29 Gallon Tank New hatchetfish keep dying

I recently set up my 29 gallons and it is fully cycled (4pppm ammonia in 24 hours). I purchased 6 diamond tetras, 7 marble hatchet fish, 1 pearl gourami, and 2 apisto panduro. This morning I found 1 of my hatchet fish dead, and then 2 more throughout the day. I have a sponge filter and a HOB running. I'm not sure if the current is too strong. Other fish look fine so I'm not sure what's happening. I did drip acclimation for 2 hours before I put them in yesterday.

Tank
What is the water volume of the tank? 29g
How long has the tank been running? 2 days
Does it have a filter? seachem tidal 75
Does it have a heater? yes, fluval e200
What is the water temperature? 78
What is the entire stocking of this tank? (Please list all fish and inverts.)
6 diamond tetra
1 pearl gourami
4 hatchet fish left from 7
2 apistogramma panduro

Maintenance
How often do you change the water? planned for once a week
How much of the water do you change? 40%
What do you use to treat your water? prime
Do you vacuum the substrate or just the water? yes

*Parameters - Very Important
Did you cycle your tank before adding fish? yes
What do you use to test the water? API master kit
What are your parameters? We need to know the exact numbers, not just “fine” or “safe”.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate: 5ppm
pH: 7

Feeding
How often do you feed your fish? this morning, frozen brine shrimp
How much do you feed your fish? a cube shared by 4 tanks
What brand of food do you feed your fish? hikari pellets
Do you feed frozen? yes
Do you feed freeze-dried foods? yes

Illness & Symptoms
How long have you had this fish? today is 2nd day
How long ago did you first notice these symptoms? this morning
In a few words, can you explain the symptoms? no obvious symptoms
Have you started any treatment for the illness? nope
Was your fish physically ill or injured upon purchase? initially purchased 8, one died in transport
How has its behavior and appearance changed, if at all? they look nervous and just huddling...seems similar to the behavior in the store.

Explain your emergency situation in detail.
(Please give a clear explanation of what is going on, include details from the beginning of the illness leading up to now): I honestly have no idea...they just seem to be dying left and right. Lost 3 hatchet fish in a day. Seems like there's a pattern. While typing this, I just lost another one...one is glass surfing which seems to be what they do before they die.

 

When fish die so soon after taking them home and your water is pristine and the other fish are doing great, it usually boils down to just an unlucky stressed out or diseased batch of fish, especially since one died in transport. I'd recommend waiting a couple weeks and then sourcing them from a different store. It might help to ask if they've just gotten a very recent shipment and trying to buy only after they've survived at least a few days or a week in the store.

 

Did you add all the fish at the same time?
Have you checked your parameters since the fish started dying?

 

Did you add all the fish at the same time?
Have you checked your parameters since the fish started dying?

I did. The tank was processing 4ppm of ammonia to nitrate with no ammonia and nitrite in 24 hours. I have been checking the water every four hours since then and this morning. It’s still 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite. Ph: 7

 

Then I would agree with SM1199, unfortunately.

 

When fish die so soon after taking them home and your water is pristine and the other fish are doing great, it usually boils down to just an unlucky stressed out or diseased batch of fish, especially since one died in transport. I'd recommend waiting a couple weeks and then sourcing them from a different store. It might help to ask if they've just gotten a very recent shipment and trying to buy only after they've survived at least a few days or a week in the store.

Then I would agree with SM1199, unfortunately.

This is honestly kinda traumatic. I wouldn’t say I’m an expert but with this being my fourth tank, I’ve never had this happened. This includes me being a noob before and just float the fish and dump them in. All my fish were purchased from my popular local fish store. I’m inclined to blame myself but I really don’t know what the problem is. The only thing I can think of is my hob and sponge filter. They were quite strong in the beginning so I’m not sure if that stressed them out or fatigued them. I have since moved my fluval heater because it keeps saying low flow after I turned the sponge filter down. I’ve never had issue with sponge filter flow being too strong. I mean the hatchet fish weren’t like getting pushed under the water. Sigh

 

I know exactly how you feel and yes it’s very traumatic.
A few months ago I bought 8 Rummynose from my usual store. The girl who served me was new and still learning how to put the fish in the bag and tie it with enough air for the fish to travel for 45 minutes. When I got home one rummynose was dead, another didn’t look good at all. I also hade 2 panda corys I had bought to bring my group up to six and they also looked iffy to me. Within 2 days all the rummynose died as well as one Cory. Only one Cory made it. I was devastated not to mention the amount of money I had lost.
2 weeks later I went back to the store and finally got up the nerve to talk to a clerk I do know,she talked to her boss and they ordered 10 rummynose for me free of charge. I sill have all of those.
Talk to your fish store.

 

There's certainly nothing you did wrong and it's hard losing a school of new fish. Unfortunately, sometimes it just happens and it's completely out of our control. From my very minimal understanding of marbled hatchetfish, they tend to be more sensitive than other species. They probably just got stressed out from multiple transports and acclimations.

 

I know exactly how you feel and yes it’s very traumatic.
A few months ago I bought 8 Rummynose from my usual store. The girl who served me was new and still learning how to put the fish in the bag and tie it with enough air for the fish to travel for 45 minutes. When I got home one rummynose was dead, another didn’t look good at all. I also hade 2 panda corys I had bought to bring my group up to six and they also looked iffy to me. Within 2 days all the rummynose died as well as one Cory. Only one Cory made it. I was devastated not to mention the amount of money I had lost.
2 weeks later I went back to the store and finally got up the nerve to talk to a clerk I do know,she talked to her boss and they ordered 10 rummynose for me free of charge. I sill have all of those.
Talk to your fish store.

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I'm so sorry to hear about your rummy nose and cory. I'm glad that the store was able to make it right. My partner encouraged me to go to the store today. I'm not looking for compensation but I do want to bring up this concern and see if there's a way for me to do things differently.

There's certainly nothing you did wrong and it's hard losing a school of new fish. Unfortunately, sometimes it just happens and it's completely out of our control. From my very minimal understanding of marbled hatchetfish, they tend to be more sensitive than other species. They probably just got stressed out from multiple transports and acclimations.

I have to say that they were super stressed in the bag and looking back I'm not sure a 2 hour acclimation was necessary. There were 8 hatchetfish in a practically 1-2 cups of water. They were jumping a little bit when I had them in the bag (inside the bucket with a towel over) during acclimation. I think they would do much better during transport with 4 in each bag.

 

From my very minimal understanding of marbled hatchetfish, they tend to be more sensitive than other species.

They are also often wild caught. Doesn't make it easier to acclimate them.

 

They are also often wild caught. Doesn't make it easier to acclimate them.

Would the silver or common hatchetfish be better? Are they also wild caught as well?

 

Most are wild. I would look for a better source first. But for the moment focus on acclimating everyone.

 

Would the silver or common hatchetfish be better? Are they also wild caught as well?

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I'm so sorry to hear about your rummy nose and cory. I'm glad that the store was able to make it right. My partner encouraged me to go to the store today. I'm not looking for compensation but I do want to bring up this concern and see if there's a way for me to do things differently.


I have to say that they were super stressed in the bag and looking back I'm not sure a 2 hour acclimation was necessary. There were 8 hatchetfish in a practically 1-2 cups of water. They were jumping a little bit when I had them in the bag (inside the bucket with a towel over) during acclimation. I think they would do much better during transport with 4 in each bag.

I have a suggestion… Don’t know if it’s possible for you but what I always do with my lfs is phone them (they know me) on Monday when they place their weekly order and let them know whIch and how many fish I need and they order them for me at the same time as they place their order. On Tuesday, when they receive their order they phone me and I pick up my fish in the original bag that came straight from the supplier who adds pure oxygen to their bags. Never lost a fish that way.
I had done the same thing for the rummynose and corys but something important made it impossible for me to pick up my fish on the day they were delivered and it had to be 2 days later before I picked them up which is why they spent time in their tank and needed to be repacked. Never again.

 

Most are wild. I would look for a better source first. But for the moment focus on acclimating everyone.

They are very reputable LFS and I've never had issues with their fish. I just worry that I did something wrong myself and didn't know what it was. I will continue to test my water twice a day for at least a week (that's what I've been doing with my previous tanks).

I have a suggestion… Don’t know if it’s possible for you but what I always do with my lfs is phone them (they know me) on Monday when they place their weekly order and let them know whIch and how many fish I need and they order them for me at the same time as they place their order. On Tuesday, when they receive their order they phone me and I pick up my fish in the original bag that came straight from the supplier who adds pure oxygen to their bags. Never lost a fish that way.
I had done the same thing for the rummynose and corys but something important made it impossible for me to pick up my fish on the day they were delivered and it had to be 2 days later before I picked them up which is why they spent time in their tank and needed to be repacked. Never again.

I can definitely ask. My LFS does a 2 week quarantine and administer the med trio for all their fish so I assume their fish don't go on sale after arrival. It also means that they stayed at their quarantine tank before getting transferred to their display tank.

 

They are very reputable LFS and I've never had issues with their fish. I just worry that I did something wrong myself and didn't know what it was. I will continue to test my water twice a day for at least a week (that's what I've been doing with my previous tanks).


I can definitely ask. My LFS does a 2 week quarantine and administer the med trio for all their fish so I assume their fish don't go on sale after arrival. It also means that they stayed at their quarantine tank before getting transferred to their display tank.

Your fish store is more reputable than mine. I have watched mine unpack their fish boxes while I wait for my bag of fish, they just drop the bags into the tanks they are supposed to go in. Then, when somebody has time they take the water out of the bag and just drop the fish in the tank. Now you know why I’m there at 10:00am on Tuesday to wait for the truck to deliver my fish.

 

I just worry that I did something wrong myself and didn't know what it was.

No. You did nothing wrong. Things like this happen regularly with hatchetfish.

 

This may seem like a basic question, but did you add water conditioner while drip acclimating?

 

This may seem like a basic question, but did you add water conditioner while drip acclimating?

I dripped from the tank water. I siphoned 99.99% of the water out (did a full one then refill for 10% and then iPhone all out then refill for 10% two more times to get all the nitrate out). Each time when I add the water I added prime in the tank before filling it with tap water. I let the water ran overnight before adding the fish. I didn't add prime to the plastic bag the fish was in nor the tank again before I acclimate them.

 

When you bring your fish home, before you acclimate them, you should add a drop or two of Prime in the bag as soon as you open it. Then you start your drip,

 

When you bring your fish home, before you acclimate them, you should add a drop or two of Prime in the bag as soon as you open it. Then you start your drip,

Oh . Argh I knew I did something wrong.

 

Yeah, what can happen is that if the pH in the bag rises, some NH4 converts to NH3 which is toxic. That can be a problem for a long accclimation. If you add Prime or Stress Coat to the bag, it will complex the ammonia.

 

I would definitely recommend talking to your fish store, especially if one died in transit... Unless you have a super long trip or dropped the bag or something that seems like a bad batch of fish to me to have them dying before they even arrive home. At the very least, they would probably want to know to hold remaining fish in that sale tank for observation to ensure they are not continuing to sell bad fish.

 

Yeah, what can happen is that if the pH in the bag rises, some NH4 converts to NH3 which is toxic. That can be a problem for a long accclimation. If you add Prime or Stress Coat to the bag, it will complex the ammonia.

Good to know! I will definitely go that moving forward when I do drip acclimation.

I would definitely recommend talking to your fish store, especially if one died in transit... Unless you have a super long trip or dropped the bag or something that seems like a bad batch of fish to me to have them dying before they even arrive home. At the very least, they would probably want to know to hold remaining fish in that sale tank for observation to ensure they are not continuing to sell bad fish.

I went back to the store. They had 2 marble hatchet left. I’m honestly a little bit suspicious because just two days ago they had over 15+ but I mean I bought 8 so I guess they are just that popular. The last one unfortunately had perished but I’m at least grateful the other fish are doing okay. Tested water again. Ph slightly lower but ammonia and nitrite are both 0. I will continue to monitor.

I went back to the fish store. They were very nice. They offered me the credit for the two that died before making it into the tank and they said they would credit me the rest if I bring in a water sample. They said it could potentially be my KH and GH.I know hatchetfish prefer softer water. I actually don’t have those test. I guess I will have to go buy those. Thank you so much everyone. I attached pictures of the other fish to show you guys I didn’t kill them all.

 

When you bring your fish home, before you acclimate them, you should add a drop or two of Prime in the bag as soon as you open it. Then you start your drip,

That only makes remotely sense if the fish where shipped, not when you get them in yourself. They are not in the bag for long enough for this to be an issue. Even with drip acclimation. I have done this for ages without water conditioners, I doubt this has anything to do with it.

Wild caught fish just take stress very badly at times. As I said, this tends to happen with hatchets, I wouldn't be looking for any mistakes you made yourself. Unless the surviving hatchets don't show any signs of a disease, parasite or poisoning I'd tick it off as an experience and be more careful with this species in general. Might mean to change sources (even if the store is reputable) or wait until they have recovered somewhat from transport to the store before buying them.

 

I don't think Silver Hatchetfish are immune from these acclimatisation problems and it is usual to lose some fish shortly after purchase although they seem somewhat sturdier. They can also be quite aggressive with one another in my experience. I suspect they do well and show their natural behaviour with still water or minimal flow.

An LFS who knows about and tries to secure good acclimatisation procedures is a better bet. Some have no clue what is going on and simply remove dead fish before opening (one retailer apparently removes 50 dead Neons a day every day). I have learned this from talking to the managers, something I have found much easier to do between 50 and 60 years of age. The condition of the fish you receive can be crucial as things like Columnaris can be difficult to reverse once it has gained a foothold.

 

That only makes remotely sense if the fish where shipped, not when you get them in yourself. They are not in the bag for long enough for this to be an issue. Even with drip acclimation. I have done this for ages without water conditioners, I doubt this has anything to do with it.

I should have replied to say this does NOT mean the OP did something wrong. That said, it could still be that there was a pH differential in the bag vs the tank water. Hypothetically, let's say the LFS water has NH4 in it with a pH of 5.5. Drip acclimating with pH 7 water could cause problems, unless the amount of NH3/NH4 is negligible.

I think it's safest to add Prime to the bag, or at minimum, measure that pH before acclimation. But I also agree with other posters that the death of some fish in transit points to other serious problems that are beyond the OP's control.

 

I slowly think there's some kinda toxin in my water. I'm not sure how to handle this situation. I'm losing one fish every 2 days or so. I'm thinking that I might need to scrap the whole tank. I'm speechless and am unsure how to proceed at this point. I haven't had issue with my other tanks. I attempted to drain majority of the water to remove possible toxin but with no help.