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[PaleoFishGirl]

I'm glad that Zapisto is getting fry from my rainbow mop, because my big papa Boesemani rainbow had a 'burial at sea' this morning 

When I got up this morning, I heard a couple of big thunks as one of the fish hit the glass top.  This happens every morning when I walk by because I only feed in the morning and they get a little excited sometimes, so I didn't think much of it.  Then I glanced into the tank (lights were still off) and saw my papa rainbow upside-down at the top of the tank.  I reached in and gave him a little poke, as he's thwacked the glass before and I thought maybe he had knocked himself out.  He stirred a bit and tried to right himself, looked over at me and died      (maybe I'm imagining that last bit about him looking at me but I don't think so ).

I let him sit for a few minutes while I ate breakfast, still thinking he might have just been knocked out.  No luck.  Then I turned on the lights and fed the tank - the bottom feeders went for the food, but I couldn't see any other fish (too many plants?).  I finally found them all in the rear left corner or my tank, as far away from the spraybar as you can get.  They were all crowded really close together, gasping.  I freaked out, turned the spraybars up to the surface, cleaned out the filter intake (it was full of dead Ludwigia leaves but there was still movement out the spraybar), added an airstone, unhooked my DIY CO2 (2 bottles, one of which has been running for 3+ weeks) and started frantically searching for more dead fish (didn't find any).  By this time I had missed my bus to work and had to take the car, so I had to leave.

I just heard from my husband who said that one of the fish (he doesn't know what most of them are) and my Betta weren't doing too well when he left. This makes me even more worried because aren't Bettas surface breathers? If there was no O2 in the water, well, that shouldn't be a problem for a Betta.  I wish I knew what was going on!

[babblefish1960]

Sorry to hear about that PDFCG, that is horrible, the fish I mean, hopefully you can resolve the mystery before too long and any further losses. I'm assuming the male was the one responsible for all the breeding mops that have been floating around the area, if so, take heart, he left an impression in the community for sure.

[sas]

That's terrible. What a way to start the day! Hopefully things will turn out right for you.

[Eric]

So sorry to hear this.  I was just admiring your plants online too.  You should be able to leave work for a family emergency!

Hope there is good news when you get home.

eric

[zapisto]

so sorry to read that .
hope everthing will go better

[garnpet]

So what was the final verdict?  Are the fish ok?   

[PaleoFishGirl]

In addition to my big papa rainbow, I lost my largest female Boesemani and a little horseface loach.  After a water change and massive filter cleaning, everyone else seems to be fine, but I don't know if I'll be able to fill any mops for the next while

[babblefish1960]

I'm glad for you that everyone else seems fine, but again, very sorry for your losses, I'm sure though, that you will be filling mops soon enough, hang in there, chin up, all that sort of thing. Do you still have rainbows, or will you be requiring more?

[succinctfish]

Sorry about your fishy loss PFG. 
Big Al's has a sale on them this weekend two for $9.99 if you're thinking about getting some more rainbows.

[Aquaviewer]

Sorry to hear about your fish.  Any idea about what happened? Did you happen to check the pH? 

I similar thing happened to me:  woke up in the morning to find a few dead fish, some struggling and the rest doing just fine, aeration did the trick.  I tested pH prior to turning on the air and it was way down.  My conclusion was that the tank was overloaded with CO2 and the pH crashed overnight when the plants weren't consuming.  Could have been the low pH or the high CO2 or a combo of both.

I didn't think that DIY CO2 could overload the tank, but its possible.  I have a pressure system that I would turn off at night, but I was dosing at a high rate during the day.  I think that there was a cumulative increase in CO2 concentration over the week and the balanced tipped on the night of doom.

[PaleoFishGirl]

The pH was fine, around 6.6.  I don't think it was an overabundance of CO2 but rather a lack of O2. Peter, I'm getting rid of that Ludwigia

I still have 2 or 3 M. boesemani (sad that I can't even tell how many LOL), at least 1M 1F.  I'm not sure if I'll buy more yet or not.

[zapisto]

The pH was fine, around 6.6.  I don't think it was an overabundance of CO2 but rather a lack of O2. Peter, I'm getting rid of that Ludwigia

I still have 2 or 3 M. boesemani (sad that I can't even tell how many LOL), at least 1M 1F.  I'm not sure if I'll buy more yet or not.

if i am able to bring the one who hatch at home to a nice size , you can count on half of them back to your house free PaleoFishGirl.

it is looking good , they are eating and swim well , so tiny but so cute.

[PaleoFishGirl]

Awww, thanks, Zapisto   I'll talk to you in a year or two   My fry at home that hatched in... June? are about 3/4 of an inch 'already'. 

[zapisto]

Awww, thanks, Zapisto   I'll talk to you in a year or two   My fry at home that hatched in... June? are about 3/4 of an inch 'already'. 

slow growing ... hmmm
3/4 inch is a size they can be transfered ?
anyway i will let you know.

and , you put me on the road for rainbow
i will receive some amazing rainbow from germany, for my personnal culture and experience to breed them , so let talk offline if you are interested.

[PaleoFishGirl]

Of course I'm interested  

PM sent.