Fish keep dying

[SwimmieSue]

I have a Laqual iron glass 3 gallon that I have had two guppies in then two danios then two tiger barbs and now to neon tetras. It's only been two at a time. My ammonia level is nothing my nitrates and nitrites are barely anything I have soft water and I do do partial water changes and use drop to remove chlorine and stress coat. What could be going on?

 

[BettaFishGirl]

First off, stocking issues: neon tetras cannot live in a 3 gallon, and need at least 8 to thrive. Same with tiger barbs. Danios also cannot live in a 3 gallon, they need lots and lots of room to swim. Get rid of the neons, barbs, and danios.

Are the guppies both male? If it is male and female they will breed like crazy and overstock the tank. Also guppies need hard water, not soft water. It would probably be best to give them somewhere that has hard water.

Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?
Do you have live plants?
Do you have a filter and heater?
What do you mean when you say "I use drop to remover chlorine"?

The tank is way overstocked, causing the fish to die. Any amount of nitrite is harmful to fish, how much nitrite was there when you said "barely any"?

 

[Lcc86]

I would hazard a guess that the size of the tank is a major issue for all the fish you've tried so far, they need much bigger tanks. These fish also prefer being in larger groups but you don't have room for that in a 3 gallon. I can't think of any fish that would do well in a tank that size unfortunately, which may be why they're dying, it's too small to sustain anything other than maybe a couple of shrimp or snails.

 

[BettaFishGirl]

too small to sustain anything other than maybe a couple of shrimp or snails.

Maybe a small Betta, but they do like 5 gallons more, but shrimp would really like it.

 

[Ram419]

I only use 3 gallon for raising fry or quaratine for a single small adult fish for a short amount of time. Shrimps and snails would work in it too. Should go for at least 5 gallon but better if 10 gallon if you can.

About using both API Strees Coat and a regular water conditioner at the same time. You only need to use one because the API Strees coat gets rid of the chlorine and chloromine just the same as the regular conditioner does.

How long did you have the tank cycle for?

 

[SwimmieSue]

First off, stocking issues: neon tetras cannot live in a 3 gallon, and need at least 8 to thrive. Same with tiger barbs. Danios also cannot live in a 3 gallon, they need lots and lots of room to swim. Get rid of the neons, barbs, and danios.

Are the guppies both male? If it is male and female they will breed like crazy and overstock the tank. Also guppies need hard water, not soft water. It would probably be best to give them somewhere that has hard water.

Did you cycle your tank before adding fish?
Do you have live plants?
Do you have a filter and heater?
What do you mean when you say "I use drop to remover chlorine"?

The tank is way overstocked, causing the fish to die. Any amount of nitrite is harmful to fish, how much nitrite was there when you said "barely any"?

Thank you for your reply. There were only two or three fish in the tank at a time. I see from the responses that 3 gallons is just not sufficient room particularly for schooling fish which I like. I don't want shrimp or betta. I have a filter and a heater and lights. Temperature is around 78. I have no brown algae growing. And I save half of the water but clean the whole tank and then put it back every two weeks.

I only use 3 gallon for raising fry or quaratine for a single small adult fish for a short amount of time. Shrimps and snails would work in it too. Should go for at least 5 gallon but better if 10 gallon if you can.

About using both API Strees Coat and a regular water conditioner at the same time. You only need to use one because the API Strees coat gets rid of the chlorine and chloromine just the same as the regular conditioner does.

How long did you have the tank cycle for?

I take the fish out and half of the water, and then clean the entire tank and gravel every 14 days. I've only had two or three fish in the tank at a time. It sounds like from everybody's reply that a 3 gallon tank is just way too small. Good to know I shouldn't use stress coat and the dechlorinator drops at the same time. Temperature is 78. Filter has a nice flow and updated every 2 months, Thoroughly cleaned every 2 weeks. Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10.

 

[BettaFishGirl]

View attachment 325706

Thank you for your reply. There were only two or three fish in the tank at a time. I see from the responses that 3 gallons is just not sufficient room particularly for schooling fish which I like. I don't want shrimp or betta. I have a filter and a heater and lights. Temperature is around 78. I have no brown algae growing. And I save half of the water but clean the whole tank and then put it back every two weeks.

I take the fish out and half of the water, and then clean the entire tank and gravel every 14 days. I've only had two or three fish in the tank at a time. It sounds like from everybody's reply that a 3 gallon tank is just way too small. Good to know I shouldn't use stress coat and the dechlorinator drops at the same time. Temperature is 78. Filter has a nice flow and updated every 2 months, Thoroughly cleaned every 2 weeks. Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10.

Do you, like, completely disinfect it?? If so, so are completely ruining the cycle every time. All you need to do is do a 50% water change once a week. That's it. Maybe once in a while clean the filter media in tank water. When you clean the filter you are getting rid of the beneficial bacteria which is necessary to a tank. Never replace the filter media.

If you don't want a Betta or shrimp then there is no other option. You could do some snails... but the guppies, barbs, danios, and tetras are all suffering and are not happy. Really the only options is to get a larger tank so they can all be happy, or give them away. But in order to have schools of all those fish you will need a really big tank. What is the ammonia?

 

[Lcc86]

I'm not sure why you're saving the water when you clean as it needs to be replaced. In an adequately sized tank you need to replace 50%ish of the water once a week. In this size tank I'd be doing 50% daily (with dechlorinator) until you either take the fish back to the store or can get a bigger tank set up ASAP. The waste will build up in such a small tank which may be contributing to the deaths. Real plants will also help moving forwards rather than plastic ones, and your fish will be happier with more natural surroundings but a bigger tank is a must if you want to keep the fish going, at least 20-30 gallons so that you can keep them in adequately sized groups.

 

[Naughts]

I take the fish out

Can you leave them in whilst you do the water change? Being caught and moved is added stress for them.