Help...I suddenly have a dirty tank and it has taken a fish

[Singenkatzen]

I have just switched from having nothing but goldfish to actual tropical fish. I have a 5 gal and have 2 pineapple swordtails, 5 male guppies and had a emerald corydora until this morning. I lost two fish in the first two days (a guppy and the orignal cory). I have been keeping an eye on all the fish since then just in case. Before I had added the fish last weekend I did a full water change since I was changing fish completely-- my goldfish had died the previous weekend of old age (I think). He had been rather listless for a few days and then started swimming on his side. I thought he was dead for a few days but everytime I would fish him out he would move until the last time. Anyway... I ran the tank empty for a week before changing the water and adding new fish just in case.

The water after the change was a little unclear so I waited almost 24 hours before actually adding the new fish and in the process lost the first cory. Then I added the fish and bought a new interal filter pump to see if that fixed the problem of the cloudiness--my old pump is about 5 years old. Within a couple of hours the cloudiness was gone but so also was a male guppy. When I took him back to Petco where I got the fish they told me it could be because my nitrite levels were in the stress levels and to keep an eye on it. I bought some of the strips that do the 6 tests in one and have been doing them at least once a day since last monday. The nitrite levels went down to 0 last thursday but on saturday I noticed my water was starting to get cloudy again. I thought it might be because I had a plant near the filter so I removed it. It did not get any better and now the cory was acting strange and one of the swordtails was hiding. On monday I discovered water spots on the swordtails and took out the carbon filter and dropped in a parasite tablet. I also noticed the cory was still acting funny--much like my goldfish had. Yesterday morning I put the old pump back into the tank to see if it is the pump again. Last night I came home with some ich medicine and thought my cory was died but like the goldfish he wasn't. I treated the tank with the ich medicine after doing a 25% water change since I had just used the other stuff 24 hours before and that was what was directed on the box. This morning the tank is still dirty, my cory is dead offically, my swordtails ich appears to be better and I had 3 baby swordtail in the tank--one died when I tried to take it out into a seperate container just in case, one was good when left the house and the other is showing signs like the goldfish and cory were by swimming on its side and playing dead. I went ahead and left the last one in the tank because I wasn't sure what else to do.

My nitrite levels over night went from caution to the high end of stress. I added the second pump back into the tank this morning, did another 25% water change and dropped in a water clear tablet. I am at a loss and do not want to have to keep replacing fish. All the guppies appear to be fine. Please someone help...:help:

PS. How long is the gestation period for swordtails? Because I don't have a male only female, but do have male guppies that looked like they were getting friendly with the swordtails last week.:)

[Danyal]

wow, so many things wrong here. 1) your tank is incredibly overstocked, i've seen 4"+ swordtails, those guys need a 20+ gallon tank, same with the cories, only the guppies will have a healthy life in that tank and then only about 3 of them. 2) your goldfish didn't die of old age, old age for a goldfish is 20yrs+ 3) your going through a cycle, that is whats killing your fish(although the parasite meds are probably not helping at all, especially if your overdosing) here's a good article for you to read about cycling, http://www.wetwebmedia.com/FWSubWebIndex/fwestcycling.htm read it and then ask us any questions you have and we will be more than happy to help out and explain anything you need us to. right now you'd do well to do 50% water changes every day to every other day to keep the ammonia and nitrites down to levels where your fish can hopefully survive. if you have room put both of your filters(pumps) onto the tank.

[DrNo]

Can you take some of these fish back to your local fish store? You are EXTREMELY overstocked and it is going to be difficult to get this tank cycled given the bioload. Can you buy a larger tank and start that cycling?

[Reddog80p]

Running you tank empty for a week after losing your goldfish probably starved your beneficial bacteria. Your in the process of doing a fishy cycle now, and you'll need to do water changes as necessary to keep your ammonia and nitrite levels under .25 ppm. Get yourself a good liquid test kit like the freshwater master test kit (API Brand). Be sure to dechlorinate your tap water with a good water conditioner like Prime and match your tanks temperature. What's your tanks current temperature?

[OldMan47]

Welcome to AC Singenkatzen. Others have already pointed out that your stocking level is excessive. The paper strip tests are generally not considered worth owning so you probably should say that you don't know your parameters. In that situation, and with your stocking levels, I would do no less than a 50% daily water change until you can get a decent, liquid reagent type, testing kit. This will give your fish a slight chance of surviving until they are either moved to larger quarters or returned to the fish shop. They will never be healthy, happy fish at that stocking level but you could help them survive until something is done about it.

[Virtuoso2K12]

that's overstock for sure.

[bumpylemon]

ill add that when doing a WC try avoiding a 100% WC thats why it went cloudy i believe..

[Star_Rider]

if ammonia and or nitrites are high a large water change may be in order.

I've done signifcant water changes (Nearly 100 %) with no real problems.

this tank sounds like
1 overstocked
2. cycling.
fix is to reduce stock and do large water changes to avoid killing the fish with toxic levels of ammonia, nitrite etc.
sounds like in this instance you may be seeing a bacterial bloom(white cloudy water).

[bazil323]

1. The goldfish probably was poisoned by his own waste because his tank was way too small to contain him.

2. The beneficial bacteria died off before you added the new fish. This bacteria can only live for less than a day without a food source (fishy waste or plain ammonia).

3. There are way too many fish in there. You are repeating the same mistake that killed the goldfish. Either get rid of the swordtails or get a much larger tank. Besides being overstocked, the tank is cycling. Please read up on cycling your tank.

Corys need to be in groups. It's not unheard of for lone corys to die of stress and loneliness. You need at least 6.

[feemia]

PS. How long is the gestation period for swordtails? Because I don't have a male only female, but do have male guppies that looked like they were getting friendly with the swordtails last week.:)

Welcome to AC. :) You've come to right place. The folks here want to help.

In answer to your last question, the gestation period for swordtails is 4-6 weeks. They can't breed with the guppies, but they can save sperm and keep having babies for several months. I really recommend returning the swordtails if you can. Babies are cute, but trust me, you don't want to end up with dozens of swordtails.

BTW - male guppies will try to get friendly with just about any fish, male or female.

If you don't want to get a bigger tank, and you are able to return the swordtails, then pygmy cories would be a good choice for your 5 gallon, rather than more emeralds. But wait until you get your tank finishes cycling first.

[excuzzzeme]

Your cloudy water is indicative of an algae bloom which means the tank has not cycled.

[wataugachicken]

boy oh boy. take the fish back if you can and let us help you start over from the beginning.

[Jag1980]

This is why I do not want to sell my fish to a pet store...:headshake2:

I would take all those fish back to the pet store and start all over again ad come here and ask people to help you before you begin.
Great place for info here.

[svf]

Hi, and welcome to AC. I think that everyone here is trying to help. I have a few questions for you.
How long have you been keeping fish?
How long has your tank been set up?
What is your regular maintenance/water change schedule - how often do you do water changes and how much of the water do you change?
What about filter and filter media - what kind of filter and what kind of media (filter pads, etc.) do you have in it, and how often do you change it?
What kind of dechlorinator do you use, and what else, if anything, do you add to the water?
How often do you feed your fish and how much do you feed them at a time?

I know that this sounds like the 3rd degree, but we have to know more about your setup to offer you more helpful information!

Fishkeeping is a wonderful hobby that requires TONS of patience. We learn as we go, and we all make lots of mistakes. But, after awhile, all of this stuff will make sense and you will have a beautiful aquarium and happy fish!

Hang in there!