My son's first fish just died

[happycat]

I'm so sad for him. A few weeks ago he invested his own money in a 10-gallon aquarium, got a Siamese fighting fish, then 2 loaches, and 7 Neon Tetras.

Last Friday evening he noticed a white spot on one of the Clown Loaches, and Sunday we began treating for Ick. He came home from school today and we found one Neon that had been sucked into the filter, and a second Neon that is dying. Not sure if it's the Ick or the treatment that is killing them.

I'm so sad for him, he was really excited about his aquarium. He had done a lot of internet research and spent a lot of time planning this. The pet store where he got the fish is trying to help, but my son is just so upset and so sad. I don't like seeing him so down.

[danoon]

Sorry to hear about that.. just get him another one and clean the tank really well first. I was going to make a comment about your nickname and this situation but decided not to.

[ginnie5]

clown loaches are really prone to ick and if they live will get way too big for a 10g tank. It does take them along time to get big though. neons are not beginner fish either. Buy 10 be prepared for 2 to survive. They get neon tetra disease and die off like crazy. Cardinal tetras if you can find them look like neons just a little bigger and are hardier. Did he cycle the tank? I know you said he had done lots of research. I've been running a 75g planted tank for 5 years now and before that smaller tanks. I'd be glad to help him out if he has any questions.

[Beaners]

Fish can be very frustrating like that, sometimes no matter what you do they don't seem to want to live. Neons do seem to be very fragile. If you think it would help, let him know that any survivors should be very hardy fish.

I have had large groups of fish that get sick, and the ones that survived always lived much longer than they should have. Make sure he knows that the fish getting sick is not his fault and is no reflection on his knowledge or skills.

Kayleigh

[BasicLiving]

I am 48 years old, and I understand what your son is going through. I don't know how old your son is, but when I was in the 3rd grade I had a teacher that I just loved. I came down with the chicken pox, and as a pick-me-up she sent my younger sister home with a bowl full of little fish (I think they were just minnows - she had a tank in front of the class full of them). My poor sister walked all the way home with these fish and I was just thrilled. As time passed and one would die, I would just cry and cry. Eventually they stopped dieing. I thought they lived for years and years and years. As a teenager I finally learned my mother would scoop out the dead ones as they died and replace them so I would never know.

I always had lots of pets as a child - fish, mice (don't even ask me about when Po-Po died), hamsters, birds, cats, dogs, rabbits, turtles, and I don't even know what else. I learned about life and death through animals. And many years later I learned about it as I lost family members. I'm not sure previous experiences really prepared me, but they did help me understand it. It's a neccesary evil in life and it's never easy. My mom still talks about how hard I took every death of a pet.

It's hard to watch your son go through this. But he is learning about life the hard way - it ends in death. There's no other alternative. Hug him and help him through it. And the next time his fish dies, try to find it first and replace it!

Penny

[FiddleKat]

Tropical fish can be "funky" to care for. Once he gets more familiar things will get better. I know Siamese fighting fish can only be with other Siamese fighting fish. At least that is what I was told.
Where did he buy the fish from?
I know we got DD a small 2 gal. tank and 3 goldfish from Walmart and they died within days. The local pet store told me that the fish at Walmart are usually already diseased when you buy them.

[happycat]

Thanks for not joking about my name & the fish. My user name is from our cat Happy (who happened to die from leukemia in Oct 2005-she was his cat too).

We do know that the 10 gallon will be too small for a full-size clown loach. But we didn't want him spending too much money right away on a larger tank setup. He knew he would be limited with compatability with the Siamese Fighting Fish, and the gal at the pet store told him Neon's are great beginner fish We took a water sample in on Sunday, tested high for ammonia. She recommended Ick Clear tablets and aquarium salt. My husband took another water sample in today (after the Neon died) and now the ammonia and nitrites are OK, but the PH is high.

He cycled 50% of the water on Sunday before the 1st Ick treatment, then 25% yesterday.

Thanks for your offer of help ginnie - we may take you up on that. I told him his fish died not because of anything he did wrong. Some things are just a mystery with animals.

[FiddleKat]

Don't let him get discouraged either. It can take time to get to know everything about fish husbandry. The 10 gallon in fact is probably the best size. In time when he gets more familiar he can always move up to another size tank, and sell off the smaller tank and accessories he won't need for the bigger tank!

[tinetine'sgoat]

Ah, poor fella. I remember my first fish dying, was named peachy. I cried and cried as he went down the toilet. My brother was happy because peachy allways ate his guppies.

[happycat]

Actually two male Siamese Fighting Fish cannot be kept together (not sure about female). They will fight with one another, even if you have one of those clear dividers in the tank, they will 'attack' each other and may even die from exhaustion from fighting.

He really loves critters of all kinds. He's had geckos, fire bellied toads, a chameleon. Presently we have 3 dogs and 2 horses. He's just very discouraged right now, and I think it's especially hard since he invested his own money on all of this.

[crwilson]

The fish are probably dying becuse the tank is so new and the water hasnt established a healthy level of biological activity. And with this comes the ick as all the fish in the tank will be stressed and the weaker ones will die... however the tank will soon balance itself out with small weekly water changes and the fish will stop dying the ones that are left anyways... I remeber how tough it is starting a new tank tell your son its not his fault any fish you buy from a pet store pretty much have a 50/50 chance of dying in the first month..... Get him some guppies so he can easily breed his own and have healthy stock hehe.

[Beaners]

Originally Posted by FiddleKat

Tropical fish can be "funky" to care for. Once he gets more familiar things will get better. I know Siamese fighting fish can only be with other Siamese fighting fish. At least that is what I was told.
Where did he buy the fish from?
I know we got DD a small 2 gal. tank and 3 goldfish from Walmart and they died within days. The local pet store told me that the fish at Walmart are usually already diseased when you buy them.

(emphasis mine)

NO!!!! They are called fighting fish because the males are very territorial. You either misunderstood whoever told you this, or they were not serious. I have kept females together in densely planted tanks but if you even look at two males near each other you can deduce that they should not be together.

The mix of fish actually should work fairly well together at the size they sound to be at. The beta shouldn't be with anything like guppies or other fish with flowing fins because they resemble male betas.

At any time if fish get sick it is because something was introduced to their tank to make them sick. If it is a whole new tank, the fish were sick before you got them. If you had just gotten your fish from WalMart and they got sick, obviously they were already sick. Fish won't just get sick randomly unless something is introduced that is already sick.

It isn't just WalMart that has sick fish, plenty of other places also have sick fish. I have occasionally gotten good fish from WalMart. So again, it isn't just that the fact that they came from WalMart that will make your fish up and die.


Happycat...maintain lots of water changes. You want the fish to have the best quality water they can. As long as the ammonia and nitrites are ok and you are doing water changes, you won't have to worry about nitrates.

Kayleigh

[sewing nana]

This can be so sad for a child. My DIL called and said my GD wanted to talk with me....

Well!!! GOLDIE (fish) died AGAIN. This was a replacement for GOLDIE # 1. She just couldn't understand why she kept doing that. My son buried Goldie in the toilet. And our friendburied it. He has a septic business and pumps their tank.

[happycat]

Well, sadly we are down to just one surviving Neon Tetra, and we're pretty sure it will not survive. Apparently the high levels of salt have killed them; you bet we will be calling the fish store today to talk to them about it.

We spent the morning retrieving 5 little dead fish from the tank. Not a fun start to the morning.

Thankfully Hal (the siamese fighting fish) and the Clown Loaches look ok and we are continuing ick treatments to try and recover what we still have.

Thank you all for your kind words and support.