Oh No!

[phishnet 0]

I had a tank with (almost) three week old fry and this morning they're all floating. There was some mysterious white substance on the bottom of the tank. I can't figure out what it is or how it got there. It was a sad morning....

[Helen 8,511]

more information needed otherwise it will remain as mysterious as you see it.. are they floating alive?

is their tank covered?

what are the params?

what do you feed?

what ornaments/plants in the tank?

give us something to go of so we can suggest what could be wrong..

[Sakura 500]

How sad, I'm sorry for your losses.

[ashlee18 1,169]

So sorry to hear

[dnalex 13,633]

I'm sorry to hear. Hope you can get it sorted out!

[Erinaceus 1]

To get an idea of possible causes, the questions that stakos asked are essential. In particular the levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, your tank's pH (and preferrably KH and GH).

It might be useful is one of the mods or helpers moves this to D&D. Once it's there (or even now already), please look at the top of the page there and copy-paste + answer the questions that are listed there. The ones I (and stakos) mentioned above are the minimum to get any idea about the situation, but the other questions are also important to get a good sense of what might be the matter.

[number20121 2,663]

Did you always remove uneaten food / vacuum the bottom of the tank?

Uneaten food grows fungus which is white. Especially with fry food which is very fine and spreads out all over the tank it might result in the bottom being covered in fungus. It is white-ish clear fluffy?

Kind of like this http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3246/2905257358_1ecfe552b6.jpg - but in your case not covering a plant but the bottom of the tank in a thin layer?

If the fish are still alive, I would get a clean container to temporarily hold them in. Remove them very carefully. If they don't move a lot, fill the container with water first, and then carefully move the fry with a larger spoon. Then do a 100% cleanout of the tank. Scrubbing it all down and doing two back to back 100% water changes to get all the fungus out. Make sure water temperature and pH are matched before you very carefully put the fry back in.

I hope everything works out

[koko 14,335]

Im sorry, i know just how hard it is to try to raise fry

[phishnet 0]

It's probably too late for a D & D but thanks for the suggestion. I do know that amonia, nitrate, and nitrite were all at 0 and pH was at 7.5 the night prior but the next morning they were all floating (dead) and I didn't bother to test the water.

Did you always remove uneaten food / vacuum the bottom of the tank?

Uneaten food grows fungus which is white. Especially with fry food which is very fine and spreads out all over the tank it might result in the bottom being covered in fungus. It is white-ish clear fluffy?

Kind of like this http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3246/2905257358_1ecfe552b6.jpg - but in your case not covering a plant but the bottom of the tank in a thin layer?

If the fish are still alive, I would get a clean container to temporarily hold them in. Remove them very carefully. If they don't move a lot, fill the container with water first, and then carefully move the fry with a larger spoon. Then do a 100% cleanout of the tank. Scrubbing it all down and doing two back to back 100% water changes to get all the fungus out. Make sure water temperature and pH are matched before you very carefully put the fry back in.

I hope everything works out

As you already know from my other posts I had separated the large fry and small fry into two tanks. I vacuum both tanks every night and do 50-80% water change every other night. It's the small fry's tank that got hit. I've already scrubbed it down. The white stuff didn't look like the stuff in the pic you posted.

Im sorry, i know just how hard it is to try to raise fry

Thanks, I'm going to be extra careful with the other fry tank.

[number20121 2,663]

I see. Sorry this happened to you