Destine to die...

[Mith]

I was just curious. In my cichlid tank, I lost fish, mostly from agression I suspect (shame on me). But I did lose maybe three others for unknown reasons. Now this is the tank that I took LOTS of time to get ready!

My other tank, the 50... I've lost one gourami and I think two guppies. Now granted, I didn't "Cycle" this tank, just used media from my cycled tank.


Has ANYONE EVER started a tank without having ANY fatalities? LOL Seems to me this is basically the strongest survive...


Now I have ICK that I have to treat in my cichlid tank.... GRRRR... oh well, at least I know HOW to do it.... heh

[cocoa_pleco]

fatalities are common and sometimes happen for no reason.

just today i looked at my 90g and i noticed a ton of fish are missing, my balas, bloodparrot, and a few others

[Northernguy]

You may have lost the fish for reasons that are not your fault.
It may have been internal problems you didn't see.I expect to lose guppies or tetras whenever I buy some.
Why does your cichlid tank have ich?

[mommy1]

the only tank i ever set up and didnt lose any fish is the one i have now. i inherited it from a friend who was afraid his two year old grandson, who just came to live with him, was going to knock it over onto himself. it came with all the decor, fish.and chemicals i needed.
i moved it from his house to my apartment. about a ten minute drive and a two hour set up.

[fishbum]

I moved a GT from a 20g to a 55g with a Penguin 350 that I had been running on the 20g.I ran the 350 for 2 weeks in the new 55 along with 1 Emperor 400.After 2 weeks I moved the 350 back to the 20g and got 2 convicts for it.I added another 400 to the GT's 55.Almost a year later and I have not lost any of the fish.I also have a 30g that was cycled with raw shrimp almost 2yrs ago,that has had no deaths in it as well.But on the flip side,I have 5g's and 10g's that I have had quite a few tetra,dwarf gourami,and betta die in.But I also have a 10g pepper cory tank that is over a year old with no deaths in it.

[Mith]

You may have lost the fish for reasons that are not your fault.
It may have been internal problems you didn't see.I expect to lose guppies or tetras whenever I buy some.
Why does your cichlid tank have ich?


Why does it have ICK? I'm not sure... I keep it pretty clean... I just don't know. It's definitely there though. I really only see it on one of my bublebee fish.... I'll pick up the meds tomorrow and start with the treatment. I'll just do the whole tank since there's probably eggs in the substrate etc.

I have been dreading this day... lol... but I figured it was enevitable..


Thanks for the feedback!

[Northernguy]

Is your fish scratching itself against anything or is just spots?
Are you sure its ich?

[Mith]

Is your fish scratching itself against anything or is just spots?
Are you sure its ich?


Both... the fish occasionally have always flashed... but not enough to warrant my attention. It is ICK though... started out with one spot, now there are several spots. I've seen ICK before on fish (clown loaches that died sigh...)... so I'm not unfamiliar with it... (ICK)

[Northernguy]

I was just making sure!:14: I'd hate to see you medicate your tank for nothing.
Don't forget to remove your carbon, if you use it,when using the meds!:22:

[bushwhacker]

you dont need meds mith salt and heat will take care of it

[Mith]

you dont need meds mith salt and heat will take care of it

The tank has salt....and I replace the salt every water change....

Actually strike the above....I think I read that "Cichlid" salt won't do it....

[fishbum]

Table salt will work.A lot of people recommend using the salt and heat method,which I know works.But if you go the medication route,(i always have) I use QuickCure.It's cheap,I got a bottle at wal mart for like $3,and it works.The only thing about it is it will stain all the silicone,and any airtubes blue for awhile,but the blue eventually leaches out.

[domjd05]

I started my 55 malawi by only using an existing filter and a ziplock bag full of the old gravel substrate (I changed the tank over to a sand substrate, and transformed it to the malawi tank from what used to be a community).. that was about 8 months ago and they are all healthy and happy.

[gm72]

Has ANYONE EVER started a tank without having ANY fatalities? LOL Seems to me this is basically the strongest survive...

I don't remember the last time I lost a fish during a cycle. Mind you I'm lucky in that I have a ton of tanks from which to pull colonies of bacteria. A fishless cycle for me is pretty much instantaneous. I am able to pull enough filter media from other tanks without disturbing them so that the new filter is established.

[Mvjnz]

Apart from my very first tank which I cycled with fish because I didn't know any better, I've not lost any fish.

I've always just rubbed the established sponge thoroughly onto the new sponge after I'd set up the tank the way I wanted it, and then introduced fish 1-2 hours later. As long as the bioload is roughly the same and the tank isn't overstocked and you don't overfeed, you really shouldn't have a prob with it.