Dead Fishes Left and Right!

[d9hp]

I have been having some bad experiences with my fish that has only been running for about 2 weeks! I lost a tetra on Wed. I lost a kuhli loach (I think he had been dead at least a day or so) and a ghost shrimp and my beautiful baby pleco today! The ammonia is and has been 0.0 since i got the tank but have no clue on nitrites. Nitrate is 2. The shrimp most likely was caught in the filter where i found him, but i found my pleco at the front of the tank all stiff and my shrimp were enjoying a meal... He loved to hang out on the heater (is this the cause of death?) My tetra i think was a bad egg. Just worried about my pleco's death.

 

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

if your tank has been running for two weeks with fish in it, you should have had ammonia by now...if it doesn't register i would suggest another kit, or taking it to the fish store...sounds like you have a problem--don't buy anymore fish right now...how often have you been changing the water?
or have you?

 

[d9hp]

I did a 30% water change last weekend and a 20% gravel syphon change Wed. I have an aquarium pharm kit, are they bad? Im not gonna get any more fish, just a new pleco when things settle back down, how do you think the pleco died, was it the heater?

 

[loganj]

dead fish

If the tank has only been running for two weeks, there should have been an ammonia reading. I have used Aquarium Pharm test for years and have never had any trouble with them. It is possible that you have a bad lot of reagent though. I would take a water sample to the store to have it tested for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Since you mentioned that you didn't know what the nitrite level was, here is a possible scenario: Ammonia spike was taken care of by water change. Nitrate level was already in water supply. Nitrites spiked after water change and killed fish. I have had plecos that liked the heater too, but have never lost one that I could attribute to the heater. I think I would buy a nitrite kit. I would make sure my ammonia kit was reading correctly or just trash it and get a new one. Check the nitrate levels of your supply water. If nitrate is present in the supply water, take that into account when testing the tank.
Logan J

 

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

i have never heard of a plec dying because of the heater, they are pretty tough guys! they are plenty strong enough when healthy to suck on filter intakes with no problems...did you get another kit, or have you water checked at the fish store? i would suspect that is what did you plec in...

 

[d9hp]

I have bought a nitrAte kit but have not yet found the nitrIte kit in the pink box. Im buying everything through aquarium pharm. Im getting into SW and dont want to have to buy new kits, are these ok? I have not lost any fish since my pleco and im thinking it was just a bad fish from a bad store. The tetras are doing great, growing really fast! Im afraid i dont have them on enough foods, just a mix of tropical flakes and goldfish flakes. They also follow my algae wafer to the bottom and chill out in the current and eat bits that fall off and float by, funny thing to watch ill have to get a good pic, look in the photo gallery for them. Thanks a ton guys i dont feel like a murderer. I think it was a nitrite spike but i never had the water tested.

 

[Hara]

I am wondering why you did a water change on a tank that had only been up 2 weeks...

 

[d9hp]

i was freaking out

 

[SleeplessLwd]

I'm sorry to hear about your fish. The problem with the pleco might have been since the tank is so new that there wasn't enough algea for him. I usually don't add a pleco for at least a month for that reason. As far as the ammonia, you might have missed the ammonia spike and not realized it happened. Try to do the set up with Danios. They are very hardy. If you lose them then you definitely have a problem with the tank. Good Luck.

 

[d9hp]

my tetras are doing fine now, I think one of them was killed overnight though, The one who had his tail bitten off a while ago and was always picked on. He most likely didn't get away, if I spot him i will let you guys know. About the food, what else should I feed them, the killed the ghost shrimp which were in the tank longer than they were. Ill get a few more and see if they get eaten too. Can I feed my tetras anything live? I would love to have more fish I can get as an excuse to keep my others alive. I have a tank set up with a male betta, about one gallon, could I keep the feeder guppies or whatever with the betta or would they be eaten?

 

[SleeplessLwd]

More than likely the Betta will eat or kill the guppies. So that's not a good idea.

 

[SleeplessLwd]

Oh yeah, as for the live food. The tetras seem to love baby brine shrimp.

 

[SleeplessLwd]

I just remembered something, You said you had a ghost fish in your tank. Ghost fish will not tolerate fin nippers. They will kill fish if they keep bothering them. So that might have been your problem too.

 

[d9hp]

ghost SHRIMP, not fish

i will consider the brine shrimp, ill get a hatchery going soon since im getting into salt water

 

[targaboy78]

Hi d9hp,
You wrote;

i will consider the brine shrimp, ill get a hatchery going soon since im getting into salt water

Just as an FYI, Brine shrimp make for "good eatin's" in freshwater tanks too. There is one on the market called the Hatch ‘n Feeder, it is an in-tank design and as they hatch they just swim right into the tank.
Check them out on eBay;
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2073460704
They also have home-made ones out of 2 liter pop bottles for alot less $.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2073646003
Just pop onto eBay and type Brine Shrimp in your search.

 

[CRaZeeeBiTcHisH]

as for the plec dying of starvation, i would strongly hope that he wasn't relying solely on the algae growing in the tank to feed him! i am kind of worried about you going into saltwater without the knowledge of or commitment to the fish you already have....