Disaster Strikes Again!

[Bambi211]

Please help!!!!

My tank has been fine for months!
I had about 3 Cardinal Tetras, A male swortail, Two male guppies, Two glow eyes, and a bottom feeder fish, I think its called a cory something. Its been fine, the water and everything

I thought seeing as everything was ok, Id add some new fish...

I bought 10 neon tetras, 10 lamp eyes, and a sucker fish on saturday

two days before I had cleaned my tank, and i have currently a very ongoing problem with a snail infestation, so i added a snail control product to kill them which hasnt really helped.

I came back from work late this afternoon, and found my sucker fish floating at the top dead!!!!!!

A tetra was found dead, and one of my glow eyes is missing, One of my guppies and male swortail were hanging up the top looking very unlike themseleves...

I did an instant test on the water, and everything showed ok, it tested for PH, Nitrite, Nitrate, Carbonate, and general hardness, Everything was ok
Except the Nitrate was quite high,

I did a water change straight away, one of my guppy still seems a bit offcolour and now my swordtail is laying on the floor, (alive still) but just laying on the floor, which is very unlike him!!

I need help please!!!!!!!!!!!

I would appreciate it so much!

I dont know whether its the nitrate being a bit high? But Ive changed the water now so it should be ok!!
and why are my fish still ill!!???

HELP!!!!!

 

[WILDER]

Do another water and add some black carbon, increase aeration in the tank.
Did the deaths happen after you add the med to kill snails.
Any rotting snails in the tank as the can be toxic to fish.

 

[Bambi211]

Thank you so much for replying, Im so worried,

I lost a guppy today aswell.

My swordtail last night had quite enlarged eyes and fast breathing, He was ok ish this morning. Ive came back this afternoon, and hes vanished? I cant find him anywhere in the tank??

Right ok i will do another water change, whats black carbon and where do i get it? what does it do? Im thinking of buying and air stone for extra aeration

Yes the deaths did happen after the snail med

Oh god really? like snail shells? i think theres only snails shells on the floor?

Im going to take my water into a fish shop 2moro to be tested as a second evidence and ask for advice aswell.

Im thinking of maybe completely cleaning the tank. putting my fish into a bucket, and put all fresh new water in? would that be ruining the bacteria cycle though?

Write back please.x

 

[puppyjess123]

Definattly don't completely clean the tank i done this and 5 of my fish died i've learnt my lesson.

 

[WILDER]

I would do a gravel vac to get the shells out.
Black carbon for removing meds from the tank, you buy it at the lfs.
If eyes were bulging out the fish had popeye, anti internal bacteria med by interpet for popeye.
http/www.flippersandfins.net/pop-eye.htm

 

[Bambi211]

Hiya, Went to the fish shop today, They checked nitrate and ammonia, and all water was ok, He said it most likely was due to the high increase of fish I added and the snails rotting on the floor. So I bought a gravel cleaner, and im gonna clean it tonite, hopefully all should carm down.

Thanks so much for advice everyone,
xx

 

[nosoup4you]

Hiya, Went to the fish shop today, They checked nitrate and ammonia, and all water was ok, He said it most likely was due to the high increase of fish I added and the snails rotting on the floor. So I bought a gravel cleaner, and im gonna clean it tonite, hopefully all should carm down.

Thanks so much for advice everyone,
xx

If it were the case that the deaths were caused by an increased bio-load as your fish guy suggests, one would think that the Ammonia/nitrites would be affected. You stated that they checked your Nitrates and your Ammonia. Did they not test for Nitrtes?

 

[Bambi211]

More bad news, My last guppy died today, and freddie my cory died aswell about 4 more lamp eyes have died aswell I dont understand it

Sorry I miswrote it, he checked the ammonia and the nitrite, not the nitrate??

Why do you think their still dying??

I got home and just cried my eyes out, Im so upset I had both of them since the first had the tank

Do you think there all gonna carry on dying?

xxxxxxWBxxx

 

[rhostog]

Very sorry for your loss. It's hard to lose so many at once.

Nitrates (with an A) are unlikely to be a problem even if the level is fairly high - it's ammonia and nitrite (with an I) that are dangerous. I'd suggest that you get a (liquid) test kit for ammonia if you can, and nitrite too if possible, or if you get the water tested at your lfs, then get them to write down the ammonia and nitrite reading rather than just saying 'it's OK'. Anything above zero isn't good, and even if it's low, can be an indication that something is wrong. Unfortunately, once your fish have been exposed to these poisons, then they're more vulnerable to other diseases, and the effects can continue for a while.

I think you're doing the right thing to keep doing frequent water changes, and post again if the fish show any symptoms which might help diagnose the problem. If you can test for ammonia in particular in future, that might help spot problems early.

 

[Bambi211]

Ive got home from College and now I only have alltogether 5 fish A couple of tetras n lamp eyes, I cant believe it, their dropping off like flies, I feel helpless like theirs nothing I can do? The Ifs said that it would be the snails cos the water was ok, But surely enough snails wouldnt do that much damage would they? I feel there might not even be a point cleaning the gravel if they keep dying, Im thinking of just letting them die, all the fish i loved have died anyway. What makes it worse is the fact that i have no idea what is going on, and its not the water which means i can actually treat it?

Well at the minute my last few tetras just struggle swimming, like the back end of them sort of raises up, and they struggly to swim, and then sometimes they'll rest on a rock and just sort of tip over and dont seem to be able to balance.

As bad as this probably sounds, Im gonna grit my teeth, clean the gravel, and if they die, they die. After Im going to completely sterilse the tank, even tho i know thats not the best idea, But i was going to be redoing my tank up anyway. so id sterilse the ornaments and everything, Im gonna add more gravel, a new background, just an overall new look. Chuck the old plants away. and get rid of the current water (Obviously)

I know its not the best idea cos it ruins all the bacteria cycle in the tank but thats the way i think its gonna have to be, my dad has a water purifier so i can put water in from that, which mean theres no clorine or declorinator going in.

And when i buy new plants, im gonna put them in a jug and put snail control into the jug, so it kills any snails on the plants. (Seeing as all the problems happened since the snails arrived) My fish didnt seem to get on with the snail control med i put in so?? Putting the plants in that med stuff wouldnt kill the plant tho would it

You,ve all been so helpful, Im so appreciative.

xxx

 

[rhostog]

Really sorry things aren't improving for you. It's hard and so frustrating, when you're doing your best and still losing fish.

It may be your water. Just because your shop says 'it's OK' doesn't mean it is. There are plenty of people who have described a similar situation to yours, where their local shop has said the water is OK but it actually contains dangerous levels of ammonia or nitrite. I think you're doing the right thing continuing with the water changes and gravel vacs. Sadly, even if the water is now good, the fish may have suffered damage which either affects them directly or makes them more vulnerable to diseases etc. - but they might recover - I wouldn't give up yet.

For the future, if you can get a (liquid) ammonia test, that will mean you can monitor what is going on in your tank, and spot problems before your fish start showing symptoms.

I'd be a bit careful about using 'purified' water - depending on how it's purified it may not have all the minerals in it which your fish need. Most people use normal tap water, treated with dechlorinator, without problems, and using purified water won't prevent problems with ammonia or nitrite in the future.

Hope you get some better luck from now on.

 

[Bambi211]

Heya, Sorry for not filling in

They all managed to stop dying in the end. I guessed it was maybe the high increase of fish i added and the ammonia was high and i didnt change it quick enough. Ive learnt from that.

I ended up with 3 neon tetras, 3 lamp eyes and 1 glow eye.

I think im gonna leave it that way for a while.

Thanks everyone

xxx

 

[drobbyb]

Adding that many fish at once is a big no-no. You are maintaining a small ecosystem. Any drastic or rapid changes usually leads to disaster. If this is in fact what killed your fish (I think it was) then your ammonia would have spiked then come down causing high nitrites then high nitrates once the bacteria have had a chance to catch up.

 

[Bambi211]

I wish I had known that at the start, I thought it was the snail stuff...

But thanks for the advice. I guess you learn from mistakes hey

I think the next time i add fish im gonna add just about two or 3 clown loaches, Do you think that will be ok??

xx

 

[vinylman]

What size is your tank?.