Fish Continue To Die, No Leads Why

So either this fish tank is cursed or I'm doing something wrong that I can't figure out.

For context, I have a 75g SA Cichlid tank that's very stable and calm. I haven't had losses in a long time. My 55g planted community, however, is a mess. Right now, I have a school of neon tetras, a small school of Rummynose tetras, an albino cory school, and a group of male guppies. I also have an Angelfish and Honey Gourami as centerpieces who do well.

Basically, these fish keep dying no matter what I do. Not all at once, just different fish dropping occasionally at random times. Today I woke up to a dead Rummy I've had for months, and then I had one of my neons have dropsy out of nowhere, while numerous neons before them dying at random times. The corys have been doing ok in recent months, but have also randomly died in the past. I had male guppies harassing my females, so I replaced the females for an all male group. I've had some of them randomly die too at different times.

My question is: what are the possible causes of fish just dropping dead overtime no matter what? My water parameters have been stable, especially thanks to the plants. I consistently have 10-20 nitrates, never creeping past 40 for long. The problem with that is I don't know what's causing it either. I assume it could be some of my guppies being aggressive, but I haven't seen anything too terrible, especially not to the Rummynoses.

The only lead I have is my fish of same species tend to chase each other. My neons chase each other sometimes and so do my Rummys, so I don't know if something's causing problems with that or if it's normal. But I honestly have no idea what could be going on, all I know is I'm wasting money.

 

Wow, I'm terribly sorry this has happened to you. I agree that it's a strange case indeed...

The only thing I can come up with is genetics. The fish you mentioned "dropping dead" are very, very inbred with horrible genetics and deformities, especially Neons and Guppies. Rummynose Tetras aren't as badly affected but a rise in popularity is causing the same problem.

Overall, I honestly have no idea what this is caused by, but those are my 2 cents. Maybe try getting them from reputable online sources instead like AquaticArts (my fav), fellow Fishlorians, or local breeders/friends with similar water quality. I hope you have better luck

 

Wow, I'm terribly sorry this has happened to you. I agree that it's a strange case indeed...

The only thing I can come up with is genetics. The fish you mentioned "dropping dead" are very, very inbred with horrible genetics and deformities, especially Neons and Guppies. Rummynose Tetras aren't as badly affected but a rise in popularity is causing the same problem.

Overall, I honestly have no idea what this is caused by, but those are my 2 cents. Maybe try getting them from reputable online sources instead like AquaticArts (my fav), fellow Fishlorians, or local breeders/friends with similar water quality. I hope you have better luck

Thanks, I know the neons are historically bad. But I've lost like 10 from numerous recent batches at different times. It's getting pretty ridiculous.

 

Thanks, I know the neons are historically bad. But I've lost like 10 from numerous recent batches at different times. It's getting pretty ridiculous.

Agreed. Honestly, the last time I ever had Neons was probably about 4 years ago. They supposedly "live up to 10 years" but I don't even think that's true anymore...

Hopefully you find a better solution. Have you ruled out bacterial/fungal infections and parasites like Camallanus? I've noticed a pretty big increase in these recently with one of my personal Paradise Gouramis suffering from the nasty worms himself

 

Agreed. Honestly, the last time I ever had Neons was probably about 4 years ago. They supposedly "live up to 10 years" but I don't even think that's true anymore...

Hopefully you find a better solution. Have you ruled out bacterial/fungal infections and parasites like Camallanus? I've noticed a pretty big increase in these recently with one of my personal Paradise Gouramis suffering from the nasty worms himself

I haven't ruled them out, but I see no surface level symptoms.

 

Neon tetras have become notorious for dying early, so have guppies. I read that rummy nose are very difficult, If forget why probably the same as the other two, over breeding and inbreeding.

Im sorry that this happened, I suggest you try different species. IMOP, The angelfish is the canary that would die first if something was wrong in the tank. I think you just got a trifecta of inbred species. Restock with pretty much anything else to test my theory.

 

I've had great luck with neons, until the last time I bought 3 new ones - I should've used a QT but stupidly didn't. I have only 3 left out of 8 and would love to buy more, but not until later in the summer, when they'd go into a medicated 10 gallon QT. I'm so leery of them now.

I've had problems with new, 1st generation guppies. But if you can get them to breed before they die, the next generation seems very healthy, at least for me. (I just realized you said your girls were now gone, oops.) I'm trying so hard to get a pair of blue guppies to breed for me now, afraid I'll lose them. I keep missing the drops and have only saved 1 fry a month ago and tonight. I hope she lives and I can save more from her, but her next timing is terrible for me, I'll be in the hospital, maybe home in time but not sure I'll be able to do much. I'm frustrated, so I sure relate to your frustration!

Your ammonia is 0 then for sure? But like Noroom said, the angelfish would sure react fast if something was off.

It's normal for the fish in a school to chase each other. Most do leave other varieties alone. I hope someone can give you advice. I can only sympathize. The weirdest things happen. I've wanted to tear it all down a couple times and throw in the towel, but I'm too stubborn for that. So far.

 

Neon tetras have become notorious for dying early, so have guppies. I read that rummy nose are very difficult, If forget why probably the same as the other two, over breeding and inbreeding.

Im sorry that this happened, I suggest you try different species. IMOP, The angelfish is the canary that would die first if something was wrong in the tank. I think you just got a trifecta of inbred species. Restock with pretty much anything else to test my theory.

Honestly, you might have it down. I really did pick some bad species, I just love all of them. Good point about the Angel too, he's doing really well and has since I got him. I'll probably try other species if they keep dying.

 

Honestly, you might have it down. I really did pick some bad species, I just love all of them. Good point about the Angel too, he's doing really well and has since I got him. I'll probably try other species if they keep dying.

In the last few years I've had fish that did great in one tank but died in the other. Same with plants. There is no good explanation for it. The same water, the same numbers when I test the water. One has sand, one gravel. Honestly that shouldn't do too much either, especially with the animals. I can see a difference with plants.

 

In the last few years I've had fish that did great in one tank but died in the other. Same with plants. There is no good explanation for it. The same water, the same numbers when I test the water. One has sand, one gravel. Honestly that shouldn't do too much either, especially with the animals. I can see a difference with plants.

I've had the same thing honestly! I once had a 12 gallon Eclipse set up with a 4 or 5 peaceful rescue Green Tiger Barbs and, believe it or not, a rescue long-finned Betta. They miraculously got along for 6 years without a single fin-nipping issue. I even added 6 Skirt Tetras (a mixture of black, gold, and white) and a female Variatus Platy and no problems with this either. I knew this was overstocked but small WCs daily made it not a problem. This lasted with the same dumb Tetra 10i, Aqueon 50w heater, 1" of white sand, artificial plastic plant on a lava rock, a small artificial plastic plant, "broken" pot decor, and small terracotta pot (this was YEARS ago when I eventually decided to ditch the artificial). But one day I added 6 Neons - they died within a day or two. I also added a Nerite Snail (since this tank obviously had a brown diatom algae issue) - he also died within a two days. At the time I didn't know what drip acclimating was, maybe that was my issue. I eventually switched the decor adding a small spiderwood, attaching it with Anubias nana, and throwing in a little rescue Java Fern. I did a large WC and added far too much of my brand new Prime (instead of the Tetra brand I normally used) but I didn't think it'd be an issue. I did the same with a small temporary bin holding a few Goldies and Fathead Minnows. A day later and everyone was breathing at the top, gasping for air in both enclosures. A day after that I lost almost everyone including my beloved female Green Tiger Barb named Chewy that I absolutely adored. I looked up whether adding too much Prime can kill your fish and I found a few folks saying it did the same thing. I'm still devastated to this day but hope to set up a similar enclosure soon (except not nearly as overstocked and with live plants).

 

A day later and everyone was breathing at the top, gasping for air in both enclosures. A day after that I lost almost everyone including my beloved female Green Tiger Barb named Chewy that I absolutely adored. I looked up whether adding too much Prime can kill your fish and I found a few folks saying it did the same thing. I'm still devastated to this day but hope to set up a similar enclosure soon (except not nearly as overstocked and with live plants).

Yep. I did 7 water changes last night. I walked into my bedroom and saw my featherfin catfish breathing 'heavy' /fast.

I just did a 2nd water change to his tank and he seems normal. I'm going to keep an eye on him closely over next 12 hours, then 24 looking for signs.

He has a flat rock that I rarely move, but this 2nd water change I moved it. I usually remove everything but that rock when I do his water chnage, but he was my last tank last night & i was super tired. I likely dosed his tank wrong.

I used 'Jungle Start Right' as water conditioner this time in case I OD'ed him with prime last night.

If it was not Prime causing issue, it was Dr Tim's because I dosed the tank this morning because he injured himself when he got startled the other day. But I've used Dr Tim on him before with him so *shrug* no idea... i'm clueless.

OP - my understanding is that you can nearly double the dose of Prime and be okay.


ALSO
I had water changes got bad exactly 2 years ago - it was likely because they added more chlorine to the drinking water supply.

Good luck!

 

OP - my understanding is that you can nearly double the dose of Prime and be okay.


ALSO
I had water changes got bad exactly 2 years ago - it was likely because they added more chlorine to the drinking water supply.

Good luck!

I use buckets for my water changes, and fill 5 gallons at a time. I typically dose 10g worth of prime in each one (it's hard to estimate that small of an amount) so double what I need to. And seeing as I do 50% water changes, that means mathematically I'm dosing for 100% of the tank whenever I do a 50% water change. Perhaps a bit more. I believe this is ok, and I don't want to risk underdosing. But if prime could be an issue, let me know.

 

Yep. I did 7 water changes last night. I walked into my bedroom and saw my featherfin catfish breathing 'heavy' /fast.

I just did a 2nd water change to his tank and he seems normal. I'm going to keep an eye on him closely over next 12 hours, then 24 looking for signs.

He has a flat rock that I rarely move, but this 2nd water change I moved it. I usually remove everything but that rock when I do his water chnage, but he was my last tank last night & i was super tired. I likely dosed his tank wrong.

I used 'Jungle Start Right' as water conditioner this time in case I OD'ed him with prime last night.

If it was not Prime causing issue, it was Dr Tim's because I dosed the tank this morning because he injured himself when he got startled the other day. But I've used Dr Tim on him before with him so *shrug* no idea... i'm clueless.

OP - my understanding is that you can nearly double the dose of Prime and be okay.


ALSO
I had water changes got bad exactly 2 years ago - it was likely because they added more chlorine to the drinking water supply.

Good luck!

That was probably my issue then, I didn't dose the Prime and added way, way, way too much! But this was over 4 years ago and I haven't had an issue since...for now

 

Please don't beat yourself up to badly over the losses you are experiencing. It is a fact of life. We are going to lose fish occasionally.

I and many other also have problems keeping neon tetras alive. I had just about given up on them. I was just going to let the 5 I had live out their life and get no more. Mcasella had some up for sale so I bought them. I added the 13 I got from her to the 5 I already had and for quite some time all seemed to be thriving. Sadly over time they started dying off. I am back down to 5. I will get no more.

I had the same issue with blood fin tetras. I traded BN pleco fry for 14 blood fin tetras. They did really well for several months. These were actually the first fish I have ever quarantined before adding them to my main tank. They showed no sign of any kind of problems for the month they were quarantines.

I am down to just one now. They show no signs of having a problem. They just disappeared one by one. I've never found a body. Since they are so small I suspect the bodies are being eaten before they can be found.

I will eventually get more black skirt tetras. The 4 I have right now have been with me for going on 6 years. They seem to be much hardier than some of the smaller species of tetra. BTW: I started out with 6 Dec 2015. During all that time I purchased 3 from Mcasella so during the time from dec 2015 to now I have lost 5 of them but they have lived longer than any of the other tetras I have had.

 

Please don't beat yourself up to badly over the losses you are experiencing. It is a fact of life. We are going to lose fish occasionally.

I and many other also have problems keeping neon tetras alive. I had just about given up on them. I was just going to let the 5 I had live out their life and get no more. Mcasella had some up for sale so I bought them. I added the 13 I got from her to the 5 I already had and for quite some time all seemed to be thriving. Sadly over time they started dying off. I am back down to 5. I will get no more.

I had the same issue with blood fin tetras. I traded BN pleco fry for 14 blood fin tetras. They did really well for several months. These were actually the first fish I have ever quarantined before adding them to my main tank. They showed no sign of any kind of problems for the month they were quarantines.

I am down to just one now. They show no signs of having a problem. They just disappeared one by one. I've never found a body. Since they are so small I suspect the bodies are being eaten before they can be found.

I will eventually get more black skirt tetras. The 4 I have right now have been with me for going on 6 years. They seem to be much hardier than some of the smaller species of tetra. BTW: I started out with 6 Dec 2015. During all that time I purchased 3 from Mcasella so during the time from dec 2015 to now I have lost 5 of them but they have lived longer than any of the other tetras I have had.

When I started my very first tank, a 20 gallon, I did the cycle with fish. The store said Black Skirts were very hardy and recommended them. It took me forever, I found out that water coming in from our garden hose really messed up my numbers. We totally emptied the tank and began again. It's been 2 years and I still have my black skirts (3 black, 3 white really) and they've weathered every storm, very hardy fish! I called them my Super Troopers!