Somethings is wrong... smells bad, dead fish

[ltldrgn13]

Something is majorly wrong here... Everything has been fine after the water change last week.. Then this afternoon my husband came home from work and says the tank smells awful... same smell it had last week when my test kit said the ammonia levels were sky rocketed. And I have two died Bala Sharks... HELP!!!

Tank info:

72 gallon bow-front:

Marineland Penguin 350 BIO-Wheel Power Filter

It have tons and tons of fake caves and natural decor.. so there are
at least 18+ different hiding places that I can come up with.. the
tank also is heavy planted (fake plants).

2 (2 in) Bala Sharks (will be moving to friends 500gal when bigger)
2 (0.75 in) Red-tail Sharks
1 (2 in) Rainbow Shark
3 (1.5 in) Zebra Danios
3 (.75 in) SwordTails
2 (.75 in) Dalmation Mollies
4 (0.5 in) White Clouds
3 (0.5 in) Green Barbs
3 (0.5 in) Tigar Barbs
3 (0.5 in) Gold Barbs
3 (0.5 in) Albino Barbs
2 (0.5 in) freshwater Drawf Puffer fish
1 (4 in) pleco

I did change one of the filters (it has 2) but do I didn't clean the filter itself out. I change one of the filters every 2-4 weeks. Also I didn't scrub the rock just did a good vaccum. The decor/plants were not scrubbed just sprayed down with hot water.

As for feeding I feed two times a day once in the morning before work and once at night befoer bed... two frozen gum drops (blood worms or something along those lines) and a pinch of flakes. No more then the fish eat with a min or two. There isn't ever any food left over. Although I think the ammonia did spike because I let my son feed one night and he did feed way to much flake food, along the few died fry. I know I shouldn't have let him feed... :-(

I have added "Stress Coat" and some "Doc Wellfish's Aquarium Salt" to the water during water changes or when adding a new fish. But never more then the container says. And not at the same time. I was also told the salts were best for the type of fish I have. Other then that I have used 1/2 of the suggested amount of "Algae Destroyer Liquid" because I was getting quite a bit of algae growth. I was leaving the light on to long during the day.. it is now on a timer only on for 10 hours a day rather then 16 hours.

All the fish seem fine... other then a couple of the barbs doing dancing and head stands ones in a while but they have always done that.

 

[ltldrgn13]

Just a thought from some research I have been doing... could it be possible that during the day the tank is getting some indirect sunlight (it is a dark tank done in blacks)which in turn is causing an algae and bacteria bloom throwing the water and chemical levels off balance? I am wondering this because my bedroom, which is where the tank is at, seem hotter then the rest of the house now that spring is here and I have had a little bit of an issue with algae growth in the tank.

Thoughts??

 

[Aqualung]

First of all, adding Stress coat, salt, and algae destroyer should not be necessary. If there was a lot of algae and you killed it off with the destroyer stuff, that could definitely contribute to your high ammonia levels.

I would stop using those additives, and start doing water changes of 50% until you get the ammonia under control.

Also - when you say you "changed your filter", what exactly do you mean? If you removed the biological media and replaced it, you lost a good deal of beneficial bacteria. Bio-media shouldn't need replacing very often if at all, just rinsing it in tank water does the trick to remove solids, but will leave the bacteria intact.

*Edit* - Actually the salt will help make nitrites less toxic, so it wouldn't hurt to keep using that until you get the problem resolved. After things balance out it will not be necessary though.

 

[Aqualung]

It would also be good to know your exact water parameters, and whether or not your water contains chlorine and/or chloramines.

 

[ltldrgn13]

I have not added any chemicals since before the last water change. As for the filter I only changed the filter pad.. ( the ones that are suppost to be replaced every 2-4 weeks) nothing more. I never touched/cleaned anything else with the filter because I didn't want to mess up the beneficial bacteria.

I am worried that the Algae Destroyer Liquid is the major cause of these issue.

So my understanding is from here on out just do a 50% water change every few days or once a week until the levels are under control again? Do I need to add any stress coat or anything like that to keep the chlorine, iron, etc levels down from my tap water?

Thanks a million for your help.

 

[Stefanie]

I would do water changes even more often until your levels are OK. Sometimes two back to back might be needed....
Also, are you sure your fish are dying of ammonia, or could it be that your dwarf puffers are attacking them so much until they die and therefore cause a spike? Just some food for thoughts... my dwarf puffers can not be kept with other fish...

 

[Kasakato]

Il step in to help now.
You really need to stop changeing the filter pads every 2-4 weeks. I have had mine for well over 5 months. In order to do this you should take a look at the: Media. If its not to late and the media is still wet re add it to your filter.

You also have to stop adding any chemical other than Stress Coat. The alage stuff and other chemicals are doing more good then bad. Including salt. Everytime you are adding new water to your tank you need to add some kind of dechlor. In your case you can and should be adding stress coat.

How high are your ammoina levels? This stuff is really harmful to your fish. Just try smelling it and you will get the idea.

 

[Analog Saint]

the salt's not necessarily bad, in fact, it can aid in cases of high ammonia... And I think the pad she's refering to is the mechanical filtration pad, which is OK to throw away (although you can just rinse them out in dechlorinated water and they're usually good to use again, but that's not really the issue here, since a negligable amount of nitrifying bacteria live there)... The majority of the nitrifying bacteria live on the bio-wheel itself (the bio-wheel is the wet-dry biological filter media).

monitor levels daily and keep doing water changes (30% or larger, twice or more daily) until nitrogen is under control- tanks really shouldn't have an odor at all to them. Feed sparingly, vacuum the gravel, and make sure there are no dead fish in hiding spots that could contribute to the ammonia buildup. Good Luck!


for future reference: depending on how your light setup is, it might be easier to control algae with a few easy plants rather than to rely on something that could potentially harm your tank. A decently-planted tank will out-compete algae for nutrients, and your fish will enjoy the live plants as well.

 

[Kasakato]

Salt is good for helping fish with harmful stuff, but with the fish that he has it may not be a good idea. The bacteria lives on the media too. So you did still loose some of it.

 

[FisheyLisa]

I dont know about your odor, but if i figured it right, are you overfeeding? Not that there is food left, but also everytime you feed, they poop- more ammonia. It could exacerbate your problem. At least while things are funky, maybe cutting down on your amount of feedings. When my tanks have ammonia probs, along with fixing what te prob. is, I cut down to feeding every other day, every two days...and I have found by accident that they will survive well over a week. Not to say you should starve them/ or be so drastic, but until you get it under control, it might help. My tank is also a lot smaller....but it could help.

good luck,
lisa