Weekly Deaths!

[Milburn95]

Hello, I’m fairly new to the hobby and had great success in my first year with my community tank but suddenly I’m having a fatality every week and I don’t know why! I don’t think I’ve changed anything other than adding two frogbit plants. Anyone got any suggestions, my testing strips suggest my KH is basically non existent, could that be why? And why would that have suddenly changed a year in? I’ve talked a lot but yeah any help would be appreciated, thanks guys.

 

[Byron]

We need a lot more data in order to answer your questions.

Water parameters. GH, KH and pH, also temperature.
Tank size, and fish (species and numbers).
Any additives (plant fertilizers, conditioners, etc)?
How often and what volume are water changes done?

The above basics will get us started.

 

[Retired Viking]

Sorry about you dead fish, if you could please provide the info that @Byron asked for that would be very helpful.

 

[Milburn95]

We need a lot more data in order to answer your questions.

Water parameters. GH, KH and pH, also temperature.
Tank size, and fish (species and numbers).
Any additives (plant fertilizers, conditioners, etc)?
How often and what volume are water changes done?

The above basics will get us started.

Hey so my this is my test results;
No3 20
No2 0-0.5
pH 6
KH 0
GH 60
My temp is set to 25oc but have just tested it with my digital thermometer and it’s reading at 33oc!
I have a 60L tank with the following fish;
2x Glass Fish
1x African Dwarf Frog
1x Ram
1x Bristlenose
2x Corys
2x Bamboo Shrimp
I also have 1 Amazon sword plant and 2 frogbit floating ontop,
I change about 30% of water a week and use only tapsafe as an addictive, hope this helps.

 

[Byron]

On the parameters first. GH at 60 (I assume this is ppm) is very soft, not a problem as you have soft water fish species. KH at 0 is not a problem, same reason. The pH at 6.0 is not a problem, again same reason. Temperature...is the 33 dC due to hot weather? The tank water temperature will increase to equal the air temperature in the room, which can occur in summer. But if this is due to a heater malfunction, a different issue.

Water conditions. NO2 (nitrite) should be zero always. Is the "0 - 0.5" because the colour card is hard to decipher? I assume it is, because at a pH of 6 or lower, plus with live plants, the nitrifying bacteria are not doing much if anything, and ammonia will be harmless ammonium and nitrite should not be an issue. Nitrate at 20ppm, is this solely in the tank water? Or is there nitrate in the tap water (test it on its own)? Increasing the weekly partial water change volume to 50-70% of the tank volume is recommended, regardless, but that might help here unless nitrate is high in the tap water.

Tank is 60 liter (15 gallons) but the fish are minimal. You do need to increase the cories, they need a group of 5 (or more), but that can wait until we have the problem resolved. Just keep it in mind. Dwarf frogs should not be housed with fish, but you already have this, but make sure the frog gets enough food (fish usually out-compete them) and is not getting nipped (the ram might). Glass Fish, which species?

Is the Tapsafe the Interpet brand TapSafe? This contains aloe vera which is believed to be detrimental to fish gills over time, so I would change to another brand. I recommend API's Tap Water Conditioner; it is more expensive but it is highly concentrated so you use less than any other brand and a small bottle will last months.

 

[Essjay]

The temperature shouldn't be due to the weather as it's not that hot in the UK at the moment. It hits the headlines if it gets to 30 deg C.

Heaters are not usually calibrated particularly well. Just because it is set to 25 doesn't mean it will heat the water to 25 deg C.
Heaters do sometimes fail in the 'on' position and don't switch off. You can check this by putting the heater in a bucket of hot water and see if the light still comes on.

 

[Milburn95]

On the parameters first. GH at 60 (I assume this is ppm) is very soft, not a problem as you have soft water fish species. KH at 0 is not a problem, same reason. The pH at 6.0 is not a problem, again same reason. Temperature...is the 33 dC due to hot weather? The tank water temperature will increase to equal the air temperature in the room, which can occur in summer. But if this is due to a heater malfunction, a different issue.

Water conditions. NO2 (nitrite) should be zero always. Is the "0 - 0.5" because the colour card is hard to decipher? I assume it is, because at a pH of 6 or lower, plus with live plants, the nitrifying bacteria are not doing much if anything, and ammonia will be harmless ammonium and nitrite should not be an issue. Nitrate at 20ppm, is this solely in the tank water? Or is there nitrate in the tap water (test it on its own)? Increasing the weekly partial water change volume to 50-70% of the tank volume is recommended, regardless, but that might help here unless nitrate is high in the tap water.

Tank is 60 liter (15 gallons) but the fish are minimal. You do need to increase the cories, they need a group of 5 (or more), but that can wait until we have the problem resolved. Just keep it in mind. Dwarf frogs should not be housed with fish, but you already have this, but make sure the frog gets enough food (fish usually out-compete them) and is not getting nipped (the ram might). Glass Fish, which species?

Is the Tapsafe the Interpet brand TapSafe? This contains aloe vera which is believed to be detrimental to fish gills over time, so I would change to another brand. I recommend API's Tap Water Conditioner; it is more expensive but it is highly concentrated so you use less than any other brand and a small bottle will last months.

hey, thanks for you in depth reply, I believe my heater has malfunctioned keeping the water way hotter than intended. Do you think that could be the sole reason for my fish dying? And yes I struggled to read the test accurately on that one. Unfortunately my frog passed away today, yet another death, really need to get to the bottom of this. My tap safe is the pets at home brand and I’ll test my tap water but it’s never been an issue before. I will certainly look into the water conditioner.

 

[Essjay]

That temperature wouldn't kill fish for just a few days duration as during a heatwave, but if they've been at that temp for longer it could be a contributing factor.

 

[Byron]

hey, thanks for you in depth reply, I believe my heater has malfunctioned keeping the water way hotter than intended. Do you think that could be the sole reason for my fish dying? And yes I struggled to read the test accurately on that one. Unfortunately my frog passed away today, yet another death, really need to get to the bottom of this. My tap safe is the pets at home brand and I’ll test my tap water but it’s never been an issue before. I will certainly look into the water conditioner.

Temperature could indeed be the issue. If the heater is keeping the tank this warm, it is 24/7 so the fish have no escape as they do if warmer day/cooler night temperatures are involved in a warm summer. Turn the teemp control on the heater down until the pilot light goes off, and keep doing this until the tank water is at the temp you want. The heater may be OK, just not calibrated correctly, I have this with a couple heaters.

I would also do a few partial water changes to lower the temp a bit faster. Nothing extreme, but each change can go a few degrees lower (I use my hand to compare water temps).

Temp of 33C is 91F, and that can easily kill fish when it is permanent as I noted above. Increasing surface disturbance can help. Warm water holds less oxygen, so the fish are struggling just to "breathe" with no respite. Frog may have been same, a temp issue.

 

[Milburn95]

I’ll give your suggestions a go, appreciated guys, will keep updates posted!