# Oh my, I killed my first fish!



## little (Mar 10, 2006)

and i am still missing 2 i have not found yet. Here is what I did, maybe someone could tell me where I screwed up. I had/have a really bad alge bloom thing going, after 2 weeks of keeping the lights out water changes and so forth, I decided to get extreme. I dropped the water level down to about 8 in. < this i was a combimation of 50/50 old freash water> I had to unplug the filters and heater so they would not brake, but i left the airstones on. i covered the tank with a blanket, this is my 60g tank. i did this all on monday morning. now this morning when i went to feed them i was the temp was 70 so i started adding water to bring the temp up and higher so i could plug the heater back in also wondering if i had the tank cover longenough for the alge to die i dropped the water level low thinking that less water would be easier to control. and I have read that 6 in is what is done for breeding. my 3rd tigar bard is now in sight that leaves the pleco to find still, what could of caused my female gormie to pass away I know the temp was way to low, normal for my tank is 78-80. i have not checked the levels and since i just added a good 30 g of water not sure if they would be right anyway. what did I do ?? what next?? will the alge be dead?


----------



## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Lots of questions need to be answered first. 
What type of algae (can you describe it?)
When you say blackout, did you cover the tank or just turn the lights off?
What decor/plants are in the tank?
Total tank inhabitants before and after including MIA?


----------



## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

Little, I'm sorry but your post is very difficult to read. If I'm getting it correctly, your temp. dropped from 78-80F down to 70 overnight. If that's the case, that did not kill your fish. And if the water you added back was treated with dechlor., that didn't hurt your fish either.


----------



## little (Mar 10, 2006)

ok, sorry my post was so confusing.
the alge is a water cloud thing. there is no alge on the sides of the tank, its just a think green water. 
My black out was covering the whole tank with a blanket after I took out all but 8 inches of water from the tank. I covered the tank and drained some water on monday morning, so this is the 3rd day.
there are live plants, rock caves and the typical castle for deco
this tank was cycled and doing great. been up and running for about 6 months now, 
i think as spring started and the sun came out the tank got hit with more light from the window, plus i had the light on over 12 hours a day
there was 2 gold gormies, 3 tigar barbs, 1 pea**** eel, 1 bala shark,one catfish, and one pleco. now the only thing i lost was my one female gormie.
I added aquasafe to the water before i add it to the tank.
hope that helps ... and idea on what next? should i uncover my tank now?


----------



## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

Are the remaining fish OK? I don't see anything in your post that would cause your fish problems. Green water won't hurt and lowering the water/ temp. change won't. If you left the filter off for only a few hours, that shouldn't be a problem, although I don't like turning a filter off. That is where your "cycling bacteria" are and I don't like taking chances with them. 
I would just eliminate the extra light from the window and see what happens.


----------



## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Green water is caused by suspended microscopic algae. This is caused by several things. Mainly excessive light, especially direct sunlight, to many fish, excess nutrients, excessive wastes. 

Since algea in essence is a living plant you must remember. Algae will consume oxygen at night during photosynthesis. A severe algae bloom can deplete the tank of oxygen, so adequate oxygenation must be provided during the light off period.
 

Also dying organic matter creates phosphates, so the filter should be rinsed more frequently during an algae bloom, eliminating some of the decaying matter. Vacuuming the gravel will also help.

Try cutting down on what you are feeding them. This should help a bit in eliminating food for the algae to grow/multiply on.

A micron filter would help clear that up. but those can get a bit expensive if you dont have one already.

You could add live plants. These would use the same nutreants as the algae and therefor cut down the algae. But this is hard at this point in your tank because the plants need the light in order to grow.

And as you tried water changes and light starvation. This means no peeking to see if it is gone yet. Any light feeds the algae.


----------



## little (Mar 10, 2006)

cool got some good feedback , as always, so I guess my plan is to fill up the tank to the top again while I also keep the window arcoss from the room covered and add more plants i plan on doing since it seems the ones that where doing wonderful are pretty much gross looking now and all brown, cut back on the feeding. and vacuum the gravel a few times over the next week along with more water changes ...


----------



## Sprite42 (Mar 10, 2006)

If you have lowered your water to 8 inches and had the filter off for 3 days, you are very likely going to experience a re-cycle of this tank, or at least a mini cycle. You will need to monitor your water chemistry closely.


----------



## little (Mar 10, 2006)

kind of wondered that, but also the only filters we have are underground


----------



## Ringo (Apr 10, 2006)

Congratulations on your first fish.

i am sorry about your fish, but hes not the first one
at least for me anyhow ;-(


----------

