New Fish Just Died...

[Tazzz08]

I started a new tank about a month ago, and it has now cycled:
Amm 0ppm
Nitrites 0ppm
Nirtates 10ppm
GH 350ppm
KH 390ppm
PH 8.2
Tank is 34 gallon
 
I put in 3 African cichlids,(Blood Dragon, Sunshine, and O.B.) to start small, with the thought of adding another 3 in about 2 to 3 weeks( 2 1/2 inches long), males.
 
Got them Thursday night, and didn't feed them till the next night(Friday), I wanted to let them settle in first. They all ate about 5 small pellets on Friday night, took about 2 mins. Acted and looked very normal.
 
Today, I came home to find the O.B. sitting on the bottom, kind of lifeless. No heavy breathing, then he seemed to have a hard time trying to keep himself rightside up. The were no visible signs of disease, or of a fight. He died within minutes.
 
The other 2 are acting as if nothing is wrong, swimming and checking the bottom for food. I check the water conditions again and could find nothing wrong. Is it just bad luck that I got a bad fish from the pet shop, or is someone seeing something i'm not?
 
I am taking him back to the pet shop tomorrow as they have a 7 day warranty.
 
Any thoughts??? Thank you.

 

[gmc1]

We're the fish acclimated well?

Sometimes the stress of being moved around from tank to tank etc can be too much for some fish.

 

[Ch4rlie]

How did you cycle this tank?
 
Your readings does indicate that indeed that you are cycled, you cycled pretty fast (a month) thats the only resaon I ask this.
 
And what test kit are you using for these results?
 
 
If the other fish are showing no signs of distress then it may be unikely anything to do with the cycling process, just, as gmc1 says, could be down to stress, could be down a number of things to be honest.
 
Did this fish show any other obvious signs beforehand?

 

[Tazzz08]

As far as I could tell all 3 of them looked and acted fine when I brought them home. I acclimated them by letting them sit in the bags, floating in the tank for 30 mins, then poured out the bag into a net over a bucket, then added them to the tank. Pet store said they kept their tanks at the same PH level of 8.2, as I have mine.
 
I was at work on Saturday, so I couldn't say if he was laboring all day long. I was gone for a 10 hr shift, and that's how I found him.
 
I use an API freshwater master kit, and I also use their GH and KH liquids to test for hardness.
 
I cycled the tank using Fluval boost and the fish in method. I have a Fluval 306 canister filter, which I seeded with the bio boost on more than one occasion.
 
I took readings just a minute ago:
Amm... 0ppm
Nitrites.  0ppm
Nitrates  10ppm
PH 8.2
 
The Blood Dragon and Sunshine are looking great, great color, open fins, and foraging for food.
 
I'm on my way now to pet store to get a replacement. Thank you!

 

[Ch4rlie]

All looks pretty reasonable to be honest with you. I do not have much more to add really.
 
Might just be a poor batch of fish you got unfortunately. But other than that, thats all I can think of.
 
Perhaps watch the fish at LFS closely next time, look for ANY signs / symptoms of anything amiss with the fish in their tank before you buy anything.
 
I refuse to buy any fish if I see a dead fish in the tank or in a tank nearby, if i see any flicking or damaged fins /tails etc, just walk away, there are other places to buy fish from or wait until they get a fresh batch in.

 

[gmc1]

I have had this once before and it was just pure shock for the fish I think.I had others from the same place at the time and they are still going strong.

 

[Tazzz08]

The LFS replaced the OB. But the owner did fess up and say that the last batch of OB''s were not quite right. He has had to replace more than mine. So at least I know that it wasn't from my tank that he died. The Blood Dragon and the Sunshine were both in different tanks, so I'm satisfied it was the fish. I didn't go with another OB, I instead chose a Red Fine Borli, about same length of 3 inches.

But thank you for the advice and the experiences you shared. I've kept tropical fish before, even south American cichlids, but this is my first attempt at africans, and so far it been a struggle...but I'm not giving up. They are a beautiful species!

 

[Ch4rlie]

Ah, now we have a good idea of what happened in this case.
 
Nice to have a clear answer, glad it was not your tank, did not suspect it was anyway due to he lack of clues from your water parameters and the other fish in tank behaving as normal.
 
Good of LFS willing to say that though.

 

[DustinRyanJent]

I know two years ago I bout a few new fish from a local pet store and was dumb and put the water from the bag into my tank. It was like pure poison I lost two Bala Sharks, 5 barbs and a Pelco when it was all said and done.