# Dead fish cycle???



## dye2fish (Mar 29, 2007)

I have tiawan reefs, venustus, and O.B peacocks together and about every 3 to 5 days one of the breed will die. The water test is great everything is normal. They are in a 180 gallon tank with (1) fx5 and (2) whisper 60 hangons on the back. I feed them new life spectrum once and sometimes twice a day. The other night I had a peacock start nose diving and it died that night then 2 nights later I noticed my tiawan reef hidding behind a rock, it was breathing real hard the next morning it was dead also. Please give me some advise.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

First off, Whisper filters aren't good for much of anything, so I would replace the both of them with a much better filter.

What are the exact water parameters on the tank?

What is your normal tank maintenance schedule?

What you are describing sounds water related, especially the "nose dive".

How long has this tank been set up?

Did the fish go through the cycle?

Any other symptoms? Are they reclusive? Eating properly? Any white stringy feces?

Kim


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## dye2fish (Mar 29, 2007)

It has been set up for 4 months, I do a 25% water change about every 2 weeks (180 gallon tank), some fish where in the cycle and the others was not. Fish are eating well I don't know what to do.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

What are the water parameters on the tank? I need ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph at the very least.

25% water change every two weeks with that filtration is likely not enough.

If some of the fish went through the cycling of the tank, long term damage may have been done to the internal organs of the fish.

Kim


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## dye2fish (Mar 29, 2007)

I will send it to you when I get home. Check around 5:30 or 6:00 pm tonight. 
THANKS SO MUCH!!!


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## dye2fish (Mar 29, 2007)

My Nitrite 0 , Ph 7.8, Ammonia 0 , Nitrate maybe a little above 0


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

What kind of test kits are you using? Dip stick or liquid reagent? Are they old?

I would replace the Whisper filters ASAP. I cannot stress enough how useless they are. This is a large tank. You need great filtration on it.

I would also get a second opinion on my water parameters at the LFS. What you are describing really sounds like water problems.

A few more questions:

Any reclusive behaviour from the fish before they die?

Do you watch them closely when you feed them? Could any of them be refusing or spitting food?

Any white stringy feces?

Kim


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## CichlidWhisperer (Apr 12, 2008)

Kim,

Just a quick question. What do white stringy feces mean (as in what specifically is wrong with the fish if they have them)? I have not had this problem recently, but I remember as a child (about 10 years old, so 30 years ago), my Molly's would have this....

Just wondering.
Thanks,
Carol


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

If that's the only problem you have, Carol, it doesn't mean anything.

If it's accompanied by odd behaviour and refusing to eat, it can indicate intestinal parasites.

Kim


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## Xenoterranos (Mar 14, 2007)

cichlidaholic said:


> I would replace the Whisper filters ASAP. I cannot stress enough how useless they are. This is a large tank. You need great filtration on it.


I just wanted to point out that the OP did say he had an FX5(  ) on that tank.

And if that's the Fluval FX5 (and not some ebay knock-off FX5) then I'd say that's adequate of filtration for a 180 gallon tank, as long as it's being kept clean. At that level of filtration, the whisper 60's are just wasting electricity. 
(I suppose if you didn't have a spray bar on that FX5 yuo could use the 60's for surface agitation, which is good as well :idea.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

I know what the OP said. :thumb:

I would still replace the Whispers with another filter.

Kim


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## Robin (Sep 18, 2002)

dye2fish,


> other night I had a peacock start nose diving and it died that night then 2 nights later I noticed my tiawan reef hidding behind a rock, it was breathing real hard the next morning it was dead also.


Was the peacock eating and swimming normally the day before? 
How about the taiwan reef?

It would help to know the answers to Kim's questions about any and all symptoms leading up to the deaths. 
If you noticed that the fish who died were eating and swimming normally less than 24 hours before death then that would point to a toxin in the water or more likely an aggressive tank mate. (A toxin in the water will usually effect all the fish to some degree while an aggressive tank mate will pick them off one at a time).

If however you noticed a progression of symptoms over several days time, (loss of appetite, lethargy, gasping, fuzzy growth on their bodies, etc), then this would point more to illness. The illness can be a result of poor water conditions or various other conditions.

Robin


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## dye2fish (Mar 29, 2007)

The fish where not acting anyway that drew my attention to them before they died


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