Tonight I discovered that one of the pork chops died. For those of you who don't know, Andy and I started a beginner 10 gallon fresh water tank last year. We stocked it with a beautiful betta fish, two catty-wompas (cory-catfish), 5 or so pork chops (raspboras) and a couple flighty sucker fish. All was going well for quite some time and then things went downhill real fast.
First, my betta started to show signs of illness. Being very new to fish, we tried everything that we could find on google and fish forums. It came down to putting him at rest (it's a fish, I know) and I was extremely torn up about it. I was so proud of my betta and how well he was getting along with his tank mates and how he seemed to recognize us and he would come to the surface begging for treats. Not long afterward, one of our catfish died. And then the other. And then a couple raspboras here and there. And then a sucker fish. It was obvious the tank had been compromised by some fish-borne illness. We treated the tank with fish antibiotics and anti-fungals. In the end, three raspboras were left and one elusive sucker. The survivors even endured the 50 minute truck ride to move from the apartment to the house.
And then Andy left. Tonight I discovered that one of the pork chops died. I think it's my fault. This was his fish project after all. I had wanted a ferret and when we got to the pet store, he decided we were getting the fish instead. There are three fish left. As I watch them dart around the tank I am really burdened by a sense of sadness and inevitability. Tomorrow will I discover that one more of the pork chops died?
Probably.
ReplyDeleteBut that's because fish are evil and they deliberately die every time your back is turned, just to make you feel guilty.
That sounds like a lot of fish for a 10 gallon tank, although the fish store (OMG I HOPE IT WASN'T PETCO) would know better. The best rule of thumb is "one inch per gallon", although even that has its flaws. If you've got anything but water in there, there is less than 10 gallons, obviously. Raspboras are about 2 inches fully grown - so just water and 5 Raspboras and a filter would be about your max.
Not saying this in a bad way - just saying that with that small a tank, I think you've done an amazing job keep them all going so long. It totally could have been an illness - but I bet upgrading the tank size wouldn't hurt. 20 gallon tanks are for sale on Craigslist all the time, and not that much more care... and by golly if they aren't super peaceful to look at :)
Do you have any freshwater test strips? They will tell you if the levels are off. After you put fish in a tank, they poop and eat and do their thing... and then just like a jacuzzi, it hits a certain point and there's an algae bloom in the water... and then the algae dies off and you hit this.. uh... this other decomposition cycle thingie....
I dunno. My husband does the fish, I just learn vicariously.
Anyways, you could be doing a weird cycle with the fish, and that's causing the levels to be off. You've only got three fish now, so the size is probably good... but you never know.
I vote you care for the remaining fish and also get a ferret. I mean... dude. Who chooses fish over a ferret? Ferrets sleep 19 hours a day and you can cuddle them without them dying. That's, like, 30 bazillion times better than a fish.
The way I worded it is weird. All of these fish were not in the tank at the same time. The suckers didn't come until after we had already lost both the catfish (we needed cleaners) and we did not increase our raspbora school (from 3 to 5) until betta (and the catfish) had died. There was never more than a total of probably four-five small fish at a time. We were very conscious of overstocking, we purposefully got a 10 gallon tank because we didn't want more than a few fish at a time. Also, our raspboras were the runts, they are about just barely an inch. :)
DeleteThanks for all the tips! Where I am living the water is EXTREMELY high pH (like, to the point where it is uncomfortable to shower in it), so I am going to have to go into town and get water. I am going to be doing 25% water changes and testing the levels to see if I need to add anything.