dropping like flies

[lennym75]

hi there people, really hope you can advise me on whats happening here. we have a 24 gallon tank, in it we did have around 20 fish, 4 guppies 2 platies a sordtail 7 neon tetra's 1 dalmation molly a bala shark and a 6 inch common plec, and a small gibbiceps, and 3 danio's.
anyway all this week we have lost alot of the fish, all the guppies, also a danio, all the platies and the sordtail.
we went to the lfs they told us they would check our water, turns out the nitrite and nitrate are to high. my gibbiceps looks to have a gold dust on him. i noticed it on his back, but then today i seen his belly and it looks bad. we have been doing water changes of 30% but the tests are still coming out to high, there doesnt seem to be any change, do you think we have velvet diease. can this kill my gibbiceps? help me please as we are just beginners

 

[WILDER]

Overstocked the plec is a messy fish and this is what causing the problems, as your filter won't cope with the plec and the other fish, I would see if the lfs will take the plec back once you have cured it of velvet.

 

[lennym75]

currently running 2 filters, a biolife and a fluval 3. the gibbiceps is only around 2inches, but the common plec is around 6 inches.

 

[WILDER]

If you have high nitrites and nitrates this is why as the plec is too big and messy for the tank, and you will start to lose alot of fish if you don't take the cause of the problem out of the tank.

 

[lennym75]

im sorry i dont understand, i thought its a good thing to have plecs in the tank as they clean. we have had the tank now set up for a about a month, we didnt do any water changes during this time as the guppies were pregnant, one of them had a fry and we were scared of stressing out the guppies and of course losing some of the babies. could this be the problem more than the plec.

 

[WILDER]

What type of plec is it.

 

[lennym75]

the 6 inch one is a common plec, but the wee gibbiceps ( 2 inches) does most of the work, he out night and day, where as the big one hides in a ship all day, then comes out late at night

 

[yvez9]

I might suggest you check out the nitrogen cycle and see how it works.

You'll understand why the plec is causing these problems as he produces more waste.

as for high nitrites, pretty much the only thing you can do is wait a few more weeks for the cycle to complete.

For high nitrates, do water changes at least every week.

Adding live plants might help keep nitrates more under control though.


Also, a 24 gallon tank is not suitable for a bala shark. He will outgrow the tank and probably kill all the other fish as he grows.