fish dying, no sign of illness though! help!

[Sianeebaby]

Hi all, i have 3 main tanks up and running, 2 2ft tanks and a 3ft. Never have any problems with the 3ft tank which has been running for around a year. However one of my 2foot tanks, which never had a problem before, has now caused about... 8 fish deaths. None of them had any signs off illness, all eating fine and active then just find one dead now and then. tested the water and ph is about 7.4, nitrate/nitrite levels pretty much normal, one was timny bit up last week, and the ammonia is high ish too at about 4/4.9. Pet shop advisor said the ammonia could be causing them to die, but none of the symptoms seem to be there, no redness on them, all pretty active i think and have been doing daily water changes as advised, 35% first day and about 25% thereafter yet ammonia levels not reducing! And odd fish dying still, really dont want to lose anymore.

Only thing i have done differently is use a white spot treatment, as advised at pet shop as a guppy seemed to have a little of it. I used a smaller amount than advised as was worried about using them at all, yet ever since fish started dying.... i also use aquarium salt now and then as advised on box.

There are now 4 platys and 4 guppies left, along with 5 baby inch long BN plecos til they get bigger and will be moved to bigger tank. Also have live plants in there.

Any advice? Really dont know what to do!

 

[mfdrookie516]

Lots of water changes. Any ammonia or nitrite in an aquarium is toxic to fish. Whether they're showing signs or not, I'll put money on that being the reason. I would do consecutive 50% pwc's until your ammonia gets below .5ppm, then keep doing 50% pwc's any time it gets above .5ppm.

 

[tyspot1000]

Welcome to AA!

The Ammonia is most likely causing all the fishes deaths.
I would also recommemd doing a partial water change with additional prime (this is optional, but it detoxifies ammonia and nitrite for 24 hours). Depending on what test kit you are using could possibly giving you the constant high ammonia (if you are using test strips, I must warn you that they are highly inaccurate (liquid isn't).

The high ammonia could of possibly caused the so called 'white spot' (ick); the constant water changes will help with this.

 

[Sianeebaby]

Welcome to AA!

The Ammonia is most likely causing all the fishes deaths.
I would also recommemd doing a partial water change with additional prime (this is optional, but it detoxifies ammonia and nitrite for 24 hours). Depending on what test kit you are using could possibly giving you the constant high ammonia (if you are using test strips, I must warn you that they are highly inaccurate (liquid isn't).

The high ammonia could of possibly caused the so called 'white spot' (ick); the constant water changes will help with this.

Hi, thanks, seems like a useful forum site so hoped you could all help!

Ok well i'll keep up the water changes then and see about this prime too, i wasnt sure about the white spot but she said it seemed it had it. Stupid me shoulda known and said i wanted a different fish! Nevermind, i am using the liquid test kits, and used on all other tanks and they give different readings so must be right.

Would more plants help this problem or make it worse? I have 3 in there at moment, not surd of their name, look like round spiny leaved stems i guess...

Thanks!

 

[Sianeebaby]

Welcome to AA!

The Ammonia is most likely causing all the fishes deaths.
I would also recommemd doing a partial water change with additional prime (this is optional, but it detoxifies ammonia and nitrite for 24 hours). Depending on what test kit you are using could possibly giving you the constant high ammonia (if you are using test strips, I must warn you that they are highly inaccurate (liquid isn't).

The high ammonia could of possibly caused the so called 'white spot' (ick); the constant water changes will help with this.

Hi, a quick maybe stupid question as i have just thought of something... how important is the size of filter in a fish tank? As in is it a problem if i have a bigger filter than needed in my tank? As the only one i had to use in this tank is one for the 3 foot tank so its alot more powerful than it would be or a filter for a 54 ltr tank? Could this be a cause of the problem as its also not longer after using this filter that the problem occurred. Please help as i now have a new filter for this tank but dont want to swap it if you think i shouldnt? The new one is 300ltr per hour which is for around this tank size....

 

[mfdrookie516]

not at all... you really want a filter that's recommended for a tank twice as big as the one you have.

 

[Sianeebaby]

not at all... you really want a filter that's recommended for a tank twice as big as the one you have.

Ohh... **** thought that could have been it. Before i putthis filter in i had a bubble stone only and the little filter the tank came with, i didnt like that filter as it was too noisy and had a weird flow... i may swap them though if it wont hurt as i think i had problems with this one before... hmm

 

[shankss69]

If ur going to swap I would reccomend running both filters for a while...

 

[Sianeebaby]

If ur going to swap I would reccomend running both filters for a while...

Ok then, i'll try that from tomorow when i have some time off. Thankyou!