Plants the silent killer?

[TetraManiac]

nope waters good...as of this morning all are gone...they were removed from the tank in question but i guess death follows so all i can do now is clean water recycle rinse filters and start over...and hope for no repeat

[SpecGrrl]

I am so sorry for your loss!

[Crob5965]

sounds wired
I have a dirted tank and I'm always screwing around with it and pulling stuff out.
sorry to hear that I have about 12 adult angels between my 2 tanks and would be devastated if I lost 1.
I ordered 10 Italian Vals a couple of months ago and put them in my 55 and had no issues I didnt wash dip them or trim roots, I'm not very careful apparently I dont even really do water tests very frequently.
Hard to imagine someone who takes such care and has a tank 4 times larger would have theses issues.

[TetraManiac]

Thanks for everyones help..

[Joanstone]

Hmoobthor might have been asking what you did prior to the planting to see if you might have gotten something from your hands into the tank inadvertently and introduced something toxic. Just a guess/possibility.

[Joanstone]

Sorry for your losses. Hmoobthor might have been asking what you did prior to the planting to see if you might have gotten something from your hands into the tank inadvertently and introduced something toxic. Just a guess/possibility.

[VisionQuest28]

If i read this right, the tank was only a month old? If so, I would say there was absolutely no chance that digging in your gravel caused you to release something that killed your fish. Unless there was something already in there somehow? And especially seeings as how its a 200g tank we're talking about.

So in my mind that leaves a couple of other possibilities. Contamination from the Vals, or from your hands (which isnt very likely i wouldnt think). Possible air born contamination (paint, insecticide, or anything like it?) Did you do a water change before or after planting? Maybe chlorine poisoning? Either from not dechlorinating or maybe from your municipality adding an extra dose (have heard of this happening)?

Or maybe the fish got infected by something earlier, and it was just coincidence that they died just after planting?

To me, the most likely explanation is contamination somehow. If not from the plants, or your hands then i would really brainstorm about what you did around the tank or even just in the house, no matter how unlikely it seems...

[mach_six]

I've forgotten to de-chlorinate once and the effects are immediate, fish will start gasping for air. If they died overnight then that is unlikely case at least with chlorine.

If the dead fish don't look stressed or exhibit fin rot then most likely a chemical was introduced into the tank.

Did you rinse the plants prior to planting? Do you use anti-bacterial soap on your hands?

http://www.yamatogreen.com/dyingfish.htm

[TetraManiac]

we'll what ever it was it destroyed my entire population...

The only question I have now is what to do before I start putting new fish back.in...

[Diana]

I would do a couple of 100% water changes with the goal of rinsing the substrate.
Clean the filter each time.
Add activated carbon to the filter and swap it out a couple of times. It can get full fast.
Use a product that locks up heavy metals (chelator).

[houseofcards]

Sorry to hear what happened, but if you in this hobby long enough stuff like this happens to even very advanced hobbyists/professionals so don't feel to bad.

Even with the Vals, your tank is more fish focused than plants so I would definitely pull out all the stops. Make sure you do regular water changes as suggested and I would use carbon and purgien on a permanent basis. No reason not to and I would also have a UV (not that it would have prevented this, probably not) but why not have it to kill parasites, etc. When you stock new fish the less they have to deal with in the water column the more likely they will be strong enough to survive acclimation, etc. Also whenever I uproot or plant anything that might disturb the substrate I have a 1/2" filter hose ready and suck the cloud right out followed by a large water change.

[LB79]

Originally Posted by Joanstone

Sorry for your losses. Hmoobthor might have been asking what you did prior to the planting to see if you might have gotten something from your hands into the tank inadvertently and introduced something toxic. Just a guess/possibility.

I have a friend who had a 120 full of EBJDs. Fiddled around with his truck in the morning and got diesel on his hands. Rinsed his hands, but didn't wash them. That night, he did a water change. Next day, every single EBJD was dead. Stirring up the substrate can be a killer, although I've never experienced it myself. I'm very sorry for your loss. I guess all you can do is clean the tank and start afresh.