Shark Help

HI all.

New to this so go easy on me!!

We have bought a tank for my 7 year old who is fish/ shark crazy. The tank is 136 litres.

We followed all the procedures correctly and had the water tested and given the OK. We introduced gradually red eye tetras, cardinal tetras and then an albino shark.

The albino shark died, we replaced him and then he died, we unfortunately lost 4 albino sharks :-(

We then on shop advice went for a rainbow shark which died within 12 hours, and we have had the same again today with a red tail shark.

Can anyone explain what is happening? I can't tell you the water details but they are always checked every time and it is given the ok, the tetras are all still OK and going strong ( apart from the red eyes eating a couple of cardinals which I witnessed myself) the temperature is ok.

What must be happening for all the "sharks" to be dying but the tetras are fine? My poor 7 year old is just desperate for a shark type but they are not surviving.

Thanks in advance

Peter

 

Welcome to FishLore!
It's a little hard to narrow down your problem without knowing your exact water parameters and it would be great if you could provide them. Did any of the sharks have clamped fins, white spots, heavy breathing, curved spines, or any other unusual symptoms before they died? Did you acclimate them properly? Also, albino sharks, rainbow sharks, and red tailed sharks need at least a 55 gallons/208 litre tank.

 

The red tail which died about an hour ago had heavy breathing but I didn't notice any of the others. The albino sharks were all curved over when we discovered them. We followed all the procedures advised by the shop on how to introduce them. The tank is 4ft long. I've attached a picture and you can probably just see the tetra in the corner. Thanks

 

Sorry also, being a novice I have no idea how to test the water but it was checked this morning by Pets at Home and they said it was perfect?

 

This sounds like a water quality issue to me which sharks can be quite sensitive to while tetras are more hardy. I saw in your profile that you aren't aware of the Nitrogen Cycle so I assume that you haven't cycled your tank for 4-6 weeks? If this is the case, water quality is almost definitely the problem.
Sometimes pet stores have different ideas about how perfect water quality is. You can buy a liquid water tester at most pet stores called API master test kit which is highly recommended or test strips which are less accurate. If you go for the test strips, make sure they test for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Ammonia and Nitrite should always be 0 while nitrate should ideally be <20 but no more than 40.

 

Thank you. At the beginning we left the tank and didn't introduce any fish for 3 weeks. Is that the nitrogen cycle? We will have to have a look into the master test kit.

 

The tank hasn't been cycled yet. If you just added water and let the filter run for 3 weeks without doing anything else it isn't cycled.

 

That's not really the nitrogen cycle, for a tank to cycle you need to provide an ammonia source. You can read more about it by clicking the bolder words nitrogen cycle as I'm not very good at explaining it. In the meantime, do 30% water changes at least twice a week with a gravel vacuum to give your remaining fish the best chance at survival.

 

OK excellent thank you for your help. Forgot to mention we have a sucker fish too I'm guessing they are quite tough though?

 

I'm glad I could help
I'm assuming your sucker fish is a pleco. They are generally quite hardy and he should be okay while your tank cycles. If any of your other fish start to show signs of illness especially heavy breathing and gills, do more water changes.
Best of luck to you and your tank!

 

If it a Pleco they are a huge waste producer, some of the Pleco's get big too.

 

When I was little we had 5 bala sharks in a 29 gallon tank for about 8 years, they lived through two moves with a school of mollies and an african dragon goby. So if you figure out your water issues a shark should survive.

 

When I was little we had 5 bala sharks in a 29 gallon tank for about 8 years, they lived through two moves with a school of mollies and an african dragon goby. So if you figure out your water issues a shark should survive.

Surviving isn't thriving though, our goal as fish keepers should be to provide the best possible environment for our fish. There are plenty of other great species out there that would be happier in a 36 gallon. My personal recommendation is angelfish

 

I understand, which is why I won't stock like that ever again. But, kids will be kids and demand what they want until they get it

 

I would make sure the pleco you got isn't a common one... they can get 2 feet long!