fried my fish??

[LilDescartes]

I've been keeping tanks for years now, and have run into a puzzler. This
morning I came out, looked, and uh-oh, four deaths: rubbermouth plec, panda
cory, betta, and platy. This is a 100 gal, and none of the other fish (~60) are
affected. Chemistry checks showed nothing, and no changes recently.
Theory: I deep-fried some potatoes last night, and the air pump sucked in
some suspended grease. Thereby, it got into the tank and those few fish were
more sensitive to that contaminant.
Anybody else have that kind of experience?

[Jim Brown]

LilDescartes > wrote in message
...
> I've been keeping tanks for years now, and have run into a puzzler.
This
> morning I came out, looked, and uh-oh, four deaths: rubbermouth plec,
panda
> cory, betta, and platy. This is a 100 gal, and none of the other fish
(~60) are
> affected. Chemistry checks showed nothing, and no changes recently.
> Theory: I deep-fried some potatoes last night, and the air pump sucked
in
> some suspended grease. Thereby, it got into the tank and those few fish
were
> more sensitive to that contaminant.
> Anybody else have that kind of experience?

Airborne contaminants are usually in contact with the water at some time or
another. Things like tobacco smoke, household cleaners, cooking odours,
even the things we normally apply to our bodies. Water changes will reduce
the build up, and it takes some experience to reduce or eliminate the
causes.
I find it very unusual that the four fish of such diverse water preferences
and as hardy as they are can have their simultaneous deaths blamed on a bit
of grease.
I would re-examine the water chemistry tests and ensure you have covered the
whole spectrum.

Jim