fish dieing. new to owning fish.

[Jenny]

About two weeks ago I was giving a five gallon tank and I went out and bought a black fin shark and an algee eater. I did some research on black fin sharks and decided to get a bigger tank for him. I got a used 20 gallon tank and washed it out. It included some fake plants and a rock. I transfered my fishes and the black fin shark died about two days latter.

I relized that the filter in the tank wasn't working properly and the heater was to small for that kind of tank so I bought a new filter and heater. I then bought three tiger barbs, another black fin shark, a pitus cat, and a plecostomus cat. I put them in the 20 gallon tank. I keep the temp between 78 and 80 degrees. Before adding them I added the salt that is suppose to reduce stress and illness. The plecostomus cat got a white spot on one side of the face and died in three days. The black fin and pitus cat died after a weeks and the tiger barbs died two days latter.

I put two neons tetras, two bumble bee gobies, and three ghost shrimp in the 5 gallon tank under the same conditions and they all are still alive. I am very frustrated with this. I don't want to go buy more fish for them to die. I have a 9 and 3 year old who love to spend hours watching the fish and become very upset when they die.

The day before th pictus cat died he usual hides at the bottom of the tank behind the rock. The last day he was swiming at the top of the tank maybe gasping for air. And not all of the fish have floated at the top of the tank after dieing. The black fin shark was stuck at the bottom and some of the tiger barbs were stuck to the side of the tank.

I am wondering if maybe some of the plants that came with the one tank are contaminated with something killing these fish off. Any suggestions please. Thank you.

 

[Joviella]

Hi, Can I suggest that you read the pinned topics in the beginners section about cycling your tank and newbie stuff. Salt is not good for alot of scaleless fish....i.e catfish and loaches. Please read these as they will help you loads and feel free to ask more questions. Good Luck.

 

[Danno]

Are you adding declorinator? Also you must cycle your tank

 

[black angel]

when you set up a new tank it needs time to "settle in". this is when the filter starts to get its own bacteria going so it can break down ammonia and nitrites. you need to get test kits or strips that tell you the ph, nitrate, nitrite and ammonia levels for your tank.the tank cant take many fish to begin with as it needs to mature. so for the first week only have one or two fish maybe neons and then add a couple more, during this time keep an eye on your readings and if the ammonia and nitrites go up then do water changes to bring it down again. You will be aiming for ammonia 0, nitrite 0 nitrate about 25. the tank will take about 1 - 2 months to mature properly.