My Fish Keep Dying

[michaela]

Hi, I am new to this and would be grateful for any help and advice. I have a 90litre tropical fishtank which did contain 3 Gouramis, 3 Neon Tetras, 6 Zebra thingies (not sure of the name) 3 dragon head guppies and 2 weather loaches (I know these are usually coldwater but on advice from a tropical fish shop I was told that they could withstand the temperature rise and they have thrived at these temperatures for about 18 months). About 6 weeks ago I started to lose my fish, I noticed a white scum on the surface of the water, I skimmed most of it off and did a 20% water change. The scum returned the next day. I took a sample of water to my local fish shop who said they had no idea what was causing the scum but my water was quite acidic (PH5.5). They advised putting coral rock into the tank to raise the PH, I did this however my fish continued to die, they all seemed to spend a lot of time at the top of the tank before they died. After losing 7 fish, last week I went to another shop where the chappie said that the scum was protein and as my powerhead wasn't powerful enough to disperse it this was my problem. He was also amazed that I had been told to put coral rock in. He tested the water sample and said that the PH had increased and just to keep doing regular water changes, I also bought a new powerhead. Since then I have lost two more fish and one of the weather loaches. Can I do anything else?. The weather loach was 5 years old, maybe it had just got too old?. I would like to buy another weather loach but I'm not sure whether I can put it in a tropical tank, even though the other one is in there. All suggestions to both questions would be appreciated, thanks is advance

 

[IMCL85]

amonia and nitrite reading in ur tank? Its not adviced to up ur ph doing in ur case. Because ammonia is more poison at higher lvl ph then at 5.5 acid ph. Ur LFS guy isn't really doing anything but killing ur fish. Right now just buy a testkit of ur own and test ur water. With every week of 25% water change there shouldn't be any problem on keeping most of the tropical fish and you should avoid to over feed and use tank water to wash ur filter media and you should be fine. I dont listen to much my LFS ppl. Like they tell me, I should lower ur ph etc etc for ur discus, but acturally they are just trying to sell product to u that acturally have nothing to do with ur fish health. Higher ph to lower ph have nothing to do with ur discus health except in breeding time that I will lower the ph but which never occour probably I lag of female .


Any ways good to ya
Jack

 

[timmystood]

Like IMCL85 said - buy a test kit. I would do water changes every day, or every other day until you know your readings and everything has calmed down.
However, more simple things like disease could also be killing your fish.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I agree with the above advice, get your own test kits for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.
Ammonia and nitrites should always be 0 although these stats can be quite unstable when tanks are set up so doing water changes with dechlorinator(removes chlorine and other harmful toxins from tap water) on a regular weekly basis or whenever these 2 stats rise above 0 will help lower them. Both ammonia and nitrites are lethal to fish and even the smallest amounts can kill your fish, you should read up on new tank sydrome in the pinned articles in the beginners section as you have quite a stocked tank considering how new it is and may be suffering from new tank syndrome.
Nitrates should be kept under 40 but you should have at least some as they are an indicator of a healthy tank.
Never wash the filter sponge in tap water(just do it in water from water changes and just remove the gunky bits- don't clean it more often than once every 10days) and never replace the sponge itself as this is where your beneficial bacteria capable of breaking down ammonia, nitrites and nitrates lives and without you beneficial bacteria the tank goes through a process of cycling(which yours is likely going through) where tank stats are very unstable(but will eventually become stable). You should do at least a 20-30% water change in your tank once a week if it has no water quality issues, but if you need to do a large water change never take out more than 60% of water a day.
If you follow these basic steps your tank will start to get much better very soon

Did the fish that died show any odd symtoms/behavior before death apart from spending long periods of time at the top of the tank i.e frayed/eroded fins, gasping/rapid breathing, cottom growths or discoloration on fish skin etc etc?

Also i would take the coral rock, ph fluctuations can be very stressful for fish and your fish are certainly better off without fluctuations in ph and the coral rock may continue to alter your ph for a long time to come.

 

[michaela]

I agree with the above advice, get your own test kits for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.
Ammonia and nitrites should always be 0 although these stats can be quite unstable when tanks are set up so doing water changes with dechlorinator(removes chlorine and other harmful toxins from tap water) on a regular weekly basis or whenever these 2 stats rise above 0 will help lower them. Both ammonia and nitrites are lethal to fish and even the smallest amounts can kill your fish, you should read up on new tank sydrome in the pinned articles in the beginners section as you have quite a stocked tank considering how new it is and may be suffering from new tank syndrome.
Nitrates should be kept under 40 but you should have at least some as they are an indicator of a healthy tank.
Never wash the filter sponge in tap water(just do it in water from water changes and just remove the gunky bits- don't clean it more often than once every 10days) and never replace the sponge itself as this is where your beneficial bacteria capable of breaking down ammonia, nitrites and nitrates lives and without you beneficial bacteria the tank goes through a process of cycling(which yours is likely going through) where tank stats are very unstable(but will eventually become stable). You should do at least a 20-30% water change in your tank once a week if it has no water quality issues, but if you need to do a large water change never take out more than 60% of water a day.
If you follow these basic steps your tank will start to get much better very soon

Did the fish that died show any odd symtoms/behavior before death apart from spending long periods of time at the top of the tank i.e frayed/eroded fins, gasping/rapid breathing, cottom growths or discoloration on fish skin etc etc?

Also i would take the coral rock, ph fluctuations can be very stressful for fish and your fish are certainly better off without fluctuations in ph and the coral rock may continue to alter your ph for a long time to come.

Thanks very much to everyone for your advice. The tank is not a new set up, it has been set up for over a year now and this problem has ony just started in the last 6 weeks. I have an under gravel filter and a power head, so I don't have a sponge to clean. I had the water tested yesterday and the amonia and ph were fine, nitrates and nitrites were a little high so tonight I plan to do a 40% water change with a further 20% daily for the next few days (using de-chlorinator). The white scum on the surface of the water has returned does anyone no what I can do to get rid of it?. I lost a neon tetra this morning (the last one) and the other fish don't look particulary good. I was informed that water in my area (I live in Plymouth, Devon) comes from various water stations and is often low in salt and calcium. The scum is bothering me the most as I believe it is the cause of my fish dying, I am at my wits end, please help!! (the fish did not show any signs of distrss prior to dying apart from what I mentioned in my original post)

 

[reg2k2]

Not sure what the white scum is...although, it may well be inhibiting oxygen from entering the water. I've seen posts about removing oily film w/ a paper towel...maybe that would help?

What is the pH of your tap? Unless it's 5.5 (not likely), I'd leave the coral in.

I have nothing against ugf's, but they do need to be coupled w/ another filter...to handle the physical debris...I use a HOB.

 

[blue_ram]

Does the scum look like thin oily film? If so, it's only bacteria and other organic film. Nothing to worry about. Mollies like to suck on them for some reason. I don't have film problem anymore.

What's the pH of your tap water? If it's more than 0.5 over the aquarium, your undergravel filter (UGF) may be clogged and is creating toxins amid the anerobic conditions and all that crud that gets collect in there. The evidence is consistant with the falling pH (I don't like UGF for this reason). Move the fish to a bucket or something and try cleaning out the UGF. Remember to acclimate the fish back to the pH of the tap water!

If you want to keep the UGF, run it in reverse flow mode, and get a power filter as well. This combo works great.

 

[michaela]

Thanks to everyone for your advice. I haven't tested the tap water, perhaps this should be my next step. The scum is like an oily film. I was able to remove a lot of it by turning the gravel cleaner syphon upside down. I only have 6 fish left and haven't lost anymore in the last couple of days. I am doing regular water changes and hope that this may solve the problem. I am reluctant to clean the UGF as this would be like staring again with a new tank and my poor fish have been stressed enough already, should I lose the lot I obviously will start again with a new set up. Once again thank you to everyone who replied to my post.

 

[Barry P]

I had a similar problem with my tank, nornal water levels, normal temp, but a white scum just on top, i got rid of it with a ploywool filter.!!!