All My Fish Died!

[loopy25]

Hi I am faily new to fish keeping. I have a small 32l tropical tank containing 4 dragon tail guppies, 4 neons, 2 red platys, 1 plec and 3 danios. Everything has been going along fine until my son suggested on Saturday that he puts in carbon in a bag into my filter instead of the carbon sponge I had. Within 24 hours all but 4 of my fish were dead, and today another 2 died.
I am gutted and he is shocked as he said carbon shouldn't have done that at all. I have now got rid of the carbon and replaced with all new sponges, cleaned out the whole tank, and all décor and got rid of plants and started again with my plec and one red platy.
The only other thing I can think of is 2 of my guppies were only bought 2 weeks ago but surely if they were contaminated in any way they would have died sooner??
 
Any help please?
 
loopy
 
P.S all my water levels are spot on even ammonia.

 

[Sophie]

Ok.. Was the sponge the only media in the filter? I imagine it was being on such a small tank.
If that's the case, all the beneficial bacteria that was living on the sponge, has been removed so basically started you back at the beginning of the cycle.
The ammonia might be showing 0 as you've replaced all the previous water and it hasn't had time to build back up again.

Re-test the water. If there is a 0 nitrATE reading then you've probably gone back to square one.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first/

Should help understand what I'm blabbing on about when it comes to bacteria living on the filter media.

Keep testing the water every few hours would be the next steps. Whenever ammonia is present, do a water change..
Or if you still have the sponge depending on the condition of the sponge etc you could put it back in and maybe save some bacteria.

What are the timescales for all this? When did you add/replace the media? How long after did they die etc?

 

[loopy25]

hi, I will do readings again but am wondering what killed my fish in the first place?

 

[Sophie]

Would probably be ammonia poisoning. Again, we'd need to know more.

 

[l_l_l]

I'm pretty sure that by removing your sponge, you also removed all of the beneficial bacteria that converted the ammonia an nitrite.
 
Your fish were poisoned.
Carbon media doesn't serve a purpose but to clean the water from medication that was inside the water.
If you can find your old sponge, I suggest you rinse it slightly, to remove detritus from the trashcan, with lukewarm water then put it back in there.
 
I'm wondering, why did you change the media in the first place?
Were you having other issues?

 

[Sophie]

DO NOT WASH WITH TAP WATER!
 
The chlorine in the tap water will kill any bacteria left on the sponge.
 
Syphon out some water from the tank into a bucket/receptacle and wash it with that to preserve the bacteria - if there's any left.
 
(As long as the water you are taking from the tank is dechlorinated in the first place) 

 

[loopy25]

sorry I may not have explained properly. My tank and fish were all doing fine. Only thing that changed was my son decided to replace my carbon sponge with a bag of carbon pellets as e said they were better. nothing else changed and all my fish died.

 

[Lillefishy]

You had too many fish in the tank & by removing the sponge & replacing with carbon there were no good bacteria to process the fish waste. The fish as has been said probably died of ammonia poisoning.
Don't add any new fish while the filter is now having to cycle again, you need to be testing the water daily & doing water changes.
Tbh 32 litres is too small for the plec & platy, you might want to think about rehoming them & doing a fishless cycle this time

 

[loopy25]

I have just checked my levels again and all are ok including ammonia. I haven't used tap water I bought RO water from maidenhead aquatics but completely emptied the tank and refilled. I have a plec and I red platy left. will see how they do.

 

[Sophie]

Why are you using RO?
Have you re-mineralised the RO?

 

[Ch4rlie]

What test kit are you using by the way?
 
Would like to know exact readings rather than 'all are ok' this would be good to make sure we have as much relevant info as possible.

 

[Sophie]

What test kit are you using by the way?
 
Would like to know exact readings rather than 'all are ok' this would be good to make sure we have as much relevant info as possible.

 
+1

 

[loopy25]

checked with API and tetra  CL =0 ph =6.8, kh-3dGH =4d, NO2=0, NO3=10, salifert ammonia test= <0.25

 

[Ch4rlie]

Can I just ask to be absolutely certain, did you originally have sponge media like this -
no.1
 
http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Juwel-Compact-Compatible-8-CARBON-SPONGE-FILTER-PADS-/251272646075?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item3a81044dbb
 
Then your son suggested to swap it over for a bag of carbon like this -
no.2
 
http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PREMIUM-ACTIVE-ACTIVATED-CARBON-MEDIA-AQUARIUM-POND-FILTER-1KG-2-5KG-5KG-10KG-/301016793072?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&var=&hash=item4615ffbff0
 
or did you have something like this in the first place?
no.3
 
http/www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fluval-U2-Filter-Media-Poly-Carbon-Pads-3-x-2-Pack-/251218698255?pt=UK_Pet_Supplies_Fish&hash=item3a7dcd200f
 
All these images are just general typical media that a lot of filters use, and just to give us an idea what has happened exactly.
If you could point out what you had and what you swapped over, if none of the images/links are remotely simlar, just do a quick google search and copy and paste url and then we'll have a much better idea.
 
I think we are getting cross purposes about exactly what we mean about carbon, as there are a lot of products out there and would be good to know before going any further.
 
BTW thanks for the test reading.

 

[loopy25]

hi, yes those first two pics are correct. thank you.