Dying Fish

[em_bubble]

Hey all,
I have a 60L tank been going for almost 3months now with tropical fish. Have filter, heater, air pump, 1 live plant, and back down to 2platys as all others have gradually died; 4 guppies, and 3mollies.

Throughout my water has been tested and all levels 0 with ph of 7.6. Temp of water has been 26 degrees untill recently when I increased it to 28 degrees on fish shop advice.

I do a 15% water change every 1-2weeks with a sython. 1 of the dead fish had fin rot which I put treatment in the tank for. The remainder fish had no particular symptoms only changes in their swimming behavior as if drunk, lathergy and quick deaths.

Does anyone have any ideas on what I'm doing wrong? What are my fish dying of? And How can I stop my fish dying?

Any advice will be greatly received, thank-you x

 

[fluttermoth]

Who's testing your water, and what test kit are they using? It would be very, very unusual to have a 0 reading for nitrate; even the best tap water usually has 5 or 10ppm.

How did you cycle the tank?

I'd turn the temp back down; 28°C is really a bit too hot for platies.

 

[em_bubble]

I got the water tested in the fish shop and I have my own test kit which are both the same types and called the 'API freshwater master test kit' no strips.
All nitrite, nitrate, ammonia have beeen 0ppm which is what the shop and test kit say is ideal levels.
Thanks for the temp advice, I did read somewhere that platys are often mistaken for cold water fish as they are happy with lower temp x

 

[This Old Spouse]

As fluttermoth said, having a nitrate reading of 0 is unusual. I honestly don't think your tank is completely cycled, or at least wasn't when your fish started dying.

Please take what the people at the LFS (local fish store) tell you with a grain of salt. Their first priority is to sell, sell, sell. You happened upon a good thing by joining our happy group! There are lots of good people here who can help you with virtually every problem. That being said, we'll ask you lots and lots of questions to get to the bottom of your problem.

A 15% water change every two weeks is not nearly enough, especially if your fish are dying. I'd be doing massive water changes every few days until you can figure out what the problem is. I'm also curious how you cycled your tank.

Welcome to the forum, and please let us help you out.

 

[em_bubble]

Thank-you.

Ok so I'm still very much a virgin to all tropical fish stuff. I'm not quite sure what u mean by the word 'cycling'?

When I got my tank I had it set up for 3days and then added 2platies- the only 2fish I have remaining. I then waited 2wks as the pet shop said before testing my water in the hope to add more fish. Unfortunatly my ammonia levels were slightly high so it was almost a month before I got my 2nd 2fish.

 

[HayzH]

Thank-you.

Ok so I'm still very much a virgin to all tropical fish stuff. I'm not quite sure what u mean by the word 'cycling'?

When I got my tank I had it set up for 3days and then added 2platies- the only 2fish I have remaining. I then waited 2wks as the pet shop said before testing my water in the hope to add more fish. Unfortunatly my ammonia levels were slightly high so it was almost a month before I got my 2nd 2fish.

they would be..you put fish in an uncycled tank...so did i....my fish didnt make it past day 3.
check out the cycling process in the beginners section....its great help for me

 

[Overload]

Have a look at this link it should explain what cycling is all about.

Sadly most pet shops/lfs are more interested in selling you things than making sure you are really ready for fish.

All I can say is good luck! You have a lot of work ahead of you to sort things out, but it will be worth it in the end