# My Fish died today....



## JadedTiffa (Mar 2, 2005)

Ok, I went to work today, and when I got home, One of my fish was floating on top... His eyes were missing...You could see right through. What could that have been caused from??


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## Fishfirst (Jan 24, 2005)

we need more specifics... what are your water parameters and tank stats? was there any indication of disease before hand? no eyebulging? etc.


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## JadedTiffa (Mar 2, 2005)

ok, I have a 30gallon tank. I tested it with one of those all in one strips, it read that everything matched to what a tropical fish aquarium should be... (don't remember the specifics) um, in it I have 3 neon tetra (about 1/2 an inch long), one blue paradise Gaurami(about 3/4 of an inch in length), 1 pictus cat(about 2 inches), and 2 female and 1 male convict cichlids(all about 1 inch in length they usually stay near a piece of drift wood at the bottom).


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## JadedTiffa (Mar 2, 2005)

I forgot the most important part... The fish that died. I had two of them.. I cant remember the name, but I know they are both tetra, they are silver, with a black path near the tail fin. There were no eye bulging, and the other one is fine. I think they are called red eye tetra..not sure though, it has sort of a redish pink strip near the top of the eye.


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## Lexus (Jan 19, 2005)

IMO I would never keep convicts in a community tank. When spawning they will kill everything. They need a tank of their own.

I'm sure the fish died and then other fish started eating it, they usually go for the eyes first. 

The pictus cat will eat your neons eventually, and they prefer to be in schools of 5-8 or more. 

I think once your fish are grown the tank will be overstocked. I would re-evaluate what you want and start over or give some fish back to the LFS.

As for the death of the fish what are your water perameters? such as nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, ph? When do you do water changes? Are these new fish or older fish?


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

i agree we should know your paremeters. the convicts may be the culprits, but until we know other info itll be hard to decide. how often do you do water changes?


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## JadedTiffa (Mar 2, 2005)

I do water changes once a week about 20% at a time, I am testing my tank again right now, with Quick Dip 5 in 1 test strip. It reads: 

Nitrate: between 0 and 20
Nitrite: 0
Hardness:150, Hard 
Alkalinity: 180
pH: between 7.8 and 8.4, more 7.8-ish

Today, I put in ph decreaser, but not a lot cause' I thought that might hurt my fish. It was nearer to 8.4 so it's dropped some.


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## osteoporoosi (Jan 27, 2005)

Your ph sounds awfully high. Nitrates shouldn't ever be 0 in a cycled tank. 
Your neons need a group of 7 or more.
Also the unknown tetras would neeed a group of same size(first figure out what fish is it)
Just some advices..


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## maxpayne_lhp (Jan 19, 2005)

That you fish has lost his/her eyes may due to the fact that others may ate them (sorry to say so) but me shrimps are nasty. Not sure if other fish hunt for eyes. Yek!
Sorry for your dead fish!


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## JadedTiffa (Mar 2, 2005)

Ok, I am gonna put my neons in another tank, got them some tank mates like you said. Now, my question is, what tank mates can I have with my convict ciclids?? Other ciclids maybe?? Should I just have this tank for aggressive fish maybe?? Let me know. And, how can I bring my nitrates up if the are to low??


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Depends on your tank size. If 20 gallons or under, I would leave them be. As stated when and if they spawn they will become very agressive to other tank mates.


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## JadedTiffa (Mar 2, 2005)

it's a 30g tank


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## turtlehead (Jan 28, 2005)

and tetras like to be in groups of 3 - 6.


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## madmatrixz3000 (Feb 3, 2005)

Convicts should be kept with extreamly aggressive fish. Even though they are very small, they will attack even pakus which are some of the largest freshwater fish!


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

if you want to add more cichlids, i suggest a socofoli, they can handle the beef your convicts have to offer


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## JadedTiffa (Mar 2, 2005)

thanks fish freaks, my blue paradise gaurami seems to be the most aggressive out of all of them. He chases them around the tank sometimes...I'll have to look for those type of fish you said though!! Thanks again!!


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## fishfreaks (Jan 19, 2005)

no problem, i hope you like them, i think they're beautiful!


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## tep05 (Apr 2, 2005)

actually, i was on vacation and my fish died, no eyes, mine was because of my angel fish, yes, isnt that gross, do you have any other fish in the tank?


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

How long has this tank been set up? I wonder if it's still cycling???


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## Thunderkiss (Mar 19, 2005)

Fish eyes are deleicacies for other fish, as are thier internals. Eyes are the first to go, followed byu the belly, then the rest is catch as catch can as to what you may or may not find depending on the length of time the body has spent with the other fish.




> Your ph sounds awfully high. Nitrates shouldn't ever be 0 in a cycled tank.


That makes absolutely zero sense. Ideal nitrates ARE zero, ESPECIALLY in a cycled tank.


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## flynngriff (Jan 19, 2005)

It should be impossible to maintain zero nitrates in a cycled tank with fish in it... As the fish produce ammonia, it's converted into nitrites and then nitrates immediately. If you have zero nitrates, it usually means your tank hasn't cycled yet.


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

Flynngriff, you are right. 0 nitrates is very unusual in a cycled tank. It is possible with lots of plants and very few fish. Thunderkiss, I think you meant nitrites. They should always be zero.


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## Thunderkiss (Mar 19, 2005)

With the caveat of course that it depends on how often you perform water changes. Mine are very regularly at zero. In fact i can't remember the last time they registered.

Edit: No, i mean nitrAtes. Zero. None. Ever.


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## buddah101 (Mar 20, 2005)

Do you have a pleco? That is most definately the culprit. They are notorious for that!


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## osteoporoosi (Jan 27, 2005)

Thunderkiss:
Because this was on the Beginner-board, I assumed that the tank wasn't cycled properly and mentioned about the zero nitrates. Usually it is ammonia and nitrite that kills the first fish..
Nitrates can be zero, but hardly never are, if the tank is stocked. And zero nitrates aren't good for the plants, or do you have a really heavily planted tank(so the plants would use all the nitrates)?


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## Thunderkiss (Mar 19, 2005)

> Thunderkiss:
> Because this was on the Beginner-board, I assumed that the tank wasn't cycled properly and mentioned about the zero nitrates. Usually it is ammonia and nitrite that kills the first fish..
> Nitrates can be zero, but hardly never are, if the tank is stocked. And zero nitrates aren't good for the plants, or do you have a really heavily planted tank(so the plants would use all the nitrates)?


Agreed, cycling tanks, it's usually that combo that finnishes 'em off. I currently have 2 tanks of my own, both of which are always at zero, for 2 very different reasons. My 46 is a combo of many plants and bi-weekly water changes, and my 7 is purely from a gajillion water changes.
Getting sick of all the changes tho, i may have to set up my 37 so it can be just every 2 weeks for both, but i think my wife would shoot me 

No harm meant btw, and i hope you weren't tiffed over my comment about it not making sense. Heh, i hear strange stuff all the time, and that just sounded "strange".


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

Thunder... don't knock youself out. There is no need to keep nitrates at 0. A moderate (20 ppm) or so will do no harm to fish.


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## Thunderkiss (Mar 19, 2005)

agreed, but i'm a lazy sob, so if i get to 20, then they surely will go higher in my laziness


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