Dying Fish

[FilipeB]

Hey guys,
 
I was hoping you might be able to help me out. I have a 260L tank, which is fully cycled, and just a few days ago we placed some fish in it. Some neon's, mollies, guppies, 2 clown loaches, 3 yamato shrimp and some other fish which I don't know the name.
 
Now, on the day after we put them in the tank, 3 fish were dead, one neon, one molly and one guppy. Don't know why, all the reading were normal, PH was normal, ammonia and nitrite was 0, nitrates were 25ish (level of my tap water). The only thing out of place on the tank is the water temperature, which is around 28C. We have the heater set to 24, but I do believe it's possible that it's the room temperature that is high and not a heater fault.
 
Anyway, that was a few days ago, now today one of the clown loaches died. He was swimming erratically, sometimes just laying on his side on the sand and appearing to "breathe heavily", as in his gills were moving a lot.
 
 
When we put the fish in the tank, we also bought something called "health guard" from the brand "i love fish" which is a treatment to use when you put in new fish. My dad also put some salt on the tank at a later time, because he said that helps kill bacteria. But now today we also saw some white dots on the fins of one of our guppies. My dad says those are parasites. I don't know what to do or what type of medicine we are meant to use.
 
Can anyone please help? I did the entire fishless cycle because I wanted the best for the fish and now they seem to be dying
 
 
P.S. Also, some of our fish sometimes just stand still in the water. They move normally, like if they were swimming, but they won't budge from their place. My dad says that is not normal behaviour and something must be wrong.

 

[Chad]

There are a few things I can think of that might be the issue.
 

1. Too many fish at once. Even though a tank is cycled, it's still new and it's best to put just a small number of fish in at a time, wait a couple of weeks, then add more. 2 clown loaches alone are enough to upset the bioload of a new tank.
2. Sick when you got them.
3. Too long, or too short of an acclimation.
4. Were in the bag too long.
5. Low oxygen in the tank.

Of these I think #1 is the most likely. I've seen this happen quite often.
 
Can you tell us more about the tank such as the filter and the number of fish you added. Above you say "some" but what was the actual number?

 

[Megalodon]

did you add all those fish at once?
 
because that could be it.

 

[TnTLondon]

I would suggest you do a water change as it usually helps and definitely can't hurt. Do you have pictures of the white spots you mentioned? They will help the more experienced members identify if you have ick in the tank.

 

[FilipeB]

Thank you all for your answers.
 
I think it's about 20 to 30 fish we put in the tank (including the 3 shrimp). It's a Juwel Vision 260 and we're using the stock filter. I really wouldn't think we'd have put too many fish, they look like they only take a really tiny portion of the aquarium, since they are all so small.
 
Yeah, my dad did say he thought one or two of the fish looked sick at the store. The transportation however was quite fast, shouldn't have been in the plastic bags for more than 15-30 minutes (time to drive back home and place the bags in the water for a bit and then insert them into the tank). Also, about oxygenation in the tank, we have 2 air stones in there, should be enough right?
 
How would a water change help? (honest question) All the water tests come back saying the water is fine.
 
 
And I don't really have any pictures I can show right now

 

[peds]

I have got my 350L running for a while already and halfway thru with no reason they just started dying. Lost 10 in one week 

 

 

 

 

 . All the paraments were OK so no idea what happened. I had to make about 20% water change daily. I used the water treatment from KING BRITISH 'disease clear' also. Now they're all fine for ages and we are a big happy family as I have replaced those fish aswell. 

 

 

So every time u buy fish make sure u will put a few each time and leave a week or so between. 
Make sure you got a good filter and good aeration.
Dont leave the fish too long in the bags.
A regular water change, filter clean and gravel too.
Temperature 26/27
And always make sure about ur fish compatibilty.
Make sure u clean ur ornaments, etc, properly before u put them in.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

What level of ammonia were you maintaining during your fishless cycle?
 
Did you do a "qualifying week" once your tank appeared to be cycled?
 
How did you acclimitise the fish? 28C could be quite a shock, not to mention water chemistry differences between the store and your tank.
 
How much salt was added? This could explain the Clown Loach death alone, they are not salt tolerant fish.

 

[FilipeB]

I was maintaining a 3ppm level, which is indicated on this forum. Yes, we put the bags in the water to allow for the water to stabilize before transferring them (and would that still matter seeing it's been a few days?)
 
I don't really know how much salt was added, but not much. The other clown loach is still going around.
 
I am unable to take picture of the fish, they just move too much to be able to take a clear picture.
 
Found another dead one today. And one of my neons seems to be becoming more transparent, he's losing his bright colors

 
 
If the fault is that the tank is new, what can I do in regards to that to help my fish?

 

[FilipeB]

My dad is convinced is a damselfly larvae that's killing our fish. How can we get rid of it without hurting the fish? We obviously can't just find it and remove it.