I have a 55 gallon tank with 3 small catfish, 8 danios, 2 black loaches, 1 platy, 3 dwarf gouramis, 1 Molly, 1 guppy, 3 white skirted tetras and 5 neon tetras. I have had 2 platys,2 mollys, 1 hippie and 3 danios die after exhibiting odd behavior. They stopped eating and were swimming along the top of the aquarium not active. 2 started swimming in circles and they started getting bug eye. We had the water tested and the ammonia was a little high but we were told it wasn't the cause. We added some ammonia remover and prime in addition to the copper aid the pet store recommended. After that we had two more die. We remove dead fish as soon as they are noticed. The tank is checked a minimum of 4 times a day. We are new at this so could really use some help.
Erratic Behavior And Dieing
- Thread starter MystyMom2
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How long have you had the tank? How long have you had the fish?
When the ammonia was tested, do you know what the actual reading was? Did they also test Nitrites and Nitrates? The copper aid that they recommended, was it Kordon? Which two died after you added the copper aid? Did they have any white, gold, or dark spots on them?
When the ammonia was tested, do you know what the actual reading was? Did they also test Nitrites and Nitrates? The copper aid that they recommended, was it Kordon? Which two died after you added the copper aid? Did they have any white, gold, or dark spots on them?
We've had it for 2 weeks. We put the tank together , filled it, treated the water and let it sit for 3 days empty with the filter running before adding the first two fish. They are still going strong. The fish were purchased over the three weeks and we had lost one platy due to getting stuck in a rock tank decoration we immediately took out. Two danios died after adding the kordon one had been behaving oddly and had bugged eyes and a white film on the eyes. No damaged fins or spots on the fish. Since my post another danio died that had been fine and eating. The store told my husband that the nitrates were fine. They didn't say a number but said it was only slightly elevated and that could be a result of a dead fish sitting overnight.
This is the tank.
This is the tank.
This is the tank.
This is the tank.
Two weeks means your tank is cycling. The store might be using out of date tests, or they just might not know better. This is ESPECIALLY true if it is Petsmart, Petco, or Walmart.
The cycle is for biological filtration. Fish produce ammonia in their waste, through "breathing" with their gills, and leftover foods. Ammonia is toxic to fish though. But nature has a solution - bacteria. There are bacteria that will eat the ammonia waste and turn it into nitrite (note thise word has no A). Nitrite is also poisonous to fish. But nature has more bacteria that will consume this and turn it into Nitrate (note the A in this word). This is much less dangerous, but can still build up. That is why we do water changes every 1 to 2 weeks.
At two weeks in, your ammonia has probably STARTED to drop as the first set of bacteria multiplied enough to handle the number of fish in your tank. But now you probably have high Nitrites. This is most likely suffocating your fish from the inside (i.e. their blood stream).
Unfortunately, the product they sold to you that removes ammonia will now cause the ammonia-eating bacteria to die off. So it will actually cause your tank to REcycle a bit once it wears off, meaning another ammonia spike.
I don't have any experience with Prime, but I know it is SUPPOSED to make those three chemicals harmless. However, I would personally be wary of anything that would slow or stop the biological cycling. I'd be afraid that it wouldn't actually produce the RIGHT bacteria during cycling and I would have to start all over. But again, no personal experience so I can't say for sure.
And a dead fish wouldn't produce a huge Nitrate spike overnight, especially in an uncycled tank.
The most important thing to do right now is DO NOT replace the dying fish yet. Let the bio-load lighten up a bit so the tank can establish the bacteria. You CAN buy live plants though. To them, nitrites and nitrates are both fertilizers and they'll help absorb it. They don't absorb MUCH, but it doesn't hurt to get them - aside from those little pest-snails (not the big ones pet stores sell). The little pest snails almost ALWAYS show up on live plants.
To save the remainder of the fish, start doing water changes now. Fifty percent to start with. Water changes help lower all three chemicals while the bacteria grow. The bacteria will MOSTLY grow on filter media, gravel, glass, etc. with a very smalll amount still free floating in the water. So it won't affect the cycle much to do water changes - just don't "clean" anything. Simply empty water out and put fresh water in its place.
You can also use freshwater aquarium salt (one is made by API) to make the fish LESS vulnerable to waste poisons.
Other than that, you really just have to wait for the cycle to finish. When it does your Nitrites will be near 0. That is when you'll have to start weekly water changes to lower Nitrates in the water. Once the cycle is complete, add one or two fish at a time and wait about 2 weeks before adding more. The biological filter can "catch up" faster and easier once that first cycle is complete, but you still don't want to overwhelm it.
The cycle is for biological filtration. Fish produce ammonia in their waste, through "breathing" with their gills, and leftover foods. Ammonia is toxic to fish though. But nature has a solution - bacteria. There are bacteria that will eat the ammonia waste and turn it into nitrite (note thise word has no A). Nitrite is also poisonous to fish. But nature has more bacteria that will consume this and turn it into Nitrate (note the A in this word). This is much less dangerous, but can still build up. That is why we do water changes every 1 to 2 weeks.
At two weeks in, your ammonia has probably STARTED to drop as the first set of bacteria multiplied enough to handle the number of fish in your tank. But now you probably have high Nitrites. This is most likely suffocating your fish from the inside (i.e. their blood stream).
Unfortunately, the product they sold to you that removes ammonia will now cause the ammonia-eating bacteria to die off. So it will actually cause your tank to REcycle a bit once it wears off, meaning another ammonia spike.
I don't have any experience with Prime, but I know it is SUPPOSED to make those three chemicals harmless. However, I would personally be wary of anything that would slow or stop the biological cycling. I'd be afraid that it wouldn't actually produce the RIGHT bacteria during cycling and I would have to start all over. But again, no personal experience so I can't say for sure.
And a dead fish wouldn't produce a huge Nitrate spike overnight, especially in an uncycled tank.
The most important thing to do right now is DO NOT replace the dying fish yet. Let the bio-load lighten up a bit so the tank can establish the bacteria. You CAN buy live plants though. To them, nitrites and nitrates are both fertilizers and they'll help absorb it. They don't absorb MUCH, but it doesn't hurt to get them - aside from those little pest-snails (not the big ones pet stores sell). The little pest snails almost ALWAYS show up on live plants.
To save the remainder of the fish, start doing water changes now. Fifty percent to start with. Water changes help lower all three chemicals while the bacteria grow. The bacteria will MOSTLY grow on filter media, gravel, glass, etc. with a very smalll amount still free floating in the water. So it won't affect the cycle much to do water changes - just don't "clean" anything. Simply empty water out and put fresh water in its place.
You can also use freshwater aquarium salt (one is made by API) to make the fish LESS vulnerable to waste poisons.
Other than that, you really just have to wait for the cycle to finish. When it does your Nitrites will be near 0. That is when you'll have to start weekly water changes to lower Nitrates in the water. Once the cycle is complete, add one or two fish at a time and wait about 2 weeks before adding more. The biological filter can "catch up" faster and easier once that first cycle is complete, but you still don't want to overwhelm it.
I agree with Ltygress, it does sound like the cycling is still underway.
I'd recommend getting yourself a test kit so you can see what state the water is in, in regards to Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites and your pH levels.
Like she says, do not consider adding any more fish at this time. Allow the tank and filter to mature.
I'd recommend getting yourself a test kit so you can see what state the water is in, in regards to Ammonia, Nitrates, Nitrites and your pH levels.
Like she says, do not consider adding any more fish at this time. Allow the tank and filter to mature.
Okay, I will try that.We were concerned that the water pressure coming out was causing issues so we attempted to lessen it and now the first fish we bought, a dwarf gourami died. It's a salt water tank we were told could be fresh water so thats what we are doing.The water being put out from the filter appeared to make the smaller top swimming fish really struggle. How long will it take the tank to cycle? Is there anything we can do to keep the fish we have? It's really disheartening to go in to a diseased fish once or twice a day.
Use Stress Coat to treat the incoming water for Chlorine. It won't affect the cycling chemicals, but it will remove the chlorine and help replenish the fish's slime coating.
Tanks can take anywhere from 4 weeks to 8 weeks to cycle. Your best bet is to get water test kits, and watch the Nitrites and Nitrates as they rise. Once the Nitrites hit 0, your tank is "cycled".
Also, while you can use API's "aquarium salt" meant for freshwater tanks to help keep your fish from being affected by Ammonia, there isn't much to do to keep them from being affected by Nitrite or Nitrate. Just those water changes are about all you can do.
Tanks can take anywhere from 4 weeks to 8 weeks to cycle. Your best bet is to get water test kits, and watch the Nitrites and Nitrates as they rise. Once the Nitrites hit 0, your tank is "cycled".
Also, while you can use API's "aquarium salt" meant for freshwater tanks to help keep your fish from being affected by Ammonia, there isn't much to do to keep them from being affected by Nitrite or Nitrate. Just those water changes are about all you can do.
Doing water changes, went to a local aquarium store people swear by. They agree the tank is cycling and told us to put in a bacteria that can help with cycling and might help save the remaining fish. They also gave us something to plug the slats where water drains in the back of the tank to prevent our loaches and neons from ending up back there. One neon who ended up back there didn't make it and we had our last remaining albino catfish get stuck in the output pipe. We couldn't get him out and he got himself stuck. We took the elbow out so no other fish can get in there. So far so good. I hope everything finishes cycling without anymore losses.
Prime is a perfectly good dechlorinater; there's no need to change to anything else.MystyMom2 said:
Prime will also bind toxic ammonia into the less toxic ammonium, so it's very useful in fish in cycles.
No more fish have died since adding the bacteria. Had water checked on Sunday. Ammonia and Nitrates are high so they said to do a huge water change with spring water and that Prime isn't a great choice. We just did emptied 22 gallons. One of the dwarf gouramis is looking stressed. I hope he makes it. My son is most attached to them and the loaches. Going to have water checked again in two days.
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