Sudden Death Syndrome?

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M

Merbeast

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 17, 2007
795
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Sacramento, CA
www.thinking-man.net
I had a fish die on Saturday night... and I have NO idea why. Here's the scenario:
- The tank: 55 gallon moderately stocked and planted tank. Set up & stocked for about 6 months now. Fluval 203 filtering it. 3 penguin 550 powerheads moving water around (not agitating the surface much, just moving water). Ammonia and Nitrite 0 always. Nitrates vary between 5-10, I think the plants keep it low. pH hovers between 6.5-6.8. I do 10-20% waterchanges 2-3 times a week.
-I did a water change a little after noon on Saturday. I added declor. All the fish were acting normal. I fed them frozen hikari bloodworms (thawed in warm water) at 8pm. Everyone ate. At midnight I went by the tank on my way to bed and saw my pride and joy (Lo Fan, a short bodied albino senegal bichir) dead on the bottom of the tank. :OMG: No marks, no cause. :WTF:
-The plot thickens... No other fish have died or are showing any signs of stress... BUT my other senegal, Maxwell, did nip at Lo Fan. Never hard, I never saw any damage (no missing scales, no torn fins), and Maxwell never chased him, he only did it when they crossed paths. Since I never saw damage and Maxwell never chased Lo Fan, I didn't think it would be a problem. Was I wrong?

Has anyone else ever experienced this? Does anyone know the cause?
 
Sorry for your loss. IME fish dont normally just up and die. There has to be something to point to.
 
cichlid savage;1354899; said:
Sorry for your loss. IME fish dont normally just up and die. There has to be something to point to.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Which is why I am perplexed. Something killed him and only him, and did it fast. The plants are fine, his tank mates are fine, and he had no marks or other signs of trauma. At 8pm he was fine, swimming fine, eating and being a fish. He wasn't gasping or anything. 4 hours later, he was dead. :WTF:
 
Might be the PH is too low.When adding declor. The chloramine breaks down to chlorine & ammonia, maybe a sudden ammonia spike?
 
I tested the pH after the death, as well as the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. All were right where they always are. I did a 20% water change (~10 gallons) and added 20 drops of declor (the recommended value). I could see a spike killing fish, but he was otherwise apparently healthy, and he was the ONLY fish affected. I have his carcass in the freezer just in case CSI wants to examine the body.

Remember, no fish were gasping, flashing or floating. No signs, no symptoms, no warning. I think I should get to name this.
 
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