Very Puzzled - Need Help!

[coldcazzie]

Hi all, not posted on here before but thought I would ask for any ideas. Hope I'm posting in the correct place...

I currently have a Juwel Rio 240 tank which I have had for 3.5 years (upgraded from a smaller tank) and I am having ongoing problems with it.

When I first got the tank I had a substantial community which all got moved into the new tank, and all was well, since then I have added numerous fish to replace those that died etc, however I went through a phase where the nitrate was extremely high (about 140ppm) for a long period of time, as well as the thermostat on the heater packing in. All the fish died (not very surprisingly!) and I replaced the heater as well as doing a complete water change, and filter medium change and essentially set up as a new tank again.

At this point I was given 3 full grown Angelfish, an algae eater (one of the large brown speckled catfish - cant remember name) as well as another catfish (begins with a H). The angels were fine, although had 2 males and 1 female and eventually after a few months one of the males killed the other (which I was kind of expecting - has happened to me before with coupled pairs of angels), and the algae eater also randomly stopped eating and died.

I want to build up a community again - seems rather pointless to have such a huge tank with only 3 fish in it. What I'd like is another algae eater or 2 (depending on size), a shoal of larger tetras and maybe a few others. However, everytime I add new fish they all seem to die very soon afterwards and I can't figure out why. I know some losses are to be expected due to the stress of moving, and I'm fine with that, but I think there might be something deeper going on, I just cant figure out what.

Within about 24 hours some are behaving oddly - can't keep balance or still near bottom, but then seem to go on to sometimes develop almost a fin rot type thing where the edges of their fins become very fuzzy and white, along with scales on flanks sometimes too, sometimes their eyes glaze over like they have developed cataracts. However, I know there is no highly contagious disease such as Ich in the tank because the angels and catfish are all fine and very happy, it just seems to be an issue with adding new fish.

Yesterday evening (around 8.30pm) I added 6 columbian redfin tetras, this morning I found 1 dead which I was expecting, but could only see 4 of ther others, since then I have found another dead, and the 3 ones that I can still see are not looking very happy. I introduced very slowly, and deliberately at night so that they had plenty of time to acclimatise before the light went on in the morning.

Ammonia is 0, Nitrite is 0, Nitrate is currently stable (and has been for months) at 10ppm, haven't got a pH kit so don't know what that is, and I dont even know what gH or kH are! (probably very bad of me, I know). Temp is stable at approx 24-25 degrees. I have no live plants, only plastic.

I was wondering if it could be a pH problem, or some other water-related issue as that's the only thing I can think would affect them so quickly, but not affect my current fish who maybe have gotten used to it?

Help!

 

[Marve99]

Not an expert myself, but I imagine the first thing an expert will ask you to do is check the PH. best to eliminate the obvious causes and those which are easiest to check first.

Good luck

 

[ellena]

How long ago did you do the filter medium change? That will have got rid of all your bacteria and the angels and catfish will have been in a fish in cycle as they built back up again. Each time you add new fish, you will have a mini cycle. What you're describing sounds like more than that, but it might go some way to explaining it.

 

[coldcazzie]

How long ago did you do the filter medium change? That will have got rid of all your bacteria and the angels and catfish will have been in a fish in cycle as they built back up again. Each time you add new fish, you will have a mini cycle. What you're describing sounds like more than that, but it might go some way to explaining it.

Over a year ago! The angels and catfish have been on their own in the tank for the last 12 months, and it's only recently that the algae eater and angel died - like, within the last 2 months. And obviously, only yesterday I added new fish.

 

[Amerce]

2 questons I'd like to ask -

how many fish did you add this last time
what decorations etc do you have in the tank, can you provide photo's ?

 

[coldcazzie]

how many fish did you add this last time
what decorations etc do you have in the tank, can you provide photo's ?

6 columbian redfin tetras - they are maybe 4 cms long. I've had fish long enough to know not to put more in than that

I have a few stones, a couple of pieces of fake wood, gravel and a whole load of plastic plants. How do I upload a picture?

 

[Faythee]

You can upload pics to photobucket.com. It will give you a list of codes. Copy the "image" code and paste it in your response.

 

[Amerce]

Have you put anything new in there of late, and did the rocks come from a local source ie river or anything or the lfs ?

 

[coldcazzie]

Have you put anything new in there of late, and did the rocks come from a local source ie river or anything or the lfs ?

apologies for very late reply!

Have attached a photo below of the current tank set up (I hope!) - everything in there has been bought from local aquatics centres, but don't know where they come from before that. However, other than 2 of the plastic plants which are around 10 months old, all the decor has been in there longer than the fish so I can't really see any of that being the cause of the problem.


I went and bought a pH kit on Sunday, as well as returning dead fish. pH test showed 6. Tap water testing at ~7.4.
Did a 30% water change and complete rearrange and deep clean of tank on Monday morning, after which pH test still showed ~6.
Yesterday went back and bought more Stress Coat (ran out on Mon - duh!) and did 25% change, pH still showed ~6.
Today, another 25% change and pH still showing ~6.

Am suspecting that pH was lower than 6 as 3 water changes have not brought it up further than 6, and the kit only shows 6-7.6 on scale. The test on Sun was VERY yellow, but on Mon, yesterday and today was less yellow, so I think something is happening. Am reluctant to do any more than 25% at a time as my current fish have been in that water so long any fast changes will probably cause them to keel over, plus I am 6 months pregnant so changing 65L of water at a time is about the limit of what I can do by myself.

I'm planning on doing daily water changes until the end of next week and test after each one, and hopefully that will help, failing that I'll have to use a pH up product.

 

[Faythee]

Your tank is very pretty. I agree with you on not too much water changed at once. Appear to be on the right path. Good luck. By all means do not overwork yourself and congrats on the new little one

 

[coldcazzie]

Thankyou and thankyou!

 

[AJ Tudor]

Most tetra (including columbian red fins) prefer a slightly acidic environment so pH 6 shouldn't be a problem for them. Of all the fish that you bought that died, did you buy them all from the same source? You may simply have a bad retailer.

 

[Bobtastic]

What sort of test kit did you get? The card/dip contact sheets are notoriously unreliable. You are better off with a liquid based test kit.

Do you have a liquid based test kit for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate as well?

The pH of my water is 6, but that is straight out of the tap and my fish seem happy enough.

 

[coldcazzie]

Most tetra (including columbian red fins) prefer a slightly acidic environment so pH 6 shouldn't be a problem for them. Of all the fish that you bought that died, did you buy them all from the same source? You may simply have a bad retailer.

Yes they all came from the same source. The reason it's an ongoing issue is that it doesn't seem to matter where I get the fish (ie. Pets at Home or QSS - my two local places, or from other people) they don't seem to have a very high survival rate in my tank, and it seems much higher than the standard "some fish die because the stress of moving is too much for them" deaths that you get after introducing new fish. When I did the complete rearrange on Monday I found the other two bodies, so my death rate was 100% - and that happens a lot to me, despite very careful transport, and taking ages (1hr+) to acclimatise the new fish to the water/temp etc. That, and the fact that they all die within a couple of days rather than a couple of weeks is what makes me think water quality issue rather than disease issue.

What sort of test kit did you get? The card/dip contact sheets are notoriously unreliable. You are better off with a liquid based test kit.

Do you have a liquid based test kit for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate as well?

The pH of my water is 6, but that is straight out of the tap and my fish seem happy enough.

Yes I have all liquid test kits - used to have the tablet ones years ago but they all went out of date and got thrown and replaced with droplet ones.

Another water change today, pH still testing at 6. I suspect if I had a wider range test kit it might show different, but I couldn't see one when I bought it. Will look again next time I'm in town.

 

[wolfwolf]

That is what I would do. If the kit test from 6 to 7.6 and you are at the bottom of the scale it is certainly possible that you pH is actually less than 6. Given your tank picture and the written description I am having a hard time understanding how your tap is 7.6 and your tank is 6 or less. My tank will go from 7.6 at the tap to 6.2 in the tank but I inject ~30ppm of Co2. Something does not seem right.... Do you add anything other than dechlorinator to your tank? Ever test for water hardness? kH and gH?