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**Delock** · 05-12-2008, 04:54 PM

Re: Do fish "just Die"?

Two things

1. Do you have a heater?

2. I think you may have gotten sick fish (red hook) or you have ick in your main system. Either way, you need to treat your main system.

**Brownsnoutuk** · 05-12-2008, 05:04 PM

Re: Do fish "just Die"?

Q-U-A-R-A-N-T-I-N-E T-A-N-K-!

**cope** · 05-12-2008, 05:21 PM

Re: Do fish "just Die"?

yes I have a heater... I have treated the main tank and turned the heat up to 80-82 and I do have a QT Tank.. but I now will use it before putting new fish in.... I too believe that the red hooks were sick when I got them.. maybe in the first stages... because I do not belive that 3 of the same fish would just die... had to of been something... So there is nothing else I need to do in my regular mainentance... Vitamins? Drops? Special Food once a week?

**Mzungu** · 05-13-2008, 08:00 AM

Re: Do fish "just Die"?

No, nothing else. Your routine sounds perfectly fine. But, to echo the other responses, always, always, ALWAYS use a quarantine tank!! Use it just for that - when you get new fish, keep them in there for a couple of weeks to make sure they don't come down with something. That way, you can avoid spreading it to your other fish. No matter how good they might look in the store, always quarantine.

**CichlidFan** · 05-13-2008, 08:23 AM

Re: Do fish "just Die"?

I'm not an expert, and some people say aquarium salt has little to no benefits, but I like to dose my tank during water changes, I use the aquarium salt from Petsmart that has the little scoop in it, and I put in one scoop for every 10 gallons I replace, usually about 3 scoops/30 gallons.

And I keep my tanks at about 79 - 82 degrees at all times. I have my A/C set at 82, during the day.

I don't know if there is solid benefit to this, but I have not lost a fish in quite a while now, unless you count the fontosa fry Raul sold me..... :) Stupid Catfish...

CF

**Spot86t** · 05-13-2008, 08:51 AM

Re: Do fish "just Die"?

I noticed that when I stopped salting all my tanks, disease was more prone to occur. I now dose with the same stuff CichlidFan uses - I get the big square plastic container from petsmart, and dose as instructed. 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons. Even fish that I've been told don't like salt seem happy. Corydora for instance - they're still spawning consistantly and they are supposedly one of the types that don't like salt. Since reinstating salt to all my tanks, I haven't had a problem with ich or any other diseases in quite some time.

**cope** · 05-13-2008, 09:10 AM

Re: Do fish "just Die"?

thanks for the replies, I just have to get used to using a QT tank... I just hate that you buy a fish and have to put it in another tank for 2 weeks..... before enjoying it in the tank it was intended for..... thanks again..

**imagirlgeek** · 05-13-2008, 10:58 AM

Re: Do fish "just Die"?

I'm going to go against the grain here. First let me say that I agree 100% that a QT tank is the best way to go, however, we don't use one. Personally, I just like to get the fish home, float them, then put them in the tank that they will live in. I don't want to stress them out anymore than necessary.

There are always organisms, bacteria, parasites...always. And just like with humans, stress can make their resistance go down. Example: Ick is always present in your tank and in your fish.

The stress of being caught at the store, being cramped in a bag, then introduced into a new environment is enough to make some fish get sick.

I think that the salt helps because most contain magnesium. Magnesium is a natural laxative. Many parasites live in the intestines/stomach of fish. It also helps with the slime coat, which protects their body.

Also, aerate, aerate, aerate!! Every one of our tanks has at least 1 powerhead in it, with the outflow pointing at the water surface to oxygenate the water. I swear by this. On two occasions, we had fish come home with us who didn't seem to handle the move very well and just laid on the bottom of the tank. Another time, out of nowhere, a fish we've had for 5 years started doing the same thing. Everyone else in the tank was just fine, but he was just laying on the bottom. What I did for all of them was move them to a bucket, dropped a heater and an airstone in, and aerated the hell out of the water. I swear that within an hour the fish were up swimming around and able to be moved back to their tank.

I could go on and on, but basically we just try not to stress the fish too much. Everyone who needs a cave, has a cave. We keep an eye out for excessive aggression. We aerate A LOT. And we try not to move them around too much, which seems to be more of a problem with cichlids and not really a problem with less territorial fish.

Knock on wood...in 6 years, we've never had a single case of Ick. :)

**Jose** · 05-13-2008, 07:52 PM

Re: Do fish "just Die"?

I'm like her^, I've never had a QT. I've only had a problem with ick once maybe twice in the 10 years i'v been in the hobby. The first was the last lonely oscar that petco had which already had ick. I wanted an oscar so bad that I went ahead and bought it. Within a couple days the ick was gone.
I do water changes once every 2 weeks. I always have more water flow than what the size recommends. Don't over do tho. I'm no expert so I couldn't even guess what your problem might be. The people's tanks that I take care of, when fish die, it's always because another fish killed it. I love aggression

**Mzungu** · 05-14-2008, 08:03 AM

Re: Do fish "just Die"?

My only problem is that my quarantine tanks almost always end up as "show" tanks. When I get new fish, 99% of the time I put them in a new tank, so as not to spread anything to my other fish. I get pretty attached to the fish I already have, and don't want to risk their health. The difference may be that the largest tank I own is a 40 breeder - so setting up a new tank (usually somewhere around 10g or so) isn't that big of a deal.

Hmm...now that I sit here and think about it, if I had a huge tank (100g +) I would definitely quarantine any new fish I brought home intended for that tank. A 100g tank can hold a lot more fish than my smaller tanks, which would mean a much greater potential for loss.

I don't buy fish from LFSs often, but I guess I just can't understand why, if I did, I would risk placing them in the same tank as my other fish that I know are healthy. Nothing against the stores, not at all! You just never know. Same reason I don't place fish caught in local waters around Texas, for instance, in the same tanks as my healthy fish. Who knows what that could spread! 8O

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