Another Dead Fish

[neesymac]

Hello all,

On Saturday i got my water levels tested and they were still high alikaline levels (Don't know exact ph)

I bought a Silver Shark and 2 Rosey Barbs. On Sunday the Silver shark died (possibly due to the high alkaline levels.

And now both Sptted mollys i have had since i got the tank have now died, anyone any ideas.

My tank is looking even more bare than it was last week

 

[Squid]

First off.. sorry to hear you've been having problems.. most people in here have gone through it in the early days.. i used to add water, add fish and wonder what went wrong..

Few questions really, which might help to find out what the problem is..

How long has the tank been up and running?

Did you do a fishless cycle, or are you adding a few fish at a time?

Have you been testing for ammonia and nitrites?

If so, what are the results?

EDIT: one last thing.. how big is the tank... ?

Cheers
Squid

 

[neesymac]

Hi Squid,

The tank is 125 Litres

I didn't do a fishless cycle - I just got the tank up to temp - put 4 fish in and put it through the nitrite cycle

Nitrate is normal and i am not too sure about ammonia (Going to get my own test kit this weekend)

I have had the tank for 2 months now

I have only bought cheap fish, but it's still a bummer when they die

 

[Shelly_Otterkin]

First thing to do is stop buying fish until you know whats going on in your tank. When you get your test kit test the water and see whats going on. In the mean time do a water change. They never hurt.

BTW also do not buy any quick fixs and add to your tank. They do not work no matter what your LFS says and they will just muck up your tank.
When you say Nitrate is normal what is the number. Nitrate is not what kills fish. Its your ammonia and nitrites. This is what you need to know before you add any more fish. Buying them just to watch them die is not fair to the fishes, cheep or not.

 

[neesymac]

I see what you are saying - should i not put anymore of that PH down stuff in?

Do you think i should be doing water changes every 2nd day?

I know my tap water is high in alkaline - would it help if i used my britta filter to filter the water before it goes in the tank?

 

[dwarfgourami]

Mollies actually need hard alkaline water, and most fish don't mind, as long as you don't mess with the water, making the levels fluctuate.
What is killing your fish is ammonia, and possibly nitrites. So get that test kit and test for those two. Make a partial water change (25% or so) whenever either goes over 0.5 ppm. Don't add any more fish until the levels have stayed at 0 for several days without water changes.