Why Are My Fish Dying/what Am I Doing Wrong?

[danb_1985]

Hi, my tank has been up and running for about 6-7weeks.

i first took advice that in order to start the nitrate cycle i shoul add danios to the tank after a day......3 out of 4 died within the week.

another week n a half later got water tested and it was finally fine i added 2 Red Honey Gourami's, 2 clams and 3 more danios(as the remaining one was lonely)....a few days later one of the RHG's got white spot and had to be treated but recoverd but passed on to a danio who then also eventually recovered....about a week after getting the new fish 2 more danio's died with no symptoms despite water being fine?

i then got water tested, added my fighter and things seemed to be going fine at last....a week later i got a bulldog plec, again seemed to be going fine until the plec got whitespot! i have been treating the plec for a week and now its died.

can anyone help or suggest anything please?

ps original pearl danio still going at least!!!




2 Red Honey Gourami's
2 Pearl Danios
1 Siamese Fighting Fish
2 Clams

 

[edgelgil]

It takes a tank, generally around 6 weeks for the first hard cycle. Then a few more weeks for it to start to balance off and then you are on a slow roller coaster to keep it balanced. Gouramis are very finicky to pH balance and hardness is not really a concern. Most people make the same mistake on the startup.....we all have and will continue to make the same mistakes. Too many nice fish and the amonia curve just kills the tank. This is what takes 80% of the newcommers out of the big picture.....cause they give up and quite in the first 90 days.
Well, since you are just getting past the first hard cycle, it will only get better for you in the future. Do you have someone locally you can hound and learn from? It is easier to have a direct source to help you with the small stuff.
My best words of thought, is for you to read as much as you can get your hands on from the librery. Books are great to have as reference material for quick research. My two favorite books are, "Handbook of Fish Dideases, by: Dieter Untergasser", and, "Tropical Aquarium Fish, by: Dr. Chris Andrews and Dr. Ulrich Baensch".
These books are just a few of my collection and I reccommend for anyone to have these books on hand. Nothing wrong with stuffing the old brain with worth while information, especially if this a pet hobby.

Good luck on the tank, take your time, mind the feeding times cause fish are like dogs, they like to be catered to on a regular basis. Cince you do control their ever existance.

Maximo

 

[dthoffsett]

Welcome to the forum!

My first suggestion would be to get liquid tests for ammonia, nitrIte, nitrAte, and PH, master test kits usually supply those. Just be sure to get liquid kits instead of paper tests as the paper ones are pretty inaccurate.

If you can't get or afford a test kit of your own, take you water in and get it tested, make sure you write down the actual readings instead of taking the LFS advice that your water is "fine". Unfortunately too many of us have been mislead by LFS workers that just want to sell fish, not make sure yours are healthy.

Oh, almost forgot to ask, what size is your tank?

Also, you'll get several people on here (myself included) that will tell you siamese fighters (or bettas) generally don't work out in community tanks, especially with gouramis. Keep a very close on on them to make sure your betta isn't picking on the other fish, or getting it's fins nipped by the other fish. Because of their long fins, bettas often have difficulty swimming in the filter current. If your betta continually hides, starts getting aggressive, or gets picked on, you might consider rehoming him, or getting him his own 2.5-5 gallon tank. They are quite happy on their own.

It sounds to me like you problems have all been cycle related. Here are some great articles I suggest you check out. I know it's a lot of reading, but they answer many peoples questions. And as always, if you have any other questions, feel free to ask, after all, that IS what we're here for. -Dawn

[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=175355"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=175355[/URL]
[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=133022"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=133022[/URL]
[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=6756"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=6756[/URL]
[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=139488"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=139488[/URL]
[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=13133"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=13133[/URL]

 

[Amunet]

Think dthoff pretty much said everything that needs to be said.
From what it sounds like, the place you took your water to be tested didn't give you actual numbers? Your best bet would be to get your own liquid tester so you don't have to rely on a petstore to do it for you and so you can monitor the readings more frequently.

 

[danb_1985]

Thanks for both the replies.

I have a local fish shop close to me and they dont seem to be only in it to sell fish as they have given me a lot of advice about the cycle and have told on a number of occasions to actually wait until i get more fish for the good of the tank. it was pets at home who gave me the original advice and thats where i got my original fish(which got white spot within 2 days). thay also gave me my first water tests which i didnt think were too accurate.

with the betta, it seems to be getting along well and isn't too shy but i will still keep an eye on it as i know they are likely to be nipped.

my tank size is 2ft-63L-14Gal.

How many fish would you recommend for this tank?

how do you set it so the list of fish i have comes up automatically on the bottom of each post?

 

[loachman]

You may also want to ensure the clams are still alive. Captivity reports on FW clams are pretty bad from what I've heard. They need small foods that aren't common in aquariums. If they've died, that could screw up your water chemistry.

 

[shang hi]

why are you cycling nitrAte. you cycle to "change" (chemicaly alter) Amonia into nitrIte then that into nitrAte, nitrAte is removed with water changes.

 

[danb_1985]

What do you mean about me cycling? can you quote where i said that please?

how will i know the clams are dead are not? i heard they open but only one is really sticking out of the sand and is open slightly but i earlier moved it when it looked like that and it just re-buried itself?

 

[dthoffsett]

i first took advice that in order to start the nitrate cycle i shoul add danios to the tank after a day

why are you cycling nitrAte. you cycle to "change" (chemicaly alter) Amonia into nitrIte then that into nitrAte, nitrAte is removed with water changes.

What do you mean about me cycling? can you quote where i said that please?

Shang hi - while danb said nitrate cycle, he meant nitrogen cycle, I believe he is aware of what a cycle does and simply "misspoke".

 

[danb_1985]

Thanks i did. ha. i get them nixed up the whol nitrogen nitrate n nitrite! they all sound the same.

 

[vinylman]

Unfortunately, if you choose to cycle with fish, you'll be lucky if they survive. Please read the pinned threads on cycling and fishless cycling. And don't pay too much attention to what they tell you in your LFS, because they've obviously never heard of fishless cycling, or choose to ignore it. The more of your fish that die, the more often you'll go back to buy more; they're not going to discourage that.