Fish Dying

[Lawrence]

Recently many fish have died. I had 20 or so in my tank for 6 months. And now in the past month or two 6 fish have dies and I bought them 6 months ago. Its a 60 gallon tank and it is about 9 months old. The tank was matured when I put the new fish in. I have not cleaned my tank for a month but I am certain tht is not the problem. One fish also has one eye and the other fish have their fins bitten off when I find them dead. WHAT DO I DO!!! Clean the tank? I cant do that for 1 week as I have exams.

 

[roadmaster]

Recently many fish have died. I had 20 or so in my tank for 6 months. And now in the past month or two 6 fish have dies and I bought them 6 months ago. Its a 60 gallon tank and it is about 9 months old. The tank was matured when I put the new fish in. I have not cleaned my tank for a month but I am certain tht is not the problem. One fish also has one eye and the other fish have their fins bitten off when I find them dead. WHAT DO I DO!!! Clean the tank? I cant do that for 1 week as I have exams.

For fish to remain healthy, test results should read zero for ammonia,zero for nitrites,and nitrAtes in my opinion, should not rise over 20 ppm.
Weekly water changes of 20 percent while vaccuming one third of the tanks gravel, and a different one third each week.
Fish should all share same water temp requirements,same pH requirements,and be able to get along with each other .
Takes about 20 minutes to change out 20 percent of the old water for fresh dechlorinated water and swishing the filter material around in the old aquarium water you took out before sticking it back in the filter.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

surely you can find half an hour to do a large water change.

The bitten off fins may be fin rot.

If you haven't cleaned the tank for a month then chances are the water (ammonia) killed them.

What are your water stats?

 

[Lawrence]

My levels are I dont have an ammonia testing kit but the water does smell. The nitrate levels are 0 and the PH is 7.4.

 

[Harlequins]

I would suggest you test your water for ammonia & nitrite and do a large water change and substrate clean.

You say you have a 60 gallon tank,but in your profile it is 60 litre...

 

[Lawrence]

Yea sorry I get confused with litres and gallons.. Its 20 gallons now I rember and 60 litre. Ill change the water as soon as I can and I will also clean my whole tank and take the gravel out and make sure EVERYTHING is clean. Ill leave the filter as it is otherwise ill kill the bacteria. Ill clean the filter after 1 week.

 

[karin]

I think you are over stocked. Isn't a 60 liter closer to 15 gallons? You probably have an ammonia spike and need the kit to verify. Get the kit!!!!!

 

[Lawrence]

Ill get the kit tomorrow then...

 

[roadmaster]

Yea sorry I get confused with litres and gallons.. Its 20 gallons now I rember and 60 litre. Ill change the water as soon as I can and I will also clean my whole tank and take the gravel out and make sure EVERYTHING is clean. Ill leave the filter as it is otherwise ill kill the bacteria. Ill clean the filter after 1 week.

You don't want/need, to remove all the gravel. Just be sure and push the gravel vacuum down into the gravel when performing water changes. Next water change,vaccum one third to one half of the gravel. The next water change,vaccum the other one third or one half.
Each week when you pull out four to five gal from your 20 gal, take out the filter cartridge,sponge,pad,etc and swish it around in old aquarium water you just took out to knock off the dirt and debri and stick it back in the filter.
Take care not to clean the material in tapwater that may contain chlorine which will kill off some bacteria.
Feed the fish less food. Once a day and only what you see them eat in a minute or two. Make sure no one else is also feeding the fishes.

No one ever lost a fish by feeding them once a day, and it will help keep toxins such as ammonia and nitrites more manageable.

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Do a water change now and you can still get a kit tomorrow and do a proper clean when you can.

I think 60 litres is in fact 16 gallons.

 

[Jenste]

20 fish in a 16 gallon tank spells disaster. you chose to take them on as a responsibility so there should never be an excuse to NOT do a water change - -especially not for a WHOLE MONTH!

do a water change immediately, buy the test kit (something is wrong if you are saying your nitrAte is 0 - - in a tank with fish it is never 0), post the results, then probably do another water change.

like said above, do not remove the gravel, just siphon it.

i noticed you also had a post about breeding fish? i would not even consider this possibility until you first sort out how to care for the fish you already have because fry care is much more demanding





what fish do you have in the tank anyways?

 

[arobinson1984]

Agree with jenste, we need to know exactly what fish are in the tank?

Also what filter is running on the tank?

You need to be doing water changes and gravel cleans alot more regularly than every month, especially when you have indications that something is wrong. Do you realise how much waste builds up in gravel in a month? Just because you cant see it doesnt mean it isnt there. If you dont have the time to commit to weekly or at worst fortnightly large water changes and gravel cleans then you should think about re-homing the fish.


Andy

 

[Ashley1991]

You need to be doing water changes and gravel cleans alot more regularly than every month, especially when you have indications that something is wrong. Do you realise how much waste builds up in gravel in a month? Just because you cant see it doesnt mean it isnt there. If you dont have the time to commit to weekly or at worst fortnightly large water changes and gravel cleans then you should think about re-homing the fish.


Andy

agreed

 

[IAmATeaf]

I thought I had posted this already so here goes again.

If you're doing a 2 weekly water change then I'd personally be changing around 30% of the water rather then a meagre 10%