Dying fish, not ideas left!

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zarla

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:sad: Had a new coldwater set up. Bought 5 white cloud mountain minnows 6 weeks ago, cool! No problems, fine ph levels etc.
Almost 2 weeks ago I bought 3 fancy goldfish, about 2-3 inches in length, Good shop, very healthy.
2 days ago had 4 minnows die for no discernable reason.
Changed 50% of the tank water yesterday, cos the 5th seemed sluggish.
Thought this would be ok.
Today 5th minnow dead, and goldfish looking sluggish.
Have removed the fish to another container now, hope this saves them.
Help me, my son is disheartened with the unexplained deaths.
Have kept fish before with success.
Not idea what this is.
Z
 
:hi: to the forum. Introduce yoursefl in the newbie section.

Give us water parameters: pH, DH, temp., etc.

Also, we need the size of the tank.

You could have many problems, high nitrate levels, lack of proper cycling, high temperatures, low O2 caused by high temps, etc.

Sorry for what happened and for not being able to help.
 
How long have you had the tank?
How big is the tank (in gallons)?
What are your water parameters?

Sluggish fish could be stress and or swim bladder, which could be caused by the new surroundings. I have had problems with fish dying on me without explanation until I heard about new tank syndrome and cycling tanks.

Sorry I haven't been too helpfull but all the above aspects are important aspects of a healthy tank.

Good luck in sorting this problem out, kids just find it so hard when animals die without what appears to be good reason.

All the best
Kaz Petts
 
If you tell us what the others have asked for, like water parameters it will be easier for us to give you a more detailed and helpful diagnosis.
 
Unless you give us the answers to our questions then I am afraid we are unable to help you.
Ammonia should be 0
NitrIte should be 0
Ph should be about 7.5 to 7.8
NitrAte should be about 10 to 20, the lower the better.
As far as gold fish go you must never put fancy goldfish in with common gold fish. Fancy variaties are the ones with the double tail such as black moors, lion heads and orandas.
If your tank is only a 10 uk gallons then you shouldn't have more than 1 gold fish in here. The general rule of thumb with goldfish is 1 fish per 10uk gallon or 8 US gallon as they are exeptionaly dirty fish and can also grow quite big.
If you put too many in a small tank you can reduce their life expectancy and also stunt their growth which is really bad.
If you haven't had your tank long it is most likely that the water hasn't cycled and the fish are dying from stress and intoxication from ammonia and nitrite.
You should also watch out for ich (white spot - small spots which look like little grains of sand on your fishes fins and body. This can be controlled by treatment purchased from your local fish supplier.
There are many things that can cause death in fish in a new tank set up. Swim bladder problems are also an issue, signs of this are fish either sulking in a corner at the bottom of the tank and not been able to swim to the surface too easily or vice versa, they sulk near the water surface in a corner. They may also loose their appitite (a good cure for swim bladder is Peas, yes thats right peas. Just get a few frozen peas and warm them up then just feed them to your fish.) Live blood worm is also a good preventative for swim bladder.
I went through all this when I set up my first tank as I rushed into it. All these things are a result of stress.
I hope this has been of some help for you.
Keep us informed as to what happens.
Kaz
P.s, it is also advisable to remove any ill fish from the tank and put them in a separate hospital tank and carry out normal treatment.
Good luck.
 

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