Fish Dropping Like Flies

[meloyelo]

Got up this morning to find 2 more dead fish. 1 platy and 1 danio. Tested water and readings are:

0 ammonia
0 Nitrites
40 Nitrates

Just don't get it.....

 

[This Old Spouse]

Your readings are great now, but they weren't when you first introduced the fish. As said by eaglesaquarium, the effects of ammonia and nitrite poisoning are cumulative, so I imagine your fish are now dying because of that. This is why we don't recommend fish-in cycles. Not to pour salt in the wound, honestly, but that's just the reality. So sorry for all your losses.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Sorry. So what is your current stocking? Have you lost all of your original fish now? I honestly believe that the worst may be over now. Judging from what I have gathered here, the levels may have been much higher before you got your own testing kit, especially early on. These fish that were exposed to that early are the ones suffering the most. It seems that the ammonia level is remaining lower now.


After a fish death, it is always a good idea to do a 50% water change, just in case, even though your water parameters look good.

 

[meloyelo]

Sorry. So what is your current stocking? Have you lost all of your original fish now? I honestly believe that the worst may be over now. Judging from what I have gathered here, the levels may have been much higher before you got your own testing kit, especially early on. These fish that were exposed to that early are the ones suffering the most. It seems that the ammonia level is remaining lower now.


After a fish death, it is always a good idea to do a 50% water change, just in case, even though your water parameters look good.

Haven't lost them all thank goodness, but not a good trend so far. After test this morning I did do a 25% water change. I'm going to test again this afternoon and probably do a 50% then.

remaining stock is:

1 peppered cory
6 black skirt tetras
3 debra danios


Thanks for the help

 

[meloyelo]

Well, got home from work today to find two more casualties. Lost a black skirt and another danio this time. Two of the other black skirts don't look to good either, so only time will tell. I got out the test kit and ran the tests. Readings were 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and around 80 Nitrate. I went ahead and did a 75% water change. The water was also a little cloudy for the first time since getting the tank going.

 

[meloyelo]

Two more black skirts dead this morning. Frustration is mounting as to why all of a sudden this would start happening. Don't understand how everything seemed OK for 6 weeks and suddenly fish all start dying off at the same time. As of this morning I've lost 11 fish in the past 5 days. I can understand that the first fish I foolishly put in way to early might die from ammonia poisoning, but I'm now loosing the newest ones too. At this rate I'll have an empty tank by end of week. I obviously have a lot to learn.

Not sure if this would have anything to do at all, but my water is from a well. I've tested it and only thing it shows is a Nitrate reading of about 30. PH was off the scale. I am religious about water changes so that has to help keep things under control. Any suggestions as to what is suddenly going on will be greatly appreciated.

 

[snazy]

Water from a well may as well contain more harmful stuff than a dechlorinated tab water.
You said ph was off the scale, how much and what was it before? A sudden PH rise will certainly kill your fish.

 

[EX1EY]

Im knew to the hobby myself too. Took interest in your thread as Im currently cycling my tank without fish.

Must admit alarm bells rang when you said the ph was off the scale and you get the water from a well. Surely the ph is gonna be the main cause, and also, could there not be parasites and other harmful nasties in the well water? Worth a thought?

 

[meloyelo]

Water from a well may as well contain more harmful stuff than a dechlorinated tab water.
You said ph was off the scale, how much and what was it before? A sudden PH rise will certainly kill your fish.

I had actually never even tested the PH until this past weekend when I started loosing fish. I had read (possibly on this forum) not to worry to much about PH in the beginning since you can really screw things up trying to adjust it up or down. It read off the scale on the normal PH test and under the scale on the high PH test, if that makes any sense. I'll do the PH tests again tonight and report back what I get.

Thanks

 

[meloyelo]

Im knew to the hobby myself too. Took interest in your thread as Im currently cycling my tank without fish.

Must admit alarm bells rang when you said the ph was off the scale and you get the water from a well. Surely the ph is gonna be the main cause, and also, could there not be parasites and other harmful nasties in the well water? Worth a thought?

"Parasites and other nasties"! That's not a good thing....

 

[EX1EY]

Im knew to the hobby myself too. Took interest in your thread as Im currently cycling my tank without fish.

Must admit alarm bells rang when you said the ph was off the scale and you get the water from a well. Surely the ph is gonna be the main cause, and also, could there not be parasites and other harmful nasties in the well water? Worth a thought?

"Parasites and other nasties"! That's not a good thing....

I realise it's not a good thing....thats the point I was making!

Surely taking water from an outside source and using it in a tropical fish tank where the water conditions need to be at a premium can't be a smart thing! There could be insect larvae in it for one thing!

 

[the_lock_man]

Water from a well may as well contain more harmful stuff than a dechlorinated tab water.
You said ph was off the scale, how much and what was it before? A sudden PH rise will certainly kill your fish.

I had actually never even tested the PH until this past weekend when I started loosing fish. I had read (possibly on this forum) not to worry to much about PH in the beginning since you can really screw things up trying to adjust it up or down. It read off the scale on the normal PH test and under the scale on the high PH test, if that makes any sense. I'll do the PH tests again tonight and report back what I get.

Thanks

You did read that and you also read that keeping it stable is the key. When you say it's off the scale, what is the maximum reading on the scale you are using?

 

[meloyelo]

Im knew to the hobby myself too. Took interest in your thread as Im currently cycling my tank without fish.

Must admit alarm bells rang when you said the ph was off the scale and you get the water from a well. Surely the ph is gonna be the main cause, and also, could there not be parasites and other harmful nasties in the well water? Worth a thought?

"Parasites and other nasties"! That's not a good thing....

I realise it's not a good thing....thats the point I was making!

Surely taking water from an outside source and using it in a tropical fish tank where the water conditions need to be at a premium can't be a smart thing! There could be insect larvae in it for one thing!

I was making a joke about the nasties.....

As far as insect larvae, I hope not since it's my drinking water source also. It's just your basic deep drilled well. Each house in my neighborhood has it's own.

 

[meloyelo]

Water from a well may as well contain more harmful stuff than a dechlorinated tab water.
You said ph was off the scale, how much and what was it before? A sudden PH rise will certainly kill your fish.

I had actually never even tested the PH until this past weekend when I started loosing fish. I had read (possibly on this forum) not to worry to much about PH in the beginning since you can really screw things up trying to adjust it up or down. It read off the scale on the normal PH test and under the scale on the high PH test, if that makes any sense. I'll do the PH tests again tonight and report back what I get.

Thanks

You did read that and you also read that keeping it stable is the key. When you say it's off the scale, what is the maximum reading on the scale you are using?

Can't really remember. I'm at work right now so not able to see my notes. I am using the api liquid testing kit. On the normal PH test, the color would have been past the highest reading on the chart. I also tested for High PH and that color didn't show on the chart. It was lighter if I remember correctly.

 

[EX1EY]

Im knew to the hobby myself too. Took interest in your thread as Im currently cycling my tank without fish.

Must admit alarm bells rang when you said the ph was off the scale and you get the water from a well. Surely the ph is gonna be the main cause, and also, could there not be parasites and other harmful nasties in the well water? Worth a thought?

"Parasites and other nasties"! That's not a good thing....

I realise it's not a good thing....thats the point I was making!

Surely taking water from an outside source and using it in a tropical fish tank where the water conditions need to be at a premium can't be a smart thing! There could be insect larvae in it for one thing!

I was making a joke about the nasties.....

As far as insect larvae, I hope not since it's my drinking water source also. It's just your basic deep drilled well. Each house in my neighborhood has it's own.

Ahh, understand now. Sorry im at work, quickly scanning posts and not picking up on the tone of what you wrote properly.

Haha well yes I hope theres no insect larvae in there either then. You'll have to excuse my ignorance Im from the UK and we dont do wells