Lost All My Fish!

[idb1981]

Well I've learnt a really hard lesson, I upgraded my fish tank (ensuring I used the old filter media which I've done in the past without problems) and all my fish have died. Firstly one fish went missing, leaving me with 7. I noticed some fish were listless so I got the water tested at the LFS and they said that my Nitrite was high, they suggeted leaving the tank water alone for a couple of weeks and adding you guessed it Cycle.

More fish were dying and I had a look on the net which suggested a massive water change, I changed 50%. The 3 remaining fish seemed happier, I then lost one last night and the other 2 over night.

I have 4 ammano shrimp which all seem fine, this is confusing me as I thought they would suffer a similar fate?

I need to get some test kits but have you guys got any suggestions on next steps?

I thought I'd strip the tank and too make sure there's nothing rotting. Should I completely empty the tank and start completely fresh again or leave it to finish the cycle?


I'm angry with myself for such a stupid mistake, I have learned not try this again!

 

[idb1981]

Well I just removed my decor and found the 8th fish, which was stuck to the roots of one of my plants. I guess it's been adding to the pollution so I'll keep a close eye on the shrimp and see what happens over the next week. Luckily on tuesday I have a work colleague who can give me some seeded filter media to assist the cycle/mini cycle.

 

[reddannyh]

Unlucky mate, things like this happen to the best fishkeepers. I recently lost quite a few fish from a dodgy piece of wood I put in my tank. You've just got to pick yourself up and get right back on the horse.

 

[idb1981]

That has just made me think, I added new bog wood to the tank at the same time, ever since then they dropped like lead ballons. The wood was soaked for over a week, I think I'll remove it and do another large water change (poor shrimp!) and see where we are then!

 

[Qays]

That has just made me think, I added new bog wood to the tank at the same time, ever since then they dropped like lead ballons. The wood was soaked for over a week, I think I'll remove it and do another large water change (poor shrimp!) and see where we are then!

The bogwood should only drop the pH a little bit.

 

[reddannyh]

I don't know how the wood killed my fish, but it was the only thing I had changed in over a year and they had all been perfectly healthy up to then. I don't know whether it was contaminated with something or what.

 

[blackguppy]

Very sorry to hear of your loss. I would suggest that you get your own test kit though for the future. LFSs can sometimes give totally innacurate test results. If it were my tank, I'd take no chances, strip it down, and start again.