Probable Problem?

History: Have had aquariums most of life. Strictly freshwater. Had a well established 55 with 3 Angelfish, 12" Bala shark, large pleco and 1 tiny tetra. Was moving from MississippI to Ohio. Set up a 100 gallon in Ohio with no fish 3 months in advance of the move. Heaters, filters, aeration and some substrate from my 55. Rigged a cooler for transport. 12 hour drive and all survived. Fast forward 2 weeks, fish doing well, tank looks great but seems kinda empty. Very isolated where we are. Against my better judgement, purchased 10 giant danios from Walmart. After acclimated, netted them into tank. They added the movement I was looking for. 2 weeks later, shark acted peculiar and died. 2 days later, all angels and tetra were dead. Pleco survived and still have all 10 danios. 100 gallon tank looks empty. Not sure what to do. The danios clearly introduced some thing into my tank. The fish exhibited no obvious spots, colors or lesions. Bala shark swam upside down briefly 2 days before dying. I will not acquire any more fish until I treat the tank. I just need suggestions on the best plan. Thanks in advance!

 

What did you cycle the tank in ohio with while it sat there for 3 months?

 

This is why you should always quarantine new fish.

Is the tank cycled?

 

Awe maaan, I'm sorry to hear that. I was going to ask about the cycle, it's possible the addition of the danio's caused an ammonia spike, though in 100G...I'm not sure. Fish swimming upside down is a sign of something to do with their swim bladder...but that issue isn't contagious, per se and I'm also not sure if Bala's typically have that issue.

Edit: Not sure where you are in Ohio, but near the CLE area, there's a fish store called RMS aquaculture. I work there, we have about 200 freshwater tanks and 100 saltwater tanks. It's a large store but, would probably be a drive for you. We have customers come from all over though.

 

I am in South Central Ohio, literally the middle of nowhere. Again, after years of experience I wasn't thinking. At initial set up I used "Prime" conditioner. Ran 2 Emperor 400 systems with full charcoal/media filters. I was making freq trips back and forth. Most of my supplies were back with the 55. I couldn't test water but topped it off and had to scrape algae off. After I got the fish here I was petrified to look in the cooler but they survived the journey. I travel with work and have not had time to establish a quarantine tank and the 55 sits empty. I know I screwed up but searching for answers. No where (50 miles) to acquire new fish easily. After a month and a half, still living out of boxes and can't determine what is where. Yeah, pretty much heartbroken. They may just be fish but they are my responsibility. Start over or have a big tank with 10 fish? smh