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Thread: dying fish

  1. #21
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    Re: dying fish

    Then your screen is not set up right. Pics would help.

  2. #22

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    Re: dying fish

    I do not think your problem is oxygen related. From your descriptions, it seems to me that your fish are being poisened.

    What is the material of your screen? Possibly something toxic is being freed up and released from the screen during the cleaning process.

    Are any tools, brushes, sponges, etc. being used in your cleaning process. Could they be contaminated with household cleaners without your knowledge?

    Could a coral or other inhabitant be releasing a toxic defense in response to the disturbance to your cleaning?

    Do not feed your fish or tank prior to cleaning. Immediately prior to cleaning my suggestion would be to closely observe your aquarium for 15 minutes or more. Then fill a 5 gallon bucket with tank water to serve as a lifeboat if the need arises. You may need an airstone, heater, ammo-lock. Keep notes ang log. Clean your screen. Work systematically. Check equipment like pumps for problems. Return everything to operational status and closely observe your aquarium for a period of time. If your fish appear erratic move them to your rescue bucket. No acclimation necessary. Keep them in the rescue bucket for awhile and then return to your aquarium. Acclimation should not be necessary, however it would not hurt.

  3. #23
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    Re: dying fish

    Quote Originally Posted by midnight
    Are any tools, brushes, sponges, etc. being used in your cleaning process. Could they be contaminated with household cleaners without your knowledge?

    Good thinking!

  4. #24
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    Re: dying fish

    Another trick... do everyting you would do for a cleaning, but don't clean it... just put the screens back in while still full.

  5. #25

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    Re: dying fish

    It took a couple of hours this time, but I lost a clarkii last night. It started swimming eratically, darting in and out of the rocks. He stayed in the lower half of the tank so I don't think its O2 related. I clean the screen during it's dark period as well. The screen itself is plastic canvas from Michaels. I clean it with my Kent marine scraper. It's the short one and I just drag it across the screen. Between the tank and the sink, I carry the screen in bucket that is dedicated to aquarium use. Last night I put a couple layers of paper towels in the sink so the screen wouldn't contact the sink or anything on it. I wore gloves, rinsed with tap then ro/di, etc., etc.

    I'll try going through the cleaning process without actually scraping in a few days, but I'm just about convinced the scraping has something to do with it. If I don't figure this out soon, I may be finished with the ats project. I truly believe they work, but something must be amiss with mine. It's a bummer because I'm not sure I can support my mandarin without it (although he does pick at frozen and pellet food a little).

    Here's a crappy phone pic, but you get the idea.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  6. #26
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    Re: dying fish

    Quote Originally Posted by tjsmk8
    I wore gloves

    What sort of gloves? Could there be anything on them? Not powdered are they?

    I read somewhere else that the powder they sometimes put on latex gloves can kill fish.

  7. #27
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  8. #28

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    Re: dying fish

    They were black nitrile gloves, no powder. It was the first time I've worn gloves for the cleaning process. I wore them to eliminate something from my hands being the problem.

  9. #29
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    Re: dying fish

    It's very strange.

    This has only ever happened immediately after you clean the scrubber, is that correct?


    Impossible to say but I suppose it's possible that you have some unusual form of algae growing on the screen which releases some sort of toxin when damaged, perhaps as a defence against being eaten?

    There are enough people using scrubbers now that you'd have thought that we'd have seen this before if this is what's happening, but there doesn't seem to be any other explanation does there?

  10. #30

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    Re: dying fish

    I agree that it's very strange, and it's driving me crazy. I didn't put the cleaning/death together at first, but I know for sure that the last three fish have died within two hours of putting the screen back online.

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