help my fish keep dying??? :(

[hazalwoody69]

Hello

I have a 2ft tropical tank. About a a month - 2 months ago I first setup my tank. Done everything advised before buying fish letting it settle reach temperature etc. Anyway as time went on I started my collection. Different guppys,zebra danios, black knife ghost Fish, bala sharks.neon tetras, galaxy plecko all sorts of communal fish no problems at all. Then I discovered the 2nd bala shark I brought had whitespot :/ not havin money at the time for treatment I put a tablespoon of salt water in and turned the temp up to 84. Next day my shark was dead overnight the other fish seen him as a buffet. Over the course of 2 days I lost around 17 fish. Tryin to keep on top of the infection by removing the fish with more than 4 white spots, my local pet shop offered to lend me some whitespot treatment. Cant remember the name but it was like a blue dye. Anyway over the period of treatment my fish were fine no more deaths and the water went from deep uv blue to know crystal clear. I also added some boiling saltwater from time to time to help the cleansing process but in only small amounts. My tank seemed perfect and my remaining fish were vibrant active an healthy reassuring me that the problem was finally solved. No problem what so ever then last week I find a guppy dead who had been active hours before? Knowing fish are unpredictable I thought maybe he had had enough..... Then 2 days ago my zebra danio dead??? Why I have no idea again tank is clear filter is workin fine and he was active...then this morning another one of my zebra danio's dead???? I'm down to 8 fish out of 30!!! I've lost ones to white spot, mystery deaths and vanishing acts never seen again??
Ive searched the gravel,the filter in and out an around the tank nothing???

Can anyone help as this is drivin me crazy I'm basically wasting my money :|

 

[waterfaller1]

You need to get test kits and test all parameters. You should also find out if your source of water has chlorine or chloramines. Are you using Prime to dechlor the water? Was the tank properly cycled? Your tank, being only 2' is way overstocked at 30 fish. What filtration are you using, and what is your schedule for water changes? I am not quite understanding your method of adding salt, and what kind of salt exactly are you adding? It should be something like API aquarium salt only. And dosed at appropriate measured amounts. Any kind of "methyl blue" should never be added to a display tank. It should be used in a quarantine tank only. Bala sharks and knife fish get way too big for this tank. They should not be in a new aquarium either. I suggest you go back to the research phase, and learn about cycling, stocking properly, and keeping appropriate parameters of an aquarium.

 

[spiketooth]

put your current stocking here amd let us know what is says. Note: this sit is more of a guide line
www.Aqadvisor.com

 

[Bix22]

Yes I agree, you need to get a test kit, your ammonia level is probably sky high with that large amt of fish in that size tank. and adding that many fish over the period of 2 months is a recipe for disaster.

 

[jpchin]

Do a 50% water change asap. Get test kit(liquid) and test your water. Post results so we can help you and your fish. I agree with everything that waterfaller1 said.

 

[hazalwoody69]

Thanks for your help & advice guys, bearing in mind I am new to all of this everything! Lol ive been following advice of the shop owner I purchase my fish from so please dont shoot lol. I have about 8 fish and the tank all though its 2ft is tall and wide in width side on when I had 30 small fish in their it only looked like there were 15 believe it or not lol. But I appreciate your help I have got loads of revision to do havent lost anymore fish touch Wood so thats good. But I'll see what I can search and follow also... Dont want to keep wasting my money neither keep getting wrong info by the shop its a catch 22 your being advised tp

 

[hazalwoody69]

Advised to do one thing whilst someone else says its another nothings simple is it :/ lol but I'm sure I'll get it sorted
Thanks again

 

[piao liang yu]

Thanks for your help & advice guys, bearing in mind I am new to all of this everything! Lol ive been following advice of the shop owner I purchase my fish from so please dont shoot lol. I have about 8 fish and the tank all though its 2ft is tall and wide in width side on when I had 30 small fish in their it only looked like there were 15 believe it or not lol. But I appreciate your help I have got loads of revision to do havent lost anymore fish touch Wood so thats good. But I'll see what I can search and follow also... Dont want to keep wasting my money neither keep getting wrong info by the shop its a catch 22 your being advised tp

I reckon I will chime in to back up what has been said. I had a disaster myself a couple of months ago because I was not patient enough. Although I was cycled and tested very regularly I still added fish too quickly and did not quarantine them first. So I had around 50 fish in my 60 gallon 4 foot long tank and had an ich outbreak. Since the whole tank was infected I tried to treat the whole show tank with the all natural Kordon treatment. Not sure if it was because the ich outbreak was too far gone or what, but I lost over half of them.

I lost them even though I was testing and performing partial water changes religiously. So even if we think we are being careful you can still have issues. Main thing to do is add fish slowly and quarantine them first for at least two weeks. Also, I agree it sounds like you may have been overstocked. You say your tank is two feet long, but it really goes by gallons. The more gallons the more bioload a tank can handle, except you also have to consider area. So the longer the tank the better. What I mean is surface area. A tank that is really tall, but more narrow is not as good as a tank that is longer and holds the same amount of gallons as the tall tank.

I know it sucks to lose fish. From feeling bad for the fish to losing the money spent, but it is what it is. One thing this hobby will teach anyone is patience.
I am saying that from experience.

Good luck going forward.

 

[hazalwoody69]

thankyou very much I really appreciate your response I'm not all knowledge of the fish thing as I am new to it its all a learning process and trial an error everyone has to start somewhere I dont know what cetain things are that are needed or should be considered etc as again I'm new I've got alot of revision to do but I am learning slowly yes I admit I got to inpatient an wanted to see lots of pretty communal fish in my tank but when the shop assistant is giving me the all ok and advising me what to do when problems have occurred then I'm goin to follow the advice as the man clearly knows more than me but by doin that and what I have lost ive also learned that he's possibly full of s**t and its just seller talk to make a penny?? Who knows maybe thats why my fish were more cheap. Thats why I'll be goin to a more legit center my brother has his fish from their pricey but never a problem. Problem I have is I'm on a low income so I can only afford as an what when I can I cant afford to keep buying treatments an tests if they dont work or wrong thing for the problem etc. I'm learning thats it. I just need guidance
I dont know the gallon of my tank but it is:
Width 2ft
Height 1 & half ft
Side width 1ft
I really appreciate any advice given I just need peeps to be aware I'm learning and trying thanks for the thumbs up

 

[CatoeSc]

Sounds like you've got about a 25 gallon tank. Not a bad size for your first tank. I hate this "rule" but its a good beginner starting point-shoot for about 1 inch of fish per gallon of water when fully stocked. This isn't a perfect rule, for example a 1.5" Molly will have a much bigger bio load than a 1.5" Ram. Plus, when you buy fish, they're usually juveniles so they're gonna grow. But, it's a starting place.

Get your tank stable and see where you land. Like others said, an API test kit is your best friend, and always will be. You'll always test. You wanna keep your ammonia at zero, nitrites at zero, and nitrates at about 40 or lower. Some fish can handle higher nitrates, but no reason to go above that if you can help it. If you don't already know what the nitrogen cycle is, take a minute to google it. That's what folks here are talking about when they say "cycle." It's important to understand. You may have heard people talk about "new tank syndrome," too. That's what people used to call it when they got a new aquarium and everything died in them, then people started understanding the cycle.

Good idea to stay away from bargain fish. You can slowly replenish a nice collection of pretty fish for a little $$ at a time. When you see something you like, post a message here and ask folks about it. Some fish, especially the really pretty ones, can be kinda sensitive, so learn what you can before you buy. I've been doing this for about a year and a half, and I just posted a message asking folks about dwarf chain loaches b/c I don't wanna spend the $$ on them if they don't fit with my stock, water parameters, etc.

There's a lit to learn, but welcome to the party! It's an addiction-enjoy!!