Lost 15 fish in past two weeks, AUGH!!!!

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Dily

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May 30, 2007
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My 30 gallon tank has been set up for years. I only have fancy and fantail guppies in it. About two weeks ago they started dying about two or three a day. I have done a water change, vaccuumed the rocks and changed the filter twice. I have noticed that the water is kinda of grainy looking. My PH checks out okay and I am going this weekend to have a water sample checked at a fish store. About the time the fish started dying I had bought five new fish who are doing wonderfully while all the others are croaking. At first I thought it was because they were just old but all stages of my fish are dying from new fry up to the oldest adults. I am so frustrated now I am on the verge of throwing away my algaefied decorations, all the gravel, scrubbing out the tank and just starting over. I have beautiful guppies and don't want to loose any more. Please :help:!
 

grannylvsfish

have you been bad this year ??
Dec 6, 2006
3,124
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Montana
wow so you have not tested your water? you need to see what the heck is going on, thats a lot of fish, and I would not add more to a tank thats not stable. get a water test kit and test it asap, or get to the store to have it tested. you may have some real issues to deal with.
 

grannylvsfish

have you been bad this year ??
Dec 6, 2006
3,124
1
0
Montana
do not start over, you can fix this by testing to see whats going on, ammonia, nitrates nitrites. you have to test and do water changes accordingly. something is off big time.
 

livingword26

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Dec 5, 2006
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You need to go the fish store and buy the API Nitrate, Nitrite and Ammonia test kits. Or you can get the API Freshwater Master Test Kit, it has all those plus the PH. This information is a must for determining the problem. You say you "changed the filter twice". What kind of filter do you have? Did you change everything in the filter? How many fish did you have in the tank at the time they started dying? How often do you do water changes, how much do you change, and how often do you vacuum the gravel?
 

Dily

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May 30, 2007
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My filter flows over the back and I have changed the filter that goes down into it twice since they started dying. It's hard to say how many fish are in the tank because I always have new fry swimming around. When they started dying I probably had about 20 (two years or older) adults and a bunch of babies. I have gotten lazy with cleaning my gravel maybe once every two to three months. I usually take out about a third to a half of the water when I do. This sounds awful but they have babies so often I dip the fry out and give them to my sons goldfish in his tank. One of my mommies just had about thirty so if I am patient my old fish will be replaced by these. I know I have to take a lot of them out. Once they start showing color I decide which ones to give the goldfish.
 

livingword26

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Dec 5, 2006
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You definitely should be vacuuming that tank out every week, or 2 at the most. Again, you can only determine your course of action with the test I requested above.
 

Dily

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May 30, 2007
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The goldfish are in another tank. I only have guppies in mine. Of the larger fish I have left over I just counted about 15. The rest are fry from newborn to about two months. I am seeing from your response that I was way overstocked. About how many guppies should I have in a thirt gallon tank?
 

livingword26

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Dec 5, 2006
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Oh, and the good bacteria that is keeping your tank healthy lives in your filter. If you change it, that can also cause a problem.
 

Dily

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May 30, 2007
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I change it twice in that amount of time thinking I had an ammonia problem. Hubby said something about the charcoal being used up. Would it help if I went ahead and changed the water again before I get it checked. I live about an hour from the nearest place that can check it.
 
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