Fish dying, possibly diet related

Food, feeding and diet.
MasonJ19
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JDQuinn wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 21:02 pm
codheadjohn wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 16:52 pm Most fish you mention are hard water species. That could be a problem.
Hmm, I thought I’d read that rainbows were soft water somewhere but a quick search proves me wrong. Just by chance there’s a thread just below this when I’m typing discussing water hardness. Very interesting. It would appear this could be a very real concern in my case and consistent with the symptoms I’m seeing and stocking. Thanks for this.

I love rainbows, especially at feeding time and their energy levels. Looks like I won’t be buying any more. I’m not up for artificially increasing the water hardness.😩
What about Madagascar Rainbows they are just as active and appreciate softer water.
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Stephen
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JDQuinn wrote: Sun Feb 07, 2021 20:41 pm Thanks for replies so far.

The water changes are a possibility, I know I’m not on point there however when I set the tank up I was changing water religiously each week for over a year and still loosing fish quite rapidly.

I believe a lot of the fish I’ve had in the past died due to the softness of my water as some of the species are best kept in hard water or even brackish water. My water is 59.2mg CaCo3/l.
Hi JD

59.2mg CaCo3/l is approx 3dGH (degrees German) this is soft water.
If you read my article "Hard Water, Soft Water and Fish" then this will explain why hard water fish need hard water and visa versa for soft water fish.
Fish to avoid that are classed as hard water fish species would include Platy, Molly, Guppy, Swordtails, most Rainbowfish, African Rift lake cichlids.
Another thing to consider when keeping tropical fish is that some fish prefer cooler water (below 24C) and some prefer warmer water (above 24C) long-term.
Neon tetra and Bristlenose plec are usually best at around 23C long-term.
Another thing is the fish's diet, not one food suits all.
In my cupboard under my aquariums I have a variety of fish foods, some for my tetra, some for my south American cichlids, some for my Corydoras and some for my plecos.
Whilst in my freezer I also have frozen fish food. A variety of foods which I feed on rotation to keep the fish healthy. I probably have around 15 different fish foods to offer my fish (maybe more).
I ensure that all the fish food is well in date and only buy small to medium pots so that the foods remains fresh despite having quite a few fish in my 550L aquarium (see my signature).

I hope my post is useful
All the best
425L SeaBray Elite aquarium - Rio Mamoré (Bolivia) theme
4 x Cupid Cichlids, 14 x Cory caudimaculatus, 13 x Cory sterbai 52 x Reed Tetra, 4 x Honeycomb Bristlenose (L519)

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plankton
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As above, the water is too soft for livebearers long-term.
The 3' tank isn't big enough for a group of rainbows, they get too big.
Whilst Boesemani can take slightly soft water, the 3dGH is very low for them long-term. I don't know what the others are/were but a lot are hardwater fish.
Like @Stephen, I feed a variety of food (nearly) every day.
JDQuinn
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Thanks guys.

My plan going forward is:
Setup a reminder on my phone weekly for water changes.
Gather a small stash of different foods and vary the diet as much as possible.
Periodically test water parameters (something I haven’t done for over a year).

Long term I want to change my tank as it doesn’t currently have a theme. I’d like a South American theme mostly as the varieties tend to suit my water parameters. I’m not going to re-stock or get rid of my current stock just let things take it’s natural course. I would like a custom build eventually to get the maximum litres in my small space. I should be able to build a tank 44” wide, 18” high and 18” deep to sit on my current stand.
Current Stock:
2 x boesmani rainbow
2 x unknown rainbow
1 x bristlenose pleco
2 x kribensis
1 x pentazona barb
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plankton
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South American will be a lot easier to sort the stock. ;) :)
JDQuinn
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Quick update.

Since I started mixing up the feeding including algae wafers and flake food along with my usual granular feed, I’ve noticed a lot of fish faeces at a point just below my filter entry. These are quite large, long and maybe a little bit stringy. (Apologies for the description). Is it possible my fish were dying from constipation? This is a new development since I changed the food types. It might explain why seemingly healthy fish were dying suddenly.

My old granular feed is a high protein variety so maybe the fish weren’t getting quite enough vegetable matter?
Current Stock:
2 x boesmani rainbow
2 x unknown rainbow
1 x bristlenose pleco
2 x kribensis
1 x pentazona barb
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plankton
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It is possible I suppose, but you can normally tell when they have digestion problems with the shape of them.
JDQuinn
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What’s the symptoms of digestive problems such as constipation?
Current Stock:
2 x boesmani rainbow
2 x unknown rainbow
1 x bristlenose pleco
2 x kribensis
1 x pentazona barb
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plankton
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Bulging stomachs usually, with a strange shape.
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