55 gallon freshwater tank

[amchugh10]

Hi All! I am new on this forum. I have a 55 gallon tank. I have a problem where fish keep dying. My ammonia levels have been zero. Nitrates around 20. Tank is cleaned every week. The fish die overnight it seems with no warning that they will die. As of now I have two gouramis, two guppies, a bamboo shrimp, a Molly, three danios, and a bristle nose pleco. I had one gourami die right after I bought him, 4 danios dead, one guppy dead, two Molly's dead and one shrimp right after I bought him. I just don't get it. They didn't all die at once. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I've had the tank up and running for two months. Any ideas would be great! I love fish!

 

[bettaowner]

Are you adding a lot of fish at one time? You might be over whelming the bioload.

 

[Borderlesscott]

Could be a problem with the stock at your LFS, temperature problem, or the way your acclimatising the fish.

 

[amchugh10]

I added about three fish a week. The temperature is always 76. I let the bag float in the tank for 15 mins before putting the fish in the tank. What's the best way to acclimate?

 

[amchugh10]

What is lfs?

 

[Borderlesscott]

LFS - local fish shop.

The problem sounds like your acclimatisation process, yours is way to quick resulting in shock to the fish. Floating the bag just gets the temperature right, not the water chemistry - pH etc.

There is different methods, though all will take around 1 hour.
Float the bag in the tank for around 15 mins with the light out, then add a small amount of water, do this a further 3 times waiting 15 mins each time, then release into tank and turn light back on if required after about half hour.

Once I've acclimatised I remove the fish from the transport bag into a net and place into tank, I don't like the water from the shop going into my tanks. There is also the drip method, which is better, but you might want to use the above method first and see how it goes.

 

[jackwagon]

Local fish store. A normal acclimation period is closer to 90 minutes then 15. If you just want to float the bag, then add some of your tank water every 5 min or so, so that the fish can get used to your tank water.

 

[jackwagon]

LFS - local fish shop.

The problem sounds like your acclimatisation process, yours is way to quick resulting in shock to the fish. Floating the bag just gets the temperature right, not the water chemistry - pH etc.

There is different methods, though all will take around 1 hour.
Float the bag in the tank for around 15 mins with the light out, then add a small amount of water, do this a further 3 times waiting 15 mins each time, then release into tank and turn light back on if required after about half hour.

Once I've acclimatised I remove the fish from the transport bag into a net and place into tank, I don't like the water from the shop going into my tanks. There is also the drip method, which is better, but you might want to use the above method first and see how it goes.

Just beat me to it! Haha

 

[Borderlesscott]

Just beat me to it! Haha

Nimble fingers! Does sound like an acclimatisation problem though, especially considering the fish envolved.

 

[amchugh10]

Thanks for the info. I'll have to try acclimating differently and see if that helps.

 

[tamtam]

Very much sounds like the acclimation though out of curiosity you didn't list nitrites. Do you have results for that too?

 

[amchugh10]

I didn't test the nitrites though when I have they have been zero. I have to buy a test kit for it.