Live Barers Help

[!TropicalTan!]

My tank fully cycled for 3 weeks using ammonia and nt labs filter start and few neons i didnt add anymore fish till i was 100% cycle had finished all was fine untill a week a go atleast 2-3 guppys and mollys are dying a day b4 they die they go to top tank issolate thereselves with mouth never closing but i noticed also upon death swollen red gills

All my other fish are fine tetras clownloaches and the params are fine they eat well and just suddenly go to top not at serfice like there gasping for air but just bellow up corner then slowly go larfargic n then die i have babie mollies and guppies and there doing fine it just seems to be adults that are just dieing out the blue

Tank size 800l no agression is going on i have the ratio 1-3 m-f tank has been running over 2 months ish now

 

[nic1]

Read this link hun

http/www.fishforever.co.uk/cycling.html

All what I recommend is that you do a 20% water change, the levels in your tank can spike randomly as its newly set up, I would say things settle down after 6 months, until then buy some plants to absorb ammonia .... I like eloda as it grows fast and don't add anymore fish, feed them sparingly also.
Try and get an air stone if you haven't already, it helps with oxygen levels.
Also, if you have any friends with a fish tank see if they can give you the mucky water from their filter pads when they wah them, chuck this water into your tank.... there's p,entry of good bacteria in filter pads.... good luck.
Red Swollen gills is a massive indication something is wrong with the waste.

 

[Ninjouzata]

Can you please post your water parameters? (ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) Fine doesn't tell us anything.
 
Gasping at the surface usually means low oxygen, or the fish not being able to get oxygen which happens with high nitrite levels. Think high ammonia causes the gills to turn red as well.
 
What is your water change schedule like?
 
Full list of tank inhabitants and how many there are?
 
Are you using a liquid test kit? Did you cycle the tank following THIS article? Seeing ammonia and nitrite rise then fall? Just checking.
 
A picture may also help.

 

[!TropicalTan!]

I no the cycle prosses as i kept marine for over 2 yrs

10 neon tetras 5clown loaches 20 female guppys 5 male guppys 8 mollys 2 male 6 female i used the tank water from my dads trop tank to help with cycle the air in tank is powered by a rena 600 2 air pillars run eirter side of tank

The fish thst are dieing all seem to be from this new lfs i used the ones i bought from my usual are fine i have got 2 fluval fx6 running with there flow breaking the water surfice

Test results ammonia 0ppm nitrite 0ppm nitrate 1ppm ph 7.2

Its a planted tank and has veriouse plants forget names
I missed i do a 30-40% wc weekly every sunday morning i did i huge 50% wc when the guppies 1st started dieing but it had no affect on them if you no what mean they carried on dieing b4 and after wc regularly 2-3 every morning i ofc remove bodies to prevent ammonia spike

When i say at top there not at surfice gasping for air they go 2-3 inches away from serfice and stay there away from othet b4 that they swim round eat happy and seem healthy


Btw im not being snippy just trying to list facts n deal with kids lol so listing quick too point xxx
My tank had cycled in 1n half weeks but i was unhappy with rise in ammonia so i dosed ammonia at 3ppm every day n it quickly went from nitrite to nitrate to 0 on all x

 

[Ch4rlie]

Hi,
 
Sounds a little unusual, to be honest my initial first thoughts were your tank was not cycled, but may be as you say. 
Marine cycling is different to FW cycling and using water from your dads tank is not gonna do very much anyway.
 
Gasping at surface usually a indication of nitrite poisoning or lack of oxygen in water. 
What test kit are you using by the way as 1ppm nitrate is very low, is the tank very heavily planted?
API liquid Nitrate test kit can be inaccurate due the 2nd reagent bottle solution, needs to be shaken like theres no tomorrow!
 
A couple other questions, is surface of water being agitated/rippled enough to get oxygen into water?
 
What is temperature of tank water?
 
Have you added anything new apart from the new fish?
Decor, substrate, plants etc
 
We'll try to get to the bottom of this problem and hopefully solve this. 

 

[!TropicalTan!]

Added new fish from a dif lfs then usually use no problems till then there are lots of ripples as i say i got outflow of 2 fluval fx6s pointed at surface no other fish at surfice until they are going to die u can always tell what 1 will be dead in morning as goes to top the only thing i noticed is red gills n swolleness when dies temp is 75 I use nt labs master test kits

 

[Ch4rlie]

Is it just the new guppies and mollys that are affected?

 

[nic1]

If the new fish are dying from the new LFS then maybe its just a problem with their fish? Could be bacterial, or they might not be used to the water they are in? Like I said before in my experience (been keeping fish for 11 years) red gills are usually related to water problems....

Don't worry about being blunt, getting your point across is the most important thing here.

 

[!TropicalTan!]

Yeah it is only the new fish i have noticed some fuzz on one fishes side im gonna get melefix and prima fix n treat whole tank but will the babies be ok while treating ?

 

[nic1]

Melafix is a natural tea tree product and is safe for the babies, they have to be treated after all...
What I do also is trap the sick fish in a breeding trap and put some aquarium salt in there, it eventually filters out through the sides but its a good way of targeting specific fish. I use 'supa' aquarium salt.