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May 6th, 2007
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Help losing fish every day
I"m losing all my fish except my catfish and irr shark ive tested the ammonia and nitrate levels are no good ,i've been changing the water 30-40% changes three days in a row and the levels just won't come up normal,I had 2 adult mollies 4 baby mollies,2 guppies,
2 swordtail adults ,2 baby swordtails,2 glass fish,andall that is left is one male adult swordtail.They all before they died were mostly on the bottom looked like they were gasping for air,i;m very upset about this .Can anyone help me please.Ive been trying to get all the levels correct but it's very frustrtating.Any suggestions or answers? | 
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May 6th, 2007
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Help losing fish every day
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I"m losing all my fish except my catfish and irr shark ive tested the ammonia and nitrate levels are no good ,i've been changing the water 30-40% changes three days in a row and the levels just won't come up normal,I had 2 adult mollies 4 baby mollies,2 guppies,
2 swordtail adults ,2 baby swordtails,2 glass fish,andall that is left is one male adult swordtail.They all before they died were mostly on the bottom looked like they were gasping for air,i;m very upset about this .Can anyone help me please.Ive been trying to get all the levels correct but it's very frustrtating.Any suggestions or answers?
30 gal tank
We had
2 adult black mollies
4 baby mollies about 3 months
2 swordtail
2 baby swordtail about 2 months
2 albino cats
2 cory cats
1 irred shark
2 glass cats
2 guppies
all that is left are
2 cory cats
1 albino cat
1 irre shark
1 swordtail
1 glass cat | |
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May 6th, 2007
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| | Fish Addict
| Re: Help losing fish every day
Your ammonia and NitrItes (or nitrates?) are bad? You need to be doing 50% water changes 2x a day until ammonia is less than 0.50ppm. NitrItes are under 1.0ppm. and NitrAtes are under 20ppm.
Sorry about your fish. | |
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May 6th, 2007
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Help losing fish every day
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I"m losing all my fish except my catfish and irr shark ive tested the ammonia and nitrate levels are no good ,i've been changing the water 30-40% changes three days in a row and the levels just won't come up normal,I had 2 adult mollies 4 baby mollies,2 guppies,
2 swordtail adults ,2 baby swordtails,2 glass fish,andall that is left is one male adult swordtail.They all before they died were mostly on the bottom looked like they were gasping for air,i;m very upset about this .Can anyone help me please.Ive been trying to get all the levels correct but it's very frustrtating.Any suggestions or answers?
30 gal tank
We had
2 adult black mollies
4 baby mollies about 3 months
2 swordtail
2 baby swordtail about 2 months
2 albino cats
2 cory cats
1 irred shark
2 glass cats
2 guppies
all that is left are
2 cory cats
1 albino cat
1 irre shark
1 swordtail
1 glass cat | |
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May 6th, 2007
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Re: Help losing fish every day
thanks for the reply, do you think the fish i have left can be saved if i get the ammonia and nitrates levels good?
When i make the changes of water should i put in the nitite and ammonia remover medicine ,and I know too much food left on the bottom creates the ammonia. when and how often should i feed my remaining fish. thanks again for your help. | |
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May 6th, 2007
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| | Fish Addict
| Re: Help losing fish every day
Yes I would definatly treat the whole tank with that conditioner you have, what kind is it? Since they have survived this long, if you get their water parameters straightened out they should do fine. They are lucky that you have been changing their water, that is what has kept them alive. I would feed them once a day but only a very little. Make sure your glass cat eats because I have found mine will eat only when lights are dim, so now I feed all my fish when the lights are dim. Good luck,
Brianna | |
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May 6th, 2007
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Re: Help losing fish every day
amquel+ is the nitrate, nitrite,ammonia, chlorine &chloramines remover.What about my filter ? should i change the carbon filter often or does it matter? thanks for the tips. | |
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May 6th, 2007
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| | Fish Addict
| Re: Help losing fish every day
Most people take the carbon right out of their filter. I do. I am not sure if the carbon would stop the treatment from working. Do not change the sponge part of the filter. You will have to start the cycle all over again if you do. Amquel+ is a great product, but I would still keep up on the water changes.
ALSO MAKE SURE YOU ARE NOT USING STRIPS TO TEST! They give you false readings. | |
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May 6th, 2007
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| | Fish Keeper
| Re: Help losing fish every day
I'm right there with you.. as I type this, I have what's left of a tank of fish fighting for their lives in various quarantine tanks.. in the space of a week and some, we lost our Aussie Blue Crawfish for no apparent reason and we've lost all our Cories, Rainbowfish, Guppies, 4 Barbs and a YoYo Loach to an outbreak of ICH that I can only attribute to the worst heatwave we've ever encountered living in the Caribbean, since we're spot-on with our tank maintenance and fishcare.. thankfully, the inhabitants of our other tanks are in great shape, but the ones we lost hit hard.. hope you can identify your problem sooner than later. | |
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May 6th, 2007
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| | Master Of Fish Poo!
| Re: Help losing fish every day
How big is your tank? How long has it been running (it sounds like it's not cycled yet)? What were the numbers for your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?
It sounds like ammonia poisioning and treating the water with prime or novaqua+ will help bring the ammonia down for the benefit of your remaining fish but the cause will still have to be figured out and fixed to get your tank back to safe levels. | |
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May 6th, 2007
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| | Fish Addict
| Re: Help losing fish every day
This topic has been posted in three different sections. See my reply in the freshwater fish diesease section. | |
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May 6th, 2007
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| | Fish Addict
| Re: Help losing fish every day
This topic has been posted in three different sections, see my reply in the diesease section. | |
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May 6th, 2007
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Re: Help losing fish every day
i use the master kit tests, | |
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May 6th, 2007
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| | Fish Addict
| Re: Help losing fish every day
Thats great, you are perfectly fine then. | |
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May 6th, 2007
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| | Moderator
| Re: Help losing fish every day
Please don't post the same question/discussion in more than one place. By posting in one place all the answers and discussion is in one place and easier to assimilate. It also takes less time for the mods to go through the new posts and see what needs attention and what doesn't. If your unsure where to post then post in the most logical place and if it's not the right place one of the mods will move it for you, no problem.
Thanks
carol | |
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May 6th, 2007
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Re: Help losing fish every day
ok i'm sorry this was my first time here, now i know better,sorry  | |
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May 7th, 2007
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| | Moderator
| Re: Help losing fish every day
As I said not a problem  How are the fish today?
Carol | |
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May 7th, 2007
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| | Master Of Fish Poo!
| Re: Help losing fish every day
Have you taken readings today with your test kit? what are your numbers for ammonia & nitrites especially? how big is your tank and have you lost any more fish? | |
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May 7th, 2007
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Re: Help losing fish every day
mY TANK IS 30GAL Ivehad it forabout 6 months,I"M changing the water 2x a day and the levels are around the same not good but my remaining fish seem to be ok.im trying but it's very frustrating.mylevels are ammonia 1.0 nitrite 0.25,nitrate20, pH 6.6 | |
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May 7th, 2007
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| | Master Of Fish Poo!
| Re: Help losing fish every day
Quote: |
Originally Posted by Stevo mY TANK IS 30GAL Ivehad it forabout 6 months,I"M changing the water 2x a day and the levels are around the same not good but my remaining fish seem to be ok.im trying but it's very frustrating.mylevels are ammonia 1.0 nitrite 0.25,nitrate20,ph 6.6 | It does sounds like it's cycling with ammonia and nitrites.. i'd test it every couple days and track the ammonia and nitrites to see where in the cycle you are.. hopefully the ammonia will come down and the nitrites go up, but it sounds like a tank beginning the cycle and the ammonia may go up. The amquel+ could be part of the readings and helping the fish out. Is there anywhere near you that sells BioSpira? The fish that you have aren't the hardiest for a tank that's cycling and BioSpira would instantly cycle your tank.
Also, do you know anyone with a cycled tank? Would your LFS help you out with some filter sludge or gravel from cycled tanks? | |
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May 8th, 2007
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Re: Help losing fish every day
I'm not sure do they sell it online? I changed 3/4 of the water today and still same results. ammonia is 2.0 nitrite is 1.0,nitrate is 20,
I did notice some kind of film coating on top of the water, any ideas what that could be?but myremaining fish are doing fine they don't seem to be struggling,just lonely. | |
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May 8th, 2007
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| | Master Of Fish Poo!
| Re: Help losing fish every day
they sell it online, but the overnight shipping hits hard. BioSpira
Those are pretty high levels still.. you may need to treat your water with prime or amquel+.
the film could be a bacterial bloom. how much aeration is currently going in that tank? | |
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May 8th, 2007
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| | Fish Mentor
| Re: Help losing fish every day
Quote: |
Originally Posted by Stevo I'm not sure do they sell it on line? I changed 3/4 of the water today and still same results. ammonia is 2.0 nitrite is 1.0,nitrate is 20,
I did notice some kind of film coating on top of the water, any ideas what that could be?but my remaining fish are doing fine they don't seem to be struggling,just lonely. | Hi Stevo, Sorry you are having problems. What type of filter system do you have? Do you vacuum your gravel? If so, how often? Your water parameters are still close to lethal.  If it were me, I would change 50%, then 50% again right away (one right after the other), then do it again the next day. Test your water, and continue 50% changes every day till your cycle has finished. As you do those changes vacuum the gravel 1/2 one day 1/2 the other, then vacuum AT LEAST once a week. 
You may be over feeding, which will contribute to those high levels. With the fish you currently have you should only be feeding a pinch of flakes, if they eat it all within a minute, feed them one pinch again in evening.
Land of the Midnight Sun 8) | |
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May 9th, 2007
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| | Fish Addict
| Re: Help losing fish every day
Test your actual water supply, not the water in your tank. Let me know the results | |
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May 9th, 2007
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Re: Help losing fish every day
Quote: |
Originally Posted by bbfeckawitts Test your actual water supply, not the water in your tank. Let me know the results | THe Actual water supply came up normal on the ammonia level. | |
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May 9th, 2007
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Re: Help losing fish every day
Quote: |
Originally Posted by susitna-flower Quote: |
Originally Posted by Stevo I'm not sure do they sell it on line? I changed 3/4 of the water today and still same results. ammonia is 2.0 nitrite is 1.0,nitrate is 20,
I did notice some kind of film coating on top of the water, any ideas what that could be?but my remaining fish are doing fine they don't seem to be struggling,just lonely. | Hi Stevo, Sorry you are having problems. What type of filter system do you have? Do you vacuum your gravel? If so, how often? Your water parameters are still close to lethal. If it were me, I would change 50%, then 50% again right away (one right after the other), then do it again the next day. Test your water, and continue 50% changes every day till your cycle has finished. As you do those changes vacuum the gravel 1/2 one day 1/2 the other, then vacuum AT LEAST once a week.
You may be over feeding, which will contribute to those high levels. With the fish you currently have you should only be feeding a pinch of flakes, if they eat it all within a minute, feed them one pinch again in evening.
Land of the Midnight Sun 8) | zok i'll try that method tonight but should i treat the water after i make all mof those changes?i do vaccum the gravel pretty thoroughly mostly every time i water change. my power filter is whisper i believe it handles 40-50gal tanks,Should i get rid of the gravel maybe there's too much gravel? | |
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May 9th, 2007
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Re: Help losing fish every day
Quote: |
Originally Posted by FLBettaCouple they sell it online, but the overnight shipping hits hard. BioSpira
Those are pretty high levels still.. you may need to treat your water with prime or amquel+.
the film could be a bacterial bloom. how much aeration is currently going in that tank? | I have a air stone that's around 8-9 inches rectangular. | |
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May 9th, 2007
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| | Fish Mentor
| Re: Help losing fish every day
In my way of thinking, treating the water is trying to do with chemicals, what is much easier and better to do with just new, clean water. Once you get the bad water out, and good water in, that is all you need. I never treat my water, except to use some stress zyme or cycle IF I feel I have cleaned vigorously enough to cause a mini cycle. Most of the time I just use water changes. The filter material needs to be cleaned in used tank water (not hot, cold or tap "chlorinated" water), I would do away with any charcoal or other treatments in the filter, unless you have used medications, then use it a couple of days and discard. Sometimes the material designed to trap ammonia, can become saturated, and actually release the ammonia back into the tank causing real problems.
Is your tank planted? Do you have snails? Sometimes if you have plant material or snails which are dying and decaying it can cause real problems also. Treating the water with a copper medication for the fish can kill off snails, this can really pollute the water. --- Just grasping here, not really knowing what is going on.
Do the massive water changes daily until ammonia and nitrite reach 0 and nitrates range between 5 and 10. Since your tank is not fully cycled yet, this can take awhile.
Best of luck.
Land of the Midnight Sun 8) | |
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May 9th, 2007
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| | Fish Lore Newbie
| Re: Help losing fish every day
Quote: |
Originally Posted by susitna-flower In my way of thinking, treating the water is trying to do with chemicals, what is much easier and better to do with just new, clean water. Once you get the bad water out, and good water in, that is all you need. I never treat my water, except to use some stress zyme or cycle IF I feel I have cleaned vigorously enough to cause a mini cycle. Most of the time I just use water changes. The filter material needs to be cleaned in used tank water (not hot, cold or tap "chlorinated" water), I would do away with any charcoal or other treatments in the filter, unless you have used medications, then use it a couple of days and discard. Sometimes the material designed to trap ammonia, can become saturated, and actually release the ammonia back into the tank causing real problems.
Is your tank planted? Do you have snails? Sometimes if you have plant material or snails which are dying and decaying it can cause real problems also. Treating the water with a copper medication for the fish can kill off snails, this can really pollute the water. --- Just grasping here, not really knowing what is going on.
Do the massive water changes daily until ammonia and nitrite reach 0 and nitrates range between 5 and 10. Since your tank is not fully cycled yet, this can take awhile.
Best of luck.
Land of the Midnight Sun 8) | Tonight i took a reading and the nitrite is finally is at 0 but the ammonia is still at 1.0 fish seem ok,so you think i should'nt treat the water that I change? I did have 2 plants and i did have snails which all died so maybe that was the culprit.one of the plants turned yellow so i discarded that one.shouldI keep carbon in the filter or none? | |
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May 9th, 2007
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| | Fish Mentor
| Re: Help losing fish every day
I wouldn't keep carbon in filter. Plants are good for helping keep down nitrate IF you have plenty of light for fast plant growth. If on the other hand you choose a high light plant and don't provide what it needs it will die and add pollution to the tank. I always council studying any new additions to your tank, before you purchase. Add slowly whether plants or new fish.
Keep up the water changes sounds like things are getting better, but until that ammonia is 0 you are still in danger. I wouldn't treat the water unless you get some Bio Spira like was suggested. This contains live bacteria that will help speed the cycle. Always better to help your tank naturally by use of bacteria, or water changes, than to mask the problem by adding chemicals. Keep up the good work! 
Land of the Midnight Sun 8) | |
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