40 dead in 4 days

[Kathy55g]

Went out of town and the kids changed the filter on the system, and fed the bigger fish. The smaller fish are on automatic feeders.

Came back to 40 dead in the 3 week old's tank. These guys were on auto feeders, and the kids did their job, so I don't understand why. Everybody else looks fine. I have no clue why they died. They appeared somewhat decomposed by the time I got there, so perhaps they all died on the first day.

any ideas?

 

[NicoleC]

Awww. How old were they?

 

[Kathy55g]

3 weeks on friday. The live ones have mostly 2 stripes and are robust, but there are a few on the floor still. Not dead, but not lively. The live ones are very active and look great! I suppose I should not complain-- I still have a lot of fish. I just have the expectation that after metamorphosis, they should not die for no reason.

 

[NicoleC]

No ammonia spike?

It might be something as simple as a failure of hygiene -- something on their hands they didn't think to wash off that polluted the system or maybe reduced O2 levels?

 

[Kathy55g]

Possible...no ammonia. My kids think fish are icky, and don't put their hands in the water. (where did I get these children?) They were feeding the other tanks, anyway.

 

[spk]

Kathy,

Sorry to hear about the 40 that died.
Stupid question, did you change any diet before you left? or you said your kids changed the filter, was it washed or was this a second one that they just replaced?

However thinking about this, if it was all of them then perhaps a mistake could explain it but, this is not the case, then perhaps it is something else.

This is the joys and sorrows of raising young, there are some times no reasons why things happen, or reasons that only occur at a molecular level....

Good luck with the rest.

Steve

 

[David M]

any ideas?

Yes. Never leave the house again. That is pretty much how I feel about breeding, I know all too well the "cost" of leaving for more than 6-8 hours at a time and I try to avaoid that as much as possible. I am a prisoner in my own home