dancerhas

Hello,

Me and my fiance have a 29-gal fish tank with a mechanical filter and heater. When we first got our tank about 2-ish months ago, we put Tiger Barbs in after only a couple days. Dumb thing to do...Anyway some of our fish died pretty soon. Then a few more were beat up by a bully and died. We then read about the nitrogen cycle on here and hoped that by waiting the cycle would be established and our fish would survive. We changed about 25% of the water every week, separated the bully and our fish perked up. We added a few more fish near the end of the first month and all seemed to go well. They seemed happy and healthy for about 2 weeks. Then out of the blue (the day after a water change) they started dropping like flies. We've lost 8 fish in 4 days. We haven't gotten to the store yet to get a test kit, but find it odd that they were "fine" for 2 weeks before this started happening. Also, they die VERY quickly, the ones that died initially died slowly and you could see it happening, same with the ones that died from bullying stress. But we haven't seen ANY of these past 8 deaths. We leave for a few hours, or sit down for a while, check the tank and there's dead fish on the bottom. They "seem" perky and healthy, no spots or ragged fins. My fiance jokingly says they're having massive heart attacks...because they die so suddenly.

We've been using Stress Coat Conditioner in reccomended doses from tank startup. As well as Stress Zyme Bacteria. Our water is from a backyard well. Temp is around 76-78 degrees. Until I get a test kit I can't give more specific details, sorry.

We really appreciate all help.

Shawnie

Welcome to fishlore!! sorry about your fish..but until you get the kit, its hard to say whats wrong..but daily water changes of at least 30% until you find out readings, will help alot..and treating the tap water with stress coat will help healing..even though you hve no city water, it helps when fishies are sick..get the test kit as soon as you can...there on sale here

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...fm?pcatid=4454

goodluck!!

dancerhas

Thanks for your reply. We changed some more water this evening and within half an hour of the change another fish was dead, with no previous warnings. We changed the water and all the fish acted pretty normal, went downstairs and played wii for a few minutes, came up and he was just laying there.

I had a strange experience today. My manager at work (who has many thousands of dollars invested in saltwater and freshwater aquariums) told me that she has her freshwater tank in front of a WINDOW and that she NEVER CHANGES THE WATER, she doesn't even have any live plants in it. Is she just amazingly lucky?

0morrokh

It sounds like something got in the water that's killing the fish. Have any chemicals been used recently near the tank or the well? Other than that I'm not sure what to think, if the fish are dying with no physical symptoms beforehand.


I notice you don't say she said anything about the state of the fish in that tank. Or how good the tank looks.

Lucy

Hi dancerhas, Welcome to Fish Lore

I really sorry about the deaths you've been experiencing.
It would help to know your water parameters, but even so, your fish should feel better after a water change. Very strange.
It make me wonder two things, when you add new water, are you getting the new water as close to the temperature of your tank or is there something going on with your well water?

I wouldn't add any more fish until things stablize.

Good luck, I hope you get it worked out.

peacemaker92

Welcome to Fishlore!

For everyone to help you, you should really get a test kit so you can test the water. It's probably the water or something inside the tank itself that is causing them to die so quickly. Stop buying fish for a while and maybe try getting a quarantine tank for your remaining fish and put them in there for a while until you can solve your problem. Otherwise, you'll be just wasting time, money and fish lives. Good luck!

Blub

Fish can adapt to levels of toxin in the water - IE ammonia/nitrite - although it is VERY VERY VERY bad for them, they can survive with it for a surprising time. So, when that changes, they get very stressed. Fish hate sudden changes, even if it is a turn for the best is puts them into shock. Got that? You should by all mean KEEP changing water - because your tank cannot be cycled. 50% daily until yo are cycled to keep the fish from experiencing toxins. Ammonia and nirtrite are horrible for fish - ammonia actually burn their gills. (Like getting shampoo in your eyes...)

Darlene

Sorry to hear about your fish. The daily water changes saved three of our fish when we were going through our cycle...we also didn't know about it until we put our fish in the tank.

dancerhas

Thank you all so much for your replies.

Since last nights water change three of our four remaining fish have died. I brought home a test kit tonight and will be testing the water shorly.

I spoke to my manager today and she told me that she hasn't had a freshwater fish die in 2 years! She also mentioned that she has some algae growth in her tank.

Lucy

Strange then. When's the last time your manager changed or added water to their tank?
What kind of test did you get? I'll be interested to see what the reults are.

dancerhas

Here's my water parameters.

Nitrite: 20

nitrate: 10 (top of the chart)

Hardness: 150

chlorine: 0

alkalinity: 120

pH: 7.5

Ammonia: Pending

dancerhas

She said they add about a gallon per week because of evaporation.

My kit was a dip-strip kit.

Lucy

Ok, that rules out the new water, then.

Strips aren't very accurate, if you can, invest in the API master kit, it's pricey, but lasts a long time and very accurate.

Yikes, on those nitrites, if that can be a true reading with a strip test, they're toxic to fish. I think you found the reason for fish deaths.

A fully cycled tank will read 0 for ammonia and nitrites with some nitrates showing.

Daily water changes are in order until your readings show a cycled tank.
It could be a coincidence that the death occur right after a water change and they were actually weakened from a cycling tank.

dancerhas

Rats...I thought about getting the API Master kit, but just wasn't sure what to get. I was also kinda in a hurry.

Could I maybe put my remaining algae eater in a bucket or container of clean water for a day or so? or would the shock be too much?

Also, how much water should I change, 30%? 50%?

My ammonia test is reading <.02 PPM

Lucy

50% sounds good, and continue that daily. Test daily also and make a log of the results.

One of us should have mentioned the API test sooner, I'm sorry I didn't.
Someone else might have better advise, but I would probably leave him in the tank.
If you moved him to a bucket of new treated water, he'll still create ammonia through his waste and you'd be changing that water daily.

Good luck, I hope the little guy makes it.

Edit: Definitely wait for someone else to weigh in on my advice about leaving him in the tank, putting him in bucket has it's advantages too.

dancerhas

I made an error when posting my results. Nitrite levels are at 10 ppm and nitrate levels are at 20-30 ppm. I switched them when I was reading.

Ammonia currently reading between .02 and .05 ppm

Lucy

Thanks for the correction, still any ammonia and/or nitrites are toxic. It's a good sign that you have nitrates.
It's hard to give advice knowing you have the strips and the numbers probably are not accurate.
50% water changes until the tank is fully cycled while the fish is in there and don't add any more fish until the cycle is finished.

Don't worry, you'll get there and have healthy water and a beautiful tank soon.

Good luck.

dancerhas

We'll keep it up. Thanks for the advice

0morrokh

Sorry, I hadn't seen before that you hadn't tested your water. Always the best first thing to do. If possible try to get a liquid kit. Those are cheaper in the long run anyway.

Are you positive the nitrite test says 10, not .10? I'm questioning the accuracy of that test...just because I don't see how they could possibly get that high. Although, it's possible they're in your water source. Once you get a liquid kit I'd retest your tank and also test your water. If your nitrites truely were 10 then for sure that's why your fish are dying.

Keep up the daily water changes and hopefully your last fish will make it.

mlinden84

You could also take the water in to a fish store and have them test it for you if you want to know what it is right now without having to buy the liquid test right way.
Although... I wouldn't COMPLETELY trust their results ... but you could compare them to what your results were.

Blub

Again, I suspect her fish are 'surviving' with the ammonia and toxins that must be in her system... That's why they are still alive - they have adapted, even though they hate it.

Your right about the tank. Keep the algae eater in the tank! And get the API as soon as possible.

I have heard of Nitrates in high levels in tap water in my area - although I have almost none coming out of my tap.

The pet shop will likely say "Oh, your pH is off, buy this product to deal with it" which will just kill more fish, because fish don't like changes. They probably won't tell you about the ammonia and that, I've heard of pet stores telling them the water is fine whilst it is as toxic as a bucket full of... toxin!

dancerhas

I tested our tap water and it showed negative for chlorine, Nitrate, and Nitrite. Not too surprising considering we live in the mountains with no public water or contaminant sources.

Our little algae eater is still alive, and has really perked up since we started changing 50% per day.

We've begun keeping a log of our test results. They seem promising so far, here's the results of the last 3 days (and yes, it definitely says 10.0 ppm):

-------PH Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate Chlorine
Day 1: 7.5---0------10----20-----0
Day 2: 7.2---0-------8----15-----0
Day 3: 7.2---0-------5----10-----0


I intend to invest in the API master kit as soon as is financially prudent. Thank you all for your advice.

0morrokh

Looks like you're on your way to being cycled. I'm not sure what to think of that pH drop though. Was that a typo?

dancerhas

the PH inconsistency was probably just due to the light I was viewing the test under. All the tests after that one were viewed under the exact same lighting.

Here's our 8 day results:

Water Temp.-PH---Ammonia---Nitrite----Nitrate----Chlorine
Day 1--78 ---7.5 ---0 ---------10 ---------20 ---------0
Day 2-- 82 ---7.2 ---0 ---------8 ---------15 ---------0
Day 3 --78 ---7.2 ---0 ---------5 ---------10 ---------0
Day 4 --80 ---7.2 ---0 ---------4 ---------10 ---------0
Day 5 --78 ---7.2 ---0 ---------4 ---------10 ---------0
Day 6 --78 ---7.2 ---0 ---------1 ---------7 ---------0
Day 7 --80 ---7.2 ---0 ---------1 ---------4 ---------0
Day 8 --78 ---7.2 ---0 ---------1 ---------2 ---------0

0morrokh

Looks like you're almost finished cycling. The temp fluctuation is a bit strange though, and could be stressful to your fish. What brand of heater are you using? And did you check the temp at the same time of day each time?