Ive had my tank for about 2 years. I had no idea what I was doing a first and just added a bunch of fish and thats that. I then read on here about cycling and testing( didnt know to much, I just thought you fed em and they looked pretty). So I did multi water changes and finally got all tests to normal. Now when I clean the tank, there is so much debris in the gravel, I bought a gravel vac, but it is bad. Am I trying to make my tank to clean? Is this debris normal under your gravel? or do you change the gravel every few years? Also algae has become a problem it is covering the gravel( maybe I am picking up loose pieces of algae?) and on the glass. I didnt want to add any more fish and due to the problems, but I had one neon and one zebra danio who needed some company, so I bought 3 more of each. One tetra disappeared the first night as well as two zebra danio. Well the danios were found floating the next day actually. Now I havent tested the water in a while just did water changes, to be honest about every two weeks. I sorta gave up on the idea of having a nice aquarium. So, my tank is 35 gallons, I have one angel fish, 4 tetras, 2 zebras, and two corys, atleast I think they are corys, they are small. I did a water change yesterday and bought a new test kit. The ammonia was zero, nitrites zero and nitrates zero. I had read that 40 or less is good for nitrates, is 0 to low or is that good? Another good piece of info is that I had a mollie and two danios die a while ago of excessive bloating. They looked pregnant but they were actually dying,, I forgot the name of what is what called that someone told me. Im just trying to list everything possible, maybe that is related. Lastly, I hope I am not hurting the tank by doing this but my filter says to change the filter pad, when water starts to come out from around the intake part.Happens around every month, is this to excessive should I but a better one? my filter is a Whisper 40. When I do this I just change the pad, not sure if this affects the tank. I thought I heard something about this can cause the tank to recycle again. Well there it is that should be about it, if anyone can help me I would appreciate it I would like to have a tank that I enjoy not spend all the time stressing over! thanks
New Fish Die In My Tank
- Thread starter stivhixon
- Start date
eschaton
Fishaholic
Sounds like your tank itself is fine (aside from the algae problem, which is really cosmetic). The tank is totally cycled. You're dechlorinating your water right?
Your tank also isn't massively overstocked, which is a pretty rare thing for newbies.
The most likely possibility with the missing Tetra is the Angelfish ate it (Neons are the natural prey of Angels in the wild). I'm not sure as to the Danios.
My most likely conclusion is you're buying your fish from a big chain store like Petco though. If you buy from those stores you are getting sick, stressed fish to begin with.
Your tank also isn't massively overstocked, which is a pretty rare thing for newbies.
The most likely possibility with the missing Tetra is the Angelfish ate it (Neons are the natural prey of Angels in the wild). I'm not sure as to the Danios.
My most likely conclusion is you're buying your fish from a big chain store like Petco though. If you buy from those stores you are getting sick, stressed fish to begin with.
thats funny because I did get them at Petco or Petland, one of those. Trust me the tank WAS overstocked, but I havent put any fish in there for two years, so we were fed up alittle bit with the bad luck so we were not going to put anymore in there. Maybe the new ones were just stressed from being at Petco and the old ones had a disease that spread. Like I said about the ones with the huge bloated stomache. Oh well I guess Ill just test the water weekly and then atleast I will know its not the water. thanks
Christine1014
Fish Crazy
If you're only cleaning twice a week, you're definitely going to get a ton of stuff out of your gravel. I vac and do a 25-30% water change every week. You'll still get lots of stuff out even on a weekly basis though!
As for your algae, is your tank in an area where it gets direct sun, or are you leaving the light on for more than 8-10 hours a day? Too much light is a definite cause of algae. Like Eschaton said, though, it's not really bad for the fish, just not nice to look at!
As for your nitrates... 0 is odd. You don't really see that in a cycled tank. When you did your water change, did you remember to add water conditioner / dechlorinator? If not, you *could* have wiped out your biological filter with the chlorine. (I don't think you can wipe out the biological filter by changing the Whisper filter cartridge though... there should be enough bacteria in your gravel and stuff to sustain you while more builds up on the filter cartridge. Back when I had a smaller tank with a Whisper, I changed my filter cartridges about every other month and never really had any problems. I could be entirely wrong on this & just have been lucky, though!) Another possibility is you bought a test kit that doesn't work well for nitrates. The tests with the little dip strips are notoriously inaccurate. A liquid test works best. (a bunch of us here use Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Master Test Kit)
Good luck!
As for your algae, is your tank in an area where it gets direct sun, or are you leaving the light on for more than 8-10 hours a day? Too much light is a definite cause of algae. Like Eschaton said, though, it's not really bad for the fish, just not nice to look at!
As for your nitrates... 0 is odd. You don't really see that in a cycled tank. When you did your water change, did you remember to add water conditioner / dechlorinator? If not, you *could* have wiped out your biological filter with the chlorine. (I don't think you can wipe out the biological filter by changing the Whisper filter cartridge though... there should be enough bacteria in your gravel and stuff to sustain you while more builds up on the filter cartridge. Back when I had a smaller tank with a Whisper, I changed my filter cartridges about every other month and never really had any problems. I could be entirely wrong on this & just have been lucky, though!) Another possibility is you bought a test kit that doesn't work well for nitrates. The tests with the little dip strips are notoriously inaccurate. A liquid test works best. (a bunch of us here use Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Master Test Kit)
Good luck!
One thing that doesn't sound quite right is your nitrate reading. If your tank is cycling normally which it should be after 2 years, you should always have some nitrate, even after water changes unless the algae is using it all up. How long do you have your lights on each day and do you have live plants? How often do you feed them? You said you have had the tank for 2 years so you aren't a newbie and I'm sure know that excess lighting and food are prime causes of algae.
I agree with eschaton about the neon. Most likely he became dinner for the angel (how big is the angel?). As for the fish you bought, as also mentioned, a lot (but not all) of the chain stores have diseases in their tank. I don' think that is your problem or the disease most likely would have spread to the other fish. But it's possible. Did you acclimate them well? Sometimes there is a big difference in the pH of the water they came from (what's in the bag you brought them home in) and the pH of you tank so it takes a lengthy acclimation period to get them used to the difference. It's also better to quarantine them for 2 to 4 weeks before you put them into your established tank just in case they are carrying a disease or parasite.
What type filter do you have? You need to do a really good gravel vac and clean up as much of the debris as possible. If your gravel vac won't pull it up, try taking the actual end off and just using the hose. You will be amazed at the suction you get. Just don't get it too close to the gravel (or fish) or you will suck it up too. It will also suck the algae up if you can break it loose with your hands.
If the algae problem is really bad and especially if it happens to be blue green algae, you may have to completely clean the tank. That may be your best bet. Take everything out, clean it good, put in new gravel or sand (waste stays on top of the sand so it is much easier to remove with the gravel vac) and start over. Just be sure you keep the filters wet so that you won't lose your bacteria colony.
Edit: I forgot about the filter pack. Only change it when it becomes too worn and raged to function. Just lightly rinse it in old tank water when you do your water changes. Changing it means tossing a lot of your bacteria in the trash. Even when I do change my packs, I dump the ceramic media (I don't use carbon) from the old pack into the new one so I'm only throwing away the pack and not my bio-media.
I agree with eschaton about the neon. Most likely he became dinner for the angel (how big is the angel?). As for the fish you bought, as also mentioned, a lot (but not all) of the chain stores have diseases in their tank. I don' think that is your problem or the disease most likely would have spread to the other fish. But it's possible. Did you acclimate them well? Sometimes there is a big difference in the pH of the water they came from (what's in the bag you brought them home in) and the pH of you tank so it takes a lengthy acclimation period to get them used to the difference. It's also better to quarantine them for 2 to 4 weeks before you put them into your established tank just in case they are carrying a disease or parasite.
What type filter do you have? You need to do a really good gravel vac and clean up as much of the debris as possible. If your gravel vac won't pull it up, try taking the actual end off and just using the hose. You will be amazed at the suction you get. Just don't get it too close to the gravel (or fish) or you will suck it up too. It will also suck the algae up if you can break it loose with your hands.
If the algae problem is really bad and especially if it happens to be blue green algae, you may have to completely clean the tank. That may be your best bet. Take everything out, clean it good, put in new gravel or sand (waste stays on top of the sand so it is much easier to remove with the gravel vac) and start over. Just be sure you keep the filters wet so that you won't lose your bacteria colony.
Edit: I forgot about the filter pack. Only change it when it becomes too worn and raged to function. Just lightly rinse it in old tank water when you do your water changes. Changing it means tossing a lot of your bacteria in the trash. Even when I do change my packs, I dump the ceramic media (I don't use carbon) from the old pack into the new one so I'm only throwing away the pack and not my bio-media.
Rillan
Fish Fanatic
Mate I know people probabily wont agree with this but I do a 30% water change every month. I was told to by my girlfriends dad whos been keeping fish for 20 years now. 
It sounds like you are doing everything right though.
And with those floting dianos of yours, your angelfish might be the killer.
Did they have their bellies missing because if they did then the angelfish took them out. It happened with my neons and siamese fighter. I know they are completly different fish but im taking size differences into concideration.
It sounds like you are doing everything right though.
And with those floting dianos of yours, your angelfish might be the killer.
Did they have their bellies missing because if they did then the angelfish took them out. It happened with my neons and siamese fighter. I know they are completly different fish but im taking size differences into concideration.
Unless you're running an undergravel filter, you can go ahead and clean the gravel. There is only a minimal amount of beneficial bacteria present in the substrate of tanks with HOB and canister filters. The bacteria live where there is water flow to bring them food (ammonia) and there will be very little flow in the substrate. I don't think you can get it too clean.
tmack
Fish Crazy
I agree 0 nitrates doesn't sound like it could be true. If you're using the API solution test (or any solution test) for nitrates check out this information from API that I posted a while back:
http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=180830&hl=
You may have the same situation that I once did - no indication of nitrates in a cycled, well established tank due to a settled out test solution. Or, your test could be beyond the expiration date.
http
/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=180830&hl=You may have the same situation that I once did - no indication of nitrates in a cycled, well established tank due to a settled out test solution. Or, your test could be beyond the expiration date.
thanks for the replys. Yes I did use the liquid test with the test tubes, and the nitrates said zero. Thats why I was curious on if I have been running a tank for two years that has not fully cycled, if that is possible! I dont know how to explain my filter but it is a Whisper 40 filter. It has a rough sponge that you put in first, then you buy the other carbon filled netting I guess you would call it. So usually I have to replace the carbon filter sponge, and I usually just replace it. The instructions on the filter package say that when the water is coming back out of the filter on the tube side, that means that the "Bio-Bag" or disposable filter cartridge is clogged. I usually feed them twice a day, just a pinch, and I add a spirulating disk for the bottom feeders probably twice a week. And yes, I have had the tank for 2 years but I am DEFINATELY still a newbie,lol!! I have no live plants, and I leave the lights on in the tank from 12 p.m until 8 p.m. Maybe I should wait until this weekend and take another water test and post that and see if nitrates have changed. thanks again for the help maybe what I added here will help you help me!! and I will post my next water results. Thanks again!
OohFeeshy
It's only forever; not long at all...
Whatever is the problem, it's going to be easy to sort. The tank is cycled, which is the main thing. I think a good option would be to do a 'proper' clean out when you have a spare couple of hours- this will mean the tank is completely clean, all potential problems are cleared and you can get the tank you want.
Start by finding somewhere to put the fish for a few hours. There's only a few fish, so a plastic storage container or similar would be fine. Fill it up, put the fish in, move over the heater and filter. Then, take out the gravel. Since you have cories, and the gravel tends to get full of dirt, it might be a good idea to replace it with sand. Many people find it looks better and the fish prefer it (it's the best substrate for bottomdwellers), plus dirt stays on the top where it's easy to clean up before it causes a problem. But before that, empty out all the water, which by now will probably be dirty from all the muck in the gravel. Give the tank a bit of a scrub to get rid of algae, water marks etc, then refill, dechlor, put in (washed) substrate. Give the filter media a rinse in the old tank water and put it and the heater back in. Add decor- maybe this will give you the oppertunity to try live plants or something new. Then slowly acclimate the fish, as if you had just bought them.
Of course, that's just one option, but it does sort out a lot of problems with minimal effort.
Start by finding somewhere to put the fish for a few hours. There's only a few fish, so a plastic storage container or similar would be fine. Fill it up, put the fish in, move over the heater and filter. Then, take out the gravel. Since you have cories, and the gravel tends to get full of dirt, it might be a good idea to replace it with sand. Many people find it looks better and the fish prefer it (it's the best substrate for bottomdwellers), plus dirt stays on the top where it's easy to clean up before it causes a problem. But before that, empty out all the water, which by now will probably be dirty from all the muck in the gravel. Give the tank a bit of a scrub to get rid of algae, water marks etc, then refill, dechlor, put in (washed) substrate. Give the filter media a rinse in the old tank water and put it and the heater back in. Add decor- maybe this will give you the oppertunity to try live plants or something new. Then slowly acclimate the fish, as if you had just bought them.
Of course, that's just one option, but it does sort out a lot of problems with minimal effort.
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