My fishes keep dying and I don't know why... please help!

[sharky1707]

I recently bought an aquarium (125Litres) and filtered the water for the recommended time and heated it to 24 degrees. I then researched the variety of fishes available and promptly made a list. I then visited my local Aquatic shop and bought a variety of fishes (barbs, guppies, platy, siamese fighting fish, angel fish, mollys, clown loaches, catfish and plecos and rainbow sharks). They seemed to settle in well the first night and I was very careful to not over feed them. The following day when I woke up I noticed that there was a dead angel fish. I tested the water and there was nothing wrong with pH level or nitrate levels. I flushed him down the toilet and then fed the fishes. Since then every single morning one fish has been what I can only described as brutally murdered. There is no disease in the tank or problems with the water. The problem is in the water and I need to know which fish or fishes have embarked on this harrowing killing spree. I lost my beautiful siamese fighting fish on day 3. By day 4 I found the fleshy remains of one of the rainbow sharks. It is so upsetting to see the once happy and swimmy fish be reduced to a shadow of it's former self. I decided to set up observations on the tank to try and catch the culprits red finned. I even borrowed my cousin's night vision goggles (he is in the army) and noticed some unusual and certainly suspicious behaviour from my shoal of 5 red platys. I hope no one judges me about what I did next but I could not let this mindless violence continue. I used the net to capture the platys and then one by one I executed them. Thinking that was the end of it I went back to sleep having not slept in 2 days. The following morning sent shockwaves through my body. I saw a guppy lying dead at the bottom of the tank. He was missing both eyes. I watched for about 3 hours as the fishes went about their daily business - none of them arousing any suspicion having seen me the previous night deal with the Platys. I left the room for one minute to make myself a drink and when I returned there were now just bones. I did not see who ate him. I need to know who the serial killer fish is and deal with them before my tank is empty. I'm not prepared to wait until the killer fish is the last remaining fish, even though I will then be able to strike him down. Please help me to stop this mindless violence. I am able to tell you the variety of fish and quantities of each if that may help with identifying those responsible. I have researched online to look for fish that bully in numbers or fin nip but have so far come up with nothing.

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

Probably the barbs are causing the issue? And the pleco/catfish going after the remains when it's on the bottom of the tank. That's just my guess. Loaches can pick too.

 

[sharky1707]

Thank you Liz. Do you think that I should terminate the barbs tonight? Or should I conduct further observations to be sure?

Thanks

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

Sweet Jesus, I'm not saying to kill them! Just saying that may be the culprit. I would wait for someone else to chime in. I mean, any fish can get nippy, really. They have their own personalities. Can you do a list of what specific types you have and how many of each of the fish?

 

[sharky1707]

Forgive me Liz. I am passionate about my fishes and it pains me to see more dead when I could have stopped it. I will wait to see what others say but my gut instinct is it is the barbs. I have:

20 guppys (-4 killed)
siamese fighting fish (killed)
2 rainbow sharks (-1 killed)
4 neon red gouramis
5 platys (-5 killed)
5 albino tiger barbs
5 green tiger barbs
4 clown loaches
4 leopard plecos
2 upside / down catfish
4 angel fish (-2 killed)
5 penguin tetra
2 dalmation mollys
4 balloon mollys

I hope that helps, thanks again

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

What size is your tank?

And it could be also the gouramis? I understand you are passionate about your fish, but the combination of all of the fish initially does not sound very compatible to me, in all honesty.

 

[sharky1707]

I appreciate your honesty. I did research the fishes thoroughly. What is it that you think isn't compatible?

My tank is 125 litres ( about 33 gallons) it is 36" wide, by 15" by 15"

You could be right about the gouramis. They are lovely to look at but have always looked shifty to me. And when you look them in the eyes they have the tendency to swim away which could be the sign of guilt?

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

33g is much too small for clown loaches. They get like a foot long. And I'm really thinking your tank is overstocked.

Check out this website: AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor

Probably there were too many tensions? Tiger barbs, any loach, and any gourami can get nippy and if overstocked, probably stress made them get more nippy.

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

And I'm not so sure about the guilt feeling. I don't know if any fish is intelligent enough to feel guilt? And fish kill each other and eat each other all the time. I don't think a fish would feel guilt over killing another fish if it could.

 

[mudraker]

Several factors here.


[/QUOTE]I recently bought an aquarium (125Litres) and filtered the water for the recommended time and heated it to 24 degrees.

The tank has probably not established its nitrogen cycle and is poisoning the fish. What was the recommended time to run before adding fish? You were probably misled on when it would be safe to add fish.

You did not post ammonia or nitrite test results, did you test for these?

Unforturnately, the fish you chose are woefully incompatible despite the research you did.

The tank is also overstocked with fish.

Instead of killing the fish, return them all to the store.

Make sure you have a liquid drop test kit (not strips) that test for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph.

Follow the instructions in this AA link.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/fishless-cycling-for-dummies-103339.html

While you wait for the tank to cycle that will have no fish in it, do more indepth research on the number of fish you can safely keep in a 125 liter and compatibility.

I'm sorry you got such rotten advice to begin with.

But its not too late to start over and do the right thing by your future fish

Once the tank is fully and completely cycled

 

[sharky1707]

Thank you for your advice. I will definitely look into that. You're kidding me. The guy at the aquatic store told me loaches don't get very big. What should I do with the ones I have? My stock is continuing to drop so any fears of being overstocked will be allayed by the killing fish taking matters into his own fins. I think fish can be intelligent like they know when I'm watching them and don't do anything incriminating in front of me. Whoever is doing the killings should definitely feel guilty.

I've set up a camera to record them whilst I sleep. Once I've reviewed the disc I will update you with any relevant findings.

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

Glad I got some back up. I completely agree with mudraker here.

 

[ejaramillo01]

Sharky

In my opinion your fish are dying for poisoning with ammonia.
When you said that the water is fine, Can you share the readings for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate? how are you testing the water?

Adding 66 fish to a 30G tank is way to much!! The fish are over stress.

Do as mudraker recommend, if not you are just asking for more problems.

 

[sharky1707]

Mudraker thank you for your comments. It makes me sad to think the advice I was given has cost the lives of so many innocent fish. Their blood is effectively on my hands and I will have to live with that forever.

I'm sorry, I did test the nitrite and ammonia levels as well as water hardness which all came back fine.

I was told to let the water cycle for 4 days. I understand your comments about it could be poisoning the fish but don't you think it's suspicious it's one dead fish every morning I wake up. I feel like one of them could be taunting me or trying to send me a message.

I'll make enquiries with the aquatic store but don't think they'll allow me to take them back now.

Thank you for your advice

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

If it was a local business, then it most likely will take the fish back. The chain stores most likely won't, but you should still try. Many shops fail to tell people to cycle their tank (I had no clue before joining this site) and its a shame.

The fish could be poisoned and also the stress of an un-cycled tank could cause them to pick at each other.

 

[mudraker]

They will probably take the fish back, but may not give you your money back.

However, no one fish is taunting you. The fish population in general is stressed and unhealthy because the tank is cycling. When fish are unhealthy, it is not uncommon for them to start eating at each other, especially the more aggressive fish, such as the barbs, shark and catfish.

Crazyfishlady was also very correct in pointing out the loach size problem.

By the way, your LFS is probably the worst place to get information on how to take care of fish and what fish are compatible.

There are many great resources online, (like this forum) to guide you through the process of stocking your aquarium once it is cycled.

 

[sharky1707]

I'm not bothered about the money. You can't put a price on saving their lives.

I thank you both for your advice. I am impressed with what I have learned from this site compared to my LFS.

I will probably go down there tomorrow and have it out with them. It is disgusting what they have done.

I will update with results of the camera footage.

 

[TheCrazyFishLady]

I don't think you should bother with the camera, honestly. Just try to take them all back. Go ahead and tell them that the information they gave you was very wrong and then read up on cycling your tank.