Fish Addict

I was on vacation for the past two weeks, and had one of my brother's friends come in and feed my fish, turn on the lights,etc. Somehow he did something wrong, because I came home and a cory and a platy had both died.
Now one of my fish is just staying right on the bottom, not moving very much. Is something wrong? It usually doesn't do that, it's usually fairly active. Thinking something might be wrong with the parameters, I did about a 5 gallon water change and also added some for evaporated water. I just did a test, and my nitrates are only at around 20, which shouldn't be bad I'd think.
I really don't want this fish to die, it's very cool, it has paired already, and I'm trying to sell my fish, so I need all the fish to stay alive.

Lucy

I'm really sorry about your fish.
Have you checked the ammonia and nitrites?

joy1125

Perhaps your brothers friend overfed them. That happens, especially when people aren't used to feeding fish. They unintentionally overfeed them..... and it can cause big problems.

I'd do a major water change and gravel vac. Also check your ammonia and nitrite levels.

Fish Addict

I know that the tank is cycled, which would mean that the ammonia and nitrites would convert to nitrates.
Could overfeeding do this? I fed them today, and it looked like a lot of the frozen food was gone, maybe that was it. It stinks, because I specifically told him how much to use and on what days. I'll try to ask him tomorrow. Also, if it is because of overfeeding, is there much I can do?

joy1125

massive overfeeding over the course of two weeks, could have resulted in bio overload, and you could have an ammonia spike in your tank. (meaning the biofilter couldn't sufficiently process the overwhelming amount of decaying food, even though your tank is cycled)


I'd do a large water change now, to be on the safe side, with a gravel vac. See what comes up through the tube. If there's a lot of debris, chances are, he overfed them

Also, check the ammonia reading.

Fish Addict

Hmm, the problem for me is I have a fairly heavily planted tank, and also over the 2 weeks my Java moss grew a ton, and is covering most of the tank, which makes cleaning the gravel almost impossible to do without messing up my plants. I will change out more water though, and also check out the ammonia.

Fish Addict

Well, I woke up this morning and unfortunately, the fish has passed away. I am going to try to do another water change, and test ammonia and nitrites. It's so annoying, because I clearly laid out instructions for what my brother's friend should have done, and now 3 fish have died because he over fed the tank.

aquarist48

So sorry to hear about your fish loss Fish Addict. Good idea on the large water change...add some Prime or Amquel +...whatever you use to detox the ammonia. Check your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate readings.

Anytime I have someone to fish sit while I'm gone...I pre measure all of their food for every day that I'm gone and I hide the rest.

No more over feeding while I'm gone.
Best of luck for the rest of your fish. Again I'm sorry you're having to go through this.
Ken

Shawnie

Im sorry for the loss of your babies its hard when we leave someone to do things for us and they just dont know how to not feed begging fish sometimes...they arent like the normal pet that stops eating when full thats for sure....but a mini cycle can sneak up on just about anyone when they least expect it...whenever a loss of a fish or something isnt acting right in the tank, thats the first thing that should be checked..ammonia can be fast acting

cleaning gravel and saving fish lives, is worth moving the plants to make sure there isnt anymore buildup of food waste..if that is indeed what happened....changing out the water is great, but removing the ammonia source is going to save lives ....

redlessi

I just experienced something similar after returning from vacation (let a friend feed the fish while I was away). I have lost 5 fish so far the only thing all of my water parameters were really good. I found a dead fuzzie fly stuck on my filter which may have also been the culprit. Hope everything works out for your tank.

Fish Addict

Hmm, I just checked out my parameters and there's no nitrites and the tiniest amounts of ammonia, not even .25
So, who knows? Also, do I still need to do the other water change? You don't think that that first one was enough?
And also I found out that this wasn't the only tank with problems, a Multie died in my other tank too, bringing the death toll up to 4 fish.

joy1125

as Shawnie pointed out, there's probably uneaten food stuck in the gravel, changing water alone isn't going to be enough, you really need to get that rotting food out of the gravel, or the ammonia is going to keep rising. I'd also check the filter, it most likely is clogged up as well.

Shawnie

OH NO!~~ im sorry you lost another baby.... you have a mini cycle you have to do daily water changes to get them through this with some prime....even small amounts of ammonia is dangerous ...have you tested the multi tank ?

Fish Addict

How do I have a mini cycle? My parameters are practically perfect. For my test yellow is 0 and green is ammonia, and it's yellow with just a tiny tinge of green.
And yeah, I made sure to change the filter right away once I got home.

Shawnie

ANY ammonia is a tank that is either still cycling, or started whats called a mini cycle (tanks been cycled but for some reason the ammonia has overtaken the beneficial bacteria to cause a mini cycle) just because its a low amount, you cant just dismiss it

joy1125

It's happened to me before FishAddict. I fed my goldies some homemade gel food that had broccoli in it. It really messed up my filter, unbeknown to me ! I found out days later, when I randomly tested the tank during a waer change, and was shocked to see that it had crept up!

so it does happen. If you're getting any ammonia reading, it's because there's something that overwhelmed the capability of the biofilter. And that was the overfeeding.

I can almost guarantee, there's uneaten food in your gravel, and it's gonna get worse if you don't get rid of it.

The tiny spike in the ammonia is your warning sign !

Fish Addict

For some reason it seems cycled to me, since if I was gone for two weeks and it seemed like he overfed the fish a lot, there'd be at least .25 PPM of ammonia. I think it might be because of the platy that died, I haven't found it yet, and so it could be causing a lot of ammonia.

joy1125

yes, absolutely, that's what it is then. I didn't know you couldn't find the dead fish !
I hope you find it, because that for sure will cause problems !!

Fish Addict

Yeah, I hope I can too...
Also, can overfeeding kill a fish in any other way besides ammonia poisoning?

joy1125

no, not really, unless it's chronic, the fish could develop liver problems or with goldfish, can get swim bladder problems. But in general, a fish doesn't die from a week of overfeeding. The problems are with the decaying food, and it's effect on the water, filter, and it robs the tank of oxygen too.

Fish Addict

Really? What about two weeks?

joy1125

no, I really don't think overfeeding killed your fish. I mean, accidents do happen, fish can get something stuck in their mouth and die.... but from overfeeding two weeks? no, I would say absolutely not.

Fish Addict

Hmm... because why would the first fish die in each tank, if the tank is cycled?

joy1125

It could be any nunmber of things.

For instance, there's a possiblity that you may have a bacterial issue in your tank. The reason I say that is, because you've mentioned in an earlier post that you don't want to vaccum the gravel because it would mess up your plants.

When the gravel sits undisturbed, problems arise quickly. Anaerobic gases can form, plus bacteria can develop from uneaten food and fish waste that accumulate in the gravel.

Corys are bottom feeders, their mouths are in the gravel all the time.

I really think you need to get in there with a gravel vac..... just to check out what the situation is.

Fish Addict

And what about the other tank? I do gravel vac in there.

joy1125

I really don't know.... all I can say is, the tank that's showing the small bit of ammonia ought to be looked at. You yourself admitted that a lot of frozen food was gone. So in all probability, your friend overfed them. If it were me, I'd put a vacuum in the planted tank, to at least see if there's a buildup.

the only way you're going to know, is if you do it .

Shawnie

overfeeding for 2 weeks IMO could kill a fish...as well as cause a mini cycle...with the amount of food you are missing either could be the cause...which it has with an ammonia reading...and we all know what to do with ammonia...water changes and gravel vacs...I hope the rest of your babys do well!