Please Help 5 Fish Deaths In 24 Hrs :(

[xx-miss-limber-xx]

Thankyou in advance to anyone who can help me.

Firstly I have a 60 litre (uk) tank that I have had for a few months. In the tank I had: (before 5 sadly died)

2 Pleco (one 2inch one and one very small one)
2 sailfin mollies (i think thats what they are called)
4 tiger barbs
3 green barbs
1 yellow lab cichild (my fav)
2 small white fish and one blue version of them (not sure of their correct name)
1 Gourami
1 red tailed shark
1 red jewel cichild
1 other cichlid (multicoloured stripy one i dont know the correct name for)
1 catfish

note: all my fish got along really well despite species differences and no deaths were caused by bullying or nipping by any fish.

Basicly what I did was set up the tank in the conservatory (yes I am NOW aware that was a bad idea) and it became very green, despite the algae eaters munching away at the glass. So I decided to give the tank a clean out and move it to my room where it wouldnt be in the direct sunlight.

To do this I was going to siphon out 50% of the water and put the fish in a bucket and attemp to move the tank, but it was very heavy and we could not budge it. I am not completely naieve to the care of fish and had read up on these forums that emptying the tank completely would remove healthy bacteria.

So in a complete panick i emptied the whole tank, moved it to my room and began to fill it back up with warm water from the tap.

BUT as I was filling the tank up I noticed the fresh water was becoming dirty and cloudy from the old gravel and no matter how many times I siphoned the water out and refilled it was still filthy. So then I decided to wash out the gravel and completely start over. So i washed out the gravel in tap water until the water ran clear and put it back into the tank and proceeded to fil the tank up with warm water once more. I then put back all my ornaments and plants and added tap safe stuff to remove the harmful chemicals from the water. I put back in my heater and checked that the temperature of the water was at 26degrees Celcius as it was before and put back in my filter (without washing the sponges and other filter media)

Once the tank was set up again I put back in my fish and they all seemed fine so I fed them a small ammount and left them. Later on that night I went to my room to check on the fish and to my horror my fav fish my yellow lab cichlid was laying on the bottom of the tank dead and 2 of my tiger barbs were floating. I removed them from the tank but noticed the other fish were all gasping and all of them were at the top of the tank, which is unusual for them.

Searching on the internet didnt help me much and there was nothing I could do as it was late and my LFS was shut. The next morning the multicoloured cichlid was floating with a green barb, but the other fish were acting normally once again (no gasping and resumed normal tank positions)

I got my water tested at my LFS today (the day the green barb and cichild died) and everything was 'normal' except nitrate or nitrite (not sure which) was over 8 times the maximum normal dose... (i was told 0.2 is the max and mine was a wopping 1.6)

The water seems a dirty yellowish colour aswell...

ANY ideas or help would be greatly appreciated... i cant bare any more fish to die

Thankyou x Katie x

 

[WILDER]

Your tanks severely overstocked.
No way should cichlids be kept in that size tank. I would rehome them.
The shark shouldn't be in that size tank either they need 40 gallon tanks and are very aggresssive.
So I would rehome the shark too,.

Post some pics of the fish you haven't a clue what they are onto the site.
Research the fish before you buy.

Plecs are massive waste producers. What type of plecs are they.

What filer are you using as I doubt its keeping up with the fish load.

An immediate water change and increase aeration.
If the fish are gasping it sounds like a high nitrite reading.

 

[Truck]

2 Pleco (one 2inch one and one very small one)
2 sailfin mollies (i think thats what they are called)
4 tiger barbs
3 green barbs
1 yellow lab cichild (my fav)
2 small white fish and one blue version of them (not sure of their correct name)
1 Gourami
1 red tailed shark
1 red jewel cichild
1 other cichlid (multicoloured stripy one i dont know the correct name for)
1 catfish

you will need to get rid of all the cichlids, the shark the mollies, and we need an ID on the blue and white ones, and an ID on the catfish and also the plecos

90% of fish you have will out grow that tank, you are severely over stocked, your tank is a ticking time bomb, you will have a massive ammonia spike and then your tank will crash

 

[xx-miss-limber-xx]

Your tanks severely overstocked.
No way should cichlids be kept in that size tank. I would rehome them.
The shark shouldn't be in that size tank either they need 40 gallon tanks and are very aggresssive.
So I would rehome the shark too,.

Post some pics of the fish you haven't a clue what they are onto the site.
Research the fish before you buy.

Plecs are massive waste producers. What type of plecs are they.

What filer are you using as I doubt its keeping up with the fish load.

An immediate water change and increase aeration.
If the fish are gasping it sounds like a high nitrite reading.

My cichlids are tiny, and I am aware of how big they can get which is why my local fish shop provides a service where you can return fish when they get too big and they give you a small version as a trade.
I do research the fish before I buy them, my LFS (Swallows aquatics- leader in the UK) are always aware of the size tank I have and what fish I already have before I buy them and they are great on giving advice.
My pleco's are still very small - can they really produce THAT much waste?
Erm im using a filter that came with the tank. Im not sure of the name of it but its always worked fine before and after this disaster happened. My fish were all happy and healthy for months before all this?

As I said I have already done a 30% water change, are you recommending more than that? Increase aeration? - have no idea what that means.

Thanks for the advice x

 

[WILDER]

Getting crap advice from the lfs then. The fish are suffering due to being overstocked.
If you don't have an airstone lower the water level so the filter hits the water harder.
Its it a juwel tank.

 

[shelaghfishface]

sorry but bad on swallow if they are still letting to leave the shop with thsoe fish knowing full well that they are going into a 60L,thats an appalling combination of fish.. uk leading you say.. best avoided i say!!

do a water test ( i assume sawllow advised you buy a kit)
then you may well have to spend the rest of the day bringing your levels down..and a few keeping them down

 

[WILDER]

I agree shelaghfishface.
Discusting.

 

[xx-miss-limber-xx]

Getting crap advice from the lfs then. The fish are suffering due to being overstocked.
If you don't have an airstone lower the water level so the filter hits the water harder.
Its it a juwel tank.

The LFS is amazing, and they are all fish keepers and lovers. ALL the fish tanks are labeled with what species of fish are in them, where they originate from, how big they get and are all given a rating green yellow or red depending on how aggressive they can be. They specialise in marine, tropical freshwater and pond fish and you can buy anything you can think of to do with fish there. They offer many services for fish, free water testing, fish guarantees, fish exchanges etc etc... so please dont tell me that they are giving me crap advice, because they really are very good.

If your theory is right then why havnt they suffered at all up until now? They have been fine. And only 2 of the fish exceed an inch big the tank dosnt look over stocked at all they all have plenty of swim room. I understand they will get bigger but as I have said before... the LFS takes care of that when it comes to it. And I wont let them get too big that they are suffering, i love fish and will be happy to have them rehomed when I cannot cater for them anymore due to my size tank.

I can raise the filter to the very top of the water level if that is what you mean? its a removable one with sucker pads to stick it to the tank.

 

[WILDER]

If the fls cared they wouldn't let you have all them fish in the tank.
Take the advice or leave it.

 

[xx-miss-limber-xx]

As ive said in my post and in replies, Swallows test my water for me for free and i have high nitrite levels. And as ive also said, they allow you to do that because they take them back off you when they get big. All my fish are like an inch big at the most... can I stop repeating myself now? They have been FINE up until i moved them, so can we stop focussing on the overstocking issue, as that wil be my problem when they get biger (altho hardly a problem seeing as I can take them back to swallows and get baby versions again when that does happen!)

 

[Truck]

high nitrite is BAD, no wonder your fish are dying! how do you know theyre fine? when you dont test your water? they say its fine, but in an LFS's opinion 0.25 ammonia is okay, when it ISNT.

you have 3+ people on this thread giving the same advice and you chuck it back in our faces, you going to trust one crappy LFS over us? PFFT!

your tank is over stocked, thats why you have high nitrite, nitrite stops heamoglobin becoming oxyheamoglobin, so it suffocates them!

 

[xx-miss-limber-xx]

Maybe im getting confused with tank size or your getting confused with fish size but my fish tank does not look overstocked? seriously all the fish have lots of swim space and places to hide away, lots of real plants and I have all diffferent food types for the different needs of each fish. Im not cruel, its not like theyre all crammed in... maybe my tank is bigger than 60L but thats what i thought it was??

 

[crazychris]

OP what are the dimensions of your tank, length, width and height, in either cm or inches please? Cichlids should be in their own species tank. They're not general community fish. You say they're peaceful. I had 2 lab yellow's which my LFS said would be fine. They were fine at first but when bigger they were biting all the dorsal fins off my 6 corys . They soon went back. Plecs grow big and fast. I've just taken a 14" one in to the shop. Red-tail sharks become very territorial and aggressive. Red-fin or albino are better.

 

[WILDER]

Why bother joining a forum if you don't want to listen to advice. You seem to think the lfs are giving good advice so why ask on here.

 

[xx-miss-limber-xx]

high nitrite is BAD, no wonder your fish are dying! how do you know theyre fine? when you dont test your water? they say its fine, but in an LFS's opinion 0.25 ammonia is okay, when it ISNT.

you have 3+ people on this thread giving the same advice and you chuck it back in our faces, you going to trust one crappy LFS over us? PFFT!

]

I am aware nitrite is BAD thankyou, hence the need for advice on how to lower it?, but i dont need to be TOLD to get rid of this that and the other, my water was tested regularly thanks, and has always been within the right levels... until I moved it... which is why im asking advice, im not throwing it in anyones face, i just dont need to be told to get rid of my fish when everything was fine before I did this move!