Fish dead after white fuzz. What do I need to do to the tank?

Cristalblueroses

Okay, I'm not a complete beginner, but I'm still pretty new, and this situation has floored me.

I had a single peacock cichlid in a 40 gallon tank (and I know there should have been more, but every time I added any, including the ones I brought him home with originally, he killed them all, so he was alone).

I test for nitrites and nitrates at least weekly, and do a water change every Sunday afternoon.
By Tuesday I noticed a greenish-yellow film growing on the glass, I tested the water, and nitrates were high (can't remember the numbers, but very bright pink on the simple strip test). I did a water change that night to get them back down to normal levels again, and scraped the green/yellow film off the glass.
Yesterday the fish was fine when I left, and the woman that comes in to feed my cat around 3 said he looked fine to her (she's not a fish person, but she said he was swimming around and following her like normal). When I got home at 6:30 he was dead and covered in white fuzz, and the green film is back.

The only thing left in the tank is 2 snails (they appear to be fine), which I will move to a small tank that I'm going to turn into a snail and shrimp desktop tank, but I don't know what I need to do to clean this tank now.
I'm not trying to clean it and put a new fish in tomorrow, I just want to clean it well and not have to worry about new fish I put in. I just don't know if that requires a complete empty or what?

So, basically looking for guidance on what to do. I have no fish I'm trying to save, so there is no worries about that. Just.. what do I do now?

CelsB

The white fuzz sounds like some sort of fungal infection.

Shewbert

If you are going to change the tank with new residents, then empty it all bleach everything including the filter, airstones, pipes tubes etc.
recycle the tank from fresh again before putting residents into tank, any infection you had should have gone if you are thorough with the cleaning it will all be ok again,
any fungus you missed will show up again during the cycling process, if it does you can then treat your empty tank without having residents affected.
Hope this helps
Mandy

Cole mccallister

it definatly sounds like fungas except it was growing on the tank walls fungas is only supposed to eat at live or dead organic hosts much like a parasite but growing on the walls is unheard of so this is strange my oly guess is that the spores attacted then grew when the fish was fighting and lost some of it`s mucas coat or went through a chill and the fish`s immune system was weakend or both but growing on inorganic matter is very strange please tell if any of this happend then mabe I could help further with info when provided more about this situation

Cristalblueroses

Not sure what you mean by "chill" unless it is just the temperature. The temp has always been a steady 76.

I thought at first that the green/yellow was algae, and it still might be. It just appeared incredibly fast and the nitrates spike seemed strange.

I'll empty and bleach everything. Thinking of doing an overhaul anyway, so new gravel and whatnot would be necessary for the new setup. I just wanted to make sure I don't give whatever is in the tank to any other fish.

can I bleach the net as well? or should I just get a new one?

charlie1881

Hey there ,
I agree with Mandy / Shewbert , the best and only way to get rid of the new guest is to bleach the world .. You mentioned changing the tank set-up , well now is the perfect time . I would toss everything but my equipment , thats just me though . You can clean it all , I just wouldnt run the risk of missing something as for the most part aside from live rocks , driftwood and some live plants aquarium decor is fairly cheap and thus easy to replace . Thats my anwser to your net as well , just get a new one . In doin this you will have the peice of mind that everything is clean and safe for the new fishes

When you restart your tank this time consider the addition of a few ''live'' plants , atleast a moss ball . This will help with water alot , as the live plants will help you fight of alg in the tank . The plants take what the alg needs to grow / live . As well as the plants provide additional food source and oxygen to the tank .

I hope this helps ,
god bless

Cristalblueroses

I have a 55 gallon I've started plants in. I couldn't even have fake plants with the cichlid because he would tear them up. He could only have rocks. I'll get the tank cleaned this weekend and begin the cycle. Guess I'll need to start thinking of what kind of fish I want. Off to research again.

Thanks everyone for your answers. I have alot of work ahead of me this weekend I guess.

Cole mccallister

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Cole mccallister

Hey if you want some fish I can give you some you just need to pay the shipping price just pm me so your address is secure from spammers also they will be fry your choice of mollies or guppies so just pm me for them for reasons above the fish are free it is just the shipping and handling also if any one else want any do the same thing the reason being I am running out of room in my 5gal mimic tank for small fish 15 Molly's 14 guppies soon to be more of each and yes by chill I meant temperature drop then rise/ I can handle the extra fish in the mimic because of massive oxygen from pump and atmosphere but it is swimming room I am worried about you saying you were in need of fish and I have plenty to give away I thought I would make this offer to anyone who wanted them but you are only one looking so I thought I would put the offer here all you need to do is decide :) hope this offer could work after all the time I spent raising them it is to late to make any feeders for the need of swimming space .ps.the more room mollies have when they are growing up the bigger an flashier their fins will be also none of mollie fry are brother/sister they were store bought for this purpose of new blood for mating but all the fry are happy and healthy also sexual difference has not started yet but it is close they are so big than they were at the store.;) hope you can choose from these if you want just tell me yes or no/ offense will be taken
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Shewbert

Try this with the cichlid if you want live plants,,, clear a corner of your tank and put on some gravel, then a few stones on top.
The Cichlid will spend hours digging and moving the gravel around, they get mouthfulls of it and spit it out into heaps, then gets fed up and moves the heap somewhere else, entertaining to watch as well.
Mandy