What's killing my fish?

G

girl920

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Oct 3, 2006
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Hi there. Apparently, my tank is in trouble. I have had several fish deaths in the past few days. Admittedly, I added some new fish and did not quarantine them first. Perhaps it could be that, but maybe it is something else? Tank has been running for just over 2 months, completed cycling, etc. Some basic stats are:

46-gallon w/ Aquaclear filter, standard lighting (75watt), temp 82 F., ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 10, pH 7.4
5 gold barbs
6 tiger barbs
2 blue gouramis
2 albino corys
1 featherfin synodontis catfish (my favorite!)
2 mystery snails
several live plants, including java fern, wendtii, amazon sword, micro sword, ludwigia, and anubias

We have well water here, and I'm wondering if perhaps it is really hard. Could it have bad bacteria in it (we don't drink it b/c of the taste, but it may not be harmful). Should I test the hardness of the water? Could this be a problem?

The list above is the current stock. However, I had bought 3 blue gouramis and 2 kribensis, and within a week, a gourami and both kribs died. Ugh. I even did a 30% water change recently b/c I rinsed out the filter and in doing so, the water got a little grimy. However, since my ammonia/nitrites weren't bad, just putting more "bad" water isn't going to fix anything.

Can anyone please help give me some ideas? I don't want to cause anymore fishy deaths and I really really want some more kribs - but I won't get them until I know how to keep them alive!!
 
how long this tank been setup? sounds like a cycle or mini-cycle
 
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That is a pretty heavily stocked tank for only two months old.

Keep in mind that even after a cycle is complete, there is still only as much bacteria present as was needed to handle the initial amount of waste product.

That is why we often stock tanks gradually; giving the biofilter time to grow and catch up so as to handle the new, heavier bioload.

Have you tested your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? Are there any visible signs of a disease or infection that could have come in with the newer additions? Is the water that you use for water changes drastically different in hardness and/or pH than the tank water?
 
I think they are different tanks. In the other post, she is talking about a 55 gallon that she wants to use for Malawi Cichlids. In this post, she is dealing with a 46 gallon with a mix of fish.
 
What are the readings on your tap water?
 
Yes, these are different tanks. I did mention that my ammonia and nitrites both show up as 0 in this tank. If it is still cycling, I would've thought those would show up.

My well water has a pH of 7.4 - 7.6, and I was wondering if hardness could be a factor and if I should test it (I don't have a kit for that parimeter currently). I fishy cycled this tank with my gold barbs, one of which I actually just found dead this morning. :( Don't know if he sucuumbed to the cycling from before, or if it is another problem. My blue gouramis seem to have a reddish/brown hue appearing on their bottom fin, which is creeping up into their body. The other gourami got this too just before it died. :( I hate being responsible for so many fishy deaths and obviously I'm doing something irresponsibly. Is this too many fish for this size tank?
 
You mention cleaning the filter..how?
 
The fish are killing each other? That seems unlikely, doesn't it?

To clean the filter, I poured some aquarium water into a bowl, then I rinsed the sponge and carbon by swishing it around in the bowl (the sponge was really, really dirty), then I replaced them into the filter. I also used a long brush to clean the filter tubes, which were covered with gunk. I also cleaned them using aquarium water. Did I do this right, or is there a better way to do this? Some of my fish deaths were before cleaning and adding fresh water, and some were after. :-( This is bad, isn't it? I feel like I'm failing already at this hobby ugh.
 
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