Weird Problem In Freshwater Aquarium

[powerdyne6]

I have a 38 gallon freshwater tank, as of right now these are the specs:

ph: 7.0
Ammonia: 0.0
Nitrite: 0.5
Nitrate: 3.0
Temp: 77 F

A few of my fish have died over the past few days, my last water change was 3 days ago, about a 20% change, all specs seem good, except I don't like the nitrite number

I had 1 pictus cat, had 3 arched cory's and had 6 tiger barbs and have 2 I.D. sharks (don't worry these are going to a nice place when they outgrow my tank, they are about 2 or 3 inches right now

all have died except the 2 sharks, one of the cory's died 1 day after I put it in, the pictus cat died 2 days after I put it in and the rest have died in the last 3 days

I am kind of in a bind right now as to what the problem is, my numbers seem alright, there are no visible signs of bacteria or disease, the water has never been cloudy or geeny in color

any info will be greatly appreciated
Thanks Mike

 

[Gatorbait]

Your tank is in the middle of a cycle or is into a mini-cycle. Your nitrites are too high, they should be at 0ppm.

 

[powerdyne6]

Your tank is in the middle of a cycle or is into a mini-cycle. Your nitrites are too high, they should be at 0ppm.

I am not sure what a mini-cycle is, and I know the nitrites should be 0, but when the first cory and the pictus cat died the levels were at 0 across the board except the nitrates, they were at about 3.0ppm

it was odd, the cory died the day after I got it, and the pictus cat died about 2 days after and then the rest died withen 3 days of one another

the 2 sharks are the only ones left, and I don't want them to die

 

[Gatorbait]

Hmmm, guess it couldn't have been nitrites then.

What is the Ph from your lfs?

How did you acclimate them?


Edit: BTW, I would do daily 15% wc's until you get your tank back to 0ppm ammonia and nitrites.

 

[powerdyne6]

Hmmm, guess it couldn't have been nitrites then.

What is the Ph from your lfs?

How did you acclimate them?


Edit: BTW, I would do daily 15% wc's until you get your tank back to 0ppm ammonia and nitrites.

not sure of the PH from the LFS, I am going there tomorrow to find out some more info

maybe one of the cory's or the catfish had some disease of some sort

I don't have another tank, but I brought them home from the fish store in a bag, when I got home I placed the bag in my tank and let it sit for about 45 mins and then I opened the bag and put in some of my own water and let that sit for about another half hour and then put them in, i don't have access to another tank, what would be the best way for me to that

 

[TerraDreamer]

Any aerosols sprayed in the room lately, including those plug-in thingies?

 

[Gatorbait]

Hmmm, guess it couldn't have been nitrites then.

What is the Ph from your lfs?

How did you acclimate them?


Edit: BTW, I would do daily 15% wc's until you get your tank back to 0ppm ammonia and nitrites.

not sure of the PH from the LFS, I am going there tomorrow to find out some more info

maybe one of the cory's or the catfish had some disease of some sort

I don't have another tank, but I brought them home from the fish store in a bag, when I got home I placed the bag in my tank and let it sit for about 45 mins and then I opened the bag and put in some of my own water and let that sit for about another half hour and then put them in, i don't have access to another tank, what would be the best way for me to that

You did fine acclimating them, that's the way I do it also. You don't need another tank to acclimate them. You didn't mention it and it's not the problem here but as a small precaution don't dump the water from the bag into your tank.

Chances are, especially if the lfs is near you, that the lfs ph is the same as yours as you probably both use the same water. I'm just stumped and am trying from the easiest solution first to troubleshoot.

TerraDreamer asks an important question. I didn't know until yesterday that this was a problem and learned it in this forum that fish have died because of those aerosol plugins.

 

[powerdyne6]

Hmmm, guess it couldn't have been nitrites then.

What is the Ph from your lfs?

How did you acclimate them?


Edit: BTW, I would do daily 15% wc's until you get your tank back to 0ppm ammonia and nitrites.

not sure of the PH from the LFS, I am going there tomorrow to find out some more info

maybe one of the cory's or the catfish had some disease of some sort

I don't have another tank, but I brought them home from the fish store in a bag, when I got home I placed the bag in my tank and let it sit for about 45 mins and then I opened the bag and put in some of my own water and let that sit for about another half hour and then put them in, i don't have access to another tank, what would be the best way for me to that

You did fine acclimating them, that's the way I do it also. You don't need another tank to acclimate them. You didn't mention it and it's not the problem here but as a small precaution don't dump the water from the bag into your tank.

Chances are, especially if the lfs is near you, that the lfs ph is the same as yours as you probably both use the same water. I'm just stumped and am trying from the easiest solution first to troubleshoot.

TerraDreamer asks an important question. I didn't know until yesterday that this was a problem and learned it in this forum that fish have died because of those aerosol plugins.

I have never ever had a plug in glade thingy or any aerosol spray in my room
yah the LFS is about a 10 to 15 minute drive from my house and it is a BIG ALS store, and I believe they are pretty reliable
so for next time when I bring a fish home I will acclimate them but I won't dump the water into my tank, I will fish them out with the net
but yah I am still stumped as to what is happening

 

[WILDER]

How long has the tank been set up.
You have a nitrite reading thats whats killing the fish.
Corys are very sensitive to water quality.
If the tank been set up a while your filters not coping with the load of fish in there.
Them shark are already to big for your tank.
Look them up they grow massive and you might not be able to rehome them.

 

[Nina]

The nitrite is as you say too high, easiest way to cure is water changes, do daily for a while.

Did you add all the (now) dead fish in one go? If so it is likely to be a combination of the nitrite and simply adding too many fish in one go.

Also to answer your question regarding the mini cycle - the tank when orignally set up will have nice shiny new filter media and therefore needs to grow the bacteria etc on it to be able to filter effectively. There are a couple of ways to cycle - see the beginners section if you need to know about this.
If the tank was a new set up then to start the stats would probably read fine but as the filter media starts to seed your water quality will change. Getting worse before it gets better. This is the mini cycle. Once this is over, providing you keep up maintence, your tank will run fairly normally.

Don't add anymore fish until the nitrite is down and stays

Wilder - the guy has already said that he has arranged for new homes for the fish as he already knows they get too big and will need new homes.

Mike - The fish are not too big for the tank at the moment but give it a few weeks and they will be. You will need to get rid of them as soon as possible really. Either that or invest in a rather large indoor pond.

 

[WILDER]

I know he has mentioned he's rehoming the sharks, but to be honest they should never be kept in tanks anyway.
I wan't to find out if the filter coping with the fish, so need to know how long the tank has been set up.

 

[powerdyne6]

How long has the tank been set up.
You have a nitrite reading thats whats killing the fish.
Corys are very sensitive to water quality.
If the tank been set up a while your filters not coping with the load of fish in there.
Them shark are already to big for your tank.
Look them up they grow massive and you might not be able to rehome them.

wilder I don't think you are understanding what I am saying, I know I have a nitrite reading right now, but when the fish died everything was at 0 except the nitrates which were at about 3 to 5 ppm , the ph was at about 7.0 to 7.2 and the temp was at about 75, since I have raised to about 77
the tank was set up about 3 months ago
i have a Marineland penguin 200 BIO wheel filter and it says it is good up to 50 gallons
i didn't add all those fish at the same time, the first time I put fish in, I put the pictus cat, 1 cory and 4 barbs
the next time about 1 week later was the rest, from reading some forums I have come to the conclusion that might of been a bit to fast