Will someone please explain this to me??

[teadragon15]

1~What type of fish is afflicted? In addition, please describe what is wrong
with the fish to the best of your ability (i.e. cotton like growth, bloated, etc.).
3 guppies, 5 mollies, 4 emerald eye rasboras. They are all either hiding, resting at the surface, laying on the bottom sometimes, or their tails are drooping--making them swim with their head upwards. The tank was recently hit with ich really bad and I treated for that for several weeks using the heat and salt method after I didn't have much luck with quick cure. There should be PLENTY of oxygen in the water, as I reduced the water level by 2-3 inches AND have a pretty good sized air stone in there...

2~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values.
all readings show 0ppm

3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?
29 gal set up for about a month and a half

4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number (i.e. Fluval 304) and amount of gph if known.
aqueon for 30-50 gal tank

5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?
see #1

6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time?
I did a water change yesterday of about 30%

7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them?
I've had the fish for about 2-3 weeks now, I acclimated them by resting the bag in the tank and then later adding some tank water

8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?
No

9~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?
aqueon color enhancing flakes

 

[Oohitsae]

How often do you do water changes? What water conditioner do you use? And anything you notice physically besides how they are acting?

If all readings show 0 then your tank isn't cycled yet unless you have a lot of live plants to keep nitrAte readings down, and an ammonia spike could be the issue. Are you testing with strips or a liquid kit and how often are you testing?

 

[teadragon15]

I do a 25-30% water change every two to three days and I was using Aqua safe water but when I ran out of that I bought Jungle start right.

 

[teadragon15]

I'm using a liquid test kit and I test about once a week. Tank's been up for six weeks and many of the fish have died.

 

[Fishfur]

You need to test your water much more often than weekly, until the tank is cycled. If you choose to do a fish in cycle, you have to change the water every time the ammonia gets to .25 or more. That means testing often, daily at the very least. I'd think more often than once daily. With that many fish, you'd hit a toxic level quite quickly, even with the plants, unless there are tons of them.

The fact they had Ich simply made the fish much more vulnerable to the effects of any other stresses, and ammonia is the worst of all toxins. And Ich can severely weaken fish, while the heat is stressful in itself.

Usually you would start with fewer fish at first, as it can take quite some time for the beneficial bacteria to grow in the filter. Having a lot of fish makes it that much harder to manage the ammonia levels. A couple of fish makes it much easier to manage.

Given that you've had a number of deaths, plus the symptoms you describe, I suspect the fish are mainly suffering from the effects of ammonia. Swimming head up can mean internal damage, which may affect the swim bladder.

The first effect is burning of the gills, which makes it hard to breathe, hence hanging at the surface where gas exchange is greatest. Even with the splashing of the filter outfall and the air stone, the heat would have lowered oxygen, and the burning of the gills would have made it quite difficult for the fish to get enough oxygen once the damage was done.

Once ammonia damage is done, there isn't anything you can do to help other than keep the water as clean as possible and change it as often as need be to keep ammonia as low as possible. Unfortunately, you will probably find the rest of the fish die too.

You might try a fishless cycle next time, or start over with just a couple of fish and wait 'til the tank is cycled before you add more.

 

[teadragon15]

Thank you for your input! How many fish would you suggest I cycle with if I have to start over and for how long?

 

[bjcballa22]

Try using Dr Tims one and only nitrifying bacteria with ammonium chloride. I recently cycled my tank within 2 weeks. I have all readings of 0ppm (Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate). I did see some nitrate (5ppm) but it went down to 0ppm because I have live plants and wood which likely absorbed the nitrates. If you are not too advanced, I would highly recommend against tank cycling with fish because you are harming the fish and it takes longer. Fishless cycling tends to take less time and but can be complicated UNLESS you use Dr tims nitrifying bacteria and ammonium chloride. I hesitated to use it but it actually worked for me (well atleast thats what I believe with the 0ppm readings.) Goodluck!

 

[teadragon15]

It's strange, because I have been testing the tank frequently with a liquid kit and the readings all come back as 0ppm... Hmm.

 

[Fishfur]

Never having used Dr. Tims, I can't comment on it. Only that many bottled bacterial products are very iffy, some work, some don't, and how well they work varies considerably. The way they are stored can be a factor, one that you can't control.

Usually plants don't absorb all the nitrates, unless there are just a ton of plants or very, very few fish to provide waste. Under those circumstances, zero readings for everything might be quite right. Wood does not absorb nitrates at all, unless it's alive and rooted.

I'd suggest fishless cycling if all the fish have died. But if you want to do it with fish, read the sticky here on how, and only get a couple of hardier fish. Danios or guppies can be ok, but get nice robust looking ones, never skinny or weak looking fish. You change water every time the ammonia gets to .25, and once nitrite appears, change if it gets to .25, and wait for nitrates to show up. At that point, nitrites should start to come down, and eventually you will have zero ammonia, zero nitrite and nitrate around 20 ppm give or take. Then you are done, and can add more fish, a few at a time.

 

[bjcballa22]

Never having used Dr. Tims, I can't comment on it. Only that many bottled bacterial products are very iffy, some work, some don't, and how well they work varies considerably. The way they are stored can be a factor, one that you can't control.

Usually plants don't absorb all the nitrates, unless there are just a ton of plants or very, very few fish to provide waste. Under those circumstances, zero readings for everything might be quite right. Wood does not absorb nitrates at all, unless it's alive and rooted.

I'd suggest fishless cycling if all the fish have died. But if you want to do it with fish, read the sticky here on how, and only get a couple of hardier fish. Danios or guppies can be ok, but get nice robust looking ones, never skinny or weak looking fish. You change water every time the ammonia gets to .25, and once nitrite appears, change if it gets to .25, and wait for nitrates to show up. At that point, nitrites should start to come down, and eventually you will have zero ammonia, zero nitrite and nitrate around 20 ppm give or take. Then you are done, and can add more fish, a few at a time.

I gotta say you correct about plants and wood not absorbing all nitrates. Another member recommended shaking the crap out of nitrate bottle as well as the test tube in order to get a reading. So correction: I have a nitrate reading around 20ppm and 0ppm for both ammonia and nitrite. Check out dr tims aquatic line of aquarium goods. I can't back his reputation or how well his products work because it seems it wasn't long ago he produced these chemicals, however, I havent been disappointed thus far. There is a shelf life on his nitrifying bacteria but if you are not ready to use it yet, it can be stored in the fridge for extensive shelf life. However, temperatures can affect or kill the bacteria depending if it's very hot or cold where you live. Also it's possible the bacteria may not live to work in your tank but I think that's rare. Again, check all reviews and instructions before using it

 

[bjcballa22]

It's strange, because I have been testing the tank frequently with a liquid kit and the readings all come back as 0ppm... Hmm.

If I'm not wrong, a non established tank will give all readings of 0ppm. So unless you've ever gotten an ammonia or nitrite reading, then your tank is not cycled but will show 0ppm readings because you haven't established anything yet. I would recommend starting over or working your way with the least expensive fis like feeder fish to begin cycling your tank. Also look into dr tims fishless cycling and try that if you wish to start without fish

 

[Fishlover3578]

You could add a filter that is a few months old from a tank that is already cycled.. I did and it helped I have same tank size with guppys cory cat ,dwarf gourami (1)

 

[Fishfur]

Bjc, read her first post. And yeah, if you can get filter media or rinsings from an established and dirty filter, and put them or pour them into your filter, it can cycle a tank almost instantly. If you have that option, by all means use it.

But if not, you'll have to choose. A fish in cycle or a fishless cycle, and whether you want to invest in Dr Tim.

 

[bjcballa22]

Bjc, read her first post. And yeah, if you can get filter media or rinsings from an established and dirty filter, and put them or pour them into your filter, it can cycle a tank almost instantly. If you have that option, by all means use it.

But if not, you'll have to choose. A fish in cycle or a fishless cycle, and whether you want to invest in Dr Tim.

I've read all posts but I'm just saying I dont think her tank cycled properly or she may have added too many fish at once and with bad luck, one of the fish may have carried ich into the tank. It's unfortunate but good luck in your decision teadragon

 

[teadragon15]

Thank you for your input, guys! I still have a healthy looking molly and two guppies in there, so maybe just letting them be for a few weeks to a month while doing weekly water changes will be enough to cycle it?

 

[Fishfur]

If you still have live fish, might as well use them to finish the cycle. They may not live long, but so long as they are there, their output will do what is needed to cycle the tank. Test often, change water whenever levels reach .25, and hopefully you will be cycled in a few weeks.