Please Help!! My Fish Keep Dying!!

[monsteridea]

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.

Goldfish will dirty up their small bags within an hour or two. It's possible that being in the bag for that long gave them less of a chance of living. They really aren't the best fish for this, especially "large" ones. This is why they don't do very well in bowls.

I hope everything goes on better. Take it slow, don't over load your tank all at once. If you read the articles on how to cycle your tank, you should be fine.

 

[Aqualady40]

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

So glad you mention this...I am well into my 4th week of cycling 55g with fish and I have gotten a 40g and 20g while they were on sale and I didn't think about once the 55g is done, I could just put 50% into the 40g one week, then the next week put 25%-50% into the 20g great idea...now I won't have to do this long journey again.....yeah...sorry I just had to mention this...

 

[tonedogz]

you'd be better off dripping the fish rather then leaving them in the bag. Also please do not add anymore fish till you tank is cycled and even then only add one at a time so the bacteria can catch up to the bioload maybe say one a week.

 

[librarygirl]

Hi and welcome. As others have stated your tank isn't cycled. Letting the tank run doesn't cycle it; cycling means growing the proper bacteria in your filter that will consume the toxins (ammonia, etc) your fish put out through waste. The bacteria need an ammonia source to feed on so without one, the tank doesn't even start cycling. For ammonia, you could use bottled ammonia that you add yourself (without fish, called fishless cycling) or you could add a few small fish to start the cycle (fish in cycling) BUT fish in cycling takes some dedication and work. There are pros and cons to both methods. Here's a guide for you: Guide to Starting a Freshwater Aquarium - Aquarium Advice

 

[tamtam]

+1 to library girl.

That article will be a huge help. Sounds like your local pet store has just been selling you stuff that you don't really need.

If you can get some seeded media, like some filter media from a healthy established tank it will be a huge help. Water actually holds very little good bacteria and I wouldn't expect a big help if you were to use some old tank water. The best bacteria grow on surfaces like filter media and to a lesser degree substrate and decor.

The reason all of your tests have come back find is because you haven't started your cycle yet. As mentioned the cycle doesn't start until there is an ammo source. without fish or adding ammonia you are going to get perfect results back. That all changes once you add fish and there is no bacteria established to convert it.

Sounds like your fish are experiencing some sort of shock from their trip from the pet store to their new home as if they are dieing in 5 hours i doubt it's toxin spikes.. It could be acclimation though with most fish a gradual addition of water to a floating bag is often enough. More sensitive fish are best with drip acclimation. Are you adding new water every couple minutes and then scooping them from the bag to the tank? Not just dumping the bag water in too?

 

[shellieca]

Here are the results.
ph 7.6
high range ph 7.4
ammonia 0ppm
nitrate 0ppm

If I am understanding correctly you currently have no fish in your tank? You're tank appears NOT to be cycled & in order to cycle it you will need an ammonia source; bottled ammonia, food, frozen shrimp, something to provide your fish LESS tank with ammonia in order to build up bacteria.

 

[SMOOOZZZ]

YUP..amonia is in order i will be adding it today..

 

[amchugh10]

How can you tell by those values that it hasn't cycles? What values say it has?

 

[Jess1ca]

How can you tell by those values that it hasn't cycles? What values say it has?

The fact that there is no nitrates proves that the cycle is incomplete.

 

[amchugh10]

My nitrates are around 20 and ammonia 0-.25 and I still get fish deaths. It's so frustrating. Not all the fish have died but quite a few over the past month and a half.

 

[shellieca]

How can you tell by those values that it hasn't cycles? What values say it has?

Based on the information that was provided; the length of time the tank has been set up, the fact there really hasn't been in fish in it for long & all of the values are at 0 led me to believe the tank is not cycled. It is possible to have a fully cycled tank with 0 across the board but those tanks are typically heavily planted & well established. Most tanks, but not all, will have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrItes & <40 nitrAtes when fully cycled.

 

[shellieca]

My nitrates are around 20 and ammonia 0-.25 and I still get fish deaths. It's so frustrating. Not all the fish have died but quite a few over the past month and a half.

Sorry OP a little highjacking.

What are your nitrItes? Has the tank only been set up for 6 wks? Did you start with a fish IN or fish LESS cycle? It can take up to 8 wks for the tank to cycle, daily testing and frequent water changes are a must if doing fish IN. Providing an ammonia source is required if doing fish LESS.

 

[SMOOOZZZ]

So now i am at the stage of adding the amonia how much should i add for a 29 gallon tank.

 

[Calypso77]

You have the right ammonia? I would start out with maybe a 1/2 tsp and wait an hour and test and see what the ammonia level is at before adding more.

 

[amchugh10]

Hijacking?

 

[Samzter]

Hijacking?

This means when someone else posts their problems on someone elses thread.

 

[amchugh10]

So what? It's called sharing a similar problem. I think it's good to find others who are going through similar things. I knew what hijacking meant but I don't understand why it's a problem.

 

[Samzter]

So what? It's called sharing a similar problem. I think it's good to find others who are going through similar things. I knew what hijacking meant but I don't understand why it's a problem.

Well that's the rules on this forum. If you have a problem go to the mods. It's a problem because everyone will have a different setup, parameters and different cycling issues. If you want to talk about it then I advise you to create your own thread.
To the O.P : sorry about this having to be discussed on your thread.

 

[amchugh10]

I didn't know you couldn't talk on someone's thread. I didn't see the rules. I did post my own thread too. I just was conversing about my similar problem on this thread. I wasn't trying to be a jerk.

 

[tamtam]

My nitrates are around 20 and ammonia 0-.25 and I still get fish deaths. It's so frustrating. Not all the fish have died but quite a few over the past month and a half.

how big is your tank and what's in it?

If you are doing a fish in cycle or fish less cycle, you know your tank is cycled when you maintain 0 ammo and nitrite. nitrates are a bit different, usually a level of 10-20 in addition to the above info shows you are cycled, but sometime if you have a heavily planted tank your nitrate may just stay at zero. It's not really 1 number that shows that iit is cycles it's all of the numbers added with other information that make in possible to know.

If your tank has been up and running for a long time, has fish in it and still doesn't have ammo under control than it leaves me to think that you're stocking or filtration are part of this. If you are over stocked than you may not be able to build enough bacteria to support the bioload. If you don't have enough filtration it's similar, it just can't support the bioload of your tank.