Why did my fish die!?

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They will be okay, see where you are at in the morning.

Too many people aren't careful. I see Wisconsin was on the list which makes no sense since we are too cold for the plant to winter over, maybe I have the wrong plant species name??

 

[ShrekDawg]

Okay, I will check the water in the morning and then do I feed them then too or wait?

Ahhh that makes sense. And if you put the water down a drain and it had some plant or seeds could it spread that way?

And yeah, we (Massachusetts) get cold in winter too, though not as cold as Wisconsin, and Maine gets really cold so it makes zero sense.

Could be. Is this the plant you mean?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sure looks like them.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Hmmm that's weird. Maybe people don't know they are illegal then? The list of plants is loooonggg, i doubt they know or enforce them all

 

[ShrekDawg]

Down to 4 fish now... how did this happen!?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Sorry, it was probably the ammonia and stress, keep going, get the tank cycled than replace any that you lose. Most of those feeder fish will die anyways, save the ones you can is how I think of it.

Also don't get discouraged, tank cycling is rough. Once you get it done things will work out better. I think I would add a thin layer of gravel to give the bacteria somewhere to live. Your ill also need a gravel siphon and vacuum, Wal-Mart sells them cheaply.

Do a water change today and maybe get another bottle of bacteria to add when you can.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Thank you!

I thought maybe she got stuck on the filter and died? Or do you think it sucked her up so to speak after she died?

And I just got gravel, a vacuum, and more bacteria yesterday from Petco and Walmart, just need to get them out of the car.

I will change the water and add the gravel, a few plants and more bacteria?

Test results are still the same except the ammonia is maybe a smidge lighter than yesterday. Just tested.

So I should still do a water change?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Do a slight water water change 20-30% to cut the ammonia a bit. Dying fish will get sucked to the filter as well as dead fish.

Remember that these feeder goldfish are severely abused, sometimes diseased, crowded and stressed, and it can be hard for them to make it sometimes.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Okay, I will do a water change and add the gravel when I get home

And that's true. It's just sad to lose them but I guess when I think of the conditions they were in, it makes sense. The others seem to be growing

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

They should fatten up and look good after the initial period and look nothing like those at the store. The last time I looked at them at Wal-Mart there was about 50 dead on the bottom, guess someone did do the dead pickup soon enough.

If people treated any other animal like they do fish lots of folks would be in jail. I find it odd how we sort animals into categories and relevance to our needs, which determines how we treat things.