tuna

Please help!!!!!!
We are just about at the end of our cycling our new tank. We have had the tank for about 8 weeks. We have a 30 gallon tank and most of the fish have died. Out of twelve recently purchased fish, we have 3 left and they are not doing very well.Over the last few days, 7 have died. We are frustrated. we take our water to a pet store and just yesterday they said the water is okay and we are at the end of the cycle. Please help us to understand why this is happening and what shall we do.
Thanks, Tuna

Boxermom

Welcome. Sorry you had to come with such a problem.

They are probably all dying because you used them for cycling. Cycling with fish is very hard on them and most don't survive or have health issues if they do. Let me guess, the pet store told you to go ahead and use them, right? *sigh*

First things first. "Okay" is meaningless as far as water testing goes. Tell them you need specific numbers. "End of the cycle" doesn't mean much either. We need to know specific readings for your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Or you could buy test kits yourself (not the strips, the ones with vials) since you should have them on hand to regularly test your water anyway.

Next, what kind of fish do you have and how many? Did they have any physical signs of illness or disease? Any injuries? White spots, either fuzzy or white looking? Anything else you can tell us will be helpful in diagnosing your problems and figuring out how to avoid them in the future.

tuna

Thanks for responding. We had Mollies, Swordtails and Platy's. We saw diseased fish in the beginning stages of the cycle that had white spots, red spots, fin discoloration but recently really haven't noticed any of those signs. We added about 8 fish over the last 10 days. We had 4 fish, then added 2, then after a few days we added 3 more, then after 3 days we added 2 more. We now have only 3 left and they are doing poorly. We only have Mollies left.
We will purchase a water test kit.
If the rest of the fish die, how many do we purchase and what kind?
We also noticed that the glass gets some brown spots on it and we remove them with a sponge brush.
Thanks for all the help you can give us.
Tuna

fish_r_friend

the brown spots are algae it normal. if the rest of your fish die do a fishless cycle or get Bio-Spara. Do your reaserch for difrent fish

Gunnie

I'm sorry this is happening to you. Get an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals master test kit. Go to the PetSmart website and print the page that shows this kit and the price. Take this page to PetSmart with you, and they should honor the online price which will save you more than half the in store price. Don't get anymore fish until you have tested your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates and posted the numbers here. Most fish don't do well cycling a tank, and that's probably what is happening to your fish. They are dying because of the high ammonia or nitrites. When you cycle a tank with fish in it, you have to test often, so you know when to do a water change to keep from killing the fish. Don't worry about the brown spots and continue wiping them off. You may want to go ahead and do about a 25% water change now just to relieve a little of the stress your fish are probably under. Water changes are always a good idea when fish look sick.

tuna

Thank you all for responding. We have changed the water, but probably not enough. We will look into the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Master Test Kit.
Is it okay to put store bottled spring water in the tank without having to put any chemicals in the water as when you use tap water? We would like to use spring water to fill the tank when we see some water evaporate
Also,what happens when the tank finally ends its cycle? What type of maintenance and how often?
Thanks again.
Tuna

Gunnie

If you've been using regular tap water to do water changes, adding bottled water at this time might not be a good thing to do because the pH might be drastically different, and that could be the final straw for your fish. Your master test kit will also contain a ph test if you get the one from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals.

Your maintenance may be determined at how often your nitrates get above 20. You should do a water change/gravel vac when it gets above that number. Once your tank is cycled and you are not adding fish or changing anything, you will get into a routine and will know how often to do this. Some folks just decide how often to do tank maintenance. I do water changes/gravel vacs once a week. Fish love fresh water, and you can't do too many water changes!