Help Fish Dying!

[adsturgeon]

Hi,

I am new to the forum and have just got back into fish-keeping after a few years out. Any ways I recently got a second-hand 125 Juwel tank. I did the usual standards of a fish cycle. After the first week I added a few guppies, a betta (I know this is frowned upon but every betta/gupy pmix I have had has worked)and 2 otos. I've kept an eye on the Nitrate/Nitrites and Ammonia levels and all have not spiked at all I waited a week and brought some more fish from a different shop some albino/peppered corydas, dwarf gorumai and another 2 guppies.

This was interesting because one of the new guppies died the first night, it stayed by itself and stayed at the top of the tank and then appeared to have swimming problems. I put this down to stress and did a water change. The next morning one of my peppered corydas was found dead stuck to the filter inlet (I am running the internal juwel filter) he didn't really exhibit any signs.

So after work that afternoon I headed to get a general fish tonic and a breeding trap for one of my female guppies as I presumed she was pregnant. So I stick the female guppy in the breeding trap and the next morning she has died. She appeared bloated/pregnant looking and was laying on the bottom of the gravel (hence believing she was pregnant).

Other symptoms I have noticed is that the fish seem to be gulping a lot, I currently have no real aquarium plants in the tank. I've added no new decorations and they get fed on a regular basis of flake, brine shrimp and once frozen bloodworm.

If anyone can help me with this it would be greatly appreciated.

The nitrates/ammonia levels never spiked at all. (I put this down to an already established aquarium).

Thanks

 

[angelfishguy]

your tank isint cycled after a week. it will have to be re cycled.

so your currently in a fish in cylcle..
look at the resource section and you can read all about it there

 

[CrystalClear16]

"I did the usual standards of a fish cycle. After the first week I added a few guppies"

You only cycled it for a week? Did you use mature media?

What are your parameters?

 

[PDSimon]

I agree with the above poster. Look in the new tank section and there will be a guide for beginners.

What test kit do you use? It sounds like they're all dying from being poisoned.

 

[adsturgeon]

Yeah the filter media is already mature and all of it is mature media. pH is just slightly acidic, I know the hardness of the water is a bit high. But ammonia is 0, same as nitrate and nitrites. I added guppies as I presumed the filter media would be mature and already have mature bacteria.

I've been using tetra dip sticks which come with ammonia sticks as well. I was sceptical of this and went to my LFS yesterday to get a water test as I believed they could be giving false-positives and the they tested with the API kit and there was no traces whatsoever of any, the water was perfect. So thats why I am confused. Thanks guys for your help so far!

 

[angelfishguy]

Yeah the filter media is already mature and all of it is mature media.

is it mature because its been used before or mature because it has been running in a stocked tank and went straight into your tank whislt it was kept wet

 

[adsturgeon]

Yeah the filter media is already mature and all of it is mature media.

is it mature because its been used before or mature because it has been running in a stocked tank and went straight into your tank whislt it was kept wet

It was being us in a stocked tank before however it wasn't kept wet for a few hours. But I don't understand why nitrate/ammonia levels haven't gone up?

 

[Harlequins]

If yo have no nitrates showing,then the tank probably isn't cycled enough to handle fish...nitrates normally show in a cycled tank,the only time it may not show is if your tank is heavily planted,which in your case isn't.

Mature media if left to dry out will soon die off.

Have you done any waterchanges since you've added the fish?

Gasping/gulping can be a sign of ammonia and/or nitrite poisoning or lack of oxygen in the water.

How did you acclimatise the fish?

 

[adsturgeon]

If yo have no nitrates showing,then the tank probably isn't cycled enough to handle fish...nitrates normally show in a cycled tank,the only time it may not show is if your tank is heavily planted,which in your case isn't.

Mature media if left to dry out will soon die off.

Have you done any waterchanges since you've added the fish?

Gasping/gulping can be a sign of ammonia and/or nitrite poisoning or lack of oxygen in the water.

How did you acclimatise the fish?

I just left them in bag for 30minutes in the tank adding water periodically, I've done a few water changes- i did one two days ago and I am going to do another today. Should I just keep performing water changes and wait?

 

[Harlequins]

I would advise getting yourself a Api liquid test kit so you can keep a daily check on the ammonia and nitrite has opposed to the strips,which are useless and doesn't give a true reading.

Are the fish still gasping?

I would do daily waterchanges until you can get a test kit or get the lfs to check it for you,but make sure you get them to write the readings down.
Basically its amazing how many say their water is fine when both the ammonia/nitrite is above zero.Anything above zero is poisonous to fish and will harm or kill them.

Good luck,let us know how it goes

 

[adsturgeon]

I would advise getting yourself a Api liquid test kit so you can keep a daily check on the ammonia and nitrite has opposed to the strips,which are useless and doesn't give a true reading.

Are the fish still gasping?

I would do daily waterchanges until you can get a test kit or get the lfs to check it for you,but make sure you get them to write the readings down.
Basically its amazing how many say their water is fine when both the ammonia/nitrite is above zero.Anything above zero is poisonous to fish and will harm or kill them.

Good luck,let us know how it goes

Thanks for your help, well yesterday I did go to my LFS and the guy didnt give me readings but pretty much said they were 0 and were better quality then his marine tank. I am going to buy an API kit in a minute online and will continue to do water changes. So just to clarify you guys don't think it is a disease?

Thanks

 

[CrystalClear16]

If there are no physical symptoms it is unlikely to be a disease. I am afraid you can't trust your LFS - ultimately their primary interest is business, not fish welfare.

Keep doing water changes and see what your test kit says

 

[adsturgeon]

Thanks for your help guys, just got the internet finally so i'll post an update. The day after my previous post one of my albino corydas died =[.

I've been doing water changes every day up to the day i got my API kit, the ammonia was about 5ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, and nitrates 20ppm.

I have been doing constant water changes and testing every other day. And basically i've had no nitrite peaks but the Ammonia has stayed below 0.25ppm for two weeks now along with the nitrites at 0ppm and nitrates at a range of 5-10ppm.


Now i tested my tap water it resulted in Ammonia 2.5ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrates 0ppm.

I then tested the tap water with the water conditioner and this resulted in the same results of 2.5ppm, 0, 0.

Now the thing is i'm getting frustrated with the ammonia level as its stayed the same for over two weeks, is this normal and when can i expect it too reach 0?

I have lost no other fish which is a plus but I really want to add a school of hatchetfish.

If anyone can help me or advise me that would be great.

 

[adsturgeon]

Thanks for your help guys, just got the internet finally so i'll post an update. The day after my previous post one of my albino corydas died =[.

I've been doing water changes every day up to the day i got my API kit, the ammonia was about 5ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, and nitrates 20ppm.

I have been doing constant water changes and testing every other day. And basically i've had no nitrite peaks but the Ammonia has stayed below 0.25ppm for two weeks now along with the nitrites at 0ppm and nitrates at a range of 5-10ppm.


Now i tested my tap water it resulted in Ammonia 2.5ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrates 0ppm.

I then tested the tap water with the water conditioner and this resulted in the same results of 2.5ppm, 0, 0.

Now the thing is i'm getting frustrated with the ammonia level as its stayed the same for over two weeks, is this normal and when can i expect it too reach 0?

I have lost no other fish which is a plus but I really want to add a school of hatchetfish.

If anyone can help me or advise me that would be great.

Can anybody please advise me on what to do, my readings today was Ammonia 0.2ppm, Nitrites 0ppm and Nitrates 10ppm again. I'm getting really impatient just because it hasn't changed at all in two weeks. And one of my guppys is just sitting on a cave I plan on doing a large waterchange tonight after work. This is the 5th week of the cycle and it hasn't changed in almost two and a half weeks. Pleasssee help!

Thanks

 

[Harlequins]

Sounds has though you're nearly there with the cycle,but keep doing the w/c to keep that ammonia down,so has your tap reading of 2.5 sorted itself out now? has your reading is now 0.2ppm?

I wouldn't add any more fish until your ammonia is stable at zero,the filter can be classed has cycled when you get zero ammonia and nitrite for minimum 7 days running without a w/c,then can think about adding new fish.

Good luck