Loaches Online Forum

and I don't know how.
Tonight I went into my fishroom and found 5 big clown loaches dead in the tank. Alas, two of them where the supposed spawning pair, mentioned in a thread a few month ago. Now I know at least for sure that it was a couple. They had bloodshot and empty intestines and shallow skinned mouths. Apart from the dead part they were in good condition and had clear colours. No parasites were to be found. The fact that they all died at the same day points to poisining of some kind but I haven't figured out yet where it came from and why there are four still alive. I had this 1991 before, where I lost 15 big ones and almost every other fish within 2 hours after a waterchange. Far from being as devastated as back then, this is one of the major sucking days in my fish keeping career.
It's not easy to lose twelfe to fifteen year old loaches.

So sorry Rich.

That's awful! Sorry, Rich. That sucks.

What could have caused this?

Thanks guys.
I'm cluless myself Mark. Normally they don't drop dead all together at the same time, unless it's something poisonous in the tank.
As a precaution I put the rest in another tank, canged water and added some conditioner. Tomorrow I'll rip apart the aquarium, filters, deco aso. and try to find out.

oh Cr*p Check your ammonia for signs of a crash ,my condolences on losing your friends....

So sorry to hear this Rich. Do you have Underworld 'Polyfilters' in Germany? I'd recommend adding one in to the filter ASAP to take out any possible 'nasties': http://www.underworldproducts.co.uk/aqu ... filter.htm

You said that in 1991 you also lost some shortly after a water change, was it the same this time? If so, and you are using tap water for your water changes, check with the water company that they didn't add anything dodgy.

Emma

So sorry Rich.
Anything like neighbors spraying for pests?
Cosmetics/ fragrance/ hairspray/ other sort of possibilities?

"Empty intestines, shallow skinned mouths"
The empty intestines suggests maybe they have not eaten recently, or else whatever they ate went right through them. Any eating issues recently? Change of food?

My sincere condolences. That is really sad. Seems you have to do some detective work as to what might be in the water.

oh dear. I feel for you rich, I really do. What could it have been that would hit the larger fish faster and harder than the smaller ones?

So sorry Rich, that really sucks

I hope you can find a reason as to why it happened

Das tut mir echt leid Rich, das ist hart.

Besides expressing my symphaty, I´m with Emma regarding checking with the watersupplier. I´ve heard, that after repairs, or for some tests, there are (temporary and spontanious) modifications done to the tap water (in case it was after a waterchange).

Besides expressing my symphaty, I´m with Emma regarding checking with the watersupplier. I´ve heard, that after repairs, or for some tests, there are (temporary and spontanious) modifications done to the tap water (in case it was after a waterchange

Very likely

What could it have been that would hit the larger fish faster and harder than the smaller ones?

Ammonia


or a burst of cold water can kill many at once

Many of us have been here before Rich, we live this over again when we read this happening to someone else.Sniff your filters as your nose can tell if ones foul and check all pumps for operation as this can create a crash rather quickly. Also check for a bad heater.....or electrical cord in tank thats wet etc...

Scheiße!! I am so sorry Rich.

What about the oxygen? Any possibility that that was the cause? Bigger fish need more O2 than smaller ones.

Hope you will find the cause of it soon.

Oh rich this is terrible. This tragedy and Mamaschild's loss of Albert and her other fish just shows the fragility of our fish's health. It doesn't take much to go wrong for a disaster to happen. a couple of years ago I lost 3 large Clowns because of a filter blockage coupled with a couple of other fish deaths.
Years ago in England, I was just about to go to bed and saw something weird in my Clown tank. All the fish were hanging at the surface. A filter had jammed its impeller and stopped working. I got it going and added aeration, plus did a 25% water-change. The fish were all ok.
Had I not caught it they would likely have all been dead by the morning.

Your incident definitely sounds rather strange, but there has to be a logical reason.

Martin.

Ouch!!!

So sorry to hear that rich.