Dear Psychic Fish:
Why did my fish die? It was fine this morning.
- Melody
Dear Melody:
Your niece has been shooting staples into the tank with your Swingline stapler. Your pH has gotten low lately and you haven’t vacuumed the gravel for a while, so the iron in the staples is turning into ferrous hydroxide and lodging in the gills of your fish. The Gold Tetra died first because he is old and has been suffering from a lack of folic acid in his diet for the last six months because that food you bought was too old and stale.
Dear Psychic Fish:
Why did my fish die? All the rest are fine.
- Tim
Dear Tim:
All of your other fish are NOT fine. They have Ich. Look closely--- see the way they are scratching themselves against the rocks and breathing hard? There! See the white spots on the clown loach? Treat for Ich.
Dear Psychic Fish:
Why did my fish die? It was fine the last time I looked.
- Tracy
Dear Tracy:
One of those convict cichlids in the tank killed the Bala Shark. The last time you really looked in that tank was last Thursday and you didn’t notice then that his tail was almost all the way chewed off.
Dear Psychic Fish,
My fish are dying! Why?
--Angie
Dear Angie,
It’s that pink gravel you’re using. It has no buffering properties and your pH dropped to 5.6 last week (which you didn’t notice because you don’t use that pH test kit you bought at the auction last year). Consequently, the bacteria in your undergravel filter were unable to survive and the ammonia level went through the roof. The bacteria weren’t doing that well in the first place because the pink gravel is made of quartz and doesn’t supply enough calcium to facilitate growth of Nitrosomas or Nitrobacter.
Dear Psychic Fish,
One of my tiger barbs is missing and I can’t find him. Where is
he?
--Barbara
Dear Babs,
SHE died in October from malnutrition. Your plecostomus disposed of the body. The other fish helped. Buy some decent fish food.
Dear Psychic Fish,
I have a pair of Angelfish that spawn once a week but none of the
eggs ever hatch. I tried everything. What’s wrong?
--Daphnia
Dear Daphnia,
They are both females. Stop bothering them and let them live their
lives. Try not to be judgemental.
Dear Psychic Fish,
I just noticed that my heater is broken. How could that
happen?
--Alermo
Dear Alermo,
Last time you did a water change you drained the water down past the heating element without unplugging the heater and it cracked when you refilled the tank.
Dear Psychic Fish,
Where is my Fire Newt?
--Ginger
Dear Ginger,
He’s in the bathroom. Hurry!
Dear Psychotic Fish Why did my Oscar die?
[That’s Psychic!]
Whatever.
--Rudy
Dear Rudy,
Your Oscar swallowed a piece of gravel while attacking a feeder guppy and the gravel got stuck in his upper intestine. It’s just a freak accident.
Remember kids, when asking non-psychics to help diagnose your aquarium problems, you should give as much information as possible. Some good starting points include your water chemistry [pH, temperature, nitrate and other pollutants, etc], tank contents [fish, plants, gravel, filtration system], and history [how long the tank was set up, recent changes that have been made, fish behavior and appearance changes].