I sat up my 135 gallon it cycled.Added a damsel and she did fine for a hour or so,died in 3 hours,three more damsels followed and they died in three hours.Today I tried a bar goby he too was fine for about an hour,,started breathing hard at two hours and died by the third..I don't understand what is going on.I checked my water and even took it to be tested,,salt is at 23, amm at 0 nitrites 0 nitrates 0..My crabs are living and doing great I added some more crabs several days ago as well as an emerald crab and all are fine.Any ideas? I am so discouraged and I don't know what to do..Fish die in three hours,no more than two..I don't get it,they seem fine then they start panting and kill over..I know there is plenty of water movement..I have the sump and two power heads going..
Fish keep dieing,,what can be wrong
- Thread starter missc4
- Start date
What temp is your tank running at?
what exactly is inside the tank? any decorations? has a powerhead leached any oil into the tank that you can see?
Are all the fish from the same fish shop?
have you added any chemicals or additives?
I really feel for your loss Miss...i know how much hard work and effort has gone into this system. Please dont get disscouraged, we will all try our best to get to the bottom of it...
Niko
what exactly is inside the tank? any decorations? has a powerhead leached any oil into the tank that you can see?
Are all the fish from the same fish shop?
have you added any chemicals or additives?
I really feel for your loss Miss...i know how much hard work and effort has gone into this system. Please dont get disscouraged, we will all try our best to get to the bottom of it...
Niko
Temp is 80,,haven't added anything to the tank..all that is in there is sand,,live and base rock.All fish were from the same shop...I don't see any oil..I am just sooo frustrated and every time one dies I cry because I don't know what to do to help them..Things went so easy in my 28 and everyone said bigger was easier and so far it has not been
Here are my suggestions:
1.) If nothing else, I would go to another shop. I have found that there is a difference in the survival rate between fish I have bought at certain shops over others.
2.) Have you also thought about setting up a small quarantine tank with just water and maybe a couple of decorations? You could put them into the QT tank before the main tank, at least to observe them.
3.) Have you tried the drip acclimation process instead of pouring water over them? This way, it takes 2-3 hours to acclimate the fish which is better for the fish than the pouring water method.
I lost a bunch of fish when I started my aquarium and it really upset me. I would just be patient and try a couple of different stores, different methods, and see if they work better.
1.) If nothing else, I would go to another shop. I have found that there is a difference in the survival rate between fish I have bought at certain shops over others.
2.) Have you also thought about setting up a small quarantine tank with just water and maybe a couple of decorations? You could put them into the QT tank before the main tank, at least to observe them.
3.) Have you tried the drip acclimation process instead of pouring water over them? This way, it takes 2-3 hours to acclimate the fish which is better for the fish than the pouring water method.
I lost a bunch of fish when I started my aquarium and it really upset me. I would just be patient and try a couple of different stores, different methods, and see if they work better.
I have thought of everything,what gets me is the three hour thing,,all die in three hours! That is what I don't get.If some died in an hour or 5 hours,,ok..but all start dieing at 2 to 2 and 1/2 hours and are dead by three hours..Could something be wrong with my water,,besides what can be tested for,,or would the crabs have died if there was?? I am so clueless,,I thought about draining the tank to less than half the water and adding water back just in case but not sure if I should do that..
I have two red crabs,,4 blue crabs and the emerald craba nd they are doing great..all were accumilated the same way as the fish...
I have two red crabs,,4 blue crabs and the emerald craba nd they are doing great..all were accumilated the same way as the fish...
Germanman
My fish are my babies
alright this is like what happened to my aquarium...one of those things were all seems fine but something is killing things....assuming all ur test kits are to scale
could be the shop as sated above....try another
also when u test the aquarium do u dip the vials into the water?
also could u have in anyway gotten a toxic or non aquarium safe solution near the tank? or sprayed hair spray near by?
also how do u clean ur hands before putting them in the aquarium?
are all the buckets and cups and so forth that u use for the aquarium only for the aquarium and have never been used for anything else?
also what was the condition of the store u bought them form?
and lastly can u go into more detail about the fish behavior over the time it took for them to pass on?
im so sorry for ur loss ill do what i can to help u with this
could be the shop as sated above....try another
also when u test the aquarium do u dip the vials into the water?
also could u have in anyway gotten a toxic or non aquarium safe solution near the tank? or sprayed hair spray near by?
also how do u clean ur hands before putting them in the aquarium?
are all the buckets and cups and so forth that u use for the aquarium only for the aquarium and have never been used for anything else?
also what was the condition of the store u bought them form?
and lastly can u go into more detail about the fish behavior over the time it took for them to pass on?
im so sorry for ur loss ill do what i can to help u with this
Thank you G Man.
I wash my vials in freshwater only and when I go to test I rinse them in the tank before I add the water to them..
I don't think I have sprayed anything near the tank but I can not say for sure.I wouldn't think there would have been enough to mess up that much water though..
I wash my hands with freshwater only before I put them in the tank.
The cups I use have been used on this tank only.
I like the store,the only fish I have ever bought from them was the first damesls I used in the 28 gallon.Never have bought any others till now..
The fish seem fine in the bag while I accumilate them..When I add them to the tank.They swim around,,panting a bit but nothing major.They will swim all over,,exploreing the rock then it is like they get tired and they rest on the sand and pant,,the panting gets worse over time and then you will see them on there sides panting if they don't run to the rock and hide first.
I wash my vials in freshwater only and when I go to test I rinse them in the tank before I add the water to them..
I don't think I have sprayed anything near the tank but I can not say for sure.I wouldn't think there would have been enough to mess up that much water though..
I wash my hands with freshwater only before I put them in the tank.
The cups I use have been used on this tank only.
I like the store,the only fish I have ever bought from them was the first damesls I used in the 28 gallon.Never have bought any others till now..
The fish seem fine in the bag while I accumilate them..When I add them to the tank.They swim around,,panting a bit but nothing major.They will swim all over,,exploreing the rock then it is like they get tired and they rest on the sand and pant,,the panting gets worse over time and then you will see them on there sides panting if they don't run to the rock and hide first.
Germanman
My fish are my babies
ok well never let ur test tubes ever tough ur aquarium water EVER its a bad idea chemicals linger always...but i doubt that would be it
try a new store and see where that goes....also thx for the details...form the sound of it it looks like toxic shock syndrum....basically something is poisoning ur fish....since ammonia tests out at zero it cant be that so it must be something we cant test for....copper maybe...heavy metal, or chemical...i forget u use RO right? best thing to do is a large water change to try to reduce whatever it is. id say 20-40% good luck keep us posted with anything else or new ideas.
I knew I could count on you G Man..I am inclinded to think there is something in the water that I can't test for myself..
I wont let the tubes test the water from now on..that is for sure..
I do use ro water,,I will buy 1 more fish and see what happens,if it dies in three hours too then I know something is wrong no matter if the crabs are still alive..They are so hardy apparently...
If the fish dies I will change out my water..would taking 40% out send my into another cycle?? I don't care if it does I just wont to fix what ever is wrong..
I wont let the tubes test the water from now on..that is for sure..
I do use ro water,,I will buy 1 more fish and see what happens,if it dies in three hours too then I know something is wrong no matter if the crabs are still alive..They are so hardy apparently...
If the fish dies I will change out my water..would taking 40% out send my into another cycle?? I don't care if it does I just wont to fix what ever is wrong..