Old tank- New tank

[vmckague]

Hello new here and I guess new at fish keeping. I have had a 55 gallon tank for about 10 years and didn't really have much trouble with it. I kind of lost interest in it and let it go and most of the fist died over a three or four year period. Well I thought it was about time to get it up and running again so tore it down all the way and started from scratch. Cleaned out inside with vinager and put in new gravel. Use old filter but added new filter pads. Also used old drift wood. Let tank set for about a week to get clorine out and added four moleys to get the tank started. Waited about two more weeks and added 5 more molleys. Two more weeks and added 5 molleys and two tetras. The tank had been up and running for about 1 month when I had one fish die. Didn't think to much about it and went on. Then about a week ago my fist started dieing and within 3 days all are dead but 1 tetra and one molley. I kept a close eye on my water and the nitrates and nitrites never got high. Also checked the amonia and it was fine. After the firat fist died I added salt to the tank per directions on box. I had added some plants also about the time the fish started dieing. I thought maybe ik as the fish were rubbing on wood and swimming in the running water from the filter. I never did see any white spots on the fish. I set the water temp up to 80 degrees and have been using Quick cure for 6 days. But even after all of this last molley looks sick this morning. Any ideas what to do. I have lost 19 fish in a span of 5 days.

 

[breezer40]

First off to the forum vmckague

Ok you said that your let the water sit in the tank for a week to get the clorine out but did you add a declorinator that will also eliminate the chloramine? Ten years ago chloramine didn't exist in the tap water but now it does and this is as bad for the fish as clorine.

I kept a close eye on my water and the nitrates and nitrites never got high

Nitrites should be be 0 otherwise your tank has not cycled which would cause the fish to die. It would be useful to know what the Ammonia, Nirites, Nitrates, PH and GH are for your tank.

I thought maybe ik as the fish were rubbing on wood and swimming in the running water from the filter. I never did see any white spots on the fish.

Always get a positive diagnoses before treating any sick fish..if there were no spots then chances are something else was causing the irritation.

 

[3fsh]

I kept a close eye on my water and the nitrates and nitrites never got high. Also checked the amonia and it was fine.

Ammonia should be zero. Nitrites should be 0. Nitrates should be under 20. If there is any ammonia or nitrite in your tank, that is what's causing the flicking. It's burning their skin. (Unless you actually see something on them, it's most likely your bad water quality that's killing them.) Have you tested your tap water for ammonia and nitrates? It may have chloramines in it (ammonia + chlorine) that didn't get removed by "letting the water sit for a week". I recommend the brand "Stress Coat" for removing Chlorine and Choramines. It has aloe vera in it which is great for their slime coats.

 

[sinistral]

Let tank set for about a week to get clorine out and added four moleys to get the tank started. Waited about two more weeks and added 5 more molleys. Two more weeks and added 5 molleys and two tetras.

[snip]

I have lost 19 fish in a span of 5 days.

Sorry to hear about your experiences

Just one point...I count 16 fish that you added, but you mention that you've lost 19. Did you add others that you didn't include in your original post?

Regardless of that, I'd wager that a lot of the problems were due to overstocking too quickly without a mature filter (in other words, the dreaded New Tank Syndrome-- there's a FAQ on this in the FAQ section of the forum). Mollies require quite a bit more room than the average tetra. I'd also guess that adding salt and medications might also have added to the osmotic stress of the fish.

EDIT: Here is a link to that FAQ I mentioned.

 

[vmckague]

The Nitrite is less than .5ppm The nitrate is below 40 ppm. The ammonia is 0. I added Tetra Aquasafe to remove chlorine and also did this at partial water changes. I also added Tetra Easybalance at startup. I kept the water temp at 78 at start up and didn't raise it untill I added the quick cure. I raised it to around 80 while I am adding the quick cure. The water looks clear and the plants are doing great. Run lights about 14 hours a day. I can't think of anything else at this time but please ask away. I would like to start adding fish again but I'm afriad they would just die. I really don't want to start the tank all over again cause what ever is in there might just start again. Thanks for the help. One more thing about the 3rd day after starting the tank the water turned real cloudy. I read this was normal.

 

[3fsh]

If there is any nitrite in the tank, then it either hasn't finished cycling yet or it is going through a mini-cycle. Do you have test strips or the glass vials that you put drops in? IMO, the test strips are garbage and don't give very accurate results. (Speaking from experience...) I would invest in a good quality test kit. Even though they are expensive, you will get much more use out of it and very accurate results.

I would not add any more fish to your tank until you figure out what is going on.

 

[vmckague]

Sorry I miss counted on the fish. At the peak I had 21 fish. I had a cat fish and he was one of the first to die. I took him back to the store and got a different one . After three days he was fine. I kept a close eye on him and when I turned the light off on the third night he looked and acted fine but the next morning he was dead. That also seems to be the amount of days that a fish starts to act sick before he is dead. TIA

 

[vmckague]

I have been using test strips and yes they are hard to figure out. Any sugestions on a kind or brand of test kit? TIA

 

[newbie_alicia]

One thing you could do is get some hardy starter fish. Danios work good just get a few to help your tank get cycled . You have a big tank though so there might be a better fish to use as a starter.