Please Help!! My Fish Keep Dying!!

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SMOOOZZZ

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Sep 24, 2012
Messages
45
I bought a new 29gallon kit with everything you need to start a new tank a month ago. I ran the tank for a week had all levels tested and then bought two fish they died. Next i was told to add nutrafin cycle,tetra aquasafeplus and aquarium salt and let the tank run for a week so I did had water tested all levels were good so bought tow more fish and once again they died within 5 hours. On saturday i bought geo liquid mineral magic it made the water cloudy for a day i bought two large goldfish on sunday they died within 5 hours..Please help. me..
 
SMOOOZZZ said:
I bought a new 29gallon kit with everything you need to start a new tank a month ago. I ran the tank for a week had all levels tested and then bought two fish they died. Next i was told to add nutrafin cycle,tetra aquasafeplus and aquarium salt and let the tank run for a week so I did had water tested all levels were good so bought tow more fish and once again they died within 5 hours. On saturday i bought geo liquid mineral magic it made the water cloudy for a day i bought two large goldfish on sunday they died within 5 hours..Please help. me..

Welcome! First off I can see a few errors.
1) you need to let the tank cycle longer. Have you read up on the fish less cycle?
2) get yourself the API master test kit. What are you testing with now? Are you in England? If you are I am too. You can go to your local fish store and they sell them for £29-33 . Much much better than the strips.
3) test your water and post the results , your levels should read ammonia: 0 nitrite:0 and nitrAte: 5-20. That's if it's cycled if any thing else I can give you some advice when you get back to me with the levels.
4) what fish did you buy? Apart from the goldfish what other four fish did you buy? The goldfish will get massive and please please don't get any more. You'll run into so much trouble with them.
Good luck!
 
One other thing, what are you keeping the temp at in your tank?
 
I don't know how long your tank is running but it sounds like only a few weeks. If thats the case your tank is not cycled yet. Did you check for ammonia and nitrites those are the only things that kill fish that quickly other then them just being sick when you got them but I highly doubt thats the case.
 
Wow.Thanks for the quick replies. I have cycled it for about two weeks and i do have the master test kit. I am located in california and have used a few local stores.Ok. No more goldfish so if they are dying within 5 hours has to be nitrates.the tank is set at 78
 
Temp seems good. Not sure about the cycle I have never known one to cycle that fast. Can you give us the numbers on your testing?
 
I've had fish in my tank that are still alive after 20 months of 200ppm of nitrates. Unless the type of fish you have a extremely sensitive to nitrates, I don't think that's the cause. 5 hours sound like they were stressed out to me.

Not an expert here, but I claim to have relatively few fish losses. Other people here are more apt to have the better answer, I've only recently began taking proper care of my fish tank.

Hope you have better luck with you new tank and next fish purchases, and welcome to the forum.
 
Here are the results.
ph 7.6
high range ph 7.4
ammonia 0ppm
nitrate 0ppm
 
SMOOOZZZ said:
Here are the results.
ph 7.6
high range ph 7.4
ammonia 0ppm
nitrate 0ppm

There's your problem, your tanks not cycled, or hasn't even begun yet. Read the articles give to you. They ought to help.
 
Your tank hasn't even started cycling probably with 0 of everything. Have you ever had nitrates?
 
The Ph is fine but your tank isn't cycled. Test water quality lots and change water when neccesary. That should work.
 
I agree with everything that has been said. Seems that you haven't even started to cycle your tank. You must give the tank time to establish good bacteria - that bacteria is going to be able to successfully break down the waste that is produced by your fish and it's food. Without it, you have high ammonia and nitrites that almost always mean instant death for your fish. In addition it is also possible you are not choosing hardy enough fish.

If I may ask what you are trying to add?

Hardy fish will most likely not die through a cycle (though they can have damaged gills and not live as long as they would with a fishless cycled tank), and a lot of people will use fish to cycle a tank. White Cloud Minnows, Zebra Danios, Cherry barbs, etc, tend to be the hardiest. There are also some very hardy tetras that seem to do good, but you must know your tetras. Neon tetras are notoriously bad at being hardy, only becoming "used to" abuse after several years of being alive. They don't do very well in hard water systems, and almost always need a tank that has been established for a while. Gouramis also tend to be on the sensitive side, and aren't a good choice when trying to cycle a tank, though most likely hardier than neon tetras.

*edit* Oh, I just saw that you tried to add goldfish? Goldfish are hardy, BUT not when you add in large ones into a tank that isn't cycled. Goldfish produce the ammonia you need, but they often overload the system with it, which is BAD NEWS for any fish in that tank - no good bacteria established to break down all that ammonia. Not to mention, what does "2 large goldfish" mean? Are they over 6" big? 12"?; if they are fancies, I'm pretty sure they'll need at least a 40 gallon. If they're adult common/comets I'm pretty sure 2 need at least a 55 gallon. I'm not an expert on goldfish, just have read a lot. They need A LOT of room. My advice would be to not get anymore goldfish because your tank can't handle it.
*edit*

The temperature of the tank will also determine if maybe it's too warm or too hot for what you're adding. Also, how do you acclimate your fish? The way you acclimate your fish may also tell us why they are dying so fast.
 
you guys are great..i have been putting the bag inside and slowly putting my water via shot glass into their bag for about an hour.
 
You could always just put someone dirty filter pad in there and or some ones old filter on and let it run for a day I think I let my first tank cycle and then when I got a new tank and did a 50 percent water change and with the 50 percent I took out I put in my new one and filled it the rest up and let it cycle for a day or so before putting them in
 
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