Help! - I'm stumped - cichlids dead, don't know why...

Over the last 4 - 7 days I've lost a number of cichlids, all have been in the tank (2000l) for at least 6 months. The fish seem healthy and asymptomatic, then become lethargic, move to the bottom, fall over and die over a period of 3 to 4 days. The losses I have are red devil, deacon, potentially a synspilum and a yellow jacket as well.

Those I have isolated i have treated with Seachem paragaurd, and salt - I really don't know what I'm treating.

None of my other fish in the same tank - aro, tinfoil's, gourami's, polypterus, loaches seem to be affected at all.

The only out of the ordinary issue I've had before this happened was a dead catfish, stuck in a log that came apart when I removed it. I did a 50% WC immediately and another 50% one a day later.

My water parameters are all OK, temp around 26[SUP]o[/SUP]C, I have not changed food or feeding, do 30% water change very other day, use seachem prime, everything remains the same, no new fish introductions, 12 000l/h filtration, filters cleaned monthly, tanks is heavily aerated.

Other than the rotten cat, I cannot think of anything that that was out of the ordinary, I'm stumped to say the least, help most welcome.

 

man that sounds wierd
no other signs on fish, missing scales torn fins bloated belly or stringy pooh or clear pooh
cichlids are ment to be highly suseptible to heavy metal in water, does your test kit have a soluble metal test
that only thing i can think off

 

Sorry To hear about this, really not nice!!! I think I would've packed up most probably and given up as I was so upset with my recent convict Death which it was just there the one day and the other dead, without any visual warning I could see/determine.

I spent some time looking around for possible answeres and keep on getting back to the following "Flipover" Disease, not 100% sure about this to be honest got it from Chart on Fish Diseases, Symptoms and their Treatments Aslo saw something with regards to a "Swim Bladder disease". Will write again if get anything else, but from my side I can add no further value other than hoping someone on the forum experienced this and will be reading this shortly to assist you A.S.A.P.

 

That sounds exactly like what happened to me last week just my african cichlids all died the rest off the fish perfect they layed at the bottom lazy no movement some died overnight and the others over the next 2 days I also did a 50 % added seachem prime and stability and 2 days later everything was good

 

Sorry this might sound like a stupid answer but is there enough oxygen in the water ? I know with my Sevrums and Geos they are very sensitive to oxygen levels. when the temp went up the way it has I noticed they to went lethargic and stayed in the corner. I then connected an air pump the my power head to blow more bubbles into the water and they have been fine since... sorry about the loss you having.

 

@topdog, nothing like the symptoms you describe, no I don't have soluble metal test kit, will look for one, as we speak my Texas and syn are to about to croak, and yet, the rest of the popn seem healthy and happy. Been thinking what I did in the last two weeks, only change from Seachem prime to Seachem safe, but I can't see that being the cause. @Cesar, i have 2 gholf ball sized airstones, 4 filter inlets, and 4 wave makers, no fish are gasping in the tank or at the surface so I don't believe it's a lack of o2.
It's so f...... frustrating!

 

@Ortaega, tx, had a look over the list, kind of like flip over, but I don't think it's that, fish become lethargic, lay on the bottom and die over a period of a day or two, and so far, only cichlids are affected, all between 150mm and 200mm big, and everything else seems unaffected?

 

any live food being fed ?

 

Damn, Really difficult to determine the problem then. Unfortunately I haven't experience this yet. I will still read and see if see anything else maybe someone more experienced will help on this one. Really hope you get some good info soon. I do see so far that @f-fish just asked you a question as well.

 

Ferdi, thought about that, yes, crickets and super worms once to twice per week, the bulk get eaten by the aro, giant gourami and oscars, all of them ok. The cichlids grab their share, I'm going to hold off for a while.

 

Sorry for your loss.

Quick question, what colour are the gills of the dead and dying fishes?

Andrew

 

pHis_man, I had a look at the gills, they look nice and red, pretty much as I perceive healthy gills

 

ok, so an indicator there is sufficient oxygen and blood flow?

Can you test your ammonia and nitrite levels quick?

Do you have any microbe-lift special blend or seachem stability on hand?

 

Amm 0, nit 0, yes I have stabilty 250ml

 

@Jwh… Sorry for your loss…. Its heart-breaking
Again this might sound like a silly suggestion but, readingthrough everything, my gut feeling…. Could it be that some of the fish ate piecesof the dead catfish when you removed it (I know you did water change) but it could have happened an maybethe catfish was rotten an caused poisoning of the fish that ate it?
Everything else sounds perfect and doesn’t make sense….

 

@MariaS, absolutely they did, remember the first cichlid to die swimming around with ribs protruding from its mouth, and no doubt this was a pretty toxic situation, and it goes some way in explaining some of the early deaths. Scavenger such as my Polypterus and cat fish seem totally unaffected, and the cichlids are still dying, more than a week later?
In the final analysis and lacking any other causes/ evidence causing these deaths, this seems probably the most obvious reason.

 

I have to wonder about parasites and live food in the heat we have been having .. also wonder if @ahmed00ismail has been feeding any live food - or others for that matter that are seeing things die?

 

I don't feed any live food I have friend who's has some african cichlids and in the past week had this same thing just woke up on Friday and half his fish were dead

 

@ferdi Possible, confounding factor would be that only cichlids die, who in my tank are not the biggest consumers. I'm no expert on cichlids per se, but are they that sensitive, especially the SA/CA species?

 

Thanks for jumping in Ahmed ... maybe ask the friend about his feeding habits.

BTW your profile has no location please add, helps when we try and connect the dots.

Later Ferdie