Re: NANFA-L-- Fish Kill- Anyone have any ideas?

Mysteryman (bestfish-in-alaweb.com)
Sun, 15 May 2005 12:01:52 -0700

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Jeff Grabarkiewicz wrote:

> Hello all:
>
> This past day, my 40-gallon tank underwent a massive fish kill. I
> lost just about everything, except those I managed to put into a
> bucket before they were spent. I've had this tank up for about 1
> year, and have had very few mortalities. It was a major bummer since
> the community was a result of collecting in 6 states.
>
> When trying to diagnose the problem, I'm really-in-a loss. The water
> chemistry was fine. The tank has heated up slightly due to the
> changing weather and heat kicked out by my dehumidifier in the
> basement, however, it never did reach over 72 degrees. I had added a
> 2nd outside power filter about three days ago, so the thought was
> stray voltage might have been an issue...however, I shut everything
> down and didn't see any recovery...Perhaps they were too far gone-in-
> the point. I had also added three, what appeared to be healthy fish
> on Sunday.
>
> Could this be some type of bacterial issue? I didn't see any outward
> signs, and the coordinated death makes me think no. I lost probably
> 20 fish last night alone. In addition, the 10 or so fish that I
> salvaged and transferred to a bucket look OK today. I should mention
> that the bucket was filled with slightly aged tap water, not tank
> water. All these things again make me think possibly stray
> voltage...or some type of poisoning.
>
> The fishes symptoms were very heavy breathing and loss of equilibrium. .
>
> Any ideas or input?
>
> Bummed out in Michigan,
>
> Jeff
>
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I would have gone with poisoning if you hadn't added 3 fish just before
this happened.

Stray voltage doesn't really work that way. You could always test for it
very easily by putting a hand in the tank. Make sure one finger has a
tiny little cut on it and dip it in with the filter unplugged. You
shouldn't feel anything. Then plug it in and repeat. If you have stray
voltage you'll feel it in the cut, which is very sensitive. I should
point out, though, that in freshwater stray voltage shouldn't be the
problem it is in saltwater, and even if it was the problem, you would
have seen the fish all acting weird and avoiding the filter area.
Unplugging/plugging in while observing the fish should tell you if they
feel anything.

Disease would have been my first guess, since you added 3 fish right
before the trouble started, and the temp increased, but their recovery
in the bucket of new water suggests otherwise. So, I guess we're back to
poisoning, unless:

The fish which died and the ones that lived--- any similarities or
differences in the groups? That is, did all the shiners die while the
stonerollers lived, the sunfish died while the catfish are fine, that
sort of thing?

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Jeff Grabarkiewicz wrote:

Hello all:
 
This past day, my 40-gallon tank underwent a massive fish kill.  I lost just about everything, except those I managed to put into a bucket before they were spent.  I've had this tank up for about 1 year, and have had very few mortalities.  It was a major bummer since the community was a result of collecting in 6 states.
 
When trying to diagnose the problem, I'm really-in-a loss.  The water chemistry was fine.  The tank has heated up slightly due to the changing weather and heat kicked out by my  dehumidifier in the basement, however, it never did reach over 72 degrees.  I had added a 2nd outside power filter about three days ago, so the thought was stray voltage might have been an issue...however, I shut everything down and didn't see any recovery...Perhaps they were too far gone-in-the point.  I had also added three, what appeared to be healthy fish on Sunday.
 
Could this be some type of bacterial issue?  I didn't see any outward signs, and the coordinated death makes me think no.  I lost probably 20 fish last night alone.  In addition, the 10 or so fish that I salvaged and transferred to a bucket look OK today.  I should mention that the bucket was filled with slightly aged tap water, not tank water.  All these things again make me think possibly stray voltage...or some type of poisoning. 
 
The fishes symptoms were very heavy breathing and loss of equilibrium.  .
 
Any ideas or input?
 
Bummed out in Michigan,
 
Jeff


Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Mail - 250MB free storage. Do more. Manage less.
I would have gone with poisoning if you hadn't added 3 fish just before this happened.

Stray voltage doesn't really work that way. You could always test for it very easily by putting a hand in the tank. Make sure one finger has a tiny little cut on it and dip it in with the filter unplugged. You shouldn't feel anything. Then plug it in and repeat. If you have stray voltage you'll feel it in the cut, which is very sensitive. I should point out, though, that in freshwater stray voltage shouldn't be the problem it is in saltwater, and even if it was the problem, you would have seen the fish all acting weird and avoiding the filter area. Unplugging/plugging in  while observing the fish should tell you if they feel anything.

Disease would have been my first guess, since you added 3 fish right before the trouble started, and the temp increased, but their recovery in the bucket of new water suggests otherwise. So, I guess we're back to poisoning, unless:

The fish which died and the ones that lived--- any similarities or differences in the groups? That is, did all the shiners die while the stonerollers lived, the sunfish died while the catfish are fine, that sort of thing?

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