Dying Fish

Member Posts : 10 Age : 46

Hey I am looking for some help. My fish are all dying. I have a freshwater community tank. My ph is 7.0, my nitrates and amonia is zero and the temp is 76. I dont see any white spots on them or any signs of ick. I do not have any plants. I have had dwarf frogs, snails guppys danios, and a few other die over the past week. I need help or any possible advie? Thanks in advance

The Turtle Whisperer Posts : 1930

While ich is a biggie, there are other things out there fish can get.

Did you add anyone new recently? Are the fish acting odd or otherwise different than usual? Do the fish look abnormal any other way? Bloated, emaciated, red streaks on fins, odd slimy look, that sort of thing?

Did you do something right before they started dying off? Like a water change or even a new tank decoration? How long has the tank been running?

Anything else you can think of too for that matter. Smile

Subject: Re: Dying Fish Fri Apr 16, 2010 12:06 am

How long have ya had yer tank set up? Saint covered the obvious with his questions. What kind of water are ya on? A municipal water feed, well water or something else? Is there any chance the water could have been contaminated with a cleaning product or other chemical? Mrs. Wyite thought it would be nice to dust my tanks with some crazy-ass, super-duper, dust-attracting spray stuff when we first got married and I came unglued when I walked in on that (our second major fight, LOL). ANy other changes in or around the tank ya can think of?

WYite

Member Posts : 10 Age : 46

It started after we did a water change and replaced the air stone. we get local city water but we put in the chemicals to make it fish safe. Our filter was extremely dirty and had to replace the cartridge but we did not have any left so the filter was turned off for about an hour. I dont really see any others issues with the fish, they all seem to be normal. One angelfish was randomly darting back and fourth in the tank then would just kind of float for a couple mins after. He died yesterday. My tank has been set up and running for about 4 months and have no real issues up to this point. We did have ich in the tank about two months ago but that was treated with water changes and chemicals. I hope this helps

Subject: Re: Dying Fish Fri Apr 16, 2010 9:57 am

It sounds like when you replaced the filter media you may have lost a lot of your beneficial bacteria and started a mini-cycle or another full cycle. In the future you should just rinse off the media in old tank water and put the filter back in.

Also your nitrate level shouldn't be 0 if your tank is fully cycled. I'm guessing you may have a nitrite spike going on in your tank. Check your nitrite level and you should do some water changes to get the nitrite level as close to 0 as possible.

Member Posts : 10 Age : 46

My nitrite level is 0.25.

Subject: Re: Dying Fish Fri Apr 16, 2010 1:49 pm

Yup...it's the nitrite. You need to try and get the nitrite levels as close to 0 as you can with water changes. Whenever the nitrite rises above .1ppm you should do a water change.

Your beneficial bacteria that turns nitrite to nitrate was contained in the filter media that you changed out. Now you have to build that bacteria colony back up again. It will take some time but eventually your tank will be back to where it was.

Subject: Re: Dying Fish Fri Apr 16, 2010 9:45 pm

Sounds like you killed off enough beneficial bacteria when you changed your media that you went into a state of shock. You need to get the nitRITES to 0. Water changes as dawg said....25% daily till nitrites are zero. Remember to dose your water conditioner. You should be back to normal in no time. BTW....what size tank and what fish are u keeping? Also I am curious to what filtration you are running? Water changes will help to start though. Keep us updated and hope you don't loose any more fish.

Member Posts : 10 Age : 46

I have a 29 gal with an aqua clear 20-50 gal filter. Tetras, pleco, angelfish, danio, dwarf frogs.

Subject: Re: Dying Fish Sun Apr 18, 2010 11:20 am

Yep, sounds like you just need to strengthen your colony of bacteria which will take some time. The tank dont sound overstocked...you may watch how much you are feeding them. During a mini cycle any uneaten food can cause more waste and prolong the process...You may even consider more filtration.

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Dying Fish

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