New Fish All Died

[sellis60]

please help i have had my tank up and running about a month now been having the water tested every week and is always perfect i have been adding new fish a few at a time but on friday when it was time that i could add some more i bought 6 female guppies and 2 dwarf gouramies added these and within 2 days they have all died all my other fish are perfectlly fine
when i complained the pet shop they said my amonia level was slighty high and to do a 50% water change which i did. but still the new fish continued to dye but old fish still fine ??? i dont understand is this normal and will my other fish be ok ??? please help i dont wont them to die i have got attached to them and they all have names now so would be very sad if anything happend sorry its a bit long

 

[helterskelter]

What was the reading of the ammonia levels?

Firstly you should never buy a tank and add fish strait away!! you need to give the tank time to allow good bacteria to grow, these remove the toxins produced by the fish like ammonia, if this is not allowed to happen then the ammonia can get to a lethal level very quickly.

I'm suspecting you fish have gotten use to the small levels but the new fish was not use to it so suffered from it

I'll say dont add any fish fro 2 weeks and check ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels if these are safe levels then just add a couple of fish at a time to allow the good bacteria time to gorw to the new fish.

 

[sellis60]

i had set my tank up and left with no fish for 3 weeks then started adding them the ammonia was 2.5

 

[stucolls]

ammonia should be 0!!!

 

[DarkEntity]

i had set my tank up and left with no fish for 3 weeks then started adding them the ammonia was 2.5

You didnt cycle the tank. read the article on cycling. The water killed your fish, Ammonia should be Zero all the time as should Nitrites. Nitrates should be under 20.

 

[-germ-]

Sorry for your losses...

but still the new fish continued to dye but old fish still fine ???

Tank hasn't been cycled, while cycling the tank with fish in (bad) keep up as good a maintenance regime as possible, when i went through this (via stupidity and ignorance) i performed daily tests with a liquid tester, about 2 thirds water changes a day (gradually decreasing with time) 20% moning, noon and night and also used a product called SeaChem Prime which as well as acting as a dechlorinator supposedly detoxifies ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.
IMNSHO it works, i didn't lose a single fish in my cycling tanks.
Rack your brains for any symptoms/odd behaviours you may have missed, these would help other posters.
For example; did the fish spend alot of time around the surface of the tank?

TBH i'd return the original fish to the LFS to keep them out of harms way.

 

[Aphotic Phoenix]

First, it would be a good idea to get a liquid test kit for yourself. This allows you to do your own tests, and if you ever need help we (or any other forum) are going to asking "what are your exact levels of Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate?". Also, having these tests can help you diagnose some problems yourself early on.

Secondly...running a tank without a source of ammonia doesn't help grow a biological filter (aka cycling). Fishy cycling is when the fish produce the ammonia in their waste, and Fishless cycling is when you add a chemical source of ammonia or something that will produce ammonia as it decays (like fish food or shrimp) for the bacteria to eat. Fishless cycling is not only safer for the fish, but requires virtually no water changes until it is done. Furthermore, the colony of bacteria that consumes harmful chemicals from waste products can only grow as large as the food source...so if the tank is cycled to only support two fish, and you put in 5 more the biological filter will be overwhelmed because it's more food than it can eat! This is why it's important to stock slowly even after your tank has cycled.

If you want to keep the fish you have now as stated before you will need to test the water at least once per day (more is better) and change the water every time ammonia or nitrites get too high.
Keep:
Ammonia < .25 ppm
NitrItes < .25 ppm
NitrAtes < 20 ppm (if possible)

 

[ArauraDiscus]

Just letting your tank sit does absolutely nothing. So many new fish keepers make this mistake. You need to add a source of ammonia.

 

[Jabba]

Look up fishless cycling - go find yourself some Jeyes Kleen Off ammonia (mostly water but 7% ammonia).

Ignore those that say use a certain 'sacrificial' fish to help cycle by providing ammonia - it is cruel to the fish.

Define running too - do you have any kind of filter??