All my fish are dead. Now what?

[jiminy_crime]

Hello everyone,

I am still brand new to the hobby of fish care. I own a 30 gal. which I am doing a fishless cycle with ammonia and I also own a 10 gal. that I filled with a bumble bee cichlid and 2 pictus catfish. It was 3 weeks into the cycling process of the 10 gal. when all my fish croaked and died. I was doing water changes every other day to try and bring the ammonia down but I guess it did not even help. Frustrated at the loss of my fish, I decided to turn to someone who knows what they are talking about. Can anyone and everyone that knows anything about excellent fish care give me some pointers about fish and what I can do to become a better care taker. I am very interested in taking care of fish, I just wish I could do a better job of it. Please can anyone come to my aid. I would greatly appreciate it.

Gratefully,

Charlie

 

[yashinfan]

My fish died today, and this is what I've learned: Check ABSOLUTELY everything right before you add your fish to your tank. I made a dumb error that could have been avoided.

 

[ArkyLady]

The best thing you can do to become a better caretaker for your fish is have a willingness to learn, which you obviously do. The second thing you can do is NOT listen to the people at your pet store, or at least don't take what they say as correct just because they work there. Too often pet store owners/workers will tell you anything just to make a sale. They'll try to sell you all kinds of potions and remedies that will "fix" your tank, but then it will only mess you up worse in the long run.

You're off to a great start with the fishless cycling for sure. Once you're done with that, the tanks will be ready for your fish and you shouldn't have the problems you had with the 10 gallon. I'd fishless cycle the 10 gallon also now that you lost all the fish in there.

You need to find out what the PH and hardness for your tap water is, this will help determine what fish you can keep without having to modify your water. If your fishstore will test your water for free, that'd be great. Otherwise you can buy a test kit. You'll need tests for ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte anyway (you may already have all these).

Once you know your water parameters, post here what they are and what kinds of fish you'd like to keep. Everyone will be able to help you determine the fish that will be compatible and how many you should have of each and not overstock the tanks. If you have a good mix of fish and the tanks aren't overstocked, maintenance is pretty easy. Daily feedings and weekly water changes (gravel cleaning) along with occassional glass and filter cleanings is about all it takes to keep them happy and healthy.

 

[somefinnfishy]

Originally posted by jiminy_crime
Hello everyone,

I also own a 10 gal. that I filled with a bumble bee cichlid and 2 pictus catfish. It was 3 weeks into the cycling process of the 10 gal. when all my fish croaked and died. I was doing water changes every other day to try and bring the ammonia down

First you were fish cycleing the 10g not adding ammonia right?
Second every other day water changes 9no more than 20% I hope)are not a good thing on new tanks Did you test for the ammonia that you were trying to remove if you were reading high ammonia after a every 48hr changing routine Fisrst Idea that come to mind is over feeding if you fed more than a a milk cap full of food a week that was to much most new tens will take a 1/6 to a 1/4 teaspoon of food a day with out crashing IMHO any more and even water changes wount catch the spike in time.
Third bad choise of fish for your 30 let alone your ten those cats are freaks and will torment any other fish that is forced to live with them in any tank less than 4 sq ft of floor space their activeness bother/intimidates most other fish and the chiclid wasnt the best of choises either sorry to cut your first try but we will figure this out for you.
FYI we have bad luck with water changes and pictus cats at work only the FW stingray tanks and the pictus tank we wont do more than a 20% change or bad things happen of 400 tanks the others all get a 50-60% a week the africans up to 80%

 

[Faramir]

Second every other day water changes 9no more than 20% I hope)are not a good thing on new tanks Did you test for the ammonia that you were trying to remove if you were reading high ammonia after a every 48hr changing routine

And high ammonia readings are good for new tanks? Water changes are fine; if there is measurable ammonia the colonies will grow.

Rabbits do not breed any faster if you give them hundreds of extra carrots; if they have enough carrots, they will breed.

 

[Skittyfish]

Just for the record..I don't feed my fish every day. I feed them once a day for three days and skip the next day. I try to keep a skip day as the cleaning day. Seems to work for me, all of my fish are healthy, colorful and growing.