Uh Oh Now What?

Uh Oh, Now What?
The two fish that I said were livelier when we changed 25 % of the water yesterday, were found dead this morning at the bottom of the tank.
As for the babies, I have not seen any yet this morning.
We don't want to give up, but it has been so frustrating. We are planning to buy two more fish and see if we do the water changes and the water testing, if that helps. Any other suggestions to help our us continue our aquarium enthusiasm. We want to continue and would appreciate any more advice that you can give us.
It will almost be like starting over for us. Thanks again for all of your responses to our SOS's.
Tuna

 

It might actually be a problem with your water in general...

The weird thing is this: it sometimes isn't you at all. What I'd suggest is this: let your tank filter for a week and then check your readings after that. You might have to experiment a little with different agents to remove chlorine or ammonia or whatever.

 

I am so sorry to hear about your fish, it does sound like you have had a really rough start. I wouldn't buy more fish at this stage. There is something not right in the tank or something. If you say that you cannot find any of the baby fish (fry) then is there a chance that the bigger fish have eaten them? If so they may have died from doing this. Protein causes constipation in fish when they are allowed to eat in larger than recommended amounts. And eating fry would be an example of overeating for sure. Constipation can and does kill fish and sometimes very quickly. Ifthere is nothing wrong with the water parameters, then I would say that this is your problem. If you would run tests on ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate please and post the results it would help us to know how to help you. One other thing I believe you mentioned that you were using a sponge to clean your tanks. Unless it is a sponge made specifically for aquariums, they contain chemicals that are meant to control the growth of bacteria and mold and these are deadly for fish. It is too bad that it is not posted on the package as many folks have lost fish due to the innocent use of sponges just trying to keep their tanks clean. Again, I am so sorry that you lost your fish. :'(

I do not know if you have used the spring water in your tank like you were mentioning before, but if so please let me know. Sometimes these types of things are not very stable in aquarium use and do not include all the things that the fish need. It is important for at least some of the water to be treated tap water, I think.

I hope this has maybe given you some information at least. If you could send those test results, it would be nice.

Rose
:'(

 

Thanks for all the info. We will test the water Saturday with our new American Pharmaceutical test kit. We will report the readings.
The sponge we used was bought at a fish store and we assumed they gave us a sponge for aquarium cleaning. it was in the fish supply section. We have not yet added any spring water, it was just a thought. We did however treat some more tap water after the water change and add the additional water to fill up the tank.. Could that have killed the two remaining fish? I guess it is possible that the fish ate the frys.We have not seen the baby fish. We saw them yesterday when we stirred up the gravel while cleaning. The frys may still be in the gravel. We will keep you posted on our next steps. We can really use your help.
Thanks again.
Tuna

 

Aha! You cleaned the gravel. How dirty was it and how much sludge got stirred up in the water when you vacuumed the gravel. I am guessing vacuuming the gravel is what you meant by cleaning it. Sometimes the water gets fouled by the stuff in the gravel and it is enough to make the fish sick. (especially if you don't do it very often) I am under the impression that your tank is fairly new so I do not know much about your situation. The sponge should have been okay if you got it from a petstore. I only knew of one instance where someone innocently used a new kitchen sponge and their fish died.

Just keep posting the information as you get it and we will do our best to help you. I promise if I cannot find and answer, there will be someone who will have an answer. It always seems to work that way around here.

Rose

 

Rose,
Thanks for responding.
We did not know to clean the gravel when we changed the water until the second month or so. I guess that a lot of stuff gathered on the bottom. When we realized we could vacuum the gravel lots of stuff came up especially after we poured the new water back into the tank. It happened this time as well.
What do we need to do now? The gravel is still not clean and I fear that when we add more fish, the same might happen. I know that there has to be stuff left in the tank and gravel for the bacteria. The water however, has been tested okay after the last water change. 
Thanks again.
Any help is surely appreciated.
Tuna

 

You can decrease the amount of debris being stirred up by pouring the new water on a small saucer turned upside down on the floor of the aquarium (use an old one or one picked up cheap somewhere) then it will not stir up the water at the bottom of the tank so much. I would vacuum the tank every time you change the water until the sludge is decreased to a manageable level. It is not going to change the chemisty of the water so you cannot go by the readings, but it can still make your fish sick if a lot of it is floating about. If you have a good filter, you can depend on it getting it filtered out pretty quickly though.

You are not going to disturb the bacteria in the tank by doing any of this. There is another product called Tidy Tank that helps get rid of the sludge if the tank is really mucked up. You add some every 2 weeks and it helps to keep the gravel clean. It does not take the place of vacuuming but it does help to keep things manageable.

I would not add more fish until the problem is more resolved. This is not going to be a long time but you want to make sure the tank is ready for them before you start to add them as fish are expensive and we do tend to become attached to them and hate to lose them.

Sorry not to have more encouraging news, but I would rather see you have a really good start. It will all work out all right it just takes a little time.

Rose

 

Rose,
Thanks for your wonderful response. Can you please read our other post from yesterday 7/14 and let us know what you think.
Thanks again.
Tuna