Help Trying To Figure Out How They Died!

[lilgurlgreen]

So i been noticing that my fish started dying...i dunno how they are because i been feeding them the proper amount and i change the water when i am supposed to. But i still dont understand how they keep dying. At first i thought it was my dalmation molly was attacking (stupid idea) but then that one died. Could it been something with my water? i am planning on taking a sample to the pet store so they can test it.

 

[Duck and Dive]

Yes, taking a sample of water first would give us a clear indication what may be going wrong.

Here are a few questons that may help eliminate some of the problems:

- How do you introduce the new fish to the tank?
- Do you use a dechlorinator? ( something like aqua-safe )
- Is it a new tank? If so how long did you leave it before you added fish?
- Did you see anything on the fish like white spot or were they clean?
- And what were the symptoms before they died?

Some of these may be pretty basic questions but get back to us first with the water test and tell us the results then, we can start asking more specific questions.

 

[lilgurlgreen]

I took my sample today and these are the results:

ammonia-0
nitrite-above 10.0
nitrate-40
ph-8.4
alkalinity-180
hardness-150
chlorine and chloramine-0

the lady said i need to do 10% water change at least once a week and then come back after 4 water changes.

as to the answers to your questions:
1.) after i buy the fish i leave in the bag but have the bag sit in the water for at least 5 mins and then move them from the bag to the tank
2.)yes i use a water conditioner for it. The brand I use is Aqueon.
3.)yes it is a new tank. I got it as a gift in march and didnt put any fish in it after a week and a half of filling it and letting it filter.
4.)after i got my red wag platy, i saw white stuff on it. i didnt think of anything at the time, considering i am new at this. That was the only fish with it on.
5.)one of my sunburst platy was not moving as much and only moved when it was feeding time. I believe she was pregnant also and thought maybe that was why. all the other fish were active and didnt seem like anything was wrong with them. the red wag was the first one to go. i was very sad.

i know the white stuff is a disease now since i had ask the lady at the pet store. She said it is treatable. I am now gonna do more homework on this and watch every little thing that happens.


please help!!!

thank you!!!

 

[marieukxx]

you need to float the bag for 30 minutes to an hour really. Gradually adding some of your tank water to the bag every 10 minutes then release new fish to your tank.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Ideally you should net the new fish after following the above advice and put them into the tank, rather than putting what may be contaminated water from the LFS into your tank.

 

[Caprichoso]

There could be several things wrong here, your pH seems kind of high. Mine is at 7.7 for live bearing fish. You didn't acclimate the fish properly as said above. What temperature is the water? It should be in the range of 75-79F. That's not to say you can't go a bit lower or a bit higher but it's been my experience with live bearers that they do best at those ranges. As far as water changes, you need to do 50% every week. 10% is not enough. The new water must be the same temp as the tank water too. I would guess that your tank isn't cycled completely either. Don't meddle with medication right now. You need to master the water changes first. You have to consider that it's complicated to diagnose fish illness and therefore it's not a good idea to medicate unless you know what's wrong. Clean water will go a long way to prevent and treat illness in fish. Yes, there are some afflictions that require meds but much research on your part needs to happen before you should attempt it. I like to compare it to going to the doctor when something is wrong. You wouldn't just take some random pills after simply guessing what could be wrong, you would get a diagnosis first. When you do decide to use meds, it's always best to have a quarantine tank for sick fish. You don't want to med the whole tank if you don't have to as it's very hard on the rest of the fish.

Good luck

 

[lilgurlgreen]

Oh ok!! Thanks!! After I leave the bag I do move them with a net into my tank. I will start doing 50% water changes...your comments are very helpful to me.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Yep!

 

[Essjay]

I took my sample today and these are the results:

ammonia-0
nitrite-above 10.0
nitrate-40
ph-8.4
alkalinity-180
hardness-150
chlorine and chloramine-0

If that is an accurate reading for nitrite, this is your problem. Nitrite, like ammonia, should never be allowed to rise above 0.25. You need to do a lot more than a 50% water change.

I would drain as much water out of the tank as you can, leaving just enough to keep the fish covered. Refill with dechlorinated, temperature matched water. Then after an hour, do it again. This should get your nitrite down to near zero. Then you'll need to figure out how often to do water changes, and how big they need to be to stop the nitrite getting over 0.25 until the filter is finally cycled.

 

[OldMan47]

Let's get back to basics. If you take care of the water the fish will thrive with very little intervention on your part. If you have 10 ppm of nitrite you have about 40 times the value that I would accept in my tank. The lady who told you to do a mere 10% water change should be taken out and shot. You need to do at least a 90% daily water change for a few days in a row to get things back under control. After that, a mere 25% daily water change might possibly be enough for the next month. If you obtain the needed test equipment, you can obviously ignore that water change regime and use the test kits to guide you instead. The most nitrite we ever accept as good enough, but far from ideal, is 0.25 ppm.
Add not one more fish to your tank, nitrites affect fish the way carbon monoxide affects people. It prevents the proper absorption of oxygen and suffocates them even if there is plenty of oxygen present in the water.

 

[lilgurlgreen]

Ok...I was thinking bout getting the test kits...I will go and buy them and I have done more than 50% water change but will do more than that now

 

[seizethecupcake]

The test kit (I got the API Freshwater Master's one) really is invaluable. It's absolutely the smartest thing I've invested in since I started keeping fish. Good luck getting your nitrites under control!

 

[lilgurlgreen]

ok thanks!!! i will get that tomorrow!!! once my nitrites are under control, how long should i wait till i add more fish??

 

[fluttermoth]

Once you've had zero results for both ammonia and nitrite for a week, you can add more fish. Do check that you've enough room in your tank, and don't add more thn 50% of what's already in there (so, if you've got four fish, don't add more than two).

 

[This Old Spouse]

+1

Keep in mind that whenever you add fish, you're adding to the bioload for your filter. Adding too many fish at once could send you into an ammonia spike.