New To The Forum... 6 Week Old Tank

tinkerbell_stars_1987 · Jun 28, 2009

hello im new to this forum! when i first got my tank i got 1 dalmation molly and 3 platies (jason howard, gary and mark)everything was going well and i loved how playful they were the man in the pet shop said to wait 2 weeks until i got new fish so i waited 3 (just to make sure) then my pareant got me 2 more mollies (max and paddy) my brothers tetras were killing his fancy guppies so i adopted them to safety ( after one died) the other 3 died in my tank within 3 days of each other . everything was fine for about 2 weeks and i got my plec (young kenny) then 2 weeks later i got 2 bronze corys (ant and dec) and 2 male platys (julian and noel) then i noticed one of my platies had a sort of red mark on him so i treated for fin rot he died a day later then one of my other platies had the same symptoms i moved him to a hospital tank and treated him he died 2 days later everything was fine for about 2 weeks so i got a clown loach (old gregg) and he was magnificent i did a water change and filter clean out and my dad spilt the filter in the tank a couple of days later my loach got white spot and a molly got ill i put her in the hospital tank 4 days later she died. without a warning my 2 male platies died (no marks or anything on them) a day later my loach died then the next night my other 2 mollies died so i set up my small tank and cycled it i have transferred my fish into the tank 1 platy 2 corys and a plec did i do something wrong? i got all the fish from the same shop they told me mollies n platys are the easiest (im not to kean on the very small fish) i am currently cycling my big tank after a good clean i dont want to be doing something wrong and not know and cause more fish to be ill and my corys want their air curtain back in their big tank ( they love to play in it its wicked!) sorry about the long winded version i just didnt want to miss anything any help would be much appreciated

thank you mand xx

rabbut · Jun 28, 2009

It sounds, at face value, to be one of two things. Ammonia/Nitrite poisoning or an internal bacterial infection. We can get closer to the likely issue with two questions fairly easily :good:

How did you clean the filter? (what exactly did you do, what was cleaned with what and how)

How did you cycle the tank? (what addatives did you use, how long did it take e.t.c)

:hi:

to tff
Rabbut

tinkerbell_stars_1987 · Jun 28, 2009

my dad lifted the filter out of the tank vertically ( he is an experienced fish keeper but i dont think he was familiar with the stingray filter) and all of a sudden the tank was dirty as if all the dirt had fallen in the tank then we took the filter to bits and washed it is the water which was syphoned from the tank.
my dad set up my tank after the water was put in we used the treatments which came with the new tank the cycle and the water safeguard then we left it 2 weeks and i got my molly and my 3 platies xx

rabbut · Jun 30, 2009

Right, a Stingray filter may explains a likely caurse of your issues.

Can you get water stats for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and pH ASAP please, preferably from a liquid drop test kit.

The issue is that Stringray filters use Zeolite. This effectively starves the tank's beneficial bacteria of Ammonia, so they do not multiply, hence the tank does not cycle. After a time, the Zeolite saturates ("gets full up") and stops taking in Ammonia. There is no bacteria available to take up the Ammonia instead, so you get a big Ammonia spike (usually, as most peolpe are fully stocked at this point thinking all is well and the filter is cycled) that is highly toxic, and kills all the fish. It's not your fault if this is the case, it's just a really useless filter and filter design :sad:

Anyhow, water test readings will give the information needed to confirm or refute that theory :nod:

If the LFS (Local Fish Shop/Store) tests the water, don't accept "it's fine" as a result, as they often lie or the staff know too little to know otherwise (usually it's hard to tell which), get numerical results for them and post them back here :good:

Regardless of whether or not the Zeolite theory to your issue holds up, I'd highly recomend replacing the Stingray with a better internal. I personally like the Fluval + range, but most filters after that are more or less the same :good:

If you keep the Stingray, you may want/need to opt to modify it somewhat :sad: