Now With Test Pics!new Fish Added To My Tank Die Within 24 Hours..

[MrsM]

just about to test my water again and im still struggling to get my head around this...if my ammonia and nitrite are both zero and my nitrate is 20...how come new fish die?

 

[Aquascaper]

Your filter will be 'cycled' to deal with the current level of waste being produced in the tank. When you add a new fish the bioload increases and there's a lag before the filter can accommodate the increase. When done slowly, new additions cause an increase in ammonia which is quickly dealt with (and not usually picked up on testing) but adding a number of fish at once or in quick succession swamps the filter and causes a mini-cycle. This mini-cycle can produce enough ammonia/nitrites to cause fish problems, the newest fish being the most susceptible.

 

[MrsM]

ok, so when i added the 3 new danios, the filter couldnt deal with their bioload, so how do i overcome this problem? add fewer fish or wait until my filter is more established? and thanks, i know im a pain

 

[Aquascaper]

Any new additions should be added in small numbers and spread over weeks not days to allow your filter time to recover from the increased bioload.

This is all assuming that this was the problem, I can't guarantee it 100%.

There's always the issue of acclimatisation - fish should be from water as close to your own as possible in terms of parameters, temperature adjusted fully then introduced to the tank water gradually before being removed from the bag and released. This will reduce any shock from changes in water parameters between the LFS tanks and yours. If possible get a sample of your LFS water to compare before buying fish.

 

[MrsM]

i got a sample of water from the lfs, his nitrate was a bit higher than mine 40ppm, id say mine was 20ppm id say(at the most)...i floated the bag for 20 mins, then opened the bag, added some of my water every 10 mins until the bag was almost full, then i emptied 1/3 of the bag water and started to add more of my tank water until the bag was full again, then let them swim out of the bag, my temp is around 24-25...when the new fish started to hover at the surface the water was starting to cloud up abit so i tested it..ammonia and nitrite both 0.... readings are like that today too...amm and nitrite 0 and nitrate between 10-20ppm....

oh and the acclimatisation took around 2 hrs...slowly i was told, so thats what i did..lights out and curtains drawn..no food...

 

[Aquascaper]

Sounds like you did everything perfectly and the LFS water is not a huge problem. Do you know their pH?

 

[MrsM]

well its right around the corner from my house so im guessing its the same as mine?? never tested their water i dont have rocks etc just pea gravel and plastic aquatic deco...

 

[snazy]

Try a different acclimation method. 2 hours could be too long sometimes. Also, when floating the bag, did you tie up the bag again or did you just hang it using the tank cover or something as that coud lead to lack of oxygen and you could have been slowly suffocating the fish.

Get a bucket and an air tubing long enough to put one end in the tank and the other in the bucket. Then do 3-4 knots on the air tube so water from the main tank only drips very slowly into the bucket, you can either tie the knots more or loosen them up to achieve the effect. Poor all the water and fish in the still emty bucket and then put the air tube to drip slowly water from your tank. Ideally, you should test the Ph of the water in the bag and your tank's Ph. Drip water from the tank slowly into the bucket until the Ph equals in both tank and bucket, take out water from the bucket if you have too from time to time, you will take out any possible ammonia that came with the water from the bag. If the Ph difference is great, like more than 1ppm difference, dicrease the drip so it adds water very slow. Put a towel over the bucket to keep the fish in the dark for less stress. That should take an hour, hour and a half the most as you don't want the water in the bucket to freeze if you are doing it in room with very low temperature and drip acclimate for a very long time because the temperature of the water in the bucket will not manage to equal that of the tank. I normally don't do over an hour and a half but my room is warm enough. I use a 16litre bucket which normally once full is about enough time and takes an hour. I did it longer with online delivery once because the Ph took longer to equal. Then net the fish out.
This way there should be enough oxygen for the fish, also the water from the tank that is added equals the temperature of the tank the more water is filled and they slowly adjust to the new mineral content of your own water including Ph. This also dilutes any ammonia that maybe in the bag with the fish instead of keeping them in it for 30 minutes while floating. Normally, the fish start swimming ok in the bucket already, nearly happy before I put them in the tank.
I've never had problems this way. If you really have a cold room where the water dripped is not fast enough to keep the temperature in the bucket, you can sort this out with a spare small heater adjusted to the same temperature as the tank water.

 

[MrsM]

tried various ways...(ive had 4/5 new batches of fish die on me within a day) tried floating for 20 mins..leaving bag open and adding some of my water and after another 10 mins adding more water after a futher 10 mins..netting or letting them swim out...tried floating and then instantly adding too...i dont think climatising the fish is the prob. i cant have got it wrong that many times??...previously i have added new fish...tank uncycled though.....and they lasted a few weeks??? why all of a sudden are they almost immediately dying?? thanks all

 

[MrsM]

just read up on ph shock...best get another sample from lfs and test my tank....do you think alot of plastic in my tank would effect ph...or even the gravel i used...its all proper aquaruim deco n gravel....

Try a different acclimation method. 2 hours could be too long sometimes. Also, when floating the bag, did you tie up the bag again or did you just hang it using the tank cover or something as that coud lead to lack of oxygen and you could have been slowly suffocating the fish.

Get a bucket and an air tubing long enough to put one end in the tank and the other in the bucket. Then do 3-4 knots on the air tube so water from the main tank only drips very slowly into the bucket, you can either tie the knots more or loosen them up to achieve the effect. Poor all the water and fish in the still emty bucket and then put the air tube to drip slowly water from your tank. Ideally, you should test the Ph of the water in the bag and your tank's Ph. Drip water from the tank slowly into the bucket until the Ph equals in both tank and bucket, take out water from the bucket if you have too from time to time, you will take out any possible ammonia that came with the water from the bag. If the Ph difference is great, like more than 1ppm difference, dicrease the drip so it adds water very slow. Put a towel over the bucket to keep the fish in the dark for less stress. That should take an hour, hour and a half the most as you don't want the water in the bucket to freeze if you are doing it in room with very low temperature and drip acclimate for a very long time because the temperature of the water in the bucket will not manage to equal that of the tank. I normally don't do over an hour and a half but my room is warm enough. I use a 16litre bucket which normally once full is about enough time and takes an hour. I did it longer with online delivery once because the Ph took longer to equal. Then net the fish out.
This way there should be enough oxygen for the fish, also the water from the tank that is added equals the temperature of the tank the more water is filled and they slowly adjust to the new mineral content of your own water including Ph. This also dilutes any ammonia that maybe in the bag with the fish instead of keeping them in it for 30 minutes while floating. Normally, the fish start swimming ok in the bucket already, nearly happy before I put them in the tank.
I've never had problems this way. If you really have a cold room where the water dripped is not fast enough to keep the temperature in the bucket, you can sort this out with a spare small heater adjusted to the same temperature as the tank water.

thanks for this, i will deffo give it a try, ill try anything!!!

 

[MrsM]

got the lfs to check my ph..its the same from my tap as it is in the tank...she said hers was the same.....

 

[MrsM]

ive just been to google...(again haha) found this......Hi, I am having some trouble with my aquarium that I started 4 months ago in january. In this tank I have dealt with fin&tail rot, fungus infections, swim bladder disease, and of course cycling. I live cycled it with a few fish, but after quite a few fish dieing, I put prime and stability in. After that I would put fish in but they would slowly die from various problems. Throughout this time Ph was stable and I was doing weekyl waterchanges. also, I was overfeeding from the beginning until two weeks ago. in late february I thoguht all of my problems were over with my one fish so I picked up some more. Suprise the next day all of the fish were either dead or covered in a white thing. I thoguht oh my, I better pick up some more. within 24 hours any fish i introduced got the disease. I did some research and figured out the problem, which was solved by Mardel Coppersafe. After this, my fish were doing fine and I picked up some more.

anyone think it could be the same problem as me, so can be fixed with the meds he used?? currently googling the meds....

 

[snazy]

It's worth trying a better acclimation method as it's not only the Ph that makes the mineral content of the water.
Is there any possibility your tank is contaminated with something? Did you use soap or any detergent to wash the tank. Do you use air fresheners or deodorant in the room?

 

[MrsM]

nope no sprays, room freshners candles etc get used in the house....

i did have BGA wich i got rid of doing a 3 day blackout...i seem to have a few patches of algae again but its more "hairy" algae....thats not killing any new fish??

 

[MrsM]

ok another option is..i treated my tank with protozin for ich...lfs never told me about heat treatment(obviously)..the silicone went blue some of the tank deco was left tinged....ive just read that it can leave copper sulphate in my tank...could residue of this kill new fish??