Malawi Tank Help, Fish Dying From Unknown

[kvnkne]

Hey guys, I have a new 48 tall aquarium that I have been cycling for the past 4 weeks. All my readings have become normal, 0 ammon, 0 nitrite, 10 nitrate, ph 8.0. I cycled with filter media and 4 zebra danios and 4 neon tetras. THey have been in the tank since the beginning and all have survived. 2 days ago I added my first mbuna. The next morning 3 were either dead or dying. The next morning another was gone, then when I got home from work one more has perished. I got them at petsmart so there is a warranty, but that is not the issue, I have been testing the water daily and have not had elevated ammonia or anything. The danios and neons are still doing well. Can I get some advice on this, not sure if the water from petsmart would have set this off, when asked, they said their ph is around 7.4, thats the only thing I can think of that would be causing this. Please help

 

[BPB]

Could it be possible that they aren't being acclimated slow enough?

 

[kvnkne]

API Master test kit, 8 1 inch, 2 yellow labs 2 acei, 2 kenyi, 2 auratus, Acclimated using drip method for around 2 hours. Tank decorated with lots of tested cleaned neutral ph rock, and 2 plastic plats. Using marineland 350 magnum canister, with two bio wheels. Tested all levels this morning with readings of ph 8.0, ammon, 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5-10 1 auratus 2 kenyi, 1 yellow lab left alive


the fish were acting normal, now most are dead, the two kenyi were dead this morning 5 am est. There has been no aggression towards each other even after death, not a mark on all the perished fish. They had seemed to be acting normal, swimming in and out of the rock. There is about 100 lbs formed into caves and labyrinths. I will test when home from work round 9 am. 1 electric yellow lab, 1 auratus, 4 danios, 4 tetras left, anyone else got any ideas what is going on??

 

[karin]

You seem to have a mystery on your hands. Are the remaining fish gasping at all? Fast breathing, stationary, etc? A 2 hour acclimation should be plenty unless they are very weak specimens. That is all I can think of, that the individuals were weak and not well bred. If they are all from the same supplier, this seems like the most likely story. The more likely thing is a mini-cycle where the ammonia and/or nitrite spiked because you doubled your fish stock in one go. But if you are consistent in your testing you would have picked that up and sounds like you did not. Finally new tanks can have an oxygen problem that is easily solved by putting an airstone in for a couple weeks until the system stabilizes.

What I would do is give it two weeks and see how the remainder get on. If they are okay then add fish but try to do it at a slower rate. Maybe look for a different supplier.

Good luck.

 

[kvnkne]

Karin thank there has been an airstone used for the life of the tank. Ive posted on other sites and it is a mystery. The original cycling fish are all still alive. Only 1 yellow lab and 1 auratus are left. Ammonia is at 0-.25 at 9 am EST.

 

[Lolly123]

If your setting up a cichlid tank i assume you are going to take out the danios and tetras?

Danios are quite hardy and generally used as a 'starter' fish, as you probably know, however neon tetras I wouldnt have recommended to help your cycle along. Anyway i'm just confused as to why if you want a malawi setup you used community fish to cycle instead of doing fishless cycling and once thats done add the cichlid stock slowly. You wont be able to keep those in there with potentially aggressive fish. Or am I misunderstanding?

As for your problem, I am at a loss for answers, if your are using the api and getting 0 for ammonia/nitrite and your ph is stable, and you acclimatised well, the water is oxygenated and you cant see any sign of disease on the fish then I dont know what else to suggest, like someone else said maybe they were a weak batch.

It does seem like you added a lot of fish at once, i prefer to go with caution even when adding to my mature tank, id rather go slowly but surely.

Anyway, I hope you get to the bottom of the issue.