my sucker fish died a horrible death and i have no idea what happened …please help?!?!?
I ‘Had’… two sucker fish (one black n one albino..brownish) in a 20/10…gallon fresh water tank along side with another regular fish…. my husband has been feeding the regular fish with bloodworms for about 2 months…the regular fish loved it but the other two sucker fish didnt seem too interested….anyhow for the passed week or two weeks..i’ve noticed the brown sucker fish kept on moving to the top of the tank seemed as if he wanted to suck his way out of the tank.. ..the black one does it too but not as much as the brown..anyhow to make the story short…..i came home from work three days ago…found the brown sucker fish laying lifeless at the bottom of the tank…and i thought he/she was sleeping..cuz they tend to do that lots of time..but just not at the bottom of the tank…..i then called my husband to poke at it anddddd it didnt move…….. (sad)…we then took the brown one out n flushed him………that same day..i’ve noticed my black sucker fish starting to have a lof of round black spots on him…(he tends to do that when he feels unsafe or his immune defence kicks in)…then the next day i noticed some of his skin was coming off…oh and another thing…all off his fins seems liek they’re falling off…like as if something is eating them away..as if their fins were put into a shredder….very sad scene to see…even his tail was shredded………sigh……..and today..this morning…i woke up real early to check on him and i found him on the bottom of the tank….upside down…half of the skin on his body had fell off…or again as if something had been eating them away………i then called my husband to get him out..as he was tryin got do so…. the water current flipped the fish over …anddddd……….his tomach was gone!….incredibly horrifying…..it looked like a scene from a horror movie…..i dunno how else to describe it but that was how i felt……..anyhow….sigh….can someone tell me what happened..?..is it becuz of the bloodworms that my husband been feeding the other fish?…our tank is very clean..the water is chrystal clear….oh and another thing..my husband found some live worms at the bottom of the tank too..Yuck..yes they’re very tinny…the size of two bloodworms… ……dunno what’s going on..please help …..
maybe the worms were still alive and swallowed whole so they ate their way out of your fishes stomach.
???
The sucker fish could be allergic to something in the tank or other fish were attacking it. Sucker fish are very vulnerable. They usually don’t live very long.
well heres the good news the worms didn’t do it but now I have to tell you the bad news
your water may be very clear but everything points to ammonia as the main cause so I need to know how long has this tank been setup have you tested the water for ammonia,nitrites,and nitrates the fish your talking about are called pelcos and since they live at the bottom the suffer more from problems like ammonia
I can also tell you that the last one was eaten on by the other fish after he died also they are algae eaters if it is a new setup they needed algae waffers
feel free to contact me if you need more help and advice
most likely it died of fin rot
I agree with llriffel. I just wanted to add some stuff. He said it was ammonia, and the reason I agree because your fish were at the surface, which is what they do when they are trying to get fresh air. I also agree that your fish was eaten after it died.
You may also have some issues with parasites. If I were you I would immediately change 25-50% of the water, and then add some stuff called coppersafe. Coppersafe is one of the few fish parasite cures that isn’t harmful to the fish. It’s made by a company called Mardel.
Also, if you are using filters with the carbon, maybe you should replace the cartridges….the carbon loses its effectiveness after a few weeks.
Anyway, if you change some water and add coppersafe you will be fixing ammonia (and other chemical) levels and parasites, which should keep the rest of your fish safe.
Extra info sorta related to your question:
You didn’t say what the “regular” fish were. You said “freshwater” which usually makes me think of goldfish, but some people say it when they mean tropicals….if you do have goldfish, you really shouldn’t put anything but other goldfish with them. When I was new, I put other fish with them, and they always died within a few months. I thought it was ok to do it because of what pet store people said….but from personal experience anything mixed with a goldfish dies except koi (which is related to the goldfish anyway, though they say not to mix them either).