# Please help! Dead fish. Bloat?



## FishFan2016 (Apr 7, 2016)

Hello. First post here but I have a problem :roll: 
About an hour ago I noticed this fish hiding and panting at the bottom of the tank and now he/she has died. The body was very swollen so I'm thinking it could be bloat and I'm worried about the other fish (about 45 cichlids in 450l tank).

I have taken a photo but not sure how to upload it here? Thanks for any advice guys. I'm about to test the water but I only have those pathetic stips but have ordered the liquid kit which will take a few days to come.

I do at least 30-40% water changes every Monday. I use a phython syphon so the water isn't conditioned before adding.

Thank you!!


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## Fish Jerk (Mar 9, 2016)

Being swollen all over ins't bloat, that is a general symptom of organ failure (dropsy) that can come from anything. Without seeing symptoms before it died who knows what it is. If other fish don't show any symptoms and water is OK I would not treat for anything. You have 45 fish and occasionally one will die. But observe closely to see if you find anything strange.


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## cooper.mayberry (Feb 8, 2016)

Was the fish one of the leaders in the tank as in did he take comtroll over the food, unlikely but possibly could have over eaten. If not dropsy is for sure a possibility maybe due to stress with all those fish but the tank is fine for the amount of fish I wouldn't recommend anymore though, if you specify what filtration you have too that would be great I would also recommend if you have time to so maybe 10% water change daily it will keep the levels more steady cause it doesn't have the time to build up all the bad waste. If the other fish show signs of the other one but you don't know what it is I would say add melafix it is great with infection and can help with stress.


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## FishFan2016 (Apr 7, 2016)

Thank you both for replying! It was one of the bigger fish so it wouldn't surprise me if it had over eaten. I think I'll cut down their feelings slightly too.

Should I be changing 10% each week instead of 30%?


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Can you give us more details on your tank set up including tank dimensions, how long it's been set up, and list the species of fish you have including approx. sizes? Also if you have received the test kit, post test results.

Aggression among fishes can lead to stress which can lead to death so this is always a possibility.

Water changes are usually a good thing for your fish, especially when the tank is heavily stocked. You listed about 45 cichlids in a 450l (118G) tank so it would be helpful to know the species and sizes.

50% water changes weekly is also very common in the hobby so I wouldn't reduce the percentage you are currently performing. I would however add your water conditioner to the tank prior to filling it back up with new water. Which brand of conditioner are you using? Check the label to see what the recommended dose is when you add water directly to the tank with a hose rather than a bucket. Many mfg. recommended adding for the volume of the tank rather than the amount of water changed when using this method.

While it is possible that fish has over eaten, it hasn't been my experience that it is common. What brand/type food are you feeding and how much/often have you been feeding?


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## FishFan2016 (Apr 7, 2016)

Thanks.
It's 5ft x 2ft I think, it's been set up since October but recently bought these fish from someone else. It's a mixture of a couple of yellow labs, Malawi cichlids and other cichlids i don't know the name of. Some big ones 2-3 inches and some smaller.

Test results say nitrate 0, nitrate 0 and ammonia 0. Should Nitrites not show something??

I use fluval water conditioner and I never measure it I just pour some in when I do a water change. It's a small bottle and expensive so perhaps I need to order a good sized bottle and add enough with water changes.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

You should be getting a nitrate reading over zero so either your tank isn't cycled (due to over zealous filter cleaning) or you didn't do the test correctly. Did you get the API brand test kit or a different one?

I suggest measuring your water conditioner when dosing for the best results, regardless of the brand. Prime is a conditioner that many use but as long as you choose a product that works for your particular water source, you should be fine.

Do you have a private well or are you on a city water source? The reason I ask is that some water treatment companies use either chlorine or chloramine as a disinfectant to treat the water and you need to choose a conditioner that will work properly.


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## FishFan2016 (Apr 7, 2016)

I did a big water change after my fish died so perhaps it was too much. Should I leave it this week and not do any changes?

It's just a regular town in Northern Ireland, no private wells lol


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

The big water change could be why your nitrates are zero but regardless, before your next normal water change, test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate again, write the results down and if your nitrates are still below 10PPM, you can skip a water change if you want to.

Please keep us posted on how things are going with the tank and if you have any other questions.


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## FishFan2016 (Apr 7, 2016)

Thank you Dee. I found another dead fish, half eaten so I couldn't see any signs of what happened. I think you're right, I've been taking too much water out. Sometimes I need to syphon out alot of dirt under rocks and before I know it the water level has gone down quite a bit!

What water conditioner do you use? I'll have to buy one off amazon. Local fish shop is useless


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

I have used Seachem Prime liquid conditioner in the past with good results but I have also used ClorAm-X which is a powdered product you mix with water before using.


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## FishFan2016 (Apr 7, 2016)

Another 2 fish dead today.

I did a nitrate test again (properly this time by shaking the bottle for ages) and it looks to be 5, I'll try uploading a pic.

I need to figure this out or I'll lose them all


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## FishFan2016 (Apr 7, 2016)

Should I treat with melafix incase it's a bacterial disease that's spreading?!


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## FishFan2016 (Apr 7, 2016)

This guy seems to be hiding and behaving differently. Does his belly look sunken to you?


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## Fish Jerk (Mar 9, 2016)

I won't say it's never water quality for african cichlids, but very seldom unless someone is really just a clueless idiot or hugely overstocked. They are pretty strong fish and not going to get killed like that very easily.

Looking at your tank and how many fish are in it and how little cover I will say that it's almost certainly "lead poisoning" to use the vernacular. Not in the sense there's lead in the water but your fishes are sleeping with the fishes so to speak.

I see at least 30 mbuna in there in what's essentially a bare tank. For mbuna FREE SWIMMING IS THE EXCEPTION NOT THE NORM. So if you have a bunch of guys swimming out in very open areas then they don't have anywhere to hide, which is bound to lead to tons of KIAs.

Your boy could be getting bullied so much he's not eating any more. That can happen pretty quickly if they have no hiding spots.

Every fish needs its own little house basically. It can be a little upended pot, or you can drill 5-6 little caves in a lava rock. Sometimes I even use a plastic cup and make very small holes for fry to hide in, and ones with slightly bigger holes and so on, so that the little guys can always escape the big ones. I always get a laugh when a big fish goes crazy trying to get through clear plastic to get at them, sometimes they intentionally antagonize them to make them chase them.

I'm guessing when you put more places to hide in there that the tank will be way more settled.


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## FishFan2016 (Apr 7, 2016)

Thanks. I don't see much bullying though. I even have a stray barb in there which is never picked on and in great condition. (It came with the tank and no one wants to take it off me).

I have a few pieces of stacked rock that they swim in and they like to scoop out the sand under the big wood to go in under there but I do need more. I would like to stack higher pieces but they have knocked these down a few times which is dangerous. If I put too much in there I'm scared of dirt getting trapped everywhere!


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