Post-water change stress? Several fish hyperventilating...

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Sorry for your loss. :( My heart was also broken when I lost that fish. It was so big & beautiful. I think it is more sensitive to changes than other fish. None of my others had died but that one. I can't remember what I did wrong that caused it--it was quite a few years ago. I think it might have been the time I accidently filled my whole tank with ice cold water... All the fish were laying on the bottom barely breathing. I quickly started draining the tank, while filling it with hot water & got the temp back to normal. He was the only one that didin't make it.
 
My tanks are in the garage. During the Summer, when the temperature becomes elevated, I have a real problem performing tank cleanings and water changes. Because of the elevated temp, there is already less oxygen in the water. When I turn off the filters (and eliminate circulation) the fish become anoxic and really start to gasp. Given that they have grown since then, I will have no choice but to install a chiller in the next month or so.

I would suggest that your experience is possibly a combination of the following:
-Too many fish (too much fish mass)
-Poor circulation
-Elevated temperature
 
Usually I follow deaths with a change in the tank, or just leave an empty space, but in this case I feel so guilty and terrible that I really want to get another one right away. Two people have already stepped up to help me - I may be able to get a 3-4" guy, plus my girlfriend asked the local store to grab one from the wholesaler (though that one would be 2-3" and probably 70 bucks. Might be too small for my tank). Part of me feels like it's insensitive to the two that died to replace them so quickly but most of me is just eager to get another smiling bright red fish. One will do instead of two this time, though.

I would suggest that your experience is possibly a combination of the following:
-Too many fish (too much fish mass)
-Poor circulation
-Elevated temperature
Click to expand...

While part of me wants more responses suggesting other possible causes so that I don't feel so guilty, I'm virtually positive it's the circulation, first and foremost. Especially since the Lussoso stayed in the tank the whole time and recovered. And my AT is back in there too with him now, since he ate at least two tetras and made my girlfriend cry.

I might be pushing the limits with the bioload (18 fish, 2 of which were 9"), but I have always had good success with overcrowding. I'm just so upset because I could have waited a week to remove the HOB backup filter, until my FX5 arrived. Because if that was there there never would've been a problem. Sure the Eheim could handle the bioload, but putting the HOB on the planted tank was by no means an emergency or necessary. In fact so far I haven't seen any difference.

Last summer I had overheating issues, even with the tank in my place's bottom floor, which is basically a basement. This year all my tanks are at my girlfriends, which has a solid air conditioner, so I'm hoping to avoid any issues like that. It's a steady 80-82. I lived in Fremont for a short time long ago and I remember a streak of two straight weeks of 100+ temperatures one May (01 I believe). I can't imagine how difficult something like that would be on a garage tank.
 
Really sad, sorry for your loss.
 
The best circulation pattern and resultant oxygenation is established when the output is oriented to approx. the 1:00 or 2:00 position. This pushes the oxygenated surface water forward until it reaches the front panel and is then forced down until it reaches the bottom....then it moves along the bottom and back up against the back panel.
 
That's pretty much exactly how it is in my cichlid tank (by coincidence, not my deliberate planning) but in this one the spray bar is on a side and going straight out. Across several feet. So when it slipped it barely made any rippling effect at all. Meanwhile the powerhead at the other end had also slipped and was pointed straight down. (I scrubbed the suction cups and the glass and the damn thing is still sliding, now it's at about 30 degrees downward. Grr.)

I took the opportunity with the empty tank to remove about two buckets full of the gravel. If I'd had a place to put the big lussoso I'd have emptied it all and put down sand, but this will have to do. Created about 3 more inches of swimmable space. Kicked up a lot of gunk. But now nitrates are at exactly zero, which is pretty cool (usually 10 is the best I can get after a WC). And there's a lot more swimming space. To clean up the mess I kicked up I put the HOB filter back on. The 55 will just have to be overcrowded and filtered by one HOB overnight (I did a 50% wc) and the fish catching adventure (a real pain in a planted tank) will begin as I return everyone to the big tank. I'm keeping the HOB on the big tank and have the water level low just in case (probably overkill) and will reevaluate later this week when the FX5 arrives.
 
Sorry to hear this Dave :(
At least you were able to save some of them.
 
Sorry for your loss. I agree that circulation could be the culprit, but have you considered the alternative possibility of ammonia toxicity?

What's the difference in pH/hardness between your tap and tank? Could it be possible that removing your HOB caused a small ammonia spike that was mostly harmless due to low pH of the tank (NH4+)? A water change with hard/basic water could cause a rise in pH that would convert the ammonia to the more toxic NH3 form, causing the gasping and subsquent death. Some fish are more succeptible to ammonia poisoning than others

I only bring this up because I noticed similar gasping on some of my fish after water changes on a tank where I had recently changed filters. Increasing surface agitation didn't really make a difference. It went away completely when the new filters had fully established and ammonia levels had dropped back to 0.
 
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