fish dying :(

S

sarahscooby

Registered Member
May 13, 2012
1
0
0
Real Name
Sarah
Hi everyone! I'm in desperate need of help with our newly acquired aquarium. A friend of ours gave us a 50 gallon tank with an 18 inch plecostomus. when we received the tank, there was only 6 inches of water and nothing but algae in the tank. I scrubbed the walls and slowly added water to the tank. Let the filtration system run for a week and finally decided to get a few fish in there. We got 2 angelfish, 5 black molly's and 5 (can't remember the name :() little colorful schooling fish and let them on their way. This was 2 weeks ago. 4 days ago, we notice baby fish. Wow were we shocked and surprised, but @ the same time, our angel fish died. One the day we found the babies, the other 2 days ago. I woke up this morning to check on them and one of the black molly's is dead. I don't want anymore of these beautiful creatures dying. Any advice?
 
your tank most likely had an ammonia spike from the added waste produced by all the new fish you put in there.

adding fish to a tank needs to be done slowly, a few fish here and there over time. this is how you avoid the ammonia spike.

sounds like you don't have a test kit. go to petsmart and buy the API Freshwater Master Kit. test the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and ph. tell us what the test results are, and then we'll go from there.
 
allaboutfish said:
get some prime too.
Click to expand...

to clarify, Prime is a dechlorinator made by SeaChem, and is a product many of us swear by here on the forum. you can get it at petsmart as well. it's a red and white bottle.
 
And until you are able to get a test kit i would recommend performing large water changes daily to keep the ammonia levels low. Your pleco in particular is sensitive to this as the concentration of ammonia is higher lower in the tank where he resides.

Also, did you dechlorinate the water that you added to the tank?

Sent from my LG-P999 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
Everyone here gave you great advice:

1. Do a large, like 50%, water change everyday until you get a test kit.
2. Buy an API Freshwater test kit. Make sure it is the Freshwater one and not salt because they look the same.
3. Buy a water conditioner called PRIME by Seachem that neutralizes any toxic chemicals in your tank.
4. Test the water. There should be 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite. These are the killers. Nitrate can be present, just try to keep it under 40 ppm. That is an acceptable level.

I hope no more of your fish die, GOOD LUCK,

When in doubt, do a water change!
 
stormywendyann said:
Everyone here gave you great advice:

1. Do a large, like 50%, water change everyday until you get a test kit.
2. Buy an API Freshwater test kit. Make sure it is the Freshwater one and not salt because they look the same.
3. Buy a water conditioner called PRIME by Seachem that neutralizes any toxic chemicals in your tank.
4. Test the water. There should be 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite. These are the killers. Nitrate can be present, just try to keep it under 40 ppm. That is an acceptable level.

I hope no more of your fish die, GOOD LUCK,

When in doubt, do a water change!
Click to expand...
Adding, just to clarify, if you are doing water changes with buckets, treat each bucket of tap water with Prime (to remove chlorine) before adding it to the tank. If you are using a python (a hose that hooks to the sink) for water changes, first drain water for the change, then dose the tank itself with the correct amount for the full tank, and then add the new water.

As soon as you have test results, post here for further help.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom