Why are my fish dying.

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Mrsmollie

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Nov 3, 2011
Messages
5
Location
northern ireland
Hi I just got a fish tank at the beginning of October this year. My pet shop owner told me to wait 24 hours before we could get fish and now three week into it three fish have passed away and i don't know why. The first one to go was the silver bala shark the next was a molly and the latest one is a guppie. Please help me. I cannot bare to lose anymore .
 
If you only waited a day you didn't cycle the tank. The advice your fish store told you wasn't very good, unfortunately. it takes a lot more than letting a tank run overnight to cycle it properly. Also I wouldn't trust where you got this advice because the Bala shark probably needs a much larger tank and the tank wasn't cycled...

What size tank do you have? What kind of filter? Have you done water changes? Do you use dechlorinator?
 
I made the same mistake. You have to properly cycle your tank before adding fish. I added fish and now I'm in the middle of a "fish in tank cycle" did you do water changes? Test the water? I bet you pet shop never mentioned any of that right?

Look up fishless cycle in the forum it's a lot of help. I'm doing a fish in cycle because I fell for the same line!

I'm sure more members will come in and offer there help as well. I went through the same thing, it's no fun!
 
Mrsmollie said:
Hi I just got a fish tank at the beginning of October this year. My pet shop owner told me to wait 24 hours before we could get fish and now three week into it three fish have passed away and i don't know why. The first one to go was the silver bala shark the next was a molly and the latest one is a guppie. Please help me. I cannot bare to lose anymore .
Click to expand...

Hi and welcome to AA. What happens in a new fish tank is that there is a build up of ammonia (fish waste causes this) and your fish are essentially poisoned by it. All new tanks need to be cycled to prevent this. Cycling is growing bacteria in your filter to covert the ammonia to nitrite then nitrite to nitrate which can then be then removed with water changes. I will attach some links for you to have a read through with some very important information about cycling.
 
 
my tanks is 12 and half gallons. My filter is called Aquael model : Fan1. I have done two water changes in three weeks. I am sorry I do not know what a dechlorinator is.
 
Mrsmollie said:
my tanks is 12 and half gallons. My filter is called Aquael model : Fan1. I have done two water changes in three weeks. I am sorry I do not know what a dechlorinator is.
Click to expand...

Something that removes chlorine and chloramines from tap water. What other fish do you have in there?
 
A bala shark in a 12 gallon?! Unfortunately the LFS didn't tell you that 1) running a tank for a while doesn't properly cycle it and 2) you had inappropriate fish for your size tank. What fish are left?

In a cycling tank you're going to have to do daily water changes and testing for up to 8 weeks until the tank cycles. You'll need a test kit (a good liquid test kit is better than strips, most of us use the API Master kit) and dechlorinator, which makes your tap water safe for fish (tap water contains a lot of chemicals that are toxic to fish). Seachem Prime is one of the best but there are others.

The link above to fish-in cycling will help you if you follow it. Basically daily water testing and water changes any time ammonia and/or nitrite get over .25 on the test kit. The link in my signature: new tank with fish is the same link given before as well.
 
What do I do now it is 23:51 over here should i clean the tank now the fish that i have left are 1 molly, red eye tetra , glowlight tetra, red phantom tetra, 4 male guppies, 3 female guppies and 2 neons. Oh please help me I am so out of my depth.
 
Mrsmollie said:
could you use a carbon filter in the fish tank
Click to expand...

Usually you don't need to use carbon in your filter unless you are trying to remove toxins or medications. What kind of filter do you have? Dose it hang on the back of your tank or is it on the inside? There are 3 types of filtration in a filter. Mechanical, biological and chemical. Here is some info on it.
http://www.fishlore.com/Filtration.htm
 
bruinsbro1997 said:
They are usually available at any fish store. I would recommend Prime as your dechlorinator.
Click to expand...

+1 prime is awesome. It not only removes chlorine and chloramine but heavy metals. It also temporarily detoxifies ammonia and nitrite which is good in a cycling tank.
 
Sorry to hear about your loss.
Without using a water conditioner or dechlorinator, to fish, is like me and you breathing air with chlorine gas in it. Slowly burning us inside and out. If you feel it's too much to save them, because it does take some time and work, take them back to where tyou bought them. Maybe go ahead of time and tell them what happened and what you were told, they should give you whatever bags they use to transport fish. Regardless if they give you a refund or not, they should have isolation tanks for returning fish. I'd definately try and get a refund though
 
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