6 replies to this topic

[Melleah]

Recently we have set up a tank. Now it is a six foot so as a starter lot we bought the following:

5 x Electric Yellows
5 x Red Emporers
3 x Red Katangas (sorry if spelt wrong)
3 x Moorii

We then also went and bought:

2 x Green Severum
3 x Gold Severum
2 x Firemouth Pair

Now the thing that is worrying me is all of the first list bar 2 have died. Yet all the second list are fine.

Now the first list all came from the same place where as the second come from two different ones.

Now this worrys me that the first aquarium shop has diseased fish as all purchased from there died (bar two, and it was three last night) and they are even dying.

Now the symptoms seem to be that of an intestinal disease.

Has anyone else had a similar problem?

I know of one other that has had the same thing happen and she bought dwarf gourami's,tetras ect.

Worried

Edited by: Melleah at: 3/12/03 7:13:06 pm

[Bninja79]

I think you'll find that the first list are all african cichlids that need a high ph (up around while the second list are american cichlids that are happy in softer water. Check your ph, then nitrates and nitrites (you didn't say whether you cycled the tank at all). If the answer isn't found in your water conditions then maybe someone else can shed some more light
hth

[Melleah]

Tested water all fine. PH around 8 and nitrates good.
Added a bit of rift for hardness.

No temperature problems. Doesnt make sense.

Even had Veba's test water just to make doubly sure and they said it is great.

This is why I am worried about disease.

Tank seems great and we just put a tropheus in on the weekend and he is happy as larry

[Bninja79]

hmmm maybe raise the temp by a couple of degrees and add salt for a few days just in case? this may be an idea to safeguard the remaining fish.
I had the same problem with some guppies i bought. did everything right and they all died within a week. So i never went back to that store again (i rang them to tell them about the problem and they said 'too bad, it must be your fault')
so i only shop at stores that offer a guarantee now, like morley aquariums
I think i'm allowed to say the name of the store that sold the dodgy guppies to me (board may be liable)
but if you want to compare to where you bought yours from email me

[mtchye]

Hi guys,

Just wanted to say that sometimes (and not necessarily in your case Melleah) it may not be the store's fault that a fish dies once brought home.

Many factors could have contributed. If the fish looked healthy in the store, and if you go back and all the fish are still healthy looking, its hard to blame the store for any wrongdoing, as from their point of view, their stock is still alive and yours aren't. If on the other hand you go back and the tank the fish were in are dead/dying then you may reasonably expect some sort of compensation, though I dont think they are legally obliged to do anything (not sure on this one)...?

Often we must remember that it is the CHANGE in conditions that stress / kill a fish rather than the absolute conditions themselves. Also I'm not sure if that was a new tank that you set up, perhaps testing for ammonia would be an idea, as this is the most toxic form of nitrogenous waste.. In a newly established tank, nitrates might be good, with high ammonia...

Another possibility is aggression... african and american cichlids do not really understand the type of aggression each exhibits... Americans can often be extremely aggressive and dominate a whole tank regardless of how many/what fish are in it, whereas some africans may defend a particular site but not pursue another fish to the ends of the tank

I doubt that was the factor in your case though, as you would probably have noticed it.

Anyway sometimes these things are beyond the store's control. Other things should be considered before blaming the store.. maybe the trip home was too long/hot from the store in question, and a short hop home for the fish that survived?

Let your tank settle down and then if you would like some more fish I'm sure there are many for sale in the classifieds also..



Vincent

Visit the:
Perth Cichlid Society Forums

[Melleah]

Thanks for your reply Vincent. It is much appreciated.

I have bred cichlids before and had a few years off.

In all honesty the tank checks out A OK!

To the point that my FireMouths are (and were) breeding when all this was happening.?

This is why I find it so confusing.

I am not name dropping nor am I going to. As you stated there are far too many factors that can contribute to this and even if I could 100% prove it was the shop, no doubt the owner frequents in here and has gone to work and had a good look at his tribes

I just love my fish (I give them names for gods sake) and I hated seeing so many little bodies for so long.

[BengaBoy]

hi Mel,

a couple of things spring to mind. one mentioned by Vince. could the first batch of fish been hurt by a cycling tank? and the 2nd lot went into a cycled tank? You sound confident it wasnt that, but from this side of the www it is hard to know without knowing the timeframes of when tank was started, when fish when it etc.

the other thought is maybe the 2nd lot of fish had a dormant disease that your 1st batch of fish were not resistant to?

sorry for the loss, it is a bummer when we dont know what went wrong - and even worse when we do and realise we did something stupid

steve.