# Mystery Killer



## mijotter (Jul 26, 2011)

So here's the entie backstory. I got what I call "the originals" to cycle the tank(yes yes i know better now), Well they all survived (5 Bloodfins, 10 Zebra Danios). Then 3 months later I purchase a Pleco and 2 Odessa Barbs(not QT) The Pleco dies in a month, he was very bloated and had a red spot on his tummy. I was away and noticed when his corpse was pretty well gone. Since then a Zebra Danio and a Bloodfin Tetra have died. The bloodfin had his eyes bugged out but not sure if it was due to the intake or not. This morning I find another Bloodfin stuck to the intake not dead but barely breathing and not moving at all. I quickly seperated him from the tank. What should I do at this point to the little bloodfin and the rest of the tank. Is there an infection going around? I have also used Accurel all natural drops in an attempt to cure the VERY green water. The PlecoPet Supplies) and Odessas(LFS) were from different fish stores. There are no signs of fin rot, ich, anything really externally. Thank you so very much.
The tank is a completely cycled tank, water parameters are perfect.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

It sounds bacterial, but that's an educated guess. It isn't enough to medicate on, because you don't know. I haven't seen the drops you used, so I can't comment on what they are.

If it's an infection, then every fish has been exposed. I would keep at the regular 25% water changes, and maybe go up from one to two a week. It isn't slaughtering them en masse, so maybe they will simply fight it off, and it will go away with a lot of clean water to give the fish a boost. 
The problem comes if the survivors stabilize (I hope they do) and you want to add new fish. I would wait a good six weeks after the last death before I introduced stock that may have no resistance to your mystery pathogen. 

There is a possibility that there is no pathogen at all though. Green water is a natural development, so it seems unnatural to treat it as if it were a disease, with remedies. It's a water pollution problem, and I would use the same water change regime to change that. If your tank is in direct sunlight, you'll battle it forever because you are giving it ideal conditions, but a tank that has gone green will have lower oxygen - bloodfins and barbs are oxygen hogs and not fish for swampy water. Their silvery reflective camoufage screams clear water.
Whatever the test kits say, the green water says the water is a problem much more loudly.


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## lkfishy (May 13, 2012)

I'm sorry to hear that  How long was your pleco deceased before you found him? If he died from a bacterial infection it could have easily spread to your other fish if he was decaying in the tank. Since you only had him for a month its possible he could have been unhealthy from the pet store and its not your fault he died.I would do a pretty substantial water change regularly (making sure the ph and temp match exactly) and maybe clean all the decor and gravel (if possible) with some hot water.Like others said, its hard to tell exactly what the problem is. But quarantining any fish that seems a little off, paying strict attention to water quality, and a little wishful thinking is what I would do. Good luck!


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## mijotter (Jul 26, 2011)

Thanks for the quick replies. About the green water. It has been a persistant problem for about 2 months now maybe a little longer. I have tried everything with no success so I have just dealt with it as it is not toxic but I was aware of the oxygen issue. There is is just tons of phosphates in my water because i'm on a well near farms. I'll do the more frequent water changes and see how that goes. 

The drops I was using for the GW was an all natural product and it combines the microscopic spores to to be caught better by the filter media. I was rinsing my foam pad and adding those drops and the GW was improving, but i stopped doing that for 10 days because I was just way too busy lately and the GW came back.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

For green water you can do a blackout for 4 days, or get a uvfilter, or go to a hobbly shop, or pond shop and get one of those small bales of barley hay.


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## mijotter (Jul 26, 2011)

Yeah i've tried just about everything for the GW and it never goes away so I just deal with it, but if it is indeed the cause for the deaths(lack of oxygen) then something obviously needs to be done. 

When you say clean with hot water, boiling or just hot from the tap? Do I use any solution at all such as vinegar?

There isn't much I can do about the GW as i've tried so many different things to get rid of it. It's just in the tap water(phosphates that is). I'm on a well and surrounded by farms. IS there possibly another water source I could use?


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## lkfishy (May 13, 2012)

Just hot from the tap is what I use, but you want it steamy enough that its getting a good clean. I don't use any solution and definitely no soap, just nice hot water and a scrub down should get your decor clean of any unwanted grime. I don't know a lot about green water and have never dealt with it, but when you have fish dying getting everything super clean is a good place to start. It's no fun to lose them!


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## NeonShark666 (Dec 13, 2010)

Green water is not dangerous to your fishes. It can usually be fixed with water changes and less light. Water changes should also fix your fish problems. To avoid shock, change only 10-20% of your water at a time. Plecos need good water quality (low Nitrites). I just lost a large one for unknown reasons.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

To me, hot water is an enemy of fishkeepers. It's great for a shower after you spill green water on yourself, but I would never use it to fight algae. It does, after all, kill some bacteria.
It's hard with the phosphates and the farm well - that's beyond the experience of most of us. I've needed green water to feed fry and haven't been able to make it persist in my water - I'm the opposite side of the spectrum.
I would start looking for a uv sterilizer. I'm not sure what they cost, as I haven't used one, but they are the standard suggestion in a situation like yours. You are effectively getting polluted water from the tap to start with.

Using the algicide, natural or not, is not a route I'd take. Cyanide is also an all natural product, like rattlesnake venom and cow manure. They sell an awful lot of stuff with that label, but in the end, the most natural approach to a green water bloom should be starving the algae with fresh clean water. If you don't have that, UV is your best bet.


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