Reptile & Amphibian Forums

all the fish i buy for my AST keep dieing. the all hav a milky white film on them, whats goin on

We would need a few more details about how you're keeping them, and what specific kind you have. The milky film could be causitive, or it could be just the natural decaying process after dying for some other reason.

Where, in general, do you live? Many areas along the coast offer feeder fish at bait stores that are from brackish water. They will not live long in fresh water(They have blueish or greenish flecks on them). Many others offer different shad or shiner species that are collected from huge bodies of water or are farmed. They don't live well in a tank situation.

If you want feeder fish that will live for an extended period of time, you can't go wrong with goldfish. They just need cool, clean, well oxygenated water and fish food. They are high in a certain enzyme that is thought to harm pet reptiles over a long period of time, so goldfish shouldn't be your snapper's staple food item.

If the fish grow feathery, slimy, or stringy material on their bodies before dying...there are a handful of tank additives you can purchase to combat bacterial and fungal infections. Pimafix and Melafix are wonderful. They're considered safe for herps, but I'd treat the fish in a separate tank just to be cautious.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

well i buy him rosey red minnows, i live in new york, and keep them in a 20gal tank, the water is kinda warm, could this be a problem

Those are pretty hardy too. I wouldn't keep the water warmer than 80F for the fish. Average room temp. should be fine.

Do you keep them in with the snapper?

Rosies require a lot of oxygen in the water. You need a decent filter with surface disturbance(the kind that hang on the back of the tank) and a bubbler wouldn't hurt.

Here's a Rosy care site...
http://www.fishpondinfo.com/rosies.htm

You might want to try a few different pet stores. You may have better luck if you can find healthier fish to start with.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

mine always live for weeks or even months providing there isn't a huge difference in the transportation bag water temp to the turtle tank water temp.

I was just thinking the same thing. Are you floating the fish bag from the store in the tank for awhile so the fish temp changes to the tank temp? Could be something that simple, although my snapper would chase and eat the fish so fast I never bothered to do that. they wouldn't survive 15 minutes.

when i first got my tank i never floated the bag or anything and the fish lived for ever, i just got a hole bunch and a few hours later i came back and they were all dead, could there be som type of bacteria or somthing, i love my snapper but if i cant feed him i cant keep him so i dont know what to do.

i would also like to add that the minnows seem weak, som get stuck in the filter and i am lookin at one out of the 40 i bought still alive and it looks like he is having trouble staying away from it. what else can i buy for my ast to eat, he only eats live things.

what size is your ast? what have you tried feeding besides live fish?

thank you all for your help, i think i figured out the problem. my filter is a waterfall filter and when the water is too high the waterfall drops not even and inch. therefore no oxygen gets back into the water