My Fish Are Dying

[mrbilbertson]

hi all

just need a little help here.

had my fish tank now for nearly 2 months and after doing water tests everything seemed to be fine. but whenever i add fish, half of them end up dying.i took my water to get tested today and was told that my nitrates were too high and it looked like i hadn't done a water change for a while. im not sure i understand since i made a water change not even a week ago. my ph also looks a bit on the low side and not sure what to do with that either...was also told that a piece of bog wood that ive got in my tank might be bringing down the ph level even though i boiled the wood and left it in a bucket of water for a few days before placing it into my fish tank.
another problem ive been having is that my rummy nose tetras have been getting a white fin before they die. is that due to an infection from my water or the pet store?
please help as i am about to lose hope for my fish tank

 

[fluttermoth]

How big is your tank, what filtration are you running and how often and how big are your usual water changes? What fish are in the tank?

 

[KrystaK]

I take it your tank isn't properly cycled. Properly cycling a tank takes about 6 weeks before it is considered okay to allow fish into the tank. I assume you are doing what is called a fish-in cycle, where you have fish in your tank before the filter media is quite ready to handle it.
How big is your tank?
How many and what types of fish do you have in your tank?
What exactly are your readings?
How much water do you do per water change and how often do you do them exactly?


To bump up your pH you could add a coral based substrate. (Basically any gravel substrate should bring up the pH) Though if you have bog wood in your tank that will counter act the gravel as bog wood naturally lowers pH. Boiling and soaking it before you put it in the tank bring out the Tannin, which turns the water brown, it does not affect how the wood reacts in the water, it just makes sure that your tank water doesn't go brown. (Though some people like that affect)

A white fin could be due to fin rot, which is an illness that could be caused by poor water quality, which can be fixed by more frequent, larger water changes.
Though it could also be a sign of general stress, as when stressed fish are known to dull in color.

 

[4seasons]

Start here http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/
Your problem is that your tank isn't cycled and you are now in a fish in cycle. Read up on that in the link above. Many of us got our start in fishkeeping the way you did with very little knowledge and lots of misinformation. You have a lot of reading to get up to speed and about 2 months worth of daily 50-90% water changes before your fish will be safe.

 

[mrbilbertson]

thanks guys for all your replies

my tank holds 90litres, about 2o gallons. i have a filter that is a 600L/H internal filter pump 600IF and a 100w heater. the fish that have survived are 3 rummy nose tetras, a male and female kribensis and a honey red gourami. ive also got 4 shrimps in my tank. ive lost about 7 rummy nose tertras and a dwarf gourami.
i put in live bacteria everytime i do a water change and put in Hagen Nutrafin Aqua Plus before i put the water into the tank.
it could be that ive placed the fish in a bit too early, but the guy in the shop tested the water and said it was fine to go ahead and introduce fish. i really thought that i had done my research, but with all this happening, looks like ive got a lot more to learn!!

oh, and ive got gravel as my base in my tank with live plants

 

[fluttermoth]

I would really, very strongly, advise you to get your own set of test kits. Shops can't always be relied on to do them properly; also saying the water is 'fine' doesn't help us; we need the actual numbers.

You need tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

My best bet as to why your fish are dying is either, as the other posters have said, that your tank isn't cycled properly (or you're adding too many fish at once) leading to raised ammonia levels, or your maintenance isn't up to scratch for your stocking, leading to very high nitrate that your current fish have got used to over time, but that kills any new fish you add.

Without being able to test your water though, you're not going to be able to work out which it is.

 

[HM Dragon Devil]

I'm going to stick my neck out and say your tank isn't fully cycled, hence the reason your fish are dying You're now stuck with a fish-in cycle. A fish in cycle requires frequent quality water changes (sometimes daily depending on your water parameters) in order to protect your fish from toxins. My advice is purchase an API master test kit so you can keep a close eye on your water chemistry, and also save you having to rely on your lfs.

DEan.

 

[mrbilbertson]

thanks again guys,

im away to go and buy a prper test kit and let you know the readings, i thought that i have cycled my tank prperly and i introduced new fish on a weekly basis, but if i done everything prtoperly, then i wouldnt have dying fish. ill get back to you with my results and hopefully then u guys could lead me along the right track.

again, thanks for your help!!!!

 

[4seasons]

i put in live bacteria everytime i do a water change and put in Hagen Nutrafin Aqua Plus before i put the water into the tank.
it could be that ive placed the fish in a bit too early, but the guy in the shop tested the water and said it was fine to go ahead and introduce fish. i really thought that i had done my research, but with all this happening, looks like ive got a lot more to learn!!

The only live bacteria have been proven to work is media from an established filter. The stuff in a bottle is marginal at best and many have found totally useless. I see you have been using a dechlorinater (Nutrafin Aqua Plus) which is needed every water change, but I would recommend using Seachem Prime instead. It dechlornates as well as temporally detoxifying ammonia and nitrite (the stuff that kills fish in a new tank) and is also very concentrated so a little goes a long ways. All of these make it the choice for a fish in cycle.
I also second the need for a liquid based test kit such as the API freshwater master kit that many of us use. Until a tank is cycled you need to test your water everyday and do a 50-90% water change every time your test shows any ammonia or nitrite.
And one last bit of advice. Don't believe everything your local fish store (LFS) tells you. They will push products that you don't need and most LFS know very little about long term fish keeping. Anyone here can tell you at least one lie that a LFS has told them just to make a sale.