Dead Fish Situation

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Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


Rodrick
 
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2008 10:41 am

Dead Fish Situation

by Rodrick

I have unfortunately lost 3 fish while being away on holiday. Really SUX but unfortunately it has happened. The problem now lies with the layout of my tank and the extraction of the dead fish. I have alot of rockwork in the tank and intricately laid out allowing for tunnels caves ect and in order to get to the back to remove the fish I would have to virtually take out all the rocks which I am not that keen to do as I really don't want to stress the fish out anymore and loose others. What is the situation with dead fish (lying on the substrate not floating at the top) in the water??? How long can they remain there. How will this effect the condition of the water and health of the remaining fish. And are there any "clever tips" in order to extract dead fish in tricky areas without unsettling the remaining fish and having to dismantle the whole arrangement.
Secondaly: I was away for 5 days and as it being the holiday season could not find anyone to pop in and feed my fish. So I resorted to the "holiday feeders" Tablets that dissolve over time and feed the fish. The one I used was suitable for 15 avg size fish for 10 days. I have (or atleast had) 21 fish so I added another half BUT was also only away for 6 days. I believe they died as they were hungry as these weekend / holiday feeders do not release enough food (my opinion now) for all the fish to eat and the more dominant fish bully the others and as a result do not get to eat. I am pretty routine in my feeding schedule and up until I went away had extremely healthy fish and very little aggression in the tank, now the aggression has heightened and I have lost 3 healthy fish. Could anyone give some tips or products or gadgets to feed fish fish while away for a period of time.
I would also like some opinions on these weekend / holiday feeders (tablets) if anyone has ever used them
Cheers


Tmercier834747
 
Posts: 887
Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:33 pm

by Tmercier834747

Your best bet is really having someone around to give your fish some food. 5 days isn't much of a stretch though honestly as fish -can- go far longer without food in the wild. Unless they're like one of my dwarf puffers which has recently developed a problem with internal parasites...-.-
I don't place much stock in vacation stones or automatic feeders. The stones aren't really suitable for a ton of fish species to benefit from and the automatic feeders tend to dispense way too much food.


vwfan79
 
Posts: 80
Joined: Mon Dec 01, 2008 8:20 pm

by vwfan79

As for extracting the dead fish, I don't have any ideas really how to do it without removing the rocks. Unless you get some sort of gadget to get back there to pick them up. I do know they do need to come out though, leaving them in there will raise nitrate levels and can possibly become toxic to the other fish.
As far as the feeding will away on holiday goes I don't trust the feeding stones. Automatic feeders are a good way to go though. I use a Eheim feeder in order to keep my fish on a regular schedule. I've been using it for about 8 months now and have had no problems, actually am very happy with it. You can adjust the amount of food dispensed and program up to four feeding times. It is fairly inexpensive too.
Sorry to hear about your loss and hope everything works out with your tank.


Serial324556
 
Posts: 218
Joined: Thu Jan 31, 2008 2:35 am

by Serial324556

If you use a turkey baster (new not used haha) you might be able to get it to float out front where you can get to it easier. I have used a turkey baster in my tank a few times for getting uneaten silver sides and i have a lot of rock work/tunnels too.


Tmercier834747
 
Posts: 887
Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:33 pm

by Tmercier834747

that gives me an idea...you could try forcing enough waterflow through the rocks by holding a powerhead down near there to ''blow'' the fish out into open area where you can grab them with a net.....not to get all morbid and such..if no powerhead is available I think serial has the best idea..


Burgerking7679
 
Posts: 112
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:53 pm

by Burgerking7679

I was thinking the same as serial and tmercier.  If you dont get the fish out, like vwfan said, it will raise the nitrate level to toxic highs.Holding females go up to 3 weeks without being fed, but in that time they obviuosly are at risk of being harassed by the other fish. I've used the little tabs in a SA/CA cichlid tank and it worked while I was camping, but have never used an electronic feeder.

As for the deaths of the fish, if the power flickered and went out, even for a short period of time, the filter can empty. The bacteria will die and when the filter comes back on, the filter will push out all the dead toxic bacteria. I've had it happen twice, luckily I was able to get on top of the water changes quickly. It happens a lot to power filters, they run dry then magically start sucking water again. Just a possibility.

Hope that helps a little bit.


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

I would recommend african dwarf frogs to eat your dead fish, but you have fish that will make mince meat out of african clawed frogs

I assume all that rock in your tank is glued or adhered to the tank's floor and walls/glass, if so, you are out of luck pal

Scavengers
Scavengers can help you keep the aquarium clean by eating dead and decomposing matter. The scavenging cichlids of Lake Tanganyika feed mainly on dead or disabled fish. They can therefore be considered a type of carnivores, somewhat similar to the scale rippers, but scavengers will never attack a living fish unless it is already seriously injured or diseased and can therefore be combined with most fish species in the aquarium.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/cichlid ... anyika.php

That web site describes a type of fish that may help you (Scavengers is from that web site)

the best thing you can do right now is monitor every other day or every 3-4 days, your water to make sure your nitrate, nitrite and ammonia levels do not shoot through the tank lid

as for vacations, there are feeders that are set to a timer, that can be programmed sometimes up to 2 weeks (more expensive though)...I hope you do realize that fish can go without food for about 4-5 days...every Sunday I fast the entire tank, it helps to clean out their digestive tracts

hope this helps


yasherkoach
 
Posts: 1306
Joined: Sat Jul 26, 2008 1:24 pm

by yasherkoach

as a follow up, I found the Tanganyika Cichlid fish at one of my favorite online places (I only purchase live fish from liveaquaria.com and thatpetplace.com (I purchase snails and frogs from aquaticplantdepot.comm)...enough of the plugs :)

here's the link for that scavenger fish, not only will eat your dead fish but it may be a fish that you may like:

http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/cat/inf ... tegory.web

hope the link works...happy fishing pal


Burgerking7679
 
Posts: 112
Joined: Thu Nov 20, 2008 10:53 pm

by Burgerking7679

The problem with adding a carnivorous fish to a system consisting of mainly herbivores is feeding the carnivors after the dead fish are gone. You shouldnt have enough sick/dead fish to keep these fish happy(if you do, something is seriously wrong with your tank) so you would have to feed meaty foods.

It doesnt sound too bad, but these carnivores will have a hard time getting food because of the much quicker and harder working mbuna(not to mention aggressive). If the mbuna get enough meat they will develop bloat, which will most likely kill a few fish.

There are strategies to get food to bottom feeding scavengers but mbuna are far too quick and aggressive.

Also, aquatic community is a great site, but it doesnt use species names in their articles enough, so it leaves you with; "Ok, I know what a carnivore is, but dont know the name of any." lol


Rodrick
 
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Dec 02, 2008 10:41 am

by Rodrick

Hi Guys thanx for all the feedback One of the Fish floated up this morning so I sccoped him out the other 2 I have no idea wher they are, although when I realised I had lost fish I noticed some remains of one of the fish looked like a part of the skeleton and a bit of skin so not sure if he was eaten!!!!
Burgerking made a comment about filter running dry then starting up and pushing all the crap into the tank. just before I left I did about a 60% water change and cleaned up really nicely. Cleaned out the cannister filter ect ect. When I primed up the filter I noticed some solids squirt out the spray bar BUT didn't think much of it. I sccoped out as much as I could with the net but there was still stuff remaining COULD THIS BE THE PROBLEM
IF SO I NEED TO DO A SERIOUS WATER CHANGE AND CLEAN THINGS UP

Dead Fish Situation

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