Fish keep dying please help

[JH]

I hope someone can point me in the right direction to finding a solution to my fish deaths.

My tank has been up and running with very little problems since 1999. I have a 125 gal tank with a Emperor 400 and a Fluval 404. Both have carbon and filter floss in them. I alternate every other week or so with maintenance for each filter. I do a partical water change about 15- 20% at least twice a month. For water changes I use a product from Seachem called Neutral Regulator and have been for years.

The problem all started around the first week in January. I have lost fish just about every week since. All of the remaining fish seem fine. No changes in behavior or eating habits, etc... The only thing that I can think of is that we had some major flooding problems around the Beginning of January and the water plant could have been using different chemicals etc... The flooding problem hasn't gotten much better due to all the rain and snow in recent days and weeks.

I have tested the water and my results were Ph - 7.5, Ammonia- 0, Nitirite-0 and KH- well don't really know the test didn't go that high. I used 21 drops of solution. My test kit is by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

To date I have lost 3 female and 1 male swordtails, 4 clownloaches, 1 angelfish, and 1 bristlenose catfish. Remaining are 1 clownloach, 2 angelfish, 2 bala sharks, a neon, and a rosy barb. I have not added any new fish. All of the fish remaning and those that died I have had anywhere from 3 to 5 years. It just didn't seem normal that I would loose all of them at the same time.

I have thought about using water softeners but thought I would get some 2nd opinions first. I sure hope someone can help.

 

[JH]

I thought I would add that there are no live plants in this tank.

Thanks.

 

[ineedabox]

hmmm....that's weird, your swordtails died, but some of your angelfish survived? Really? I cant think of many problems that would kill a fish as hardy as a swordtail but spare an angelfish. I dont know what to tell you, I'd say age, but like you said, that would be unlikely because they have all died in the same span of weeks.

I dont know what to tell you, I really dont. This sort of thing has happenend to me, but it made since because of the fish I was stocked with, I really cant think of a good explanation for all of this.

 

[OrionGirl]

Contact the water utility and see exactly what they have been doing different. If they've changed from chlorine to chloramines, you may need to change how you treat the water.

 

[snakeskinner]

what's your nitrate level? 15-20% every 2 weeks sounds a little low for waterchanges but I would have thought they would have peaked earlier than now. I'd definitely be wondering what's in your local water. By law they should notify you of any nitrates, phosphates, etc. in the water so hopefully that's not the case. My local water has had nitrates for the last couple years now but it's only 10ppm by my testkit so I've still been using it. are you sure they aren't dying from old age? I'm not sure on the lifespan of those fish but 3-5 years sounds like a pretty good lifespan for many freshwater fish. just some thoughts, KYle

 

[ineedabox]

But it would be weird for them all to die that closely to each other, no?

 

[OrionGirl]

The clown loaches should live an easy 10 years--20 isn't unreasonable. Angles are also fairly long lived, and bristlenose should make it to 8-9, at least.

 

[JH]

Thanks for your replys. While yes it is possible that they all died due to old age I just don't think they would all die within weeks of each other. The clown loaches and bristlenose died the same day. Which is why I thought it was becasue of the water change that I did only a couple days prior.

I don't have a test kit to test for any kind of metals. Do you think that could be part of the cause?

I have never had a problem with nitrites untill recently. Besides larger water changes is there anything else I can do to lower them. My test kit is old. I am looking to get a new one but would that show false readings.

This just had me stumped since I still have a Neon Tetra, a Clownloach and an Angelfish. Judging by past experience those particular fish seem more prone to sickness/death and so far they are still alive. I would have thought the neon and the remaining clown loach would have shown signs of sickness but so far they haven't.

 

[ineedabox]

OK, I have a thought. Now, this is the only thought that I can gather from the information you've given, so here it goes:

What I think happened was this: When you were changing your water, maybe you forgot to put purifier (in your case, Neutral Regulator) in the tap water you used, and maybe, just maybe even if you did put some in, you may have put in too little of an amount, and maybe the chlorine in the water was what was/is harming your fish.

Sound reasonable?

 

[JH]

Actually I add the neutral regulator before I even start adding water. I add a little more than what is actually called for, so I don't think that I added too little in this case.

I miss read one of the posts. I thought it said nitrites. I don't have a nitrate test kit so I don't know what that is reading right now.

I tested the water again and the test today was PH-7.5, Ammonia-0, nitrite-0, and KH - 16 drops or 286.4 ppm. So everything stayed the same except the KH went down. When I tested it a couple days ago the KH was reading high using 21 drops (not sure what that equals that chart didn't go that high)

I got to thinking after one of the post suggested that the water company might be using chloramines and correct me if I am wrong but doesn't the Neutral Regulator remove Chlorine, Chloramine and detoxifies heavy metals as well as adjust PH. So if that is the case the neutral regulator should take care of it.

I am planning on taking a water sample in to be tested this weekend. I feel that I should get a 2nd test done by an outside source to see how close we match. I sure hope that I can get to the bottom of this.

Thanks for all of your help so far. If there is anything else that I can test or do please let me know.