Fish kicked the bucket during a water change....

[TwoHedWlf]

Gill bleeding and sudden death = symptoms of severe acute toxicity.

Enough to kill one fish that quickly but all the rest uneffected?

 

[RD.]

It is a known fact that different fish/species have different tolerance levels to toxins.

All just speculation at this point I suppose, that was just my 2 cents worth after considering what the OP posted.

 

[esoxlucius]

The flying fox algae eater is predominantly a bottom feeder is it not? I'm betting it was curious about the new sand and maybe copped a mouthful when the sand hit the bottom. A few tiny sharp fragments could have got lodged in the delicate gill structure, causing stress and discomfort, hence the fishes "twitching" and "zooming" about behaviour. The sharp shards could have messed up the gills enough to kill it and cause the bleeding that Niki_up witnessed on the paper towel.

I can't see it being anything more sinister than something anything along those lines. All the other fish are fine.

 

[RD.]

I don't think so, an injury such as that wouldn't cause sudden death. Sudden death in an aquarium typically = exposure to a toxin. Zooming around the tank as Niki described, is another behaviour often seen when fish are exposed to a toxin.

 

[RD.]

Not saying that I am right, no telling at this point, but for anyone that has ever cycled a tank with various tropical species, they will understand that while some fish swim around (in a toxic soup of NH3 and NO2) as though nothing is out of the ordinary, others drop dead on a daily basis. Some species such as danios are known to tolerate these toxins much better than other less hardy species, many are the only fish that survive.

I have zero experience with flying foxes, so perhaps this species, or at least fish, was exposed to something in that sand that caused its demise, while the rest of the fish were not, or at least were not affected. As pointed out in the link that I posted, other fish keepers have also lost fish after adding this sand to their tank.

 

[Niki_up]

Gill bleeding and sudden death = symptoms of severe acute toxicity.

In my mind I have ruled out the chloramine in your local Epcor water, with the amount of Prime that you used. All other things considered an under dose of Prime makes zero sense to me.

That leads me back to "what else took place prior to this event?" ……… which was the addition of the black fluorite sand. There are other things that could have taken place that could have shocked a more sensitive fish/species, but the bleeding from the gills, that sounds more like exposure to an irritant - perhaps a very fine irritant, such as ultra fine dust from sand.

I'm not sure what brand you used, but I will make an assumption that it was Seachem, a trusted brand, but after reading some reviews it seems that others suffered some fish losses after adding this sand - even after rinsing it several times before exposing their fish to it. And there are numerous complaints about how fine/dusty/dirty it is, even after rinsing multiple times.

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Regardless of the brand name, and while I certainly don't believe every sob story that I read on Amazon reviews, contamination of any product such as this is also a very real possibility.

Sorry that you lost the fish.

This is the product I used. It was very expensive too. I’ve used it in my other tanks and not had any problems but after reading the reviews they are all correct in description. 25% or more goes to waste upon rinsing and it needs a lot of rinsing!

there’s a fine layer of almost silt that washes out off the sand and it’s impossible to get rid of it all.

the only way to minimize dust/cloudiness is to pour the sand in the tank by holding the container no higher than an inch off the bottom and letting it fall out of the container.

 

[Niki_up]

Not saying that I am right, no telling at this point, but for anyone that has ever cycled a tank with various tropical species, they will understand that while some fish swim around (in a toxic soup of NH3 and NO2) as though nothing is out of the ordinary, others drop dead on a daily basis. Some species such as danios are known to tolerate these toxins much better than other less hardy species, many are the only fish that survive.

I have zero experience with flying foxes, so perhaps this species, or at least fish, was exposed to something in that sand that caused its demise, while the rest of the fish were not, or at least were not affected. As pointed out in the link that I posted, other fish keepers have also lost fish after adding this sand to their tank.

Flying foxes are much similar to Siamese algae eaters only they are better at eating algae. I do find them more sensitive than SAEs though. I bought six of each and I only have two flying foxes left as all have passed in some sort of way. (I should have noted how they died...though some of the bodies never showed up)

 

[Backfromthedead]

This might be out of left field but it very well couldve been shock related to a temperature swing. In the fall/wintertime i have to monitor my water changes to make sure im not adding too much icy water as some of my fish are pretty sensitive.

My late threadfin and my chalceus will seize up and go belly up if i drop the temp too quickly, usually displaying some panic behavior right before. Its entirely possible some cold water couldve freaked your fish into a fatal self inflicted injury...

Just thought id mention since winter is setting in across NA and if you use the hose for water changes this could be an issue.

 

[RD.]

This is the product I used. It was very expensive too. I’ve used it in my other tanks and not had any problems but after reading the reviews they are all correct in description. 25% or more goes to waste upon rinsing and it needs a lot of rinsing!

there’s a fine layer of almost silt that washes out off the sand and it’s impossible to get rid of it all.

the only way to minimize dust/cloudiness is to pour the sand in the tank by holding the container no higher than an inch off the bottom and letting it fall out of the container.

This is the review that caught my eye, there was 1 or two more that mentioned fish dying shortly after adding the sand.

0 out of 5 stars Killed my goldfish of 6 years and broken filter
November 2, 2018
Verified Purchase
Absolutely mortified!!!!if I can give zero stars I would.i had two goldfish of 6 years that mysteriously died after using this sand,they were fine at first,second day they were sitting on the sand floor,next morning dead babies .Not to be that person,but my fish were like family.i washed the sand about 10 times and ended up still being very dark grey in my tank and that hasnt settled whatsoever.Theres dust on every surface in the tank and it completely destroyed my filter/impeller on my recently purchase marineland penguin 350.Me listening to everyone saying flourite sand is the way to go incase I want to get into aquarium plants in the future and that it's better than gravel made me take the plunge but if I had known this was going to be the outcome for me I would of steered clear.Absolutely horrible and unacceptable,I've done everything everyone else did to prep the sand,idk maybe something weird got into the sand,I have no clue but i pray nobody has the same experience as me!!

This might be out of left field but it very well couldve been shock related to a temperature swing. In the fall/wintertime i have to monitor my water changes to make sure im not adding too much icy water as some of my fish are pretty sensitive.

My late threadfin and my chalceus will seize up and go belly up if i drop the temp too quickly, usually displaying some panic behavior right before. Its entirely possible some cold water couldve freaked your fish into a fatal self inflicted injury...

Just thought id mention since winter is setting in across NA and if you use the hose for water changes this could be an issue.

No, not a temp issue, Niki already noted that the temp was within a few degrees of the tank. As far as winter setting in, we are already hitting well below 0F for some time now, as well as snow. Niki lives north of me, so yeah, it's freakin cold here. lol Cold water directly out of the tap is in the 40's, no one in these parts fills directly from a cold water line this time of the year, especially when doing 80%+ water changes.

 

[Backfromthedead]

This is the review that caught my eye, there was 1 or two more that mentioned fish dying shortly after adding the sand.

0 out of 5 stars Killed my goldfish of 6 years and broken filter
November 2, 2018
Verified Purchase
Absolutely mortified!!!!if I can give zero stars I would.i had two goldfish of 6 years that mysteriously died after using this sand,they were fine at first,second day they were sitting on the sand floor,next morning dead babies .Not to be that person,but my fish were like family.i washed the sand about 10 times and ended up still being very dark grey in my tank and that hasnt settled whatsoever.Theres dust on every surface in the tank and it completely destroyed my filter/impeller on my recently purchase marineland penguin 350.Me listening to everyone saying flourite sand is the way to go incase I want to get into aquarium plants in the future and that it's better than gravel made me take the plunge but if I had known this was going to be the outcome for me I would of steered clear.Absolutely horrible and unacceptable,I've done everything everyone else did to prep the sand,idk maybe something weird got into the sand,I have no clue but i pray nobody has the same experience as me!!






No, not a temp issue, Niki already noted that the temp was within a few degrees of the tank. As far as winter setting in, we are already hitting well below 0F for some time now, as well as snow. Niki lives north of me, so yeah, it's freakin cold here. lol Cold water directly out of the tap is in the 40's, no one in these parts fills directly from a cold water line this time of the year, especially when doing 80%+ water changes.

Oh i see. Like i said out of left field.

Sounds like we can start making a case against this sand though. What the hell kind of company makes aquarium sand that kills fish?