Is Quick Start Killing My Fish?

[wake]

I have had my tanks going for about two weeks now.  Three 10 gallon tanks, and one twenty.  
 
Ammonia - 0
nitrite  - 0
nitrate - 30 ppm 
ph 8.2 
water temp 75 F
 
I had problems at the beginning keeping my fish alive through the nitrogen cycle but my tanks appear to be cycled. 
 
I've been adding api quick start with each water exchange in the only the 20 gallon and noticed that my zebra fish that is alone in the tank does not have a back fin and it is rotting away.    
 
I have one zebra in the other three tanks.  Last night i added 10 ml of api quickstart to one of the 10s and woke up the this morning and he was dead with red around gills and anus.  The fish in the other 10 gallon tanks are fine.  I checked the water levels with api mastering kit and everything looks to be just fine.  
 
Wondering if API quick start is killing my fish and making them rot or what else is going on??? 
 
Thanks
 
 
 
 
 

 

[jag51186]

You should really be cycling these tanks without fish in them.

 

[wake]

You should really be cycling these tanks without fish in them.

 
Isn't my tank now cycled?  
 
Its been about two weeks and ammonia and nitrite are at 0 and nitrate is around 30.  I have had one fish living in each tank.  Im about to go buy more tomorrow I think unless you tell me otherwise?     Ammonia levels were around .25 for a while and now at 0, I havent seen a spike of nitrite.  so not positive if tank has been cycled but the numbers are telling me it has. 
 
What is causing the tail rot?  Bacteria from quickstart?

 

[the_lock_man]

I don't know if the Quick Start is causing your issues, but why are you using it? Leaving aside the whole debate as to whether it is actually effective or not, once your tank is cycled, you don't need to be adding any more bacteria.
 
Are you using a dechlorinator as well as the Quick Start?

 

[jag51186]

 

You should really be cycling these tanks without fish in them.

 
Isn't my tank now cycled?  
 
Its been about two weeks and ammonia and nitrite are at 0 and nitrate is around 30.  I have had one fish living in each tank.  Im about to go buy more tomorrow I think unless you tell me otherwise?     Ammonia levels were around .25 for a while and now at 0, I havent seen a spike of nitrite.  so not positive if tank has been cycled but the numbers are telling me it has. 
 
What is causing the tail rot?  Bacteria from quickstart?
 

 
The tanks are cycled now, but I was more referring to your initial comment,
 
 

I have had my tanks going for about two weeks now.  Three 10 gallon tanks, and one twenty.  
 
Ammonia - 0
nitrite  - 0
nitrate - 30 ppm 
ph 8.2 
water temp 75 F
 
I had problems at the beginning keeping my fish alive through the nitrogen cycle but my tanks appear to be cycled. 
 
I've been adding api quick start with each water exchange in the only the 20 gallon and noticed that my zebra fish that is alone in the tank does not have a back fin and it is rotting away.    
 
I have one zebra in the other three tanks.  Last night i added 10 ml of api quickstart to one of the 10s and woke up the this morning and he was dead with red around gills and anus.  The fish in the other 10 gallon tanks are fine.  I checked the water levels with api mastering kit and everything looks to be just fine.  
 
Wondering if API quick start is killing my fish and making them rot or what else is going on??? 
 
Thanks
 
 
 
 
 

 
I'm wondering if you are now dealing with the after effects of the fish having survived that, aka weakened immune systems allowing for problems or previous damage coming to light.

 

[Far_King]

To clarify, you've had the tanks going for two weeks.
 
When were the fish added?

 

[the_lock_man]

To clarify, you've had the tanks going for two weeks.
 
When were the fish added?

 
FK, as per this thread here.
 
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/439830-zebra-fish-dying/

 

[Far_King]

Thanks for that LM, I missed that thread entirely.
 
Given what's gone on before, and bear in mind I did quickly scan the previous thread, I believe that even though the tanks may now be cycled the fish that were used in the cycle and subjected to higher ammonia were more than likely weakened by it and the illness we're seeing is the knock on effect from that.

We all know that a fish with a compromised immune system will show other signs and symptoms that are not necessarily indicative of an exact illness on their own.
 
Red around the gills can be the gill plates showing and may not be anything more than that.
 
Personally I would stop with the quick start - if the tank is cycled why use it?
I would do immediate and regular water changes and I would keep a close eye on all the parameters in that tank.  Perhaps a treatment for fin rot may allow the fish to recover if the initial problem was down to weak immune system and it has actually recovered from any initial infection.

 

[Akasha72]

have I read this right? One fish in one tank? The tank is only cycled for one fish then so when you had more the bacteria won't be able to cope with the extra bio-load and the cycle will begin again. That's what I was always taught anyway!

 

[wake]

Great thanks for the feedback.  I never saw an ammonia or nitrite spike,  after about two week they have just been at 0 so I was wondering if my tank cycled or not.  It sounds like it has though.  
 
Yeah just one fish per tank.  I need to add a bunch, do I have to wait two weeks or between each fish or how do I add more?  I need about 5-7 per tank
 
Also, there is no gravel in my tanks 

 

[the_lock_man]

Akasha is right. Each tank has a colony or two of bacteria that are big enough to process the ammonia produced by the fish, and no more. If you add more fish, more ammonia will be produced, so your bacterial colonies are insufficient. With an immature tank, the bacterial colonies will take a while to grow, so you will have surplus ammonia in the water.
 
The usual advice is not to increase the bioload (ie the ammonia produced by the fish) by more than 50% - since you only have one fish, and want to add more of the same, you can only add a minimum of 100% at the moment. You will need to watch the ammonia and nitrite levels for a while. Then you can add another fish, which will be the 50%. And then another, which will be less than 50%. Then you could add 2 more, which would be 50%, which would take you to 6.

 

[AmtotheBurr]

That's a lot of fish per 10 gallon tank. What fish are you getting?

 

[wake]

Zebra danios, there about an inch now and will get up to two inches 

 

[wake]

So now I have two zebras in each tank and they are doing great except attacking each other constantly.  One just lost half his tail last night.  How do you keep them at peace?

 

[RainboWBacoN420]

I would give the tank at least a month of cycling before adding any livestock. And always check the parameters every few days during the process.
Danios are nippy fish, I tend to always avoid them. We have big 75 gallon danio tank at my job and they're absolutely bonkers. They jump into the net, nip at your hand, its kind of cute! But not to other fish.......
I think it would be best to keep them in shoals to avoid the bickering. It seems like most shoaling fish start to get nippy and chase the others when they're in small groups. They might be stressed in small groups.
If it's a 10 gallon, I wouldn't exceed the population to over 5 danios. I hope you have a pretty good filtration system as well?
As for the API quick start, I'm not entirely sure that it works, I personally never saw results and I do hear a lot of people say they didn't really like the product. I've stopped using API chem products, if you're looking to quicken the cycle I use Dr. Tim's or Tetra's nitrifying bacteria just to give the cycle a boost. But temperature is also important in cycling a tank! I leave the temperature at around 76-80°F (24-27°C). Some sources say that lighting is necessary, I'm not too sure how accurate that is, but I usually turn the lights on for the tank during the process.
Hope this helps you!