Help fish dying on a regular basis

[zkt]

Ive had this set up far a couple months now.


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30 Gal
lotsa light and co2
high flow filter
all the chem levels are normal
Current Residents :
2" redfin shark
2.5" pink gourami
2- 2" albino corys
3 neon tetras
1.5" swordtail
native pond snails
Ive lost too many tetras to count, several swordtails, 2 gouramis, 2 female bettas, and a male betta over the past month or so. Seems like every days or 2 something either dies or is killed. Several of them have had chewed tails but not all. Dont see any visible signs of disease but Im kinda new at this. Sure would appreciate some suggestions as to what the problem might be.

zkt

 

[Guest]

you say chemestry is normal.. what are you exact readings of Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate?

 

[zkt]

nh3/nh4+ : .25
no3 : 20
no2- : 0
Kh : 120
pH : 7.2

 

[Guest]

your chemestrys are not normal..you should never have any trace of ammonia or nitrite and you have .25ppm of ammonia. That is probably what is killing your fish.. It sounds to me like with all the fish you HAD your tank was overstocked and you probably had an ammonia spike. Now with your tank you aren't overstocked but you need to take measures to get that ammonia down.

Do daily water changes until your ammonia gets back down to zero. And don't add any more fish until it is steady at zero.. that way you know yoru biological filter can take care of the waste. DO NOT add any chemicals to the water to remove ammonia.

 

[zkt]

Well, actually it was questionable whether the ammonia was zero or the next highest reading on the test strip. Ill check it again. Nitrite is zero. Theres a little nitrate for the plants.
The ammonia is zero.

 

[Guest]

i would say that if there is any color in the ammonia at all then that means some is present, if you aren't sure.

How often do you do water changes? and what type of filter do you have.. what brand is it i mean.

You say your fish look like they have fin rot? have you tried adding some melafix to heal their fins? Have you looked closely at the fish, do they have any open sores or is there any white salt speckles on them like ICH?

 

[Fluff]

I'm not sure but maybe aggression issues may have something to do with it as well. Red finned sharks can be a bit testy at times. Also, mixing gourami and bettas isn't always a good idea. I have a feeling that may have been the downfall of your bettas. I remember as a child having a pair of pink kissers that would not tolerate anything other than bottom feeders in their tank. A 30g tank isn't a big tank (although yours seems to be extremely long) and even though most of the fish you have are listed as semi-aggressive, being in such close quarters will tend to cause them to be more aggressive than normal. Especially if they pair up. Are the tetras you say you lost neons also? One more thing, how fast did you add these fish? Though your readings are fine now, if you added them quickly, you may be causing an ammonia spike and the fish aren't living through that. Then just like any cycle, the numbers level off.

 

[Jchillin]

Since this tank is CO2 injected, what is your PO4 readings? How many watts are your bulbs? Do you dose nutrients/ferts?

 

[zkt]

I dont think its fin rot. More like theyve been nipped at. OK one day - nipped away and dead the next. The filter is DIY as is the tank and co2. Filter in a box, poly filter material and sponge befor the intake Co2 injected thru an airstone at the impeller.
Lotta neons lost.
160 watts of flouescent- south facing window.
Didnt add all the fish at one time. One or maybe a pair every now and then.
The caoys have been ok from the beginning.

 

[Guest]

your filter sounds a bit confusing to me, but it sounds lke you are using the CO2 to power your filter???. "CO2 injected through airstone at the impeller" Maybe your fish are suffocating from lack of oxygen?

 

[zkt]

LOL. I left out a sentence or 2. The pump is a 300 gph Magdrive ( ondinary pond pump. The flow is slowed a bit by the filter materials. The co2 it beaten into vary small bubbles by the impeller and discharged into the tank along with the filtered water.

 

[fish_4_all]

What are the dimensions of the tank? It looks like it is at least 45 gallons if not more. There is a calculator that will give you the exact gallon size. It could be 30 but your picture makes it look larger than my 50.

As for the fish, I have found that sharks are either ruthless and kill everything or they don't kill anything. I also had groumis that would kill anything smaller than they were including plecos. And the tank may not be cycled long enough yet for the size. A long tank is hard to to take up all the processes that are needed to support more exotic fish. It took 6 months before my 10 gallon tnaks would support loaches and frogs.

Is that sand on the bottom? If it is, you might also have dead spots from what I have read that might release large amounts of deadly ammonia all at once and not let you see it on a regular weekly test.

 

[zkt]

about 10x10x54 "
Yes, thats sand. Not very thick at all.
Maybe thats it. Just not old enough yet. Maybe needs a little time away from me messin with it ?
People have thought that the shark might be the cause. Maybe thay are right.
Ill remove him and reload on tetras and see what happens.
The problem existed befor the bettas.

 

[fish_4_all]

ok, Here is something that might be even more of the cause of what is happenning. WIth the tank so low and narrow and so long, there is likely a very large problem with circulation. Even though your dimensions fill out to only about 25 gallons, the numbers of plants and structures could be hindering the water flow. I did a lot of hydrodynamic things when studying to try to be an engineer and the longer the tank and the narrower it got the less circulation that actually happens. I would put 2 20 gallon HOB filters (one on each end) or one canister filter where the intake is at one end and outflow on the other.

As for CO2, I couldn't tell you. I would focus in getting the flow and filtering in your tank correct as I think it might be stagnating in one end and not getting filtered.

And as I understand it, 1/2 inch of sand can cause problems if it doesn't get turned over. If your fish and plants are turning the sand then it shouldn't be a problem but watch for black spots and large amount of gas release to make sure. Or just stir the sand in the open areas that might be able to remain undisturbed.

As for the shark, the tank is long enough that the fish should have plenty of room. He might just be agressive but ussually you will at least see this kind of activity. I would focus on circulation and dead spots if there are any.

 

[Jchillin]

Since this tank is CO2 injected, what is your PO4 readings? How many watts are your bulbs? Do you dose nutrients/ferts?

According to you, you have 160 watts of light...that comes out to 5.3wpg, which is an extraordinary amount of light for a 30gal tank.

You haven't answered the question regarding dosing ferts and/or nutrients, as well as your PO4 levels.

What type of light is this (CF / MH)?

 

[zkt]

Well, the pump is rated for 300gph. The filter material slows it down a little. But it still shoots a stream of very small co2 bubbles half way down the tank befor they have slowed enough to rise to the surface. I cant see circulation as a cause. The corys continously stir the bottom to the point of hyperactivity.
I did have two sharks in it. Thought the smaller one might be setting the larger one off, so I took the smaller one out. Didnt help.

Sorry. No I dont add fertilizer. Dont know what po4 is unless is some kind of phosphate. Yea thats a lot of light alrite. I could do away with some but I want to see how well the co2 and plants can supress algea growth. Its flourescent . About 800 lumens plus what comes in the windows and its at least that much.

 

[Guest]

you could always get some Mayalsian Trumpet Snails to turn that sand for you.. they do a good job keeping substrates churned up.