# What did I do wrong?!?!?!



## jellybean01

Hey fish keeping people...I am fish sitting for my friends (goodness knows why they asked me, I haven't kept fish in 15 years & back then my mum was the font of all knowledge, I just fed them sometimes) and this morning......I killed one! 

I don't understand what I did wrong. One minute he was fine...and the next he was sitting on the bottom of the tank, clearly struggling to breath. This went on for about 20-30 agonising minutes, during which time I flapped about like an over-sized pigeon, trying to work out the logistics of mouth to mouth on a krib (I believe it's a Krib) 

I'd just put in the oxygen tablets (as instructed) and I'd popped in 2 plecco wafers for their Plecco. And a teeny bit of food to distract the rest of them from the wafers. The thing is, when I found him in trouble, the Kirb was sitting on the bottom of the tank, next to one of the wafers......could that have killed him? Or the extra food....it wasn't much but I know over-feeding can kill them. I should have put the wafers in last night but I wasn't well and between frequent running to the bathroom, I totally forgot (I am a bad person) Or could he have eaten an oxygen tablet??? I'm just really worried I did this, he went downhill so fast, it must have been a mistake I made. They're due back in about 4 hours & I'm very concerned they're going to come back to a tank of belly up fish....is there anything I did wrong??? 

Sorry, I'm being dippy...I keep rats & I'm fine with my rats, I know what's going on & I'm really quite level headed, but these are other people's pets I've been entrusted with & I'm panicking!!! :scared:


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## Merlin Birmingham

You are not a bad person at all, Like you I know nothing about fish.

However i always feel bad when looking after other peoples pets when things go wrong, I've never had a fatality but have had some traumatic experiences.

Its always unpleasant breaking the news to the owner.


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## Guest

Before you blame yourself, could you provide a few details on the tank, including the size, filtration type and whether or not the filter has been cycled? Also, could you provide the results from some water tests (pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate)?

Overfeeding can kill fish but not instantly, fish will only consume as much as they can within a set period of time, however a few species are known to gorge on particular types of food and some do nothing but graze all day. Fish die from overfeeding as a result of poor water quality caused by decomposing food that hasn't been eaten or removed.

Without wanting to sound rude, but is there any particular reason as to why you're using oxygen tablets? With a proper filtration system, there should be no need for them. The surface agitation produced by the filter is usually enough to satisfy dissolved oxygen demands.


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## jellybean01

Ummmmm.........oh goodness I'm so ignorant! I honestly can't tell you a thing about the filter. Right, I'm going to have a look at it...the tank is....I'm not sure. I'd say it's small to medium sized (that's probably not helpful is it?!) The filter says Elite on it & it looks a bit like a spaceship...does that mean anything to you? There are 14 other fish in there that - seem to be ok. I keep counting them to make sure they're all still swimming, it's very difficult, the tank is sort of a hexagon & the fish won't keep still!!! 

I don't actually understand what you mean by cycling the filter either, sorry. I really shouldn't be in charge of these fish, but it was only for a day so I figured I couldn't do that much damage! It's just feeding them, right?! I feel that may have been a short-sighted attitude. 

As for water tests...I assume there's a special kit for that but I've had a little poke about and I can't find anything. That's not to say they haven't got all the relevant bits & pieces, it's just that I'm not comfortable delving any deeper into their things. I have new found respect for fish-keeping now, rats are so much easier! 

The tank looks pretty clean, I can't see anything decomposing in there. They seem to eat all the food & I guess the Pleco hoovers up anything on the bottom??? 

I put the oxygen tablets in because it was in my list of instructions. They seem to put them in twice a week - I don't really remember oxygen tablets from the family fish keeping days but like I said, my mum was the fish lady - I'd phone her now but she's away & without a mobile. Would oxygen tablets kill the fish if they ate them????? Sorry to be so unhelpfully dense.


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## Inca's Mum

jellybean01 said:


> Ummmmm.........oh goodness I'm so ignorant! I honestly can't tell you a thing about the filter. Right, I'm going to have a look at it...the tank is....I'm not sure. I'd say it's small to medium sized (that's probably not helpful is it?!) *The filter says Elite on it & it looks a bit like a spaceship*...does that mean anything to you? There are 14 other fish in there that - seem to be ok. I keep counting them to make sure they're all still swimming, it's very difficult, the tank is sort of a hexagon & the fish won't keep still!!!
> 
> I don't actually understand what you mean by cycling the filter either, sorry. I really shouldn't be in charge of these fish, but it was only for a day so I figured I couldn't do that much damage! It's just feeding them, right?! I feel that may have been a short-sighted attitude.
> 
> As for water tests...I assume there's a special kit for that but I've had a little poke about and I can't find anything. That's not to say they haven't got all the relevant bits & pieces, it's just that I'm not comfortable delving any deeper into their things. I have new found respect for fish-keeping now, rats are so much easier!
> 
> The tank looks pretty clean, I can't see anything decomposing in there. They seem to eat all the food & I guess the Pleco hoovers up anything on the bottom???
> 
> I put the oxygen tablets in because it was in my list of instructions. They seem to put them in twice a week - I don't really remember oxygen tablets from the family fish keeping days but like I said, my mum was the fish lady - I'd phone her now but she's away & without a mobile. Would oxygen tablets kill the fish if they ate them????? Sorry to be so unhelpfully dense.


I'm not any help at all, Pleccy will try his best I'm sure. He's the nerdicle! But what I've put in bold made me crease! You got +REP for that! :thumbup:


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## Guest

I'll take it this is the filter...

Aquatics Online Catalogue : Hagen Elite Stingray Underwater Aquarium Filters

Ask the owners of the tank if they cycled the filter. Also, find a test kit! While the tank may look clean, organic waste substances (mostly ammonia) produced by the fish and decomposing waste are invisible when dissolved in water. Assuming the tank is a tropical system, testing the water is imperative. The toxicity of ammonia increases with temperature, and also pH.

To be perfectly honest, there shouldn't be any need to feed the fish whilst the owners are away. Assuming that they are only going to be away for a couple of weeks, you might as well stop feeding the fish. Fish can go for a considerable amount of time without food.

I would also eighty-six the oxygen tablets and tell your friends when they return that they _are_ wasting their money on them. A couple of oxygen tablets twice a week is gonna do absolutely nothing, it certainly won't have any significant benefit for the tank.


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## jellybean01

I am seriously impressed, that is the exact filter & given my suspect description...(although I am grateful for the +rep from Inca's Mum...thankyou  ) I am astounded you found it at all, let alone so fast!!! :thumbup:

My friends are back today so I shall ask them to test the water and also about cycling the filter, they would know how to do that, I'm sure. They've only been away for a week & her sister managed the past 6 days without any fatalities...I just panic because our family fish-keeping days came to an abrupt end when I managed, somehow...and it remains a mystery to this day...to kill all of them, in one horrible, belly-up fishie massacre.  It was horrible, I was devastated. While my mum was the fish-lady, I always enjoyed watching them & I used to help with cleaning & occasional feeding etc. And two of them were mine...cat-fish, named after Thudercats characters. I was only left in charge of them for 2 weeks. We'd had them for a while so my parents assumed I wouldn't be as incompetant as I clearly was. I haven't kept so much as a goldfish since then. 

The reason they asked for fish sitters is because many of the fish are new. In fact, they've had them just 16 days today (I got my newest rat on the same day as they brought their fish home) so they didn't want to leave them without food when they were still settling into the tank. Otherwise, am I right in thinking you can get slow release food blocks for fish??? 

Ummmmmm...I don't want to tell tales out of school here but I also don't want my friends to be doing this oxygen tablet thing wrong to the point of endangering their fish...they gave her sister & I 3 little bags with about 6 or 7 tablets in each & told us to tip the whole lot in, one bag on each of the ascribed days. Is that likely to cause the fish harm??? Sorry for all the questions...would you believe I was actually considering getting some fish myself (not anymore, clearly I am too dippy to be trusted) but my friend Lucy has just told me today...she's getting some, so perhaps I can assist her - via all of you - and ensure she doesn't make any mistakes...she's even dippier than I am!!!!! :scared:

My apologies for waffling...and thank you so much for your help, it is very much appreciated


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## Guest

The oxygen tablets themselves won't do any harm, even if ingested. In any case, the fish will find them quite unpalatable. The reason as to why I'm recommending not using them is because, to put it quite succinctly, they're a total waste of money. 

Many people believe that oxygen is put into the water column by bubbles, this is not so. It is simple surface agitation from a filter pump which increases gas exhange and allows more oxygen to diffuse into the water, hence why airpumps (or bubblers as they're often called across the pond) are also branded as unnecessary.

Food blocks are available, however 99.9% of fish don't have a clue on how to use them, so they usually go uneaten and end up polluting the water. The plaster which holds the food together simply floats off into the aquarium and - in a worst case scenario - clogs the filter.


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