Why Do My Fish Keep Dying! Help!

[Gigantour]

5 of my fish have died in the matter of 3 days, these fish are 2 mollies, 1 platy, 1 harlequin and 1 danio.. I had the water tested Friday and the nitrate was terrible.. so I was sent home to do a 50% water change and with that water change to add some prime to the water, so I did so.. yesterday 2 more fish died, then today 1 fish died this morning, so I did a 75% water change and added some prime to the water as advised.. then to my attention I have just seen my platy headbutting the filter, like she was having a little attack or something. She was still alive, I moved her away from the filter, then she sort of floated round the water on her side and sunk to the bottom and died. I don't understand why my fish keep dying? I've done everything I have been advised to do! Are the fish all ill, infected, have some kind of disease or something? Please help!

 

[weezawoo]

Thats so sad

i would recommend doing daily water changes and buying yourself a test kit.the ammonia or nitrite could be high and causing problems

is the tank cycled?

 

[karin]

I second the posting above. With these types of problems you need to get your own liquid based test kit (most of us like the API Master Test kit) and focus on testing for ammonia and nitrites with an "I". Either of these could be causing the massive deaths you've had. NitraTes usually are not a problem unless they are above 200 ppm for awhile.

I also second the posting above to figure out what is going on. Do not add more fish until you have read through our beginner's resources here
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/277264-beginners-resource-center/

It sounds like this is a new tank and the biological filter has not been established? If that is the case, read about "fish-in cycling" at the above link.

Good luck.

 

[Gigantour]

Hi thank you for replying. I have had the tank setup for 6 months, and only had a few fish to start off with, it was only recently that I added more.. yeah, I think that's the best idea. Will the fish still die if I continue to change the water daily? Thank you for your help.

 

[karin]

Without testing you don't know if you are going through a mini-cycle. That certainly can happen to any tank. You could also have a disease. But the odd behavior makes me think ammonia or nitrite poisoning. Water changes will not kill your fish (always at dechlor, preferrable Seachem Prime) and the best thing you can do right now.

Next give us all the info:
Size of aquarium
Substrate
Filter
Temperature
All the fish
Anything else you noticed about the dying fish.
And again anything you know about the water, ammonia, nitrite, PH

 

[Lolly123]

How big is your tank, what is your setup like and and what type of maintenance regime do you have, for example how often do you water change, how often do you feed, how many fish etc etc?

When you have been carrying out water changes in the last 6 months do you gravel vac? You must ensure that waste and left over pieces of food (if there are any) are sucked up and not left to rot. You will be completely surprised just how much rubbish can collect in and on the gravel surface. I always give my gravel a little stir around to bring up any waste so that I can suck up it up when I syphon out the water. Don't overfeed either, alot of people do and that can be a cause for problems if the food is left to rot away.

What type of filtration do you have? 6 months isn't a long time in filter terms, but sometimes the sponges can be full up with gunk, if you do want to gently wash these, never ever do it under pure tap water, you must always use removed tank water to clean your filter media, otherwise the chlorine in the tap water could wipe out the beneficial bacteria you already have. That brings me on to water conditioner, you need to add a good dechlorinator such as seachem prime, and to minimise any shock, try and temperature match the water, especially if you are doing large water changes.

As the others have said a good liquid test kit is something that you must have and there is no getting around that one really. Taking water to be tested at stores is not advisable, they could tell you anything to get you to buy fish or other products you don't need.

It would also help if you could describe the nature of the problem with your fish...are they gasping, do they have red gills, are there any sores, spots, abrasions on the skin, are they abnormally bloated etc

Until you know what is going on and you have bought a good test kit I would advise to do daily water changes just in case your water parameters are out of sorts. Your fish are already in bad shape for one reason or another, if it is nitrite/ammonia poisoning, water changes are your shot at improving things. Make sure you dechlor first, and match the temperature.

 

[Gigantour]

Hi the tank is Juwel .. 54litres, the filter came with it, so that's Juwel too. The temperature is 26 c.. I have 2 plecos (1 big and 1 small), 6 neon tetra's, 6 rosy tetra's, 3 harlequins, 4 danios and 1 kuhli loach. I have lost 2 mollies (1 dalmation and 1 black.. the black one was suspected to be pregnant), 1 platy (I was told she was pregnant), 2 harlequins, 1 danio, and I took 2 male mollies back to the fish shop I bought them from as they were being very aggressive and were always up to doing rude things and I thought maybe they were stressing my fish out, and I took those back the first day I noticed a fish dead and that was my dalmation molly.. I had noticed that one of my dead fish were bleeding under the skin on their belly.. When I had the water tested, the nitrate was in the purple zone, rather then staying blue.. ammonia was fine. I have sand in the tank which has to be churned quite regularly, and I have done water changes quite frequently recently. I use to do it once every 2 weeks, but had only 10 fish then and the tank wasn't dirty. Thanks.

 

[guppi]

Do you mean NitrItes if they was in the purple thats what killed your fish. NitrAtes dont go purple.

 

[Gigantour]

Hi, it was nitrate and ammonia tested.. ammonia stayed yellow and nitrate went purple.. so I was advised to do a 50%+ water change, and add some prime to the water.. which removes chlorine, chloramine, ammonia and detoxifies nitrite and nitrate.. provides a slime coat.. thanks.

 

[Lolly123]

On my test kit, NitrItes go blue and purple, not nitrate.

What type of plecs do you have?..And when you say one big and one small...in inches please? Plecs need good filtration and can produce alot of waste, 2 of those in a 54L is just not going to work in my opinion.

It doesn't matter if your tank 'looks' dirty or not, your tank could look amazing but the water could tell a different story. I do a good 40-50% water change every week on my 250L, also ensuring that I gravel vac to remove any nasties.

Have you got your own liquid test kit yet?

 

[anon02]

Hi thank you for replying. I have had the tank setup for 6 months, and only had a few fish to start off with, it was only recently that I added more.. yeah, I think that's the best idea. Will the fish still die if I continue to change the water daily? Thank you for your help.

If your fish have been exposed to ammonia or nitrite intoxication the damage may already have been done, the ill effects can take months to show, that is why the members are advising you to get yourself a liquid reagent testing kit so that you can keep on top of water maintenance and reduce the chance of any future occurance. Most fish deaths and diseases can be traced back directly to poor water quality

 

[karin]

The coloring the tests you are describing really sounds like a nitrite test and not a nitrate test. Lets face it here, many of us have experiences where the staff at the LFS are poorly trained. I don't know of a nitrate test that is supposed to "stay" blue. Nitrates can vary without a problem and depend on many factors AND the nitrate tests are notoriously faulty and problematic.

Give your LFS a call, talk to the fish manager and check out that test. It may give you the answer quickly.

This is a great example why everyone who is a fishkeeper has to understand that they are a water manager too and you need the tools.

Get yourself a good liquid based test kit, best thing you can do.