Lost another angel

[aisforangelfish]

Sadly this morning I noticed that out of my 55 g I have lost another two fish. One was a small angel about 2" tall and another was a swordtail about 1.2".
My water parameters I test for are ammonia (0) nitrite (0) and pH (7.6) which is what my tap comes out at. The tank is at 79 degrees f and had a ugf with one powerhead on one side and an airstone on the other. in the tank I now have 1 mollie, 3 platys, 5-6 swordtails and had four angels, now three. What really bothers me about both of the deaths of these fish are that my API liquid test results looked ok and no fish were showing signs of stress. I had also been preforming nearly weekly water changes of 25-50%. The tank is in it's third month now, having the school of swordtails in it nearly that entire time. I thought it was cycled weeks and weeks ago but for whatever reason my angel and sword passed. Could it have been a buildup of nitrates? I don't have a test kit for that but didn't think it was totally necessary. Any suggestions? I will be really disheartened if I kill any more angels. I literally did a 25% change 5 days ago and tested my water last night. Don't know what else to do...
-Adam

 

[HN1]

It really sounds to me as if you are doing things right. I wouldn't suspect NO3 to build up to toxic levels if you've been keeping up on your changes, but a test kit is a good thing to have. Sometimes fish just die.

 

[ChizerBunoi]

Are fish still dying? Did you recently add those angels? Maybe that one angel wasn't healthy to begin with.

I agree with purchasing a nitrate test. Also make sure you dose the correct volume of dechlorinator/conditioner when you make your water changes. Those are large water changes that you are performing. Also make sure you are not vacumming the gravel bed thoroughly as part of those large water changes. You don't want to get rid of all the bad bacteria.

 

[aisforangelfish]

Since the angel died at the beginning of this post, the remaining three have been doing marvelously. They are growing rapidly, eating hoards, and practically doing laps in the tank. They were doing so great after that one passed that I eventually decided it was time to try again and find them that other tank mate. Of course I'm really bad at self control and came home with 2 more angels, (they had a blushing angel and a striped). It's been about a week since I added those two and the 5 of them are doing awesome. Finally I have a strong group of angels that aren't showing aggression, illness, or sign of stress. Photos of my tank are available on my facebook album

 

[BigJim]

Glad to hear it. Sometimes fish just succumb to the shipping stresses.

 

[ChizerBunoi]

Well that's good to hear.