angieb

Having lost both of my baby angel fish, i have now had 8 guppies die in 4 weeks. what am i doing wrong? the chemical levels all read ok so it shouldnt be that. I have 4 mollies, 2 platties, amano shrimp, 12 tetras, 2 danios and just 2 guppies now - any suggestions?

Torez

how many times did you check the amonia or are you using tap water

Speedy

I'm so sorry you lost your baby angelfish. Where the fish showing any signs of illness at all? Have you added any medication or anything new to the water?

Alessa

When you say your readings are "ok" what are they actually? (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate) and what test kit are you using?

angieb

I used 5 in 1 aquarium test strips. Readings were nitrite 0, nitrate 30, ammonia 0. No sign of disease or illness in the fish.

Alessa

Sorry you lost your babies... it sure is hard when we dont know the reason...

Unfortunately, the test stripes are good for monitoring, but arent accurate. So, if you have a very small amount of ammonia that is nonetheless enough to kill your fish it might not show up, but still, be there...

Your tank is also very overstocked, and that might be one reason as well. the 12 tetras alone almost make up for the total bio-capacity of the tank... also 120 litres is not enough for angelfish... they need around 208 litres when fully grown.

Did you introduce any new fish to the tank recently?

angieb

I've found the reason for the lost fish....the culprit was a rogue long armed shrimp - caught in the act when he killed the last guppie! He was sold to me as an amano along with my other 3, not easy to identify when they're so small. Anyway, have now moved him in with the goldfish and he's settled in happily. So no more lost fish in the tropical tank. The local pet shop have assured me my tank isn't overstocked - what makes you say it is?
thanks

Shawnie

I wouldnt ever trust your pet stores...they just love selling you things and dont really care if you are overstocked or not..but I agree with alessa...in that small tank unless you are doing a couple water changes a week, you probably have some ammonia that the strips arent picking up...can you get a liquid test kit to be sure? angels are super sensitive to water conditions and dont tolerate ammonia at all goodluck!

Sowell82

Its a 90 gal tank? It wouldn't seem like it would be over stocked since those are all smaller fish. I have 2 irrdesent sharks, 1 goldfish, 2 loaches and 2 feeder guppies in a 55 gal. Is that overstocked?

Minnow

I think so, Sowell According to their profile, iridescent sharks school, get nearly 4 feet long and need 300+ gallons. Also, goldfish are temperate fish, and need cooler water than your tropical fish do.

angieb

thanks to you all for the advice. I'm not planning on getting rid of any of my fish but won't introduce any more to the tank.