Hello - Also from Canada. Fish dying after a month.

[Kingpin403]

Hi All,
new member here from Canada.

My family and I started in with keeping fish a few years back. Goldfish were dirty and got re-homed quickly. We found guppy and fell in love (even with prolific birthing). We went from a 10 gallon tank and sharing fry with our friends with larger tanks and moved to a 75 gallon tank.

We are keeping (currently) a handful of guppy, 3 glow tetra, 1 BN pleco, and one angelfish.

The tank was cycled, 25% water changes regularly, vacuumed gravel, a handful of live plants. Fish are fed tropical flakes - I tried some other pellet variation but the fish would just play with them and not eat them. Haven't been brave enough to try "fresh" foods.

I came here as I am having trouble keeping some of the fancier fish alive for longer than a month. Recently we lost a molly (I am sure she was bullied) and now more recently an angelfish who I talked to the night and then again in the morning, passed away by lunch ... seems that things will be going swimmingly and then not so good.

I test with the API test strips (haven't bit the bullet yet for the chem test kit).

I'll be around looking for recommendations and support.

-Thanks!!

 

[Aiken Drum]

Could you confirm exactly how you cycled the tank?

How long has the tank been set up and what is your normal water change schedule?

Could you confirm what your test results are? Do you have the seperate test strip that measures ammonia? This is the most likely parameter to be off. And to add test strips are unreliable. Take the plunge and get a liquid test kit. Much more reliable, and as you get 100s of test from the kit, much more cost effective long run.

 

[Kingpin403]

Thanks

Cycling was done fishless for about a month until levels stayed within expected parameters. I used some of the old tank water from the guppy tank to "seed" the filter canister and then let the water run through there for around a month. Tested with the strips (of course) and Nitrites and Nitrates read 0, GH and KH were acceptable, and PH was where I would have expected it to be to keep my fish friends happy (you'll forgive me if I don't remember the numbers off hand for when I started... I realize now that keeping a record of such things is VERY important).

The tank has been running with fish in it now for about 4 months. I take out 10 gallons and add back in 10 gallons of dechlorinated water that has been left out to room temperature. I do this about once a week now.

Now I'm not sure if this translates well over to 75 gallons???

My current test results are as follows:
NO3 --> between 0 and 20 mG/L
NO2 --> roughly 0 mark
PH --> Between 7.5 & 8
KH --> 40mG /L
GH --> 120mg/L

Ammonia was tested a few days ago at a nearby fish store and I was told that it was fine (not PetSmart).

Currently have 2 heaters - 1 150W heater set to 80 and one Larger heater 250W set a bit warmer. Temp is fair throughout the tank.

2 small bubblers (1 wall on the small side of the tank and 1 small unit with lights). Both aid for surface agitation.

Plants are 1 x buce (a twisty leaf thing)
2 x grass - I can't remember the name but its a rhizome grass
1 x crypto

Could you confirm exactly how you cycled the tank?

How long has the tank been set up and what is your normal water change schedule?

Could you confirm what your test results are? Do you have the seperate test strip that measures ammonia? This is the most likely parameter to be off. And to add test strips are unreliable. Take the plunge and get a liquid test kit. Much more reliable, and as you get 100s of test from the kit, much more cost effective long run.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Thats not how to do a fishless cycle. You need to dose ammonia as a substitute for fish waste. No waste going in, your tank cant cycle. Seeing zero nitrate is a clear sign you werent cycled. Using water from a cycled tank wont do anything to help. The bacteria responsible for your cycle lives on surfaces, like the glass of your tank, your substrate, decorations, but mostly in your filter media. It doesnt live in the water so moving water wont help seed a new tank. Transferring filter media from your old tank to new would have been the way to go.

A 4 month old tank will have cycled by now, you are seeing nitrate which is a good sign. Not being able to test for ammonia, we cant confirm this. Its possible that when the fish went in, the tank wasnt cycled and you are only now seeing health issues that started weeks/ months ago.

Are the fish showing any symptoms or just suddenly dying with no hint there is anything wrong?

Until you are able to reliably test for ammonia i would up the water changes. You don't have many fish, so 30% every week, or do your 10g change 3 x per week.

 

[gilpi]

I agree with Aiken Drum. You should have taken some of the filter media from the "old" tank and mixed it with the media in the "new" filter instead of the water. Doing this would have sped up the cycling process. Most of your beneficial bacteria resides in the filter.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

If you can post some pictures of the fish, we might be able to see any health issues or diseases they might have. Check pictures on your computer before posting them here to make sure they are in focus

What symptoms did the fish have when they died (what did they look like)?