I have a tropical fish tank and all the fish are dying,had water tested and all ok but done a 20% water change as advised still another fish has died only thing i have noticed is a foul smell from the tank when i lift the lid PLEASE HELP!!!
Tropical Fish Tank
- Thread starter klurgen
- Start date
Verminator89
Jack Dempsey Enthusiast
Slow down a little and tell us a bit more about your tank.
Tank size?
How long has it been set-up?
What fish do you have?
What filtration do you use?
Did you cycle the tank and how long for?
Have you got a reading for your statistics that you can post for us all to see. The important ones being ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.
Tank size?
How long has it been set-up?
What fish do you have?
What filtration do you use?
Did you cycle the tank and how long for?
Have you got a reading for your statistics that you can post for us all to see. The important ones being ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH.
sorry!!! 24 litre tank with a superfish aqua flow 100 had tank about 2 weeks
fish
5 neons all seem ok
1 red tailed shark
1 siamese fighter died
2 female fighters 1 dead and now the other one does not look right
had a local pet shop to check water and she said ph level was slightly out but nothing to worry about just do a 20% water change and done that today
also the fish seem to be disorientated before dying and as i said there is a stench from tank but water clear
fish
5 neons all seem ok
1 red tailed shark
1 siamese fighter died
2 female fighters 1 dead and now the other one does not look right
had a local pet shop to check water and she said ph level was slightly out but nothing to worry about just do a 20% water change and done that today
also the fish seem to be disorientated before dying and as i said there is a stench from tank but water clear
Welcome to the forum Klurgen.
You have an uncycled tank and filter. You are not alone in that respect and it is so common that I carry around a link in my signature area to help people learn about how to succeed in a fish-in cycle situation like yours. You have a tank that has not been set up long enough to develop the right beneficial bacteria colonies to help you deal with the ammonia produced by your fish and the resulting nitrites if the ammonia is being converted. The only hope you would have with such a new tank is if you got some filter materials from a mature, established tank. That is probably not going to be the case for any new fish keeper although we do keep a list of potential donors to help you get past this stage.
What you are facing is simple to state. Fish produce some small traces of ammonia from their gills with each breath. Ammonia is also produced by the decay of fish wastes and the decay of any other organic matter such as excess fish food or even dying plants. Ammonia is toxic to fish in very small concentrations, if you can measure any ammonia, it is just too much0. What we do is encourage bacteria to grow in our filters. Those bacteria can convert ammonia to nitrit5es and thus remove the ammonia threat. Unfortunately, nitrites themselves are toxic to fish in low concentrations. Other bacteria exist that can convert nitrites to nitrates. Compared to other nitrogen poisons, nitrates are relatively harmless.
What we as fish keepers do is to establish and even maintain the colonies of ammonia processing and nitrite processing bacteria in our filters. We refuse to use anything other than waste tank water to clean our filter media so that the bacterial colonies can be preserved in our filters. We do not throw out any part of our filters as frequently as the filter manufacturers suggest. We try our best to always keep our filters in good condition in terms of having oxygenated water flowing through them and in terms of protecting the filters from foreign materials. It is sometimes a bit of a trial by fire for a new fish keeper to ignore the advice of the manufacturers and simply retain the filter media beyond the date the manufacturer, the person who should now the most about their filter, recommends. As it turns out, we hobbyists are really the only ones who advocate using filter media well beyond its design life and we are the ones who regularly have fish survive many times the "typical" duration expected by old school fish keepers. I wish I had many of the fish back that I lost over the years because I was adamant about following a filter manufacturer's recommendations. I ma sorry to say that I lost many of those fish by following bad advice.
You have an uncycled tank and filter. You are not alone in that respect and it is so common that I carry around a link in my signature area to help people learn about how to succeed in a fish-in cycle situation like yours. You have a tank that has not been set up long enough to develop the right beneficial bacteria colonies to help you deal with the ammonia produced by your fish and the resulting nitrites if the ammonia is being converted. The only hope you would have with such a new tank is if you got some filter materials from a mature, established tank. That is probably not going to be the case for any new fish keeper although we do keep a list of potential donors to help you get past this stage.
What you are facing is simple to state. Fish produce some small traces of ammonia from their gills with each breath. Ammonia is also produced by the decay of fish wastes and the decay of any other organic matter such as excess fish food or even dying plants. Ammonia is toxic to fish in very small concentrations, if you can measure any ammonia, it is just too much0. What we do is encourage bacteria to grow in our filters. Those bacteria can convert ammonia to nitrit5es and thus remove the ammonia threat. Unfortunately, nitrites themselves are toxic to fish in low concentrations. Other bacteria exist that can convert nitrites to nitrates. Compared to other nitrogen poisons, nitrates are relatively harmless.
What we as fish keepers do is to establish and even maintain the colonies of ammonia processing and nitrite processing bacteria in our filters. We refuse to use anything other than waste tank water to clean our filter media so that the bacterial colonies can be preserved in our filters. We do not throw out any part of our filters as frequently as the filter manufacturers suggest. We try our best to always keep our filters in good condition in terms of having oxygenated water flowing through them and in terms of protecting the filters from foreign materials. It is sometimes a bit of a trial by fire for a new fish keeper to ignore the advice of the manufacturers and simply retain the filter media beyond the date the manufacturer, the person who should now the most about their filter, recommends. As it turns out, we hobbyists are really the only ones who advocate using filter media well beyond its design life and we are the ones who regularly have fish survive many times the "typical" duration expected by old school fish keepers. I wish I had many of the fish back that I lost over the years because I was adamant about following a filter manufacturer's recommendations. I ma sorry to say that I lost many of those fish by following bad advice.
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