Dead fish

[ardane]

My tank has been cycled for at least 2 months now and the water quality appears good, I change 20% of the water weekly

PH 7.5
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5
General Hardness 120
Carbonate Hardness 100

The lfs said the water is ok if a little hard so I soften it after each water change.

Over the last week I've lost 1 clown loach, 1 serpae tetra, 1 dwarf gourami, 1 guppy, 2 female siamese fighting fish

The gourami had been nipped though and I only had the siamese fighters a couple of days

Have I just had some bad luck, the fish do look young when I buy them should I go somewhere that sell more mature fish?

Any help / advice is appreciated, I feel a bit like giving up!

 

[Nina7777]

ohhh first and foremost.....don't give up! Perhaps you just bought some sick fish! I don't know how many us gallons your tank is, but if you are talking about the one in your sig, then perhaps you are a bit overstocked, ezpecially with the silver sharks.

Do any of your other fish appear to be ill or show signs of stress? your levels seem right, except i don't know anything about the carbonate and the other one.

Perhaps you could let us know if that tank is the one you are talking about and how many us gallons itis.

Thanks!

 

[ardane]

The sharks are very small at the moment, once they get too big I'll take them back to the lfs

Regarding the size of the tank, it's 190 litres, not sure what the us gallon equivalent is.

The fish look ok, not stressed, I give them plenty of variety, could I be feeding them too much variety

flakes every day with a wafer or catfish pellets then usually blood worms or daphnia every 2/3 days

 

[crazie.eddie]

That's about 50 US gallons. Yes, your tank is overstocked.

It's not necessary to get mature fish. But please examine your equipment first...What type of filter do you have? Having an insufficient filter in an overstocked tank can lead to fish deaths. The filter will not be able to support the bioload, therefore, you will see a few deaths, until the tank stablizes and is able to support the load. It could also be the way the fish have been acclimated. If you do it too quickly or bring in too much water from your tank into the acclimation bag, it may have shocked the fish. Or as you mentioned, the sick may be a sick group.

Even though you buy a large type fish at a small size, you should expect that it will get to it's full size length and should make plans to move the fish before it does.

 

[tstenback]

Dont give up
You have made one of the most common mistakes in the hobby, too many fish too soon and picking by impulse. We have all been at this point before and we have managed to learn from the mistake and make careful selections of fish.
You can rectify this situation by reducing the fish stock. Can you take any back to the lfs for credit? If not can you trade the sharks for something smaller. If you want to keep the sharks you will have to remove many of the other fish. also the advise already given is top notch so please listen and respond to the questions asked of you. This is a rewarding hobby with its ups and downs but once you learn the basics there are more ups and that is why you should not give up. This hobby is very enjoyable and equally addictive so think carefully about what you want as an end result and lets work together to get you there.

Good Luck and be patient

 

[heresmike]

The lfs said the water is ok if a little hard so I soften it after each water change.

I don't agree that your water is too hard so that you have to soften it. In a book I have, it says 100-200 ppm is "slightly hard". My water is at 300 ppm, which is at the top of "moderately hard". I never do anything to soften the water, and my fish are fine with it.

How do you soften your water? Softening is usually temporary, just like changing pH. Could it be possible that a change in hardness is causing a problem? Fish can adapt to different water parameters, and a stable environment is most important. I'd suggest not messing with the hardness.