What happened to my fish tank?

M

mslin

New member
Hello everybody
I have a 20 gal fish tank, it's cycled and running for 9 months. I had 15 guppies, plants and decor
3 weeks ago, I went out of town, so I add some "vacation food". When I came back I found out that two of my guppies where dead, and also, my fish tank was full of cotton like stuff
I changed the water immediately and took care of the dead ones. I also, changed the filter for a new one. But from then 'till now, all my fish died!!! I'm so sad! Even my favorite female, the one who gave birth to some of the others, the one that I had from the beginning, died last week :,(
I don't know what could happened!!! now I have my tank empty, waiting to make decision to buy new fish or not.
The parameters are normal,ammonia, pH, Temperature, etc.

Any clue?
By the way, the "vacation food" was for just 5 days, I changed the water immediately after I came back. After three weeks from then, all my fish died one by one. :(
Another thing... I gave them "vacation food" twice before, like months ago, and nothing happened. Even my favorite had babies....
The tank wasn't overstock... I had 15 guppies but 5 of them were fully grown up (1 inch) and the others were babies...
 
It could have been the virus cottonmouth (cottoneye etc.). In the future I would not suggest giving your fish vacation food for as you found out it is a big fish killer. Fish are fine without food for up to 3 weeks.
Hope this helps
Sorry about the fish :( Only true fish people care.
 
the white fluffy stuff sounds like a fungus...i seem to recall getting that type of fungus in my tank as well when i was very young and we would go on vacation and use those vacation blocks. you should have tested the water when you got back, im willing to bet you had very high ammonia and nitrates which is probably what led to the demise of your fish. next time, skip the vacation food. fish can go a few days without food. if you will be gone for 7 days or more, have a TRUSTED friend or neighbor come over onces or twice to feed the fish, but let them know how much to feed, very little!!
 
The "vacation" food probably fouled up the tank water during those three weeks, in addition to the tank being overstocked.

The "cotton like stuff" in your tank is most likely mold or a parasite, though I'm not sure how your tank parameters are all good, especially without a nice water change for nearly a month.

The new filter probably helped the fact that your fish died, you're not supposed to purchase new filters unless you have to, the newness of them can be hard on the fish, even when the tank is done cycling.

Next time, get someone to check up on your fish when you're gone.
 
That vacation food does what it does best and turned your water rotten, causing mould and fungus around the tank and killing your fish with bad water quality. Don't bother using these things!

While the water change was good, changing the filter was not. By changing the filter you will have thrown away all your good established bacteria which were keeping water parameters stable, thus causing the nitrogen cycle to start all over again and killing the already fragile fish.

What were your ammonia/nitrate/nitrite readings exactly? With a new filter you're going to need to re-cycle that tank before you can add more fish again.
 
That vacation food does what it does best and turned your water rotten, causing mould and fungus around the tank and killing your fish with bad water quality. Don't bother using these things!

While the water change was good, changing the filter was not. By changing the filter you will have thrown away all your good established bacteria which were keeping water parameters stable, thus causing the nitrogen cycle to start all over again and killing the already fragile fish.

What were your ammonia/nitrate/nitrite readings exactly? With a new filter you're going to need to re-cycle that tank before you can add more fish again.
 
the white fluffy stuff sounds like a fungus...i seem to recall getting that type of fungus in my tank as well when i was very young and we would go on vacation and use those vacation blocks. you should have tested the water when you got back, im willing to bet you had very high ammonia and nitrates which is probably what led to the demise of your fish. next time, skip the vacation food. fish can go a few days without food. if you will be gone for 7 days or more, have a TRUSTED friend or neighbor come over onces or twice to feed the fish, but let them know how much to feed, very little!!
 
the white fluffy stuff sounds like a fungus...i seem to recall getting that type of fungus in my tank as well when i was very young and we would go on vacation and use those vacation blocks. you should have tested the water when you got back, im willing to bet you had very high ammonia and nitrates which is probably what led to the demise of your fish. next time, skip the vacation food. fish can go a few days without food. if you will be gone for 7 days or more, have a TRUSTED friend or neighbor come over onces or twice to feed the fish, but let them know how much to feed, very little!!
 
That vacation food does what it does best and turned your water rotten, causing mould and fungus around the tank and killing your fish with bad water quality. Don't bother using these things!

While the water change was good, changing the filter was not. By changing the filter you will have thrown away all your good established bacteria which were keeping water parameters stable, thus causing the nitrogen cycle to start all over again and killing the already fragile fish.

What were your ammonia/nitrate/nitrite readings exactly? With a new filter you're going to need to re-cycle that tank before you can add more fish again.
 
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