help--fish dying!!

angelfish2

angelfish2

AC Members
Jan 17, 2006
13
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0
New Jersey
Hi--I hope someone can help me. My 30 gal.tank was set up in December, I added a few small fish in January. (neons, white clouds). I have gradually added a few fish at a time. At present, I have 1 catfish (1 died this morning), 2 rasboras, 3 white clouds, 3 neons, 1 marble hatchet (1 died this morning) and a male betta. The catfish were both in the tank since December. All the small fish are fine--actually--ALL the fish SEEM fine. They have great color, they are growing, eating well, swimming about the tank--yet--sooner or later-with no warning-I lose another one. I had 2 marble hatchets originally--one died; I had a female betta-she died; a ram cichlid (really upset over that one)--she died. It seems the "original" occupants are the only ones I haven't lost (with the exception now this morning of the catfish). They show no signs of illness, disease--one day they are healthy & happy--next day they are dead. I had my water tested at a fish store--they said "everything is fine" with my water!!! The only thing I notice is a tendency for my PH to be slightly more alkaline . But I was told that would hardly kill off these fish this way. I would like to get this tank with a few more fish, but I don't dare buy any!! (I have gotten them at different locations also--no "WalMart" fish either) Anyone????? (please-ask me any questions you need to know that might give you a clue) Thanks!!
 
Your fish might have been sick when you bought them. They might not have showed signs of sickness until you got them home. When you buy fish and bring them home, any sudden change in temp. can shock them. Also if you do not add them to you tank right you can ph shock them. When fish get stressed from traveling their immune system weakens and they can not fight of diseases are easily. They could have been a little sick and then the trip home could have made them worse. This is the main reason I try not to buy any fish during the winter months. Something else could have happened to your fish, but I'm just offering this as one possibilty.
 
Thanks for your thoughts--while it sounds logical-- I don't think that's it. The catfish that died this morning has been in the tank since December. The others that died were in the tank for some time before they died also. So it's not just newly bought fish that are dying. It's just too eery that they show NO signs of illness or disease before dying. I was just looking at the catfish last night & remarking how much he had grown since I'd bought him. Then this morning--there he was--upside down dead.
Thanks for replying. Anyone else have any ideas?
 
If you have a heater in the tank check it for cracks or see if there is any water inside the glass tube that might put an electrical charge in the water nearer the heater. Also if you dont have a heater you may need to check on the best temp for the fish you have. Colder temps will not always kill fish suddenly, but over time. If this is the case it would explain why they do not show any signs of disease before they go belly up. Just taking a stab at your problem.
 
get yourself a test kit..and test the water yourself.

did the fish store test for ammonia,nitrites and nitrates? if so what were the readings.
what is your wc schedule?

if you set up your tank in dec..did you cycle the tank?
if not it sounds like some sort of imbalance in water quality.

if you have a test kit you can monitor the tank to see if it's cycling.
 
angelfish2 said:
Hi--I hope someone can help me. My 30 gal.tank was set up in December, I added a few small fish in January. (neons, white clouds). I have gradually added a few fish at a time. At present, I have 1 catfish (1 died this morning), 2 rasboras, 3 white clouds, 3 neons, 1 marble hatchet (1 died this morning) and a male betta. The catfish were both in the tank since December. All the small fish are fine--actually--ALL the fish SEEM fine. They have great color, they are growing, eating well, swimming about the tank--yet--sooner or later-with no warning-I lose another one. I had 2 marble hatchets originally--one died; I had a female betta-she died; a ram cichlid (really upset over that one)--she died. It seems the "original" occupants are the only ones I haven't lost (with the exception now this morning of the catfish). They show no signs of illness, disease--one day they are healthy & happy--next day they are dead. I had my water tested at a fish store--they said "everything is fine" with my water!!! The only thing I notice is a tendency for my PH to be slightly more alkaline . But I was told that would hardly kill off these fish this way. I would like to get this tank with a few more fish, but I don't dare buy any!! (I have gotten them at different locations also--no "WalMart" fish either) Anyone????? (please-ask me any questions you need to know that might give you a clue) Thanks!!
Click to expand...
This sounds like my experience when I set up my 55 gallon tank last year. Get a good quality water test kit, the one's with the test tubes. Don't rely on what the fish shop tells you. Test your own water. If you want, test your own, take a sample in have them test it and see if they come up with the same thing. I had what looked like healthy fish dying almost every day and this was several weeks after my tank had been set up and populated. To this day, I don't know why. Even though the water parameters looked good, I started doing partial water changes every other day for a few weeks. I don't know if this helped or not, but finally the deaths stopped, and I went back to once a week partial water changes. Finally, take care to not overstock. I made the mistake of replacing fish that died and then adding some. Now, I patronize a fish shop that I really trust, when I asked them how many is too many, their response was, "think of it this way... you're on an airplane... Are you more comfortable on a crowded plane, or a less crowded plane...?" Well, with fish, their lives and their health depends on it. And did you know that the lifespan of a neon tetra is 6 years? Even the smallest of aquarium fish given the opportunity should flourish for many years.
Good luck and take care,
Mary.
 
Hi--thanks everyone...I watched the person in the fish store do the test & saw the results--I don't have the "numbers"--but I saw the color for the nitrate/nitrite tests & they were good. I may have to change water more often, tho' I don't know if that's the problem. I can remember having fish tanks set up years ago, and never changing water (not saying that was good--we just never did it--and the fish were fine! Just lucky I guess!) I know that the tap water here is very alkaline & I have trouble keeping the ph down. I was going to purchase another test kit just recently (I only have ph tester right now) but they were out of them the day I was there.
I guess I will try doing more water changes & see if that helps. I appreciate everyone's ideas--if you think of anything else--please let me know. Thanks!
 
what is your water change routine? do you clean the filters at all?
 
so what is this "high" ph you keep talking about? ours is 7.8 out of the tap.
 
OK--so maybe my PH isn't "high"--it's just above what's considered "neutral". I had 2 other stores test my water--they said the same thing--"there is nothing wrong with your water". (Granted--one of the stores WAS Petco--but even so--she used test tubes, not strips--they all did--the colors on her chart matched the water in the test tubes exactly . I just changed about 25% of the water, (altho' no-one has died in the past week). It's just very frustrating when I've had (now) 4 different places test my water--and they all come out "OK". And esp. when , as I said--not one of the fish seemed distressed or ill--all were swimming normally, eating well--and in fact 2 were "older" residents (older as in living in the tank from the beginning--not "new" purchases)--and they had grown in size & looked great. I have a marble hatchet that is supposed to be more "delicate"--he is doing great!! His companion--another marble--didn't make it. I bought a small silver hatchet for company for him--but- it died.
Same thing each time--one day they looked as described above--next morning--dead in the tank.
 
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