Dwarf powder blue suddenly died!

So I get home from work yesterday and notice my blue powdered dwarf was acting strange. Breathing seemed a little labored and he wouldn`t eat. He was fine in the morning before I left and ate like normal. This morning when I woke up and checked he was dead. Wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience with there`s. He was in a 20 gallon with 5 corys who are all acting like normal. Water parameters are perfect as they have been for awhile. Temp is between 78 and 80. No trace of ammonia.

 

Welcome to the forum. Sorry you lost your pb.

Do you have airlines to oxygenate the tank? How high are the nitrates? Was anything changed recently? When was the last time a water change was done? Rinse or replace filter media?

Sorry for all the questions, but more is info is needed to help answer your questions.

Also, your profile states your tank has been running "6 weeks". This isn't enough time to cycle and stabilize in most cases. How was your tank cycled?

 

It was cycled with TSS and nitrates are about.10. Water change was done last Saturday and the only thing that changed was I added a piece of driftwood that I have been soaking in a 5 gallon bucket for 2 wks. There are currrently 2 filters on the tank, atop fin 20 that came with the tank that has been running since the start and a AC 50 that has been running for almost 3 weeks because I don't like the other one. Gonna move it to a 10 gallon betta setup when I get it going. I noticed the DGs belly was somewhat swollen also before it died.

 

Was the gourami used to cycle the tank? Cycling with fish can be hard on their immune systems. Another possibility is that it was constipated or that it had an internal issue.

This may be something that you will never know exactly what happened. Focus on the keeping the remaining fish healthy and keep up on tank maintenance so that there is no ammonia or nitrite.

 

TSS will often give you a false sense of your tank being cycled when it really is not.

 

The gourami was not used to cycle the tank, the tank was running for approximately 3 weeks before fish were added. My tank profile is from when fish were added so add 3 weeks to that. I should go in and change that. I think you are right catsma, may never know. The corys seem to be doing great though!

 

It was cycled with TSS

The gourami was not used to cycle the tank, the tank was running for approximately 3 weeks before fish were added.

TSS does not work with no fish in the tank. I'd suspect that your tank is not fully cycled or stabilized.

Closely monitor your water parameters. There should never be any measurable ammonia or nitrite.

 

The corys seem to be doing great though!

Some Corys are stronger than other species. As catsma says, just keep an eye on your water params.