almost a water question. turned obituary

[CHOMPERS]

That is gross.....And how the heck do you know this? .....You can take your torch and put it right back in the case!

I have dealt with it several times. In advanced cases of Septicemia, the bacteria goes nuts and acts like ebola. Sometimes the other fish will be unaffected, but other times it can be a tank killer. Picking the right medication is always a craps shoot. Some will work this time but not the next. If you don't see signs of immediate improvement, then you need to switch to another med. Often times, if a fish is too far damaged by the disease, no medication will save it. Harsh meds like Melafix and Pimafix will kill the fish more times than help weak fish.

In my experience, Life Guard is very gentle and also very effective most of the time. It is costly though.

 

[fish head )'>]

more background--
Last week I had to remove almost every rock out of the tank to pull two females holding fry (yellow labs). I vacuumed with the water change, (as with every water change once a week), but was able to do a great job while I had most of the decor out. No dead fish. It seems that in a day or two the water started to whiten up, almost like a new tank syndrome cycling cloudiness. And it did quickly. By day four, I knew something was wrong. The thread basically starts at that point.

There are lots of hiding places in my tank. (see pictures) I do homeschooling with my children at a table in front of that tank, I look at the tank all the time and stare at the fish , and take note of how they are doing. However, the yellow labs are the only fish that I have multiples of in that tank. With eight fairly identical looking fish, with the females often hiding, I must admit I do not always attempt to count those. Even at feeding time when all the fish are out from all the nooks and caves, it is such a frenzy, that it is not so easy to say: "oh yeah there is all eight labs". If it was any other fish I would have noticed. That may sound weird, odd, lazy or mean.

I am not offended by any of your inputs or suggestions. I thank you all for caring enough to respond. I do not believe I am being over defensive, (even though I am sounding like a lunatic right now ) I maybe did not include enough back ground information. I was trying to keep the post to a readable length. I am often accused of giving too much information. BTW: I did another water change today, thanks for the suggestions. I think the stinky water was from the dead fish. It seems to be better today.

Here is the run down of fish in this tank (1 of 9 tanks. about 155 fish. in total)
7 (4M,3F) yellow lab
1M Blue ahli
1M kenyii
2M red top kapuna
1M Red zebra
1M Zebra
1M Yellow princess mlotto
1M hybrid peacock
1M Rock krib
1 ? Jeweled
1M Frontosa
1M Acei
2M Sunshine peacock (1 LG, 1 SM.)
1M Red peacock
1M Aulonocara Jacobfriebergi peacock
1M Labeotropheus fuelleborni
1M ice blue zebra
2? OB peacocks
1M Geo japari (S. American cichlid)
4 giant danios
2 sailfin plecos
1? yo-yo loach

 

[bigspizz]

Yeah I couldn't have been more wrong in thinking it could have been anything else. Your tank is stunning! If thats 1 of 9 wow nice setups. Your water looks great fish look very very healthy. It is WAY easy to see how one could get lost now....(I didn't know there was 35 fishes either) Sorry you lost a pet. Had you said you were Ace Friggen Ventura...I Would have gone with random occurence over probable bad water habits! Glad to here everything is better and your tanks are WAY better than mine so no worries!

 

[CHOMPERS]

When you refilled the tank, if you added tap water then de-chlor, that could have killed most of the bacteria in the filter. It is best to always treat the fill water out of the tank before adding it.

 

[fish head )'>]

When you refilled the tank, if you added tap water then de-chlor, that could have killed most of the bacteria in the filter. It is best to always treat the fill water out of the tank before adding it.

I am using well water. On that day I did water changes on 4 tanks. Only that tank had the 1 dead fish.

Good tip though. I have heard that before.

 

[CHOMPERS]

That's a head scratcher...It must have been the dead fish. Has the filter been functioning properly since the incident? (has the ammonia been out of control?)

 

[Nova 8]

I can understand why you could lose a fish in that tank, I can only see 4 labs in the pictures. Very nice tank aswell, looks great and is really clear it would take a great deal of dedication to dismantle that rock pile and then remake it. I hope you manage to find out what caused the problem, and sorry for making it sound like you don't check you tanks well enough. I may be able to see all my fish almost straight away, but I can also see 95% of the tank unlike you.

 

[fish head )'>]

Water is already back to normal. and clear again.
Nova 8, I thought the picture may help.
CHOMMERS, it was the dead fish. In a lake, a dead fish doesn't hurt. I guess in a 125g it's a problem!
thanks again.

 

[CHOMPERS]

It's good to hear that the tank is better. I have been milling around some decorating ideas for my 250g tank. I have some driftwood soaking but I wanted some flagstone for a background. I like the look of your tank and how you combined the two. I am gonna have to borrow the technique. Maybe I'll get mine to look as good as yours.

 

[fish head )'>]

Thanks. Flagstone works pretty well for decorating because it stacks stable so easily and quickly. I drudged up some other pictures of the tank. I usually put a piece of stone vertical to hide filter equipment. For awhile I was using the stone vertical across the back glass as a background. I think I may do that again this next water change.