All fish in 10G sick / dead.

[Moe]

I have a 10 gal that has been running for a little over 3 weeks. I did a fishless cycle changed 80% of water and added 3 guppy and 3 cory, waited a week and added 4 card. tetras. These were all switched from my 20G tank. OK the fish had all been in the tank for about a week. ph 7.4 ammonia 0 nitrite 0. Female guppy had babies 6 were in net breeder. 1st the male guppy died. I went to store and got a new one. Next day the Female guppy looked really bad and the male's tail was all tattered. So I brought them to the LFS and they said the female had a really bad fungus infection, which he said was really odd for a new tank. He said she was beyond hope. I left her there and I assume he euthanized her. He said the mail looked OK but it looked like it had been in a fight which is also weird because there are only tetras and cory in the tank. LFS thought male would be ok, but he died later that night. Next day 3 of the four card tetras died and 4 of the 6 guppy fry. So now there is 1 female guppy, 1 card. tetra and 3 cory cats left in the tank. The tetra seems a little pale. The guppy and the cory seem fine. I don't know what to do. LFS has no ideas. He said not to medicate the tank since it is new. I am not planning to add any replacement fish until I can figure out what is going on. I thought by going fishless I could avoid this type of fish loss. I'm sad and confused. Any suggestions you all may have would be welcome.

 

[CFC]

Have you tested the water? If so what are the parameters, you need to test for ammonia nitrite and nitrate, pH would be useful too.
How did you start the cycle? 3 weeks is a bit quick to have a completed cycle especially with the fishless method.

 

[Alien Anna]

Have you tested the water? If so what are the parameters, you need to test for ammonia nitrite and nitrate, pH would be useful too.
How did you start the cycle? 3 weeks is a bit quick to have a completed cycle especially with the fishless method.

I don't really agree CFC - I've cycled a tank is less than 3 weeks before. However, something's going wrong and ammonia and nitrite are the most common reasons in a new tank, of course.

I'm a little suspicious of this LFS personally. Sounds like they've got disease and they're trying to cover it up. I mean, how often do you get newbies buying fish who actually know how to cycle a tank? Not often, which means they can cover up bad stock by blaming the customers.

I'd like to know what the LFS water is like? Did you test the LFS water in the bags before introducing your new fish to the tank? I always do that because I have tanks at different pH's. I'm thinking maybe pH shock or something like that? It's a bit of a mystery. I don't like mysteries.

 

[Moe]

CFC I listed my water params in original post. Ph 7.4 ammonia 0 nitrite 0. Those are the only tests I have. The fishless cycle was actually complete in 8 days. I used the filter from an established tank and some gravel in a bag. I've continued to test water for ammonia and nitrite every few days it they are always 0.
Anna I've never tested the LFS's water, that is a good idea. It is very near my home and we have the same water co. I just assumed that they were the same. I will test is next time I get a fish. The thing is I've had the female guppy with the fungus for 2mo and I got her from a different store (I don't go there any more). Both males were from LFS and died within a day of purchase, appeared to have fin rot (maybe). And I don't know what happened to the tetras, they looked fine except the red on their bottom was pale. I did a 20% water change today and params are good. You said the same thing as LFS It is a mystery and I don't like mysteries either. Especially when I'm trying to explain them to my 7 year old. It is her tank.
Any more thoughts I'd like to hear them.

 

[loachylover]

fin rot would not kill your gupppies over night i would say to leave your surviving fish that are left in the tank alone and not add any other fish just to make sure your tank has fully cycled, after a coulpe of weeks of stablisation(no more unexpected deaths) add other fish

sorry to hear of your loss!!!!

 

[CFC]

CFC I listed my water params in original post. Ph 7.4 ammonia 0 nitrite 0. Those are the only tests I have. The fishless cycle was actually complete in 8 days. I used the filter from an established tank and some gravel in a bag.

Ooops, sorry missed them ) . The jumpstart from another tank is the method i use if i have to set up a new tank and is possibly the best way of setting a tank up as it is practically instant, when someone comes up with live filter media you can buy from a lfs theyre gonna make a fortune.

You seem to be a competent fish keeper so i presume you used a good water conditioner to remove chlorine/chloramines from your tapwater but is it possible that a "helpfull" child may have done a unauthorised water change without it ?
Like Anna said something is not right with the water its just finding out what it is.

 

[Alien Anna]

fin rot would not kill your gupppies over night i would say to leave your surviving fish that are left in the tank alone and not add any other fish just to make sure your tank has fully cycled, after a coulpe of weeks of stablisation(no more unexpected deaths) add other fish

sorry to hear of your loss!!!!

There is a nasty kind of fin-rot that guppies get. I was told about it a couple of weeks ago. The interesting thing is it only affects guppies and it kills them literally over-night. I lost 4 guppies to the disease. One LFS said it was an imported disease and called it something like "Siamese Tail-rot". I've treated the one I caught early with Interpet's "Finrot and Fungus" treatment and he's made a good recovery, so it is not untreatable if you catch it in time.

 

[Moe]

Thanks for the info. I used water conditioner and the 7 year old would never put anything in the tank. Actually she is a very experienced fish keeper. She can bore her little friends to tears talking about ph and ammonia. LOL The nasty fin rot may have got the guppies but that still does not explain why the tetras died.
I also keep thinking is something really bad happened to the water wouldn't all the guppy fry die first? It's so weird and frustrating.
Well the remaining 1 tetra 1 guppy 2 guppy fry and 3 cory cats seem good. I'm going to let things remain as they are for a few weeks as suggested and keep testing the water. Thanks for your help.