Help - Fish Dying

[rvc1]

Hi all

I am new to this forum and quite new to fish keeping. I'm really hoping that someone will be able to give me some advice as I am worried that even after trying my best to read up and research before starting up my tank, I am doing something wrong.

I got my tank at the beginning of January and followed all the advice on here about fishless cycling etc and only added fish when all the parameters were right. I think it was towards the end of Feb that I added my first few fish.

My tank is a 180l Juwel tank with a Fluval filter. My readings currently are as follows: ammonia - 0, nitrites - 0, nitrates - 10.

My PH is always a bit of a struggle as my tap water is around 8.4. I currently have a reading of 7. I use a PH lowerer (which I know is not great, but I'm not sure what else to do about it, I already have 2 pieces of bogwood). My tank had 5 plants, which seem to be growing well.

I have the following fish, which have been added about 2-4 every couple of weeks since I got the tank...

6 White Cloud Mountain Minnows
3 Neon tetras
1 bristlenose catfish
2 platys
4 penguin tetras
3 guppies
1 platinum gourami

About a month ago, I lost 2 penguin tetras, over the last 2 weeks, I have lost 3 guppies and this morning I woke up to find 1 of my platinum gouramis dead in the tank.

Please help... I really don't know what I am doing wrong. I do a 30% water change every 2 weeks although I have been doing it more often this last 2 weeks due to the dead fish. I vacuum the substrate when I clean the tank and clean the filters and medium in tank water. I use dechlorinator and the temperature is 24 degrees.

The only things I am a little unsure about are my filter and some of the bogwood I have. When I took the bogwood out this morning to do a water change again, I noticed that it had an 'eggy' smell to it. I couldn't see any rotten bits of anything obvious on it but I have removed it from the tank just in case.

The filter is one that I bought from my LFS. It has 2 spongy sections and a ceramic medium bit in the middle. The filters that came with it are carbon filters and someone has told me today that I should remove these and replace with non carbon filters unless I a treating the tank. I haven't changed the filters as I was advised that doing this can remove too many of the bacteria but I'm not sure if this is good advice.

Please help... Would any of these things be affecting the tank? Any ideas for reducing the PH without using the chemicals?

Thanks all

 

[geordielass]

Hi there im new to this site as well and have posted for help too. Im not an expert either but noted about the carbon filters you mentioned. I think im right in saying that you only change to non carbon is when you are medicating the tank as carbon interfers with it. also i do know that you only change one filter and one sponge at a time not all at once. Im not sure about the bogwood except to say that it should be from a reputable dealer as it will of been cleaned.Hope this helps a small bit and you get more help

 

[karin]

Okay, may take some work to sort this out.

Do you notice any other symptoms in your tank? Or with the fish that died? There could be a disease, but I think it is more likely that this being a new tank, your water parameters can still be a bit unstable. And with the Ph lowering method, the water parameters could be quite unstable. That being said, some of the fish you mention, neons and guppies are pretty mass produced. Most people will lose some as there are plenty of weak individuals and even weak batches out there. In addition both these species tend to do better in more stable (more mature) tanks. There are some folks who, for example buy 8 tetras with the expectation that two will die and they will get there school of six.

How often are you testing the water? Given the deaths, if I were you, I would test every 12 hours for a while to see what might be happening in the tank. Anything off, I would do a water change. I also would up the water changes to every week for a while as this gets sorted out.

Now the Ph thing, I don't know what to say here. I'm not a fan of using outside means to lower Ph. I have a Ph of 8.0 and keep most species successfully. Tank bred fish can and do survive and thrive in a wider range of Ph. The danger is fluctuating Ph which is not easy for fish to endure. I wonder what Ph your tank would be without the lowering chemicals but with the bogwood. Bogwood doesn't lower Ph a whole lot but it would be intersting to know.

Finally the filters. Do you have two filters? I like the sound of two sponges and the ceramic noodles. With this filter you never have to throw out media unless it is crumbling in your hands. So rinse it in old tank water every other water change. It sounds like there is another filter with carbon? Can you slowly change these out for Non-carbon media? The carbon will support good bacteria, but if you ever have to medicate your tank you would want to pull these out. Carbon is only active as a way to purify water for 3-5 days. Most people use carbon at the end of a medication event to pull medication out of the water. It is not a big deal if it is now there, but other media support biological filters better.

Oh and smelly bogwood. Did you find it yourself or purchase from a fish store? I have not smelled mine... I suppose you could pull it out and scrub it under hot water and see if you notice a difference. If it is standard drift wood or mopani, I doubt that is the problem but may indicate a symptom. Rotten egg smell is hydrogen sulfide but this is rarely a problem in tanks. What kind of substrate do you have? You might gently run your fingers through it to release trapped gases. But again this is rarely the problem.

Water testing and realizing some fish will die early on especially would be my course of action. Good luck and persevere!

 

[rvc1]

Thank you so much for your messages. It's fantastic to know that there are people out there willing to help us newbies... I really appreciate it!

I haven't noticed any symptoms in the tank. There is one Guppy with a slight split in it's tail. I looked up pictures of fin rot but it doesn't look like that...? I haven't seen anything on the dead fish either. The guppies did look a little bit slow before they died but no spots of fungus looking growths.

I was a bit unsure all along about using the PH lowering stuff as I read on here that's it's not great. When I originally set up the tank, the PH was 8.4 with the bog wood in it before I put in any fish so I think that'd be what it is without the gunk... Shall I give it a go without?

I was expecting to loose a few fish when I set up the tank like you said but I was very lucky in the beginning as I only had 1 death in the first 2 months of it being set up (and that was within a day of buying it so I think there may have been a problem with it). All the other deaths have been in the last 2 weeks, which is why I am a bit worried

I have been testing the water weekly (after the first month or so when I did it every couple of days) but since the first death I have been doing it every couple of days again. I will up it to every 12 hours like you suggested to see whether I can spot anything. As much as I don't want to have done anything to harm my fish, I do hope it's something like that as at least it would explain it! I will do the water changes every week too. Do you think 30% is enough or should I go for 50%?

Am glad the filter sounds ok...I have been worried about everything I bought from my LFS as after buying all the equipment from them (I was given the tank but the filters etc), they told me to leave it for a few days and put fish straight in (no fishless cycle etc) and then they told me that when I had done this, I could put about 40 fish straight in!!! Luckily it didn't sound quite right to me so I went home and started reading, which is when I found this site to help me through the fishless cycling!)... Anyhow, just explaining my distrust...
The filter is called a Fluval U4 Internal Filter. It's just one filter but it has a sponge on each side with a carbon filter (black one side and white the other) on top of each sponge and a ceramic cartridge in the middle - does that make sense? The filters are quite thin so I do have to rinse them quite regularly (in tank water) otherwise it starts to make a funny noise. I will try to get some replacements without the carbon and replace one at a time. I guess it should be ok if I leave the ceramic and don't rinse it for a couple of weeks?

I got the bogwood from a fish store and I soaked it for a few days before adding it. It does still leech a bit of colour but other than the smell, it seems ok. I will give it a scrub and put it back in. I have gravel in the bottom. I have it a good vacuum out last weekend and have just run my fingers through it today - didn't see much except the usual fish mess..

I will keep on with the testing and see how it goes. Thanks again so much for the advice. I guess I should leave it a while before I think about any new fish... I can't bear to loose any more so soon! Any ideas for good fish to add once this problem has stabilised?

Thanks
R

 

[karin]

In the New Freshwater Tank section or the Tropical Discussion, post your questions about Ph. I'm not really qualified to talk about altering that. I think you can do something with Peat in the filter. They can also comment on trying it with a Ph of 8.4. I know I would be tempted.

Others will know your filter better than I. If your stats are okay, then a 30% water change once a week should be good.

Finally, steel yourself a bit. Fish death does happen and sometimes you can't explain it.

Best to you.