Dying Fish...

[fyrefaerye]

Okay so I finally got my 36 gallon stocked (after impatiently waiting for it to cycle). Now I'm finding dead fish. So far 2 harlequin rasboras and my rainbow shark. I checked the levels yesterday and everything seemed fine except the pH is a little high. When the first rasbora died I didn't think that much of it honestly. Especially since the levels were fine. Same with the shark. Again I checked the levels and everything looked normal except like I said the pH. But with the shark I originally had him in a 10 gal tank that had the same pH and he was just peachy. I know now I need to lower the pH, so will be going to buy pH stuff (suggestions on that?). But today I found the second rasbora. The rest of the tank is stocked as follows: 4 fancy guppies, 3 dalmatian mollies, 1 dwarf gourami, and 4 harlequin rasboras (at least that's how many there's supposed to be; I can only find 3).  Please help. 

 

[attibones]

Can you give us exact numbers?
What is your pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?
How did you cycle?
How long did you cycle?
What filter are you running?
How long were the fish in the tank?
Any symptoms before they died?
Tank temp?

The shark needed a larger tank, I can say that much.
Don't buy anything to lower your pH. First, test your tap pH. My tap pH is 7.4, so my tank tap is always around 7.4. I I wanted to lower the tank pH, I would use peat moss, but these sorts of things are not always stable. If you could be more specific about how high your pH is, we will be able to help you further.

 

[Tuxyu3]

A high pH should not cause fish to die like that unless it is ridiculously alkaline (to the strength of paint stripper or something) and if you try to change it chances are you will end up shocking the fish and destabilising the pH, doing far more harm than good. What exactly are all of your levels (pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)?

 

[fyrefaerye]

I'm retesting the water right now. Give me a few minutes and I will post results and pictures of tubes to make sure I'm not reading them wrong.

 

[attibones]

Cool. Be sure to provide the other information I asked earlier. Any information you can give us can help us help you.

 

[fyrefaerye]

Can you give us exact numbers?
What is your pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?
How did you cycle?
How long did you cycle?
What filter are you running?
How long were the fish in the tank?
Any symptoms before they died?
Tank temp?

The shark needed a larger tank, I can say that much.
Don't buy anything to lower your pH. First, test your tap pH. My tap pH is 7.4, so my tank tap is always around 7.4. I I wanted to lower the tank pH, I would use peat moss, but these sorts of things are not always stable. If you could be more specific about how high your pH is, we will be able to help you further.

 
I did a fishless cycle seeded with mature filter media.
The rasboras were in the tank about a week, the shark two and a half. 
No symptoms before they died. Swimming around like normal. The shark was a little less active than I had previously seen him, but he seemed to bounce around alot. One day he would be out swimming with everyone else and the next he was hiding either in the submarine or behind a plant.
Tank temp is about 75F. 
Levels (IMO) pH 7.4, ammonia 0 ppm, nitrite 0 ppm, nitrate 0 ppm.

pH

Nitrate

Ammonia

Nitrite

OH and filter... I knew I forgot something... I'm running a quiet flow 30.

 

[attibones]

If you are using the regular pH test kit and it turns blue, it usually means you need to use the high pH test kit. Regardless, 7.4 is a perfectly reasonable pH. 7.6 would be, too. I don't think that is your issue.

Is the gourami aggressive?

I think you need a stronger filter as the one you are running now is more suitable for a smaller tank. Even though you don't appear to show any ammonia, I still think it would be better to have more filtration capacity.

What do you use for dechlorinating the water?

 

[fyrefaerye]

I didn't use the high pH this time but the last time (2 days ago I think) I used to high pH and it was 7.4... The gourami doesn't seem aggressive. He just does his own thing. I added the gourami shortly after the shark died... So the only thing he could have been the cause of is the last rasbora. He's (I think it's a he at least) only been in the tank since yesterday. I use aqueon water conditioner to dechlorinate. I was afraid of that filter not being enough. I even bought another one when I bought the tank and I just took it back the other day.... What would you suggest as a secondary?


That filter is the one that came with the tank just fyi.

 

[attibones]

Well, I am currently using one of each of the Penguin models. I like that it gives you room for a sponge and a bag of ceramic rings or whatever other sort of media, and I like the biowheel, but they are a pain sometimes. My smallest model gets clogged up pretty frequently and the smallest grain of sand can upset the impeller. It's one of the only brands I've used that I like though. I also have a few TopFin filters from PetSmart which do a good enough job for my smaller tanks. You might look into one of those. Ideally, you are looking for something that will fit above your gallon capacity. You also need at the minimum a 5x gph. You have a 36 gallon tank, so you need to be looking for a filter with 180 gallons per hour capacity at the very minimum. Most people actually shoot for ten times the volume of the tank. 
 
I wonder if the fact that you have a smaller filter for the tank is not causing your issues. You cycled the filter (good on you), but I wonder if you were only adding enough for a thirty gallon filter, instead of a thirty gallon filter with thirty-six gallons worth of fish. Add the second filter, or get one larger filter, and do a couple of water changes. See if that doesn't clear anything up. 
 
When the fish died, did their bodies look any different? Were there any visible sores? Or were they just pale and dead looking?

 

[fyrefaerye]

I will definitely have to try to get another filter. As far as looking different I didn't realize it at the time but the rasboras (I think) had mangled tail fins... I only realize this now because another one died. I'm not certain if the first one did but definitely the two I've found today... I just can't figure out what's going after them. Normally they stay near the middle of the tank top and mid and the gourami tends to stay on the left hand side of the tank closer to the bottom. 

 

[attibones]

It may be the mollies. Do you have males or females? I have a female who is pretty nippy. She tore up my male platy.

 

[b3cca]

Shouldn't it show nitrates if it's fully cycled ?
 
I'm no expert, but with 0 ammonia and 0 Nitrites and a stable P.H then I can't see how it could those water parameters killing them.
 
Did you maybe clean out their new tank with any chemicals etc that may be harmfull ?

 

[Zikofski]

just to be sure, the test kits can be really inaccurate with some things, ammonia you need to shake the living hell out of the bottles with the nitrate you barely need to shake it try this may change your results, but from what i read your PH is fine mine is high as well and i have a wide range of plants and fish, they all will adjust to a different ph level as long as its not uber high or low aka off the scales, if you have an ammonia or nitrite problem then all your fish will suffer not just these, and you cant really have a nitrate problem unless you are well over 150ppm so to speak, 
 
@b3cca yes if you have 0,0 on ammonia and nitrite you should see some nitrate, yellow is low but could be some there so just because its yellow doesn't mean it is exactly 0
 
okay have you noticed any change in the fish swimming patterns they rubbing on things recently? and can you see any sign of infection to the fish in question? and how long have you had the fish?

 

[fyrefaerye]

I will check the levels again in just a little bit Zikofski. Thanks for the tip about the kit. Attibones, I'm working on sexing the mollies now. I was told that the ones I have are 2 females and 1 male but I want to make sure. Also, as far as the filter I'm looking at gph on the quiet flow 30 and it says 200 gph... So in theory I need to get it closer to  360? Just want to make sure I'm heading in the right direction.

 

[fyrefaerye]

Checked the levels again and the results were the same. Like identical to the pictures I posted. I also tested the high range pH and it's 7.4. Also I think I was lied to by my LFS (surprise surprise). I'm pretty sure I have 2 males and 1 female. Should I move one of the males to my 10 gallon? I'm not sure how well that would go over since the 10 gallon is a betta community. 2 females, 1 crowntail male, and 3 hatchetfish. Btw the hatchetfish were not my idea. My roommate thought they looked cool and so did my wife so I was outvoted...