One of my 5 peacock gudgeons died in quarantine tank

I bought 5 peacock gudgeons from my LFS 2 weeks ago. They've been hanging in a 3 gallon quarantine tank and all have looked healthy and are eating well. I was going to transfer them to my 75 gallon community tank this morning, and then saw one of them was dead. Checked parameters and there is a small amount of ammonia (0.25 to 0.5) and probably 20-40 nitrates. Tank wasn't cycled ahead of time and i've been doing about 30% water changes every other day.

The other 4 fish in the tank all look healthy. Should I still go ahead and add them to the 75 gallon or keep them in the quarantine tank longer and switch up my system regarding water changes?

 

I would wait another week and a half. If you don’t have any more deaths by then you should be good to go.

 

I bought 5 peacock gudgeons from my LFS 2 weeks ago. They've been hanging in a 3 gallon quarantine tank and all have looked healthy and are eating well. I was going to transfer them to my 75 gallon community tank this morning, and then saw one of them was dead. Checked parameters and there is a small amount of ammonia (0.25 to 0.5) and probably 20-40 nitrates. Tank wasn't cycled ahead of time and i've been doing about 30% water changes every other day.

The other 4 fish in the tank all look healthy. Should I still go ahead and add them to the 75 gallon or keep them in the quarantine tank longer and switch up my system regarding water changes?

I think, in the future, you might wanna quarantine in 10 gallon tubs. They’re pretty cheap, don’t take up that much space, and have a decent amount of space to quarantine in.

 

The nitrates are a bit high, although high nitrates aren't in them self too bad for the fish they indicate the level of activity in the tanks that produces other untestable problems as well. Some fish are harmed by high nitrates but I don't know if these are or not . Are you using a water conditioner that detoxifies ammonia? ( Eg prime).
Detoxifiers usually work for about 24 hours after use so daily water changes may be better. What is your pH , ammonia becomes 10 times more toxic for each increase in pH so any ammonia in high pH tanks is bad.
I would try to keep your nitrates around 10 or less.
Give the other fish a few days before moving them.
When using uncycled tanks for hospital or quarantine purposes you have to do the work of the filter by daily water changes.

 

The nitrates are a bit high, although high nitrates aren't in them self too bad for the fish they indicate the level of activity in the tanks that produces other untestable problems as well. Some fish are harmed by high nitrates but I don't know if these are or not . Are you using a water conditioner that detoxifies ammonia? ( Eg prime).
Detoxifiers usually work for about 24 hours after use so daily water changes may be better. What is your pH , ammonia becomes 10 times more toxic for each increase in pH so any ammonia in high pH tanks is bad.
I would try to keep your nitrates around 10 or less.
Give the other fish a few days before moving them.
When using uncycled tanks for hospital or quarantine purposes you have to do the work of the filter by daily water changes.

Thanks--ive been adding in cycled media from other tanks to help. I use searched prime...might just start using it daily to detoxify anything while the fish are in there.

 

I think, in the future, you might wanna quarantine in 10 gallon tubs. They’re pretty cheap, don’t take up that much space, and have a decent amount of space to quarantine in.

Thanks, not a bad idea, thanks.

 

Someone else might butt in and say I'm wrong but, considering you just bought them and have added media and whatnot... I'd say (a) move them to something larger, like a ten gal plastic tub, and (b) keep watching them for a while more. I'd guess the ammonia was from the dead fish, not anything else.