Archivarium 2004

[davidk]

I woke up this morning and turned on the lights in my 34. Right away I noticed my Scat was pale, had white slime on it, and was very inactive. I got a bowl from the kitchen and made a salt dip with fungus medicine and let it sit for a while. When I netted the Scat, he went limp like he instantly had a heartattack. I put him in the medicine and let him soak for 30-40 seconds, and then put him back in the 34. He floated on the surface for a good 2 minutes. I thought I had killed him, then all of a sudden he jerks to life and swims to the bottom of the tank, and visits the other fish like nothing had ever happened.

Has anyone seen behavior like this in their fish? I'm in the process of testing the water and readjusting the heater. If I find anything drastic, ill let everybody know.
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[davidk]

My Scat is dead, along with an Aus Rainbow that was FINE 2 hours ago. They died on cue like it was planned.
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[benedictj]

What are your params?
What kind of substrate do you have and do you stir it often?
Have you added anything new to the tank recently?
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Best,

Jake

[davidk]

I just tested the water again.

pH 7
Nitrites .25
nitrates 15
ammonia 0
hope I tested correctly

I just did a 10% water change yesterday and added dechlorinator (added to the tap water accordingly before poured in tank), and nothing else. The Gouramis seem to be doing fine, but so were my dead fish.

I like to consider myself an intermediate fish keeper. I'm puzzled. Sometimes I wish I was a marine biologist
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[Psyfalcon]

How big was the scat? They need progressively saltier water as they grow, until they require full salt. Seeing the tankmates, I assume your tank was not brackish.

The mix of the nitrite spike and the fresh water may have killed the Scat, or weakened it enough that it caught an infection.

[benedictj]

I second psyfalcon. Actually, the mere presence of the nitrite is an indication that there wasn't enough salinity in the tank for the Scat. (Salt neutralizes nitrites...a single teaspoon treats well over 50 gallons of water).
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Best,

Jake

[davidk]

Theres actually 1 tablespoon of salt per 5 gallons.
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[benedictj]

If anything else shows up on any of your other fish, I would treat the tank with a broad spectrum. Also, it would probably be a good idea to do a w/c and get the nitrites down to zilch.
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Best,

Jake

[Psyfalcon]

[davidk]

Well that would be the problem then. When we bought the Scat, I asked for the store owner to DEFINE what I need to do to keep this fish alive. Never once did he inform me it was a brackish water fish. I found that out when I came home. The owner also informed us that the Scat was a very aggressive fish and shouldnt be kept with other aggressive fish. What a flop, I feel like a murderer. The store is Strictly Fish in Lakewood, CA.

Lately I've been wanting to go back to Mollies and Platys.
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