my fish are suddenly dying!!! Help

[thehaskins]

last night a silver Danio suddenly died and this morning a male platy sudddeenly died. Both acted normal right up until they died. I had actually looked at my platy and he was fine stirred my kraft dinner and went back and looked again and he was dead. no physical sign of illness on either fish water changed about a week ago (complete overhaul) levels and temp were all same as before I changed the water. any ideas what else could be causing this? Platy was fairly large so possibly Old age?

[ccubsnumberone]

what are your current water specs? It definately sounds like High Ammonia levels to me!!

[Omega]

Yes, in order for us to help you, we need some water specs.

If you don't have test kits, you could maybe bring your water to a fish store.

You said you did a "complete overhaul." I'm willing to bet you have hi ammonia, which can become toxic within a few hours.

Do a search on the nitrogen cycle. It will explain why completely cleaning out your tank will kill benefitical bacteria, including the kind that eats ammonia.

[thehaskins]

chlorine 0 ppm
ph7.5
alkilinty 1800ppm

not sure about the rest, just grabbed a test strip for my pool to do a quick check :o

[wataugachicken]

you should pick up aquarium liquid test kits (not strips) for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. those are the things that pollute the tank and are dangerous for fish.

[thehaskins]

also I Have a twenty gallon and all the fish in that one are fine. did a complete overhaul on it the same day so I don't think it's my water

[wataugachicken]

what did you use to clean your tank?
exactly what did you do?
how big is the tank?
how many fish are in it?

[thehaskins]

running four tanks all together right now and the one with the Danios and platys is the only one having problems

[thehaskins]

I always use straight water and a scrubby (no soap or anything)

[wataugachicken]

do you dechlorinate the water that you use to clean the tanks?
did you clean the filters as well?

[thehaskins]

oh sorry it is a ten Gallon. had 3 platys, two pepper corydoras, one male betta, and three zebra danios. Been running with these same fish for about seven months. Now only two danios and two platys

[thehaskins]

Actually I am on well water and there is absolutely no chlorine in it

[Omega]

running four tanks all together right now and the one with the Danios and platys is the only one having problemsPerhaps you cleaned your filters differently.

I recommend getting bio-media for your filters which you don't clean or replace, but instead rinsh off in former tank water when you do partial water changes.

[thehaskins]

No I always just rinse them in tap water (well water). Hey I put a new one in this time I wonder if it was maybe contaminated somehow?

[Omega]

No I always just rinse them in tap water (well water). Hey I put a new one in this time I wonder if it was maybe contaminated somehow?Is your well water chlorinated? Do you use hot water when doing it?

[thehaskins]

the well water is not chlorinated and I rinse the filter with hot water and then with cold water befor I put it in

[thehaskins]

I cleaned out my filter again after I the platy died today so we'll see how it goes because the filter was really really dirty for one week. Maybe it wasn't wasn't filtering properly maybe overfeeding?

[wataugachicken]

using hot water on filter pads kills the bacteria. no bacteria=lots of ammonia=fish deaths
same thing if you throw out the old one and put in a new one. your tank has to go through a mini-cycle to regain stability

[thehaskins]

ok...I will remember that. the rest all seem to be doing fine so far so I will have to wit and see

[thehaskins]

thanks for your help it is greatly appreciated. I love my fishies and hate to see anything happen to them especially if it's my fault

[Phonemonkey]

Did you ever test for ammonia? You really should get an ammonia test kit..