding. If the pH is high, this is a bigger problem. It's probably a combination of factors. I'd be suspicious of the food as well and would certainly want to be sure to use a high quality food if your goal is to breed these fish. I'd also add some sponge and/or box filters to the ends of those airlines. The addition of Poly Filter (typically available from shops that specialize in reef tanks) to the box filters will help to bring the ammonia level down as will increased water changes.
Mark

Sponge filters are the way to go, they're super cheap. you could even get a media bag and fill it with carbon or other chemical filter media.

Thanks all. I have no idea about the water quality. There were more Gamms in the barrel but they were fed to my other barrel of bluegill. I had lost about 1/2 of my bluegill shortly after adding each batch but the tails were pecked raw and almost bloody within a day or 2. I was told that was a normal agressive male problem. I have probably had over 100 gams easily on their barrel and i dont think i have had more than 2 fish die(very hardy fish). Im doing this project as cheap as possible but have been thinking about some sort of filtration. I will start looking for foam for a filter. What purpose does the charcoal have? How often do they need to be cleaned. I have a bilge batter and solar cell that i am wanting to setup as a filter but it will only run about 3 hours a day on the small solar panel. I guess a water test kit would be a good idea. thanks, any ideas welcome. I also forgot i have a 3 stage ro house filter assembly i could hook up some how to my bilge pump if the pump has enough pressure to pass water through.

Edited by robbor, 29 November 2008 - 03:16 AM.