Matthew Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 G'day (Well it isn't really) Just wanted to tell you all that my brachybranchus tank all died overnight. I don't know why. (To be honest it doesn't matter why, they are all just dead ) Besides I reckon the chemistry is all stuffed up anyway due to the massive fish decomposition in the tank. The tank is just full of floating gunk. This tank contained the surviving male brachy that I wrote the article on breeding these fish (it appeared in the NSW Cichlid Mag, a few issues back). His lady passed away due to me stuffing up after moving down here. Anyway he was in the tank and I was waiting for him to choose a new girlfriend. He had plenty to choose from. (There were 7 others in there with him, plus a knife fish). He was over 30 cms long (ish, always hard to measure whether to include fin lengths, I suppose if you add the fins he was over 40 cm) Plus I am sad for all of the others that were in the tank with him as well. But I think I will miss him the most. Not much else to say. Matthew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burek Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Sorry to hear about your loss..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Matthew thats no good Could it be a by-product of the black out a month ago? I wouldn't think so but you never know. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaZ Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Hmmm bummer dude Get chipimbi to make some of her special profiteroles, they will cheer you up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiger Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Thats sad mate ! I was looking forward to seeing them one day too! Josh ..how could it be a blackout from a month ago? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAZ Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 So sorry to hear of your misery matty. Especially your 'big guy' too - that hurts DEEP. I have 14 fry growing up mate, they are around the 3-4cm mark. And their yours if you wish to start off again, (after the grieving of course). Just keep ya chin up and get stuck into those profiteroles in the meantime. WAZ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyndon Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Hi Matthew, I'm sorry too. I know this sounds a little harsh but if you had kept the tank in better condition ie. Besides I reckon the chemistry is all stuffed up anyway due to the massive fish decomposition in the tank. The tank is just full of floating gunk. You might still have your fishy friend. Most of us lapse from time to time (myself inc) but when we loose fish it is usually our own fault. I know the times when I have lost adults its either from stupidity or neglect. Anyway sorry again. Lyndon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeW Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Hi Lyndon - I know Matt's / Chipimbi's tanks - they are immaculately kept, filtered, feed and maintained with a near religious zeal. I think he means it was full of gunk (post fish death - not prior too). Sorry to hear of your loss Matt - I know how fond you were of these guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropheusQueen Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Thanks for the testamonial Dave. Yes Matthew is so regimented with his water changes, filters etc that we rarely have a loss such as this, in fact we have not lost a fish since the female brachy over ten months ago, so for it to happen overnight, to the whole tank, was a real shock. They were feeding beautifully last night and looked fine water parameters were fine, temp fine etc just one of those horrible mysteries. Anyway thank you for the support guys. And yes some cooking is definately in order although i am a bit profiteroled out since the Christmas do Cheers Aline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaZ Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 the term 'regimented' does not quite do it justice. Obsessive is how I would describe matt's routine and I'll second Dave's opinion that his tanks are always crystal clear. In his fishroom all you will see is clean tanks and pyramids. I doubt that it was anything he did wrong, and especially not the water! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarah Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Sorry to hear of your big loss Matthew, what a huge blow not only to loose your pride and joy but a whole tank , he was one handsome male , i have never seen one quite as stunning as he was , kind regards Sarah Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ant Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 That really does suck mate, sorry to hear. Do you have any pics of the big fella you could share with us? Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchar Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Sorry to hear of your bad luck Worse part is that the cause remains a mystery merjo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ash Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Condolences on the loss Matthew. I couldn't stand not knowing why in a situation like that. I would think that for there to be floating gunk & dead fish in such a short timeframe, wouldn't a failed heater be a good suspect? perhaps it burnt on for a few hrs & then blew totally resulting in a normalish temp when the tank was discovered? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted December 8, 2004 Author Share Posted December 8, 2004 G'day Well a big thankyou to everyone for their support. On further investigation it appears that the temperature has been spiking for no apparent reason. It has been upto 31 degrees! I don't know what to do now. With these bloody heaters, I have tried expensive, moderate and cheap heaters. All have failed on me in various tanks. The sooner I get my fish room up and running the better and then I won't need to rely on these deadly things. Thanks again for your support. Matthew PS. I actually have a video of the 'Original Pair' spawning. Perhaps one day I will prepare a talk and give a viewing to a meeting of the Society. (NB. The file would be far to large to post up here!) Re Photos. I don't think I have any, but maybe someone else has taken some. I will have a look in the next few days. I am sure Baz will teach me how to host it and get it up here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeW Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Here he is. Apologies for the bad photo. It in no way does this magnificent fish justice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyndon Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Hi all, Mathew, Now that you have had a (little) time to think about it. Do you yet have any clues about what happened? It would have to be (I think) something quite toxic. Anything new go into the tank in the last week? Do you have kids that might have done something and won't own up? Did you perhaps have something on your hands when you put them in the tank? I know these are all basic things but sometimes we miss them. I guess it doesn't really matter now, being that the fish are all dead but solving the mystery might help you. Lyndon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted December 9, 2004 Author Share Posted December 9, 2004 G'day Lyndon Please read the last post on page 1. I may also have modified the amount of air bubbling into the tank, and I mean A tiny amount less, I think?, two days prior (I rearranged the rooms airsupply, ironically to reliably increase the airsupply in some of the other tanks and took an old airpump offline so that it can be serviced). So when you combine an increase in temperature with a decrease in oxygen. This adds up to a dead fishtank Stuff like this happens I suppose Cya Matthew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishrock Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 i doubt the temp getting to 31 woulda killed em, made em spawn maybe, but not killed them and the air well i'm bloody curious as to what it was now, are you going to find the cause or just not worry? adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted December 9, 2004 Author Share Posted December 9, 2004 G'day Well to the person that said something about the blackout, well I think you have hit the nail on the head. (Well it was one of the factors). You see due to it being a cheap heater, I simply kept turning the heat up until the desired temp arrived. Unfortunately after the long blackout that I had, the heater must have reset itself. I am in the process of stripping the entire tank to bits and discovered that the temp was set to 33 degrees. When I tested the temp it was ranging between 29 and 32 degrees. When this is combined with a decrease on Oxygen, at the higher temp I think that is the combination that got them. Perhaps one fish was not able to cope and then a cascade effect happened. As the deaths increased the amount of oxygen decreased and so it got the lot of them. Adam if you have any other ideas please let me know. They were fine the day before! They all ate well and appeared happy. I am not happy about what happened. I should have checked the temperature over a period of time. I will in future if I am using heaters. I will also not be modifying air in the water unless I check the temperature. I should have had a second air bubbler in the tank. This would have stopped the problem. In most of my tanks I do, anyway that will be tomorrows project. Thanks again to everyone that replied. PS. Oh and I am not that comfortable with being labelled 'regimented' or 'obsessive' or 'fanatical' . I just reckon that we should look after them in the best way we can. Afterall they rely on us completely, and to be honest I am pretty angry with myself for allowing this to happen. It won't happen again! cya Matthew... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashgordon Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 I run my heaters off a big thermostat. I set the temp on the thermostat which has a powerboard attached, plug in the heaters with their temperature turned up to full and then the thermostat switches them all on or off as it reaches 26 degrees. Solved the problem of different heaters having a different idea about what 26 degrees meant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TropheusQueen Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Only a couple of more months and Matthew and I can stack all of the 50 or so heaters in a large pile (probably do some sort of celebration dance) and forget about them. The fish room will be complete Unfortunately too late for our beloved brachys, but their offspring live on so we will just start again. Cheers Aline Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquaman Posted December 9, 2004 Share Posted December 9, 2004 Sorry to hear of the loss Matt and Aline, it's always tough to lose a fish, especially your favourite's Take care. Richard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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