Loosing fish fast!

[Robinhooddaffy]

HELP! I am loosing fish fast. In the past 4 days I have lost 13 fish. 5 tetras, 5 barbs, 3 yellow barbs and a bamboo shrimp. I changed the filter media yesterday with a new carbon pack, changed about 5 gallons of water. 30 gallon tank. I went and got an ammonia test kit and when I got home 2 more were dead. Ammonia test shows fine. Fish show no sign of ick. Water is clear no Odor.

 

[Robinhooddaffy]

I have 2 gourami, a RTB shark, 4 platy, clown loach, 2 zebra danio, 4 neon tetra, a Chinese alge eater and a snail left.

 

[Maya]

Did you spray anything around the tank? Air freshener... Window cleaner? Also.. What were your nitrites? They can be just as dangerous as ammonia.

 

[Ickletas]

When you say ammonia test shows fine, what does it show? Also how long has the tank been set up, how long have the fish been in it (ie are they new?)? Do you change your filter media often or wait until it falls apart? Did you buy strips or liquid test? Sorry for the many questions but just trying to get a picture.

 

[librarygirl]

Did you add carbon to your filter media or change the media all together? If so you probably threw away all your beneficial bacteria and the tank is re-cycling which is dangerous to fish. You said ammonia is "fine," what's the exact level of ammonia, nitrites, nitrates?

 

[jcolon]

How long have you had the tank and was the old media as old as the tank?

I am going to assume yes ... and if so, in general you do not want to change the filter cartridge / media unless it is literally falling apart. Sounds like when you changed the filter media ... you discarded a bunch of BB and you are now back in a cycle and your fish most likely died of ammonia poisoning. You will need to conduct PWC's and water testing until you re-establish the BB in the new filter media.

When you're doing filter maintenance, just rinse the media with tank water during PWC's. A contributing factor may be your tank ... IMO is a bit overstocked. So when you changed the media, you had a bunch of fish pumping ammonia into the tank and lost a good number of bacteria.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

I've got to agree with everyone. If you replaced the filter cartridges you got rid of ALL that beneficial bacteria, and seeing how your tank is overstocked as is that's lots of ammonia. We need to know the exact levels of ammonia, nitrites and nitrates.

 

[Robinhooddaffy]

Tank is about a year old. Havent changed the media til now. Has a floss filter ( that I just lightly rinsed off), carbon pack, larger black floss that I rinsed and bio balls that I lightly rinsed. Used both types of test kits for ammonia.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Tank is about a year old. Havent changed the media til now. Has a floss filter ( that I just lightly rinsed off), carbon pack, larger black floss that I rinsed and bio balls that I lightly rinsed. Used both types of test kits for ammonia.

When you say lightly rinsed off did you rinse in tap water? That kills all bacteria on it because of the added chemicals in tap. What are the specific levels?

 

[jcolon]

Tank is about a year old. Havent changed the media til now. Has a floss filter ( that I just lightly rinsed off), carbon pack, larger black floss that I rinsed and bio balls that I lightly rinsed. Used both types of test kits for ammonia.

With a filter that old ... I'd say .. IMO you lost a good number of BB when you did the maintenance. While there is BB in the substrate and decor ... it's in the filter media where most of if resides.

When you say you used both test kits ... is one of them the API test master? IMO .... that's really the only one that counts. Test strips are junk.

Either way ... PWC's is really the only solution to keep ammonia levels below 0.25ppm ... allowing the BB to re-establish. I'd also recommend using Seachem Prime de-chlorinator during PWC's. It helps to lock ammonia and nitrites into less toxic forms for 24+ hrs so it gives your fish some breathing room ... at the same time allowing BB to consume it.

 

[Robinhooddaffy]

Ammonia is zero. Nitrates are 200. Using the test strips. My nitrites are what is out of whack. Pad is tan. Hardness is about 100, alkalinity is at 200 and ph is 6.8. Nitrite doesn't match anything.

 

[Robinhooddaffy]

Ammonia is zero. Nitrates are 200. Using the test strips. My nitrites are what is out of whack. Pad is tan. Hardness is about 100, alkalinity is at 200 and ph is 6.8. Nitrite doesn't match anything.

Note: I was loosing fish before the media cleaning.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Test strips are not very accurate, could you try using a liquid test kit? But if the nitrates are really 200, you've got a big problem! When was the last water change! Nitrates that high can eliminate almost anything in the aquarium!

 

[bruinsbro1997]

Note: I was loosing fish before the media cleaning.

If you let the nitrates rise above 80 it could have poisoned and easily killed any fish in that high of a concentration.

 

[Robinhooddaffy]

Test strips are not very accurate, could you try using a liquid test kit? But if the nitrates are really 200, you've got a big problem! When was the last water change! Nitrates that high can eliminate almost anything in the aquarium!

Ok. Been changing water about every 3 weeks. Will change every week from now on. Thank you everyone for the advice. It was just weird that everything was fine then everyone just started dying.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

I would try changing every day, considering nitrates are high, you have not enough bacteria to convert ammonia and you have a fish-in cycle coming your way soon.

 

[jcolon]

Test strips are not very accurate, could you try using a liquid test kit? But if the nitrates are really 200, you've got a big problem! When was the last water change! Nitrates that high can eliminate almost anything in the aquarium!

+1 ... get rid of the test strips ... the API test master's the way to go. If we assume the nitrates are around 200ppm ... then that itself could've poisoned your fish. You'll need to do PWC's to get it below 40ppm ... between 40 and 80 is kind of the warning zone ... IMO. Above 80 is asking for trouble.

Then continue to do weekly PWC's of 25% - 50%. For the meantime ... avoid adding any more stock until the bacteria has re-established. Good luck

 

[Robinhooddaffy]

Still loosing fish. Just lost my RTB shark. Ready to cry. I think what I want to do is make it just a snail tank. I love watch ing them. What I need to know is do I need to keep the cascade 700 filter going?