why do they keep dying?

(Mark Stone) wrote in message . com...
(Kris) wrote in message . com...
I have a 50 gallon tank with angels, otto's, apistogramma cacatoides,
a figure eight and bleeding heart tetra's.
since 2-3 months, every two weeks one fish dies. I've lost 1 Boekhlei,
2 angelfish and one apistograma that way. They have no symptoms
untill their last hour. Then they sink to the bottom, start havy
breathing ans then they die.
They eat well. I've noticed light coloured stool with a bit of a slimy
aspect. I thought about hexamita but then again, they don't have hole
in the head symptoms and they did not lost weight and eat well, and
they are brightky coloured.
Can hexamita be the reason, killing them one by one without others
symptoms? Should I give them something like hexamita(R) from 'Esha
Labs'? I don't like to do it because Apistogramma's dont't love
medication... But if that's what I got to do...

nay help is appreciated

greetz

*Anything* can be causing this to happen -- but after keeping Oscars
as long as I have, I think it's safe to rule out HITH. But before any
of us can help with the problem, we need info -- what are your water
conditions, etc.

pH 6.5
NO2- 0
NO3- 20
ammonia 0
water changes: more than enough

Fish dying with such regularity can be caused by
anything: rancid water because of overfeeding, cold water because
there's no heater, someone cleans the coverglass on the tank with
Windex while it's still on the aquarium, heavy cigarette smoke bubbled
up by the air pump -- even a loud stereo in the same room can increase
the stress levels! Maybe there's rocks or other decorations in the
tank leeching something toxic.

I've been keeping fish for over 15 years now. I know what I may do and
what will harm them... The tank setup is the same for more than 3
years. I didn't had one dead fish in 10 months. And if it was toxic I
think the young fishes will be the first to be intoxicated (small
liver) And almost all dead fishes where old guys. Never had any
problems. I just put new fish and plant in the tank in december.As I
did that I started feeding them more. Maybe that 's the problem. But
small and young fish need food more often. So not much I can do about
that.


What I would do is re-assess your setup from the ground up

I don't like that. My bacterial live is like it has to be.
Redecoration will cause more stress i think.

, using a
book or other type of guide. My suggestion is "You and Your Aquarium"
by Dick Mills, which is a "beginner's" manual but very thorough. If
you want to medicate, go with a general med like "Clout" because it's
difficult to diagnose what disease (if any) is causing this.
I already gave them a treatment with esha2000 (covers 18 diseases) But
3 weeks after treatment I had another mysterious dead fish...
(Clout
treats HITH too, so that would be covered). Fish in aquariums don't
just "die" -- they are being killed by something you can correct, so I
say get some literature, study up and rebuild your setup.

--Mark

thanx for the advice. I will think about feeding them 4 times a week
and not everyday as I do now. In the past I gave them food only two
times a week.
Maybe their intestinal tract is stressed because of this.

Mark Stone tractorlegs at msn dot kom
OSCAR Lovers! http://www.geocities.com/cichlidiot_2000/oscar.html
The ".Edu" meens i are smart.