This year I had more than 20 fishes dead

[diana1]

Hi


I don`t know what to do, since I have real plants my fishes are dying...

I did my water test and I don`t have amoniaque.My watertest is right.

I put 2 Chinese barb (Puntinus semifasciolatus) in the aquarium and in 5 days they died.

After 2 days I notice one of them had a big tommy.

Before I had a 38 liter aquarium and now I have 76 liter aquarium.

I think I did something wrong to start the new aquarium and having new plants.


Who can help me? What I have to do?

 

[fluttermoth]

Can you post all the actual numbers from your tests, including pH and hardness if you know them, please?

What test kits are you using?

What are the dimensions of the tank and what fish do you have?

How long has the tank been set up, and was it cycled before you added fish?

 

[diana1]

Hi


I had before another aquarium for 36 litres and now since January 2017 I have a bigger one for 76 liter.

I add half of the water in the new aquarium and I add in January 10 fishes in one shot.

I have know in my aquarium :


One chinese barb (Puntinus semifasciolatus), 1 golden Gourami (who is sick now), 6 harlequin rasbora(Trigonostigma heteromorpha) and 2 common molly(Poecilia sphenops) and two catfishes .

I have only the master test kit to check PH, AMMONIA , Nitrite and Nitrate.

I went Sunday at the store and they told me, to wash the whole aquarium like new one..

I did this yesterday and I put new water and now three days I will add new bacterias(biological aquarium supplement) 20 ml…



I cannot do the hardness test.



Now after 1 day changing water my numer are :

Ph=7.6

Ammonia=0

Nitrite=0

Nitrate=0.25



Can you tell me what kind of water are you using ?

I am using warm water and then I add my chlor-removal.





THk

 

[GobyMaster11276]

So, there are a few mistakes there. First of all, never do a 100% water change. Your water parameters will only fluctuate, causing more of a threat to your fish. How long was the tank cycling? I may be no expert on those species, but I get the feeling that your stocking is a bit off. For starters, your Chinese barb is a shoaling fish, meaning you should have at least five. It may be overstocked even, and I'm not sure about the compatibility of all of those (another member may be in a better position to tell you). What is the tank's dimensions?

 

[diana1]

The dimension of my tank is: lenght: 61 cm, height :42 cm , width :31 cm
I cylced my tank every 2 weeks I will take 25% from the water out.
I had before 4 chinese barb but they died

 

[Bawugna]

I am going to take a crack at this for you. Just for conversions sake (the metric system is not native here in the us) It sounds like you have a 20 gallon tank that is a tad tall for its length, a more squat tank is always better. Given that, your fish load can be pushed downward because or the amount of surface area per liter of water. That said, it does not sound as if you are overloaded from a fish perspective. You should add fish slowly however, one or 2 at a time weeks apart. It gives your tank a chance to reach an equilibrium between additions. You say you have plants, are they alive or dying? Dead plants will put an oxygen demand on the system that may be harmful to your stock. As stated by Goby, changing too much water at once is not a good idea, 10 to 20% at a time weekly or so should be fine. Too much and you shock the whole system. You should be adding water of essentially the same temp as what is in the tank already and should dechlorinate it BEFORE you add it.

So stop where you are......give things a rest. Keep an eye out for dying things Plants or fish and remove them as fast as possible. Wait until things stabilize and then add a fish or 2 and try to remain at about 8 or so fish of medium size. Make sure you have adequate light for the plants you have. keep your feeding such that you do not have tons of food reaching the bottom, if it does you have fed the tank and not the fish. Feed the fish what they will consume right away without much falling to the bottom. Keep us posted

 

[diana1]

Hi

Thanks for your reply...my plants are in good shape...I have a good del light and I put it for 8-10 hours...
But then I have green algue on the window?
What do you need for the plants?
Do I have to put a liquid for growing?
I would like to change only 20%every 2 weeks..it is right?

 

[diana1]

I am using plant growth fertiliser for the plants...I am not sure if this caused the death of the fishes

 

[GobyMaster11276]

How often are you adding the fertiliser? Algae will also grow, so you have to clean the glass weekly. 20% every two weeks is way too little. Try 40% weekly.

 

[diana1]

Hi

I put 2 push push 1 time per week...but I am afraid to put again...it is dangerous for the fishes?why I have to put?
Did the plants need thi?

 

[Bawugna]

Dianal, You say "good deal of light" I am not sure what that means. What you are trying to get is photosynthesis and that is dependent on photoperiod (duration of light), light intensity and wavelength of light. A bad light source will not promote growth no matter how long it is on. While I don't agree with the 40% figure Goby put out here or that 20% once every 2 weeks is inadequate, I think we both appreciate the value of water changes.....frequency and amount seem to be different for us. I am a big stability guy. Big changes do not foster stability, but instead wide shifts in chemistry etc. Go easy with the fertilizers and additives. Give your tank a chance to catch up, you are blasting it with change after change and additions, you will never be able to tease out which variable is the target if the palate of variables is ever changing and extreme. If you are getting attached algae, you have too much nutrient in the system but not so bad as if you had suspended algae. Hold on with additives and let the tank rest a bit. If you absolutely MUST add something, do the plant stuff at half dose until things stabilize.

Healthy plants will generally show some budding and new growth as evidenced by lighter colored shoots. If you don't have any of this, your plants are doing just ok, surviving not thriving.

 

[Ch4rlie]

There seems to be quite a lot of conflicting advice and its confusing.

First of all, we need to establish if your tank and filter is cycled or not
Means to ensure the tank and filter can deal with any bioloads that the livestock produces basically.

So the first step perhaps is to see if you followed any cycling advice or even from this article - Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Now, if it transpires you have not cycled your tank properly, then this will help explain a lot why your fish has passed away, mainly due to ammonia and perhaps nitrite levels being too high for the fish to deal with.

If you still have fish in your tank, then you have 2 options, one is to rehome all your fish or ask someone to look after your fish while you get your fish tank and filter cycled fully and properly.
This is likely to take a number of weeks to fully cycle from scratch.

Second option is to read and follow the instructions on these articles if you cannot or will not rehome the current fish you have -

Rescuing A Fish In Cycle Gone Wild - Part I

Rescuing A Fish In Cycle Gone Wild - Part Il

Fish in cycle is harder work as it requires more water changes and keeping a very close eye on water parameters so means lots of testing but can be done, also can take a little longer to complete successfully than normal Fishless cycling.

Quite a lot of information to take in, I know, but fairly important if you do not want to lose any more fish in the future and to help your fish thrive.

So once we establish what situation your tank is at regarding if its cycled or not, we then can start to take things from there.

One step at a time

 

[diana1]

If I will buy this product it will helping me
DrTim's Aquatics 002 One and Only Live Nitrifying Bacteria for Cycling Aquaria, Fresh Water, 8-Ounce


On Sunday I washed the whole aquarium and I put new water...
This does not mean I cycle my tank properly...

 

[Ch4rlie]

Am afraid washing the tank and simply adding Dr Tims to the tank water does not mean your tank is cycled.

You need to test for ammonia and nitrite to ensure that these stay at zero.

Did you read any of the articles I linked earlier? They explain in far greater details why a tank and filter should be cycled as well as advising on how to do these cycles.

I do know of Dr Tims products and they are what I recommend regularly but it still requires you to follow the instructions on the bottle.

Do NOT add ammonia to the tank if you have fish in the tank, this will likely kill them.

 

[diana1]

Hi

My fishes are still dying.

If I will buy a bigger tank 35 gallons how I have to start my aquarium?
I have to bring back all the fishes at the store?
Should I change also my plants?
And I have 3 shrimps and 2 nails,
I have to bring everything to the store?
Should I use my old water?
What kind of fishes can I have in 35 gallons?CAN I HAVE CHINESE BARB?
Or the aquarium is to small?