Dieing Fish?

[eaglesaquarium]

Something doesn't add up for me with the water stats.
 
Did you cycle the tank before you started adding fish?  The lack of ammonia and nitrite would indicate that its cycled, but the lack of nitrates would belie that fact, unless there's a reason for the nitrates to be missing, like a nitrate sponge.
 
 
The fish also aren't very compatible, I'm afraid.  The sharks are highly territorial with conspecific species.  One would work in a tank that size, two would probably lead to squabbles.
 
Silver dollar tetras grow quite large (a chunky fish at 6-7 inches across) and require a number of them, as they are shoaling fish. 
 
Clown loaches grow even larger, and also prefer to be in large groups - requiring 75+ gallons.
 
Kissing gourami are also fish that grow quite large... wild specimens can grow up to a foot, while aquarium raised individuals usually only get to about 6 inches.  (The kissing behavior is actually a form of sparring/aggression.)  These fish also require 75+ gallons.
 
Is the catfish a corydoras or a pleco?  Corydoras prefer groups but would be far more suitable in a tank that size, as they only get to 2-3 inches in size.  Plecos can range in size from a couple inches to nearly 2 feet, so being able to identify the exact species is very important.
 
 
 
Sorry, as I don't think this really establishes the cause of the deaths, exactly.  But it does indicate that there are some problems.

 

[gh74]

thanks jd,none of the fish are never aggressive towards each other,and when i purchase the fish the guys know exactly what i have in the tank,and they make sure that i dont pick aggressive fish at all as they know that its a good community tank i am looking etc,a really good bit of info there you gave,i might also look for another bigger tank etc .
 
cheers graham

 

[GuppyGirl20]

Hmmmmmmm my first thought was maybe it isn't fully cycled yet but I don't know much about cycling . When I set my tank up back in August I was running into problems and I am fairly certain it was because it hadn't cycled fully before I introduced fish.

 

[Mamashack]

I believe the nitrAte pouch is something like NitraZorb(?) which would explain the zero nitrAte reading as it removes ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate and silicate. When I tried it the nitrAtes dropped from 40 to 5ppm in a couple of hours!! Never used it since. You have to keep charging these every week or so to keep on top of it otherwise you'll start going thro a fish-in cycle. They also need to be replaced every 6 months too.
 
Not all PAH are bad -  my local Pets at Home always quarantine their fish for 2 weeks - there are signs on all the tanks where fish are unavailable for sale when they've just arrived. IME they give decent advice altho it always helps to have some knowledge too as they are there to make sales at the end of the day.
 
Can't comment on the stocking as I have no experience with these fish types and don't have community tanks as such.

 

[gh74]

Hmmmmmmm my first thought was maybe it isn't fully cycled yet but I don't know much about cycling

. When I set my tank up back in August I was running into problems and I am fairly certain it was because it hadn't cycled fully before I introduced fish.

Hi GuppyGirl....I let my tank run 2 weeks before anything went into it and did everything correct,all my water stats are all sitting perfect,i was told earlier today that its my red tail shark is the problem hes been stressing and terrorizing all the fish,so he is going in the morning etc,and hopefully that will be my problems all stopped

 

[fluttermoth]

Just letting a tank run will not cycle it.
 
What are you using to test the water, and what are the actual numbers from your tests?
 
Whilst RTBS can be quite aggressive fish, once they reach maturity, I doubt it would have killed so many fish in such a short space of time.

 

[gh74]

Hey Ros,i was told from my mate who owns an aquarium shop that its the red tail shark that killing my fish,and all my other fishies are compatible except for him,my mate checked all my water levels this morning at his work and there all perfect etc i even checked the ph at the tap and its the same as the reading in my tank which is 7.6
 
graham

 

[Mamashack]

As fluttermoth pointed out to you (#21) running the tank for 2 weeks does not adequately prepare it for fish other than to check the equipment is working.
If it is Nitrozorb that you are using then you are now committed to recharging it every week or so and replacing it every 6 months otherwise your fish will suffer from fish-in cycle. The fact that loads are dying now must be telling you something is not right.
Perhaps in hind sight your mate could have told you the fish weren't compatible with the shark when you first got them from him. It would have saved you and the fish a lot of grief.

 

[gh74]

the best thing was it wasnt got from him but from another aquatic store that he has alot of quarentine holding tanks up there,he couldnt believe  that they had sold me the rts for a community tank etc so he was ringing them to complain lol now the rts has killed his corys heard today that there was another dead one this morning again....nightmare glad there gone out of my tank

 

[GuppyGirl20]

It still doesn't sound like it was the shark that was killing the fish tbh. So keep a lookout for anymore dying with the shark not being in there. It still sounds like there was another issue. 

 

[gh74]

now reckon i have white spot in the tank,wish everything just ran really smooth