Fish suddenly dying for no reason

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Gloria

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jan 4, 2018
Messages
7
Hello guys! My 13 gallon tank had 4 guppies inside, 2 platies and I had more recently added 5 neon tetras. I’ve had the tank set up since January-February and the cycle had been complete.Three weeks ago I had to leave for one week, so I changed the water and fed them the day before. One week later I returned to find 2 of my guppies and 1 of my platies dead. The other fish looked fine and the ammonia was zero.The next day after that I had to leave again for another week. When I returned the other platy was dead as well. I changed the water and checked the paremeters and everything looks fine! I don’t understand what went wrong. On Tuesday I went and bought 3 new guppies since I was down to two. Yesterday I found one of the new guppies and one tetra dead. Ammonia was zero, nitrates around 40 and no nitrites. At first I believed it could have been aggression due to hunger maybe,even though one week isn’t that much to go unfed. But now this? I was feeding them everyday and they still died.Do you have any suggestions? It’s heartbreaking to just watch them die one by one. :(
P.S. The fish seemed completely healthy and lively before dying, at least the ones that died while I was present. In general from the beginning no fish seemed lethargic or sick looking.
 
Just found two more dead. A tetra and one of my very first guppies, which was swimming happily around yesterday! Not sure if it will help but I use as an aquarium one of these big plastic tubs you can buy in most stores. I read they are fine to use. Could the plastic be toxic? Also all my decorations are plastic. Anyone dealt with something like this before?
 
If using a plastic tub for a tank, the only brand I would trust is Rubbermaid or a farm and ranch store variety feed bucket / tub.
Often times when dealing with Guppies and Neon Tetras, bad or weakened batches of fish are common, especially from big box stores.
There are so many variables to your situation at this point.
 
If you readings are good on your test. Then it's most likely the fish you are getting. Neon tetras are sometimes hard to keep. Same with (some) guppies. Most likely a bad breed that's not adjusting to your type of water. I have used old food containers washed out for qt tanks. I use yogurt containers for water changing out water in my little tanks. Unless it's the way your adding your fish. But, I don't think the plastic is an issue. Imo
 
Thanks for the replies guys! I did a fish in cycle with three guppies and they endured and were completely fine up until now. It just seems strange they would die, along with the new fish that died,now that the tank is cycled and were completely fine during cycling. As to adding the new fish to the tank I do acclimate them correctly I think. I let the bag float and add a cup of aquarium water every ten minutes for about an hour.
 
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