Xtreme_B

Two days ago I found 1 of my 4 Cory's dead in my 55g tank.Today I had 2 dead Pleco's,1 in my 55g and 1 in my 29.The water levels are amm 0ppm,nitrites 0ppm and nitrates between 5&10ppm.I did a 25% water change on the 55g on Friday and a 25% water change on the 29g last night.And I had 1 of my Angels die a few days ago in the 55g tank.But I think the other 2 Angels were picking on him since he is a bit smaller.Now with the Cory's and the Pleco's I have no clue why they died.I've never had 1 survive in my 29g which has Blackskirt and Serpae Tetras and 2 Cory's in it.The 55g has 2 Angels and now 3 Cory's and 1Pleco left.I checked my filter in the 55g and it white stuff coming out of it into the tank.So I took it out and cleaned it and the water in it was brown(yuck).I hadn't cleaned it out since I cycled the tank this summer cause I was afraid that it might start another cycle.And now my 2 Angels are mostly staying at the top corner of the tank and 1 of them isn't really eating.They only thing I changed,is that I switched from Stress Coat to Kordons NovAqua plus which I don't know if that has anything to do with it.Oh and the water temp.in the 29g is 78 degrees and 80 degrees in the 55g.Any help is greatly appreciated.

outlaw

Anybody correct me if I am wrong please.

Depending on your filter, if it has carbon "built-in", it can/will "expire" its usefulness and actually put the bad bacteria back into the tank. Not at least rinsing the filter I would think could have the same negative effect as the carbon itself if it isn't rinsed or replaced once in a while. I can't speak for the water treatment products though.

Sorry about your losses. Hope the rest are ok.

Barbrella

OMG, I'm so sorry about your corys and pleco.

This white stuff.....was it solid, liquid, slimy...? Did it smell bad?

I would continue doing partial water changes and see how the fish do with them.

Many people do not use carbon in their filters since it's really not necessary unless you're trying to get medications out of the water. Just stick with the filter sponge or floss and rinse it in tank water if it's gunky. There's no need to replace it unless it's falling apart. Then you put a new floss in with the old and when it's seasoned you can take out the old one.

I hope someone has some ideas for you about what killed your fish.

sirdarksol

If the white stuff was the slimy stuff I'm thinking it was, there might be something caught in your filter that's feeding the "bad" bacteria. If that's the case, it's unlikely that the carbon has caused this, as what the carbon releases as it breaks down is the captured chemicals. However, I agree that carbon is generally unnecessary. It does provide excellent biological medium, but you can get similar medium from clay rings or balls.

outlaw

The only reason I brought it up, is I didn't know what kind of filter he has, just says filter. I have an older HOB filter where it has the carbon in between 2 pads. It comes in the filter and the only way to remove it would be cut the pad.

capekate

HI Outlaw.. I have a few filters going that are TopFin and they use the pads with floss and carbon. I removed them from the filter and just fitted the filter with the aquaclear sponge instead. works fine and I dont have to worry about old carbon.

~ kate

Xtreme_B

Thank you all for responding so fast.It is a whisper dual filter and the white stuff wasn't slimey.It was more flakey,like dirt pieces.The filter has the white carbon pouches to put in.The other fish are doing fine so far,but the Pleco is a bit slow when i touched him,cause I thought he was dead.This is my second batch of Cory's I got.Out of the first 4 only 1 survived,so I got 3 more and now I'm down to 3 again.My friend thinks that it has to be the water,that I can't be that unlucky....lol.But I don't think it is,cause our water is filtered throughout the house.And I don't know if changing from Stress Coat to NovAqua plus would do that.Oh and I bought the Tetra variety wafers for Algae eaters and bottom feeders,but they don't even touch it.

sirdarksol

White flaky stuff sounds like lime buildup.
Out of curiosity, what's the pH in your tank? (I'm asking pH because I doubt you have a hardness test, and I don't think it's worth it, yet, to buy one)

Xtreme_B

I do have a hardness test,but we have a filtersystem on the house that also softens the water.But my ph is around 7.2,cause that's what the ph of our wellwater is.And I just found out on PlantGeek,that the plants that I have in the tank aren't Aquatic plants.They are called Dracaena Sanderiana and Aqua Fern.So that might be a problem too.

sirdarksol

Petsmart or Petco? I won't buy plants from chain petstores unless I personally check the type of plant I'm buying. Most of them sell several terrestrial plants as aquatic.

Anyway, is the filter in your house a water softener, or a RO setup, or what?
Water softeners don't actually soften the water, they merely replace some of the minerals with another mineral, salt, which could be why the plecos and corys are being affected (salt bothers them).
If you do have a water softener, is there a tap that isn't affected by it? Most houses leave the kitchen sink unsoftened, as softened water tastes bad (and people used to think it was bad for you, I don't know if that is still the belief, as I haven't looked into it).

COBettaCouple

Do you have a copper test? Is there any chance of the water picking up copper particles?

Xtreme_B

The system we have is a Hague watermax,which makes the water taste better then any bottled water you can find.And no I don't have a copper test,cause I read about that too.I took the plants out and Petco said that they would give me my money back.I don't think it's the water cause it doesn't effect my sons fish.He has 7 Tetras and a 5inch Pleco in his 10g tank.I had my last Pleco die last night,so I did a 20% water change today.Could it be the change from Stress Coat to NovAqua maybe?Or does it have to do with the size of the Plecos?

COBettaCouple

I can't think of any way for NovAqua+ and/or Stress Coat to affect a pleco harmfully.

Xtreme_B

Maybe there was something wrong with them already.That's the only thing that I can think of.Cause if it would be our water then my son's fish should die too,and they don't.

sirdarksol

Looked a bit into the Hague system and I agree, I don't think there's any way that it's the water. It's a true water softener, rather than what most systems call a water softener.

Actually, there is one slight possibility, but I don't see why it wouldn't be affecting your son's pleco (the tetras might just be more hardy, so I could see them surviving). It is possible that too many minerals were taken out of the water by your system. On the really off chance that this is the case, is there any difference between your tank and your son's tank that might be adding minerals to his tank (like crushed shell substrate or a neat rock or something?)

I'd have to go with one of the fish (probably the first to die) had something and passed it on to its tankmates. I would isolate that tank, make sure you don't put anything from it into your son's tank, as the fish in the 10g would likely fall ill very quickly.
Sorry we aren't of any more help.

Xtreme_B

No there is nothing different in my sons tank.And wouldn't it affect my Angels too?I had 4 Angels in my 55g,1 died of dropsy and I think the other 1 died cause he was picked on by the 2 that I have left in there.But this morning I found another Cory on it's back and when I tried to take him out ,he swam away.He looks really bloated and doesn't move much anymore.It looks like he is not going to make it thru the day.I did a water change 2 days ago and all I added was 2 Tbsp. of NovAqua.The 2 Cory's in my 29g with the Tetras are doing fine at the moment.I really don't know what to do,it's so frustrating.Cause there is no reason why they are dieing.I was thinking that the system takes to much out of the water,that's why I had added Easy Balance to the water.It says it adds minerals and vitamins to it.But somebody said that it messes with the PH and I shouldnt use it.So is there anything that I can add to put some minerals in it?

sirdarksol

There are marine additives that do so. Also, several products made specifically for Cichlids would probably do well in small quantities.
Personally, I don't see a problem with the "neutral pH" buffers in cases like this, as the way they work is adding some buffering minerals back into the water.

Xtreme_B

Sirdarksol,is there any way you could let me know what those additives are?I have no clue what to look for and where.I greatly appreciate your help,thanks in advance.

Susanne