Fish Dying

[Nemo8269]

I need a little help. I've bought quite a few fish over the last week and some are dying.

these are my stats:

Ph: 6.4
Amonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0.25
Nitrate: 80

I did a 25% water change on Sunday and i'm going to do another today to see if this helps. They haven't been fed for two days either hoping this would also help.

any advice would be appreciated

 

[Joviella]

was your tank cycled before you added your fish? How many and what type of fish did you put in your tank.What size is the tank?

 

[Nemo8269]

Yes the tank was cycled, iv'e had it 4 months now. I forgot to add that i changed the gravel substrate over to sand and added plants.

the new fish i've added within the last week were:
1 crab
6 tetras
2 fighting fish
1 tiny plec
2 platties
6 Guppies

 

[Joviella]

You have caused a nitrite spike by adding too many fish at once,especially after changing your gravel.Your old gravel would have contained alot of beneficial bacteria. Did you keep your filter media in your tank when you changed your tank round?
You need to get your nitrite back down to 0ppm and you need to lower your nitrate too. I would recommend daily water changes and would even consider taking some of your fish back to the lfs.HTH.

 

[Nemo8269]

I changed to sand Friday, did another water change on sunday also cleaning the filter media with the old tank water as it was really blocked up. The lfs said my tank would hold a lot more fish than i already have. Would daily water changes be enough?

 

[Joviella]

I believe that your tank probably can hold the fish you've got.....but I think you put too many in at once for your tank to cope with. Hopefully,with frequent water changes,you will be ok but don't let that nitrite reading get any higher or you will have fatalities.Good Luck....keep us posted.