My Fish Died Within 4 Hours Please Help

I had previously 2 fish in a smaller tank, I got a new tank I chlorinated and did a zyme and ph tablets, and let my tank run fish less for 24 hours and got a heater and had it heating to the right temperature. So after I got 5 fish to add into it, with my 2 previous fish, I acclimated them all and added them in there after 20 minutes. I came back in 4 hours and my tank was all cloudy, and 2 of the fish were dead, and all the rest were at the very top of the tank acting all funny and then another died. So I switched to a smaller tank I had and gave it new water and acclimated them again to it, and then in the morning they acted normal, but I left the other aquarium running all night and its still cloudy. Please help I did a ton of research and all I can find is new tank syndrome, and ammonia, but would they die so soon?

 

Was the tank cycled? What are your parameters? What type of fish? What size is the new tank and what size was the old one?

It could have been a variety of things - ammonia, stress, illness, etc.

 

If you haven’t cycled the tank then the fish don’t stand a chance. Cycling can take 3 days to 2 months so patience is key

 

You must look into the Nitrogen Cycle before you get fish. Another thing to look into is messing with the pH. I'd just as soon blame the pH tabs over high levels of ammonia. Don't use pH tabs, ever. They cause more harm than good. The best way to change pH is with natural substances, such as crushed coral (to increase) or peat moss (to lower it). The easiest way is to choose fish that will do well in your pH and hardness of the tap water.

I suggest you test the pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates of the water in the tank and then test the levels in your tap water as well.

What species did you add and how large is your tank?

 

Well, now that we've beaten the new member senseless,

Sorry about your fish.

Yes, cycling, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, are all important issues, especially when starting up a tank. But it's unlikely that a buildup of any of those toxins caused your fish almost instant death (within four hours).

Read up on the nitrogen cycle. Keep in mind that there are several different schools of thought. Personally, I don't use any cycle additives, and I'm very skeptical about anything in a bottle producing an "instant" cycle. But there are folks who say they have good success. Just pick a method and read up on it. They're two completely different methods. But that's not what's going on here.

Something fouled your water badly. It's impossible to say exactly what it was. Some questions that come to mind are, was all the equipment brand new? Did you use a hose to fill the tank? What do you mean when you say you added "zyme?" There are different products with the word "zyme" in them. What did you dose for pH? I agree that trying to fight the pH of your tap water is a losing proposition. Stable pH is almost always better than trying to adjust it. What did you add for water conditioner and what dosage?

I recently set up a new fish room after being out of the hobby for a while. I filled up two tanks, let them run a day, added Prime water conditioner, and added a feeder goldfish to each. A few hours later I looked and the two goldfish were deader than doornails. I couldn't figure out what the freak happened. I've set up and cycled dozens of tanks in my life, and I've never killed any fish so fast. In retracing my steps, I realized I'd used an old hose to fill up the tanks. Again, you can't know for certain, but the most likely culprit was the old hose leeching toxic chemicals into the water.

I'd recommend that you be careful about adding chemicals to the water. If you go by what the manufacturers (and many fish stores) tell you, you'll be standing there dumping junk into your tank all day long with the promise that it will make your water perfect. The fact is that the less you put in, the better. The only absolute is you need water conditioner for the tap water. There may be other adjustments you need to make, but nothing that's going to kill your fish instantly.

 

Well, now that we've beaten the new member senseless,

Sorry about your fish.

Yes, cycling, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, are all important issues, especially when starting up a tank. But it's unlikely that a buildup of any of those toxins caused your fish almost instant death (within four hours).

Read up on the nitrogen cycle. Keep in mind that there are several different schools of thought. Personally, I don't use any cycle additives, and I'm very skeptical about anything in a bottle producing an "instant" cycle. But there are folks who say they have good success. Just pick a method and read up on it. They're two completely different methods. But that's not what's going on here.

Something fouled your water badly. It's impossible to say exactly what it was. Some questions that come to mind are, was all the equipment brand new? Did you use a hose to fill the tank? What do you mean when you say you added "zyme?" There are different products with the word "zyme" in them. What did you dose for pH? I agree that trying to fight the pH of your tap water is a losing proposition. Stable pH is almost always better than trying to adjust it. What did you add for water conditioner and what dosage?

I recently set up a new fish room after being out of the hobby for a while. I filled up two tanks, let them run a day, added Prime water conditioner, and added a feeder goldfish to each. A few hours later I looked and the two goldfish were deader than doornails. I couldn't figure out what the freak happened. I've set up and cycled dozens of tanks in my life, and I've never killed any fish so fast. In retracing my steps, I realized I'd used an old hose to fill up the tanks. Again, you can't know for certain, but the most likely culprit was the old hose leeching toxic chemicals into the water.

I'd recommend that you be careful about adding chemicals to the water. If you go by what the manufacturers (and many fish stores) tell you, you'll be standing there dumping junk into your tank all day long with the promise that it will make your water perfect. The fact is that the less you put in, the better. The only absolute is you need water conditioner for the tap water. There may be other adjustments you need to make, but nothing that's going to kill your fish instantly.

I mean we only asked if he had cycled the tank lol...

 

The only thing that can kill a fish that quickly in your tank would be chlorinated water. Did you dechlorinate it?

 

I agree with GuppyDazzle and GoldfishGuy. An uncycled tank will not kill fish in 4 hours. There was most likely some type of contaminant in the water. The problem is to figure out what it was and how it got there.

Edit: My first guesses would be that the water wasn't dechlorinated or that it had something to do with the "zyme" and pH tablets.

 

Yeah, I agree. If you added 100 fish to a 20 gallon tank, one or two might die in 4 hours, but ammonia, nitrite and nitrate poisoning takes WAY longer than 4 hours if the fish are put into "good" water. The last time I cycled a new filter (this past winter) I used 7 guppies in a 10 gallon tank and it took a week for readings to start pushing the limit and require a water change.

Some helpful information would be:

1: Size of the tank
2: What types of fish
3: Temperature
4: PH
5: Is there a filter?
6: Do you know your water parameters? Ammonia, nitrites and nitrates?

Sometimes fish die, it happens. Stress can kill a fish and it seems out of the blue, but its not. Moving fish around from tank to tank, adding more fish, etc., is very stressful. I'm not saying that's what did it, but it could have been. Id be more inclined to think your water wasn't dechlorinated, the parameters were way different from tank to tank, etc., and it shocked the fish.

 

Update: I cleaned out my whole tank and started fresh and went to the pet store and got aquarium salt and I dechlorinated it and didn't use any tablets or anything. I am going to let it cycle for awhile and test the water. The fish were stressed about something as they were all at the top of the tank and like gasping for air so I got a blubber to help with that. the product it dechlorinated it and gets rid of ammonia and nitrites for just in case. I have a heater and a filter and they seam to be working fine. The worker who seemed to know about fish said I won't have to worry about ph because its city water but should I still test it?

 

There is no dechlorinator that gets rid of ammonia or nitrites that Ive ever heard of. Prime will lock it up, but only for 24-48 hours, and then its toxic again. You don't need aquarium salt in general. A bubbler isn't going to do much, especially if the fish were suffering from ammonia, nitrite or nitrate poisoning. All it does it cause surface agitation that helps in the gas exchange process which puts oxygen into the water. In general, most tanks don't need a bubbler. Its always a good idea to test your PH. If its 8.4 but your petshop is 6.2, that's a HUGE difference and acclimating the fish to it will need to be done differently than a close PH.

 

I have a 10 gallon and I got some glow fish and 2 "small" angels there not he regular ones but the store I went to said they will out grow it but not for a few months, and I had a Blood parrot which when I first got them I didn't know anything of it and found out they could get huge and aggressive but I have no where to bring it and its only 2-3 inches big, it doesn't seem to be aggressive towards them but it would chase them so maybe it is aggressive when I'm not around idk. I also know a 10 gallon is too small for there breed its not a permanent solution I will upgrade it to a bigger tank in a month or a little after, right now there was 4 that were left after the tank incident( another died today) I put them into 1.5 gallon which is way to small and that's why I'm trying to fix what's ever wrong soon as possible so they can move into a suitable tank and not stuck into that tiny tank.

 

Yeah, the stocking is a huge issue. You may want to think about returning some fish. A Blood Parrot is a very aggressive cichlid that gets HUGE, and even as a baby, a 10 gallon isn't suitable for it. It has a huge bioload and is aggressive towards other fish. I don't about a "small" type of Angelfish as all the ones I know get the size of a dinner plate. Your tank is way too small and way overstocked. Until you get that sorted out, you will continue to have issues with water quality and experience losses.

 

Is there a specific reason you're adding salt?

I'd recommend reading up on cycling. You an cycle with fish in, that's the way I do it, but you have to keep a close eye on the water readings and do water changes accordingly. You need to test every day, or every other day at the least, to make sure your water readings don't go above safe limits, but leave enough ammonia and nitrites to feed the cycle. Expect cycling to take at least six weeks. Adding live plants can speed it up, but it will still take a month. If you try to rush the cycling process it will cause problems.

There are cycle boosters some people use. I've never used them, but reports say they work. If you use a cycle booster, follow the directions carefully. You have to put the stuff in and leave it. If you do water changes during the initial setup it will mess things up.

 

I used aquarium salt I found on sites they say it helps with stress