# Fish dying



## ccm290 (Sep 16, 2012)

I have had my 29 gallon tank since September, and my fish keep dying on me. My current tank setup is 6 black skirt tetras, one sword tail, two mollies, and a chinese algae eater. Two sword tails and a molly have died on me so far.

My pH is between 6.8 and 7.2, my nitrite level is zero, my nitrate level is around 40(mg/L), no chlorine, hardness is 150 GH, and Alkalinity is between 80 and 120. I had looked at my temperature gauge and I noticed it was around 84F. I slowly adjusted the knob until I got the temperature around 78. I also fear that my algae eater may be picking on the fish(I read that the kind I have will be aggressive as it gets older). Other than that I don't know what it could be.

Does anybody have any ideas? Do I need to provide more information? Thanks.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Your fish could be suffering from internal parasites, which inhabit your tank and infest your fish and cause a slow death. Look for things like white stringy poo, or red things protruding around the anus, or excessive eating. The only other thing I can think of would be the algae eater.


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## chipmunk1210 (Jul 3, 2012)

What is your ammonia level? That would a good level to know since you have fish dying. Your stocking level looks good except the chinese algae eater. The CAE will get big and gets aggressive. They tend to pick on or kill other tank inhabitants when older. How big is your CAE? I also agree with Gizmo-look for parasites as those can be a hidden threat until they cause the fish to up and die sometimes with no clue.


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## ccm290 (Sep 16, 2012)

My CAE is prob around 3 inches now. Today I found two other fish dead(2 of the black skirt tetras). One looked liked it had been picked apart. When I noticed it, my CAE started sucking on it. The other had a slightly bulged stomach.
I tested for ammonia and it came back zero.

If it is my CAE, what would you recommend me do with it? I feed them around once a day


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## chipmunk1210 (Jul 3, 2012)

If you find that it is indeed your CAE, then I would suggest rehoming it. You could see if any of your LFS will take it in for trade as well. With the one having a bulging stomach, parasites might still be an issue. The fish might actually be dying of parasites and the CAE just picking at the dead bodies or it could be a combined thing.


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## ccm290 (Sep 16, 2012)

Update:

Had another fish die on me this morning(my swordtail this time). She seemed fine last night before I went to bed. She didn't have a bulged stomach like the other fish, and she didn't looked like she was picked on.

I will try to talk to my LFS about buying it today. but if it is indeed parasites, what would I need to do to treat my tank?

Thanks everyone for helping me!


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Just posted a link to help figure out what might be going on with your fish .Check it out and fill us in.http://www.aquariumforum.com/f2/help-all-need-41690.html


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## ccm290 (Sep 16, 2012)

@coralbandit: Thanks! I looked at the chart and I decided to treat for parasites. I got Parasite Guard from Petsmart.

I also wen't to a LFS to ask about my CAE, and they said that they would take it. One thing I failed to mention is that I didn't feed my CAE algae wafers, which she said could cause it to attack my fish. I bought a small bag of wafers to see if it would help.

I think I'm going to upload pictures of my tank and the fish on here. It may help to diagnose my problem further.

Again thanks for all the help. It's really appreciated.


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## ccm290 (Sep 16, 2012)




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