Dying fish

[JustinOldroyd]

I have a new tetra 54 ltr tank which has been up and running for 48 hours and doses with tetra aquasafe. Gravel substrate a few plastic plants and a couple of decorations. Today I introduced its first occupants, 6 cardinal tetra. Within 4 hours 4 of the fish had died. Things started off well, I gave a feed and they were eating well. After 2 hours all the fish started bobbing at the surface of the water (gasping for air)? I tried aerating the water by dropping tank water in from a height (away from the fish) and syphoned out 10% of water and replaced with fresh water at 24c. Currently 2 fish are still alive although they are still spending their time at top of tank. I’m dreading getting up in the morning with my boy rushing out to find an empty tank. What have I done wrong? What can I do better? Thank you.

 

[TWiG87]

Do you have a water test kit? I'm not familiar with tetra aquasafe, does it detoxify ammonia like Seachem Prime? If it does not I’d be willing to bet that is your problem. Ammonia poisoning.
If your tank has only been up and running for 2 days it is not cycled and will need to be treated and monitored extremely closely

 

[Rev]

It doesn't sound like your tank is cycled. Please read up on the nitrogen cycle. It should be hyperlinked to that. So first thing is you need to cycle your tank. 50% daily water changes. You need a test kit to check your water parameters if you don't have one already. If you do please post your parameters and if you don't do so as soon as possible. It's likely ammonia poisoning your fish are dying of because the tank isn't cycled. What do you have for a filter on the tank as well?

 

[JustinOldroyd]

Do you have a water test kit? I'm not familiar with tetra aquasafe, does it detoxify ammonia like Seachem Prime? If it does not I’d be willing to bet that is your problem. Ammonia poisoning.
If your tank has only been up and running for 2 days it is not cycled and will need to be treated and monitored extremely closely

Thanks for the reply. Aquasafe is a dechlorinator additive so from what I had been advised that would be ok.

 

[TWiG87]

Having your water De chlorinated is important, but in a new tank you are going to have ammonia as well and eventually nitrites. Both of which are harmful to your fish. Can you test your water to see the current parameters?

 

[Frogtastic]

I would agree with the above, it sounds like it wasn’t cycled.

 

[JustinOldroyd]

Having your water De chlorinated is important, but in a new tank you are going to have ammonia as well and eventually nitrites. Both of which are harmful to your fish. Can you test your water to see the current parameters?

Hi. Apparently it neutralises harmful substances and makes tap water safe. How long should I daily half refill my tank for please? It’s really frustrating as I followed all the advice I had been given.

 

[TWiG87]

That’s still not very specific. If it doesn’t detoxify ammonia and turn it into a less toxic form (ie: ammonium) that is what is killing your fish.
I would do daily water changes to keep ammonia levels at bay.
I would also buy a liquid water test kit so you know exactly what is going on in your tank

 

[Tez]

I have a new tetra 54 ltr tank which has been up and running for 48 hours

Your tanks in a cycling process and you should only have 5-6 fish the most if you want to do it with fish and although i've done each one of mine with fish the first two never had fish till a month in to the cycle.
I use the Aquasafe treatment always have done, your tanks needs to get good bacteria to help the cycle so start buy adding API Zyme 20ml every 2 days as that builds bacteria, the aquasafe is a purifier of water mainly.
I would get it tested as TWiG87 advised and also make sure there's enough oxygen to help your fish.

 

[Tez]

Hi. Apparently it neutralises harmful substances and makes tap water safe. How long should I daily half refill my tank for please? It’s really frustrating as I followed all the advice I had been given.

I've found out over the time i've done it, different aquariums give different advice..you've joined the best helpful forum where members can put you on a straight road to getting through your cycle and they should have told you, you need API Zyme to help built good bacteria besides an API master test kit and keep fetching water out your tank the size it is in my opinion 40% daily to get that ammonia lowered.

 

[FinalFins]

Personally I don't think 4 hours in a uncycled tank would be enough to kill cardinals.

 

[Tez]

Personally I don't think 4 hours in a uncycled tank would be enough to kill cardinals.

In my opinion I would say something was wrong with the fish it self, as the ammonia as to be absorbed a while I would say for that to happen, unless there's nitrite spike with it also.

 

[Rev]

Personally I don't think 4 hours in a uncycled tank would be enough to kill cardinals.

I wouldn't have thought so either. But they did feed the fish pretty soon after the tank. Food breaking down in the tank could have spiked it pretty high. Still haven't heard anything of what filter the tank has or what the flow is like in the tank. If it's pretty low flow I think an ammonia spike combined with low dissolved oxygen in the water could've done them in easier than normal. The fish gasping at the air sounds a lot like an ammonia problem to me. I'd think if it was chlorine they'd have died a whole lot quicker.

 

[FinalFins]

Oh, and forgot to ask, is the source of the tetras near you and how rough was the person netting the fish? How long/bumpy was the ride back? How did you acclimate?

 

[Debbie1986]

You can jump start your cycle with 'Safe Start' also made by Tetra.

Tetra Safe Start Plus reduces dangerous ammonia and nitrite and prevents new tank syndrome for a healthy start for fish in all freshwater aquariums. Contains live bacteria that start working immediately to provide a safe environment for new fish.


I've used it 3x so far with good results.

But this kind of struck me as odd: doses with tetra aquasafe

what do you mean doses? You only need to add water conditioner 1x. If you had no fish in tank for that 48 hours the water had very little bio load. How much and how many times did you dose Aqua safe?

if you are using Seachem Prime, that can be added every 48 hours without overdosing the tank to toxic levels. Aquasafe is used as water conditioner just when adding new water.

 

[Tez]

I've used it 3x so far with good results.

Same with me Debbie only my last tank as still had a slight cycle for 2 weeks but my fish have done well through it but I always use API Zyme and stresscoat+ but with the aquasafe you need to add the correct amount in to the size of the tank and hopefully it's been done correctly,

 

[saltwater60]

There’s no way ammonia built up that fast from an cycled tank.
Tetras are fairly sensitive and I know my LFS holds them for a few days to a week after they arrive because they can die for seemingly no reason.
id say it was ammonia poisoning but possibly from transport or poor acclimation.
how did you acclimate them? When did the LFS receive them?

 

[JustinOldroyd]

You can jump start your cycle with 'Safe Start' also made by Tetra.

Tetra Safe Start Plus reduces dangerous ammonia and nitrite and prevents new tank syndrome for a healthy start for fish in all freshwater aquariums. Contains live bacteria that start working immediately to provide a safe environment for new fish.


I've used it 3x so far with good results.

But this kind of struck me as odd: doses with tetra aquasafe

what do you mean doses? You only need to add water conditioner 1x. If you had no fish in tank for that 48 hours the water had very little bio load. How much and how many times did you dose Aqua safe?

if you are using Seachem Prime, that can be added every 48 hours without overdosing the tank to toxic levels. Aquasafe is used as water conditioner just when adding new water.

Apologies. Auto correct! What I mean is the tap water used to fill the tank had aquasafe added following the guidelines.

There’s no way ammonia built up that fast from an cycled tank.
Tetras are fairly sensitive and I know my LFS holds them for a few days to a week after they arrive because they can die for seemingly no reason.
id say it was ammonia poisoning but possibly from transport or poor acclimation.
how did you acclimate them? When did the LFS receive them?

Smooth 5 min journey home. Floated in tank for 20 mins as advised.