My Fish Are Are Dying. Please Help 5 Dead Today

[suzanne1971]

Please could anyone help me? We have a hexagonal 6 foot tank with approx 20 fish. They have all been bought from the same place. Last night however, our ctfish got stuck in the bottom of the filter. As the tank is so deep, it took 2 hrs to get him out. We had to blow him out, but he is fine.

However this morning, another small catfish had what looked like white powder on it. It died after a couple of hours. 3 out of 4 of the little silver sharks have now died and the other is swimming very peculiarily. I have now noticed that the tiger barbs are acting erratically. Its as if they can't keep their balance. Its not all the fish.

My o\h has chacked the ph levels and they are fine. The pump/filters have been cleaned out and everything seems fine. The majority of the fish seem fine, but i am worried sick. The smal Jack Dempsey is lying on its side at the bottom of the thank. My o\h has just gone to the fish shop with a sample of the water and i was just wondering if anyone could help PLEASE. This is so upsetting for all of us and the children xx

Many thanks. As you can probably tell, I am not experienced at all with aquariams. Thanks again xx

 

[BecciMac1987]

Hi, and welcome to the forum. Unfortunatley we need a lot more info before we can tell whats wrong. We need those water results from the shop ASAP as that will give us the biggest clue. Dont let them just tell you its 'fine', get the exact readings then let us know.
How long has the tank been set up?

 

[WILDER]

Need to know your full stocking in the tank.
Is the tank height rather than length.
How many gallons is the tank.

Does the fish look like they have been sprinkled in salt or a dusting of talc.

 

[suzanne1971]

Thank you both for your speedy reply.

The tank is 6 foot high, hexagonal. The only fish that had a dusting of fine powder was the stripey catfish that died this morning.

At present we have :

8 tiger barbs - 2 of which look like they can't keep their balance very well
1 small silver shark that looks very poorly
2 gouramis
4 mollys
1 quite large catfish
4 small fish which i can't remember the name of, although they are community fish

All the fish get on really well but as i say, are just behaving qute erratic. I don't know if this has anything to do with it, but they always swam from one side of the tank to the other but now they seem to be going to the bottom of the tank and then swimming very fast to the top. He has had to take another sample of water and is stil not back yet. Hopefully, he will get the reading from them. The tank has been set up for 2 weeks. Everything was fine until last night, rescuing the fish tahe was stuck. Just hope its not us killing them with stress, I feel realy bad about it all.

Thanks again, it really means a lot xx

 

[chesterscot]

if your tank has only been set up for two weeks did you cycle it first if not start doing water changes untill your test results come back just in case
scot

 

[SharonCC]

So sorry you've lost some fish...I would hazard a guess that you have an high Ammonia reading, and maybe high Nitrites as well. I would do an immediate water change...50%...and another tomorrow, to keep Ammonia readings down(don't let it get past .5ppm) You're going to need your own test kit to keep an eye on the readings.

 

[suzanne1971]

He has just got back from the shop - the water ph is 7 which they said was perfect. The tank is approx 130litres. The girls at the shop said it was probably the catfish that died that has infected the water. She gave us salt to put in which will kill any bacteria. When we bought the tank from the shop, it was already set up wit a few fish in. They brought most of the water themselves so not to upset the fish. They set the tank up for us.

 

[SharonCC]

Did they give you readings for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrates? I doubt that a disease would be killing so many so quickly....

 

[Tolak]

There is much more that need to be tested than pH, a pH of 7 is neuteral, which is not always perfect depending on the fish you keep. Most commonly found aquarium fish adapt quite easily to a different pH, your pH is the least of your worries.

We need test results for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. A tall hex of 130 liters is going to be tough to stock, due to the small surface area.You would have to stock this tank like a 60 liter due to the small surface area. If you don't have the proper circulation top to bottom you will be having a problem with low O2. This would explain your fish shooting to the surface, especially if you have any level of nitrite, as nitrite inhibits a fish's blood from processing O2.

Salt in a safe level will not kill any bacteria in your tank. Salt is a quick money maker for shops. Bring it back.

If you cleaned your filter media with tap water you have caused a problem, chlorine will kill your nitrifying bacteria. I imagine the dead fish created an ammonia/nitrite spike when deteriorating. You need to increase surface motion to aid in O2 transfer, and consider getting a small powerhead for the bottom. Aim it straight up, this will help with circulating O2 to the bottom.

Don't feed the fish for a few days, and feed lightly the next week,less food means less waste produced. Fish produce ammonia as waste.

I would be doing a large water change as well, it will reduce any ammonia/nitrite, and if none is present it can't hurt. This will also reduce any air borne contaminants which may have entered the tank.

 

[nosoup4you]

It could be that you stirred up a lot of debris causing your Ammonia to spike when you were trying to free the catfish from the filter...I'd do a massive (50%) water change.

 

[WILDER]

Bad water quality can cause erratic swimming but if a fish had a white powder on it it sounds like your tank has parasites.
Velvet can show itself like the fish has been dusted in talc.
Whitespot looks like the fish has been sprinkled in salt. The spots will be the size of grain of salt.
If whitespot left untreated the spots can start to join up to form a patch.

 

[Jazzzz]

Did you cycle the tank or just leave it a week with the filter on and add fish.