What the hell is wrong with my fish

I'm sorry about the problems you and your fish are having, Danny.

As well as what everyone else said, could you post how big the tank is and what kinds of fish and how many you have? Also how long has the tank been set up?
 
Heres more info...

Thanks everyone for your help here is some more info for ya. First let me say that after compiling my info i may get kicked out of here for running my tank like an idiot... sorry

80 gal tank, undergravel filter (no carbon thingys attached will be getting some), one 48" inch bubble wand across the back, marineland penguin Bio-Wheel 350 filter, lots of fake plants, big parthanon looking thing that bubbles up

The tank has been setup for about a year, I dont really do frequent water changes just fill it back up when the level starts to get lower, Now this isnt my first tank, i've had a 55 gal and pretty much did the same with that and didnt have near the same problems with that one, but that was in a different area, and our water hereis WAY soft so that may be something to do with it, should i buy water from somewhere? where?

at first it was near a window, and had algae really bad, so i've moved it away from the window, and as a sid note i have a cat that loves to site next to the tank and watch the fish and occasionally pounches the tank, is that stressful? because i dont really know how to get her to stop!

ok here are the fish,when i say new that means in the batch i bought last week, 3 Rasporas new - 1 Died in the last few days, 2 other rasporas that are bigger and i've had for about a year, 1 pleco 3 mos, 2 Algea eaters new, 2 sunbust plattys 3mos 1 has that white stuff, 3 zebra danios new 3 zebra danios about a year, 2 golden guppys male new, 5 female guppys new, 3 black neon tetras 1 year, 5 white mollys 2 sick new, 5 black mollys 2 sick new, now this is the interesting part my plattys have had babies so, 5 that are about half an inch long, 8 babies that just came out the other day they are in a breeders cage, and 3 black babies that i have no idea where they came from

Heres the test results, PH above 8.4 , alkaline 300+, hardness 75, nitrite 0 - .5, nitrate 200+, those are from this morning

i have put in prime and that brought the nitrite down, i have put in ACE and thats supposed to do the ammonia, but i have no test strips for that. i put the chemicals in two days ago. i have put in melafix cause some one at petsmart said to.

ok i think thats it heres some pics.

The platty
The black molly
The Tank
The Tank 2
 
Yeah my guess would be that the fish that you have had for quite a while in there had the capability to slowly adapt to those bad water conditions they are living in. They didn't die because the changes happened over a very long period of time. On the day you put them in your PH was likely much lower and your nitrates were surely closer to zero.

At this point you need to start doing partial water changes on that tank, but nothing too drastic because you need to let those old fish slowly readjust to better water. You have Old Tank Syndrome.

I'm sure someone else will chime in here, but if it were me, I wouldn't change more than 20 gallons of that 80 gallon tank today, then I'd wait several days before doing it again. Work your nitrates down to somewhere between 0 and 40. While you're doing that the PH should slowly drop as well unless it's really that high from the source.
 
I agree with Mvigor.

You've got to do regular partial water changes to keep your tank healthy. 200+ nitrate is toxic to most fish I would think. Out in the wild, Mother Nature gives the fish frequent rain showers to keep their water fresh. You are Mother Nature of your tank. Water that never gets refreshed gets stale, stagnant, and is a great breeding ground for any number of diseases and harmful fungus and bacteria. These nasty things love a nitrate rich environment.

Some basics though...
-When you change your water, be sure to use a dechlorinator
-If you medicate and your Marineland 350 has carbon, the medication is basically useless...unless you've never changed the replaceable filter media
-Rinse the replaceable filter media in tank water every week or so. You'll extend its lifetime by quite a bit (beats buying monthly replacements)
-You've got to vacuum the gravel frequently. Especially with a UGF, all the coarse waste is getting sucked down into the gravel. I like it to be sucked into the power filter where its easier to clean. I'm not a fan of UGF's at all. Python makes a vacuum/water change system that is so easy to use, I'm ashamed I didn't buy one years ago.
 
OK Danny. Here is what you need to do. I'll do the what first, then the why.

THE WHAT
Today, right now, ASAP, 25% water change. NO MORE, NO LESS.
In 12 hrs, tomorrow am, another 25% water change.
Tomorrow, pm, another 25%.
Friday 50%.
Saturday 50%.

You CANNOT speed up this process. if it is done to quickly your fish will die. They need time to adjust to "normal" water conditions.

THINGS TO BUY
A. If you do not already have one, and if you haven’t been doing routine water changes you probably don't, buy a gravel vac or better yet a python.
B. Also buy an aquarium pharmaceuticals master test kit.

THE WHY
You have OTS, old tank syndrome. Please read
http://www.thepufferforum.com/articles/small/ots.html
Your tank has a build up of pollutants and your fish have adapted to this crap in your water. Can they live in it, yes. But it will shorten their lifespan significantly, and it amounts to cruel and inhumane treatment.


If you do not know how to do a water change or how to use the test kit, speak up! That's why we are here.
Please read in the article section Tanks, water, and maintenance. This should answer alot of questions for you

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=297432#post297432
 
You need to be doing 40% water changes every week. But I would suggest doing 30% every other day until your nitrites are down to zero and nitrates are between 0-40 ppm. don't forget to ad chlorine and cloramine remover before putting water in the tank. As everyone else said you need to way increase your water changes.
 
Danny, if you move your fish into another tank, they will DIE!

Follow the schedule. Do you know, step by step, how to do a water change? Do you understand water testing, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate? If not I'll explain.

I don't want to "talk down" to you, I just don't know where your level of knowledge of fish keeping is.
 
no please explain! you dont just take out the water and put new water in? i do use chlorine remover. also one more question, how deep should the gravel be? also i just got the tests at walmart and followed the direction on the box....
 
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