Why are my fish dying!?

[AlexandraDanielle21]

One of my platies just passed away today. He was fine this morning and i don't know what happened to him! I have a 40 gallon tank nearing the end of a fish-in cycle. The ammonia level is below .25 and the nitrate levels are near 0. What could be going wrong? It isn't ich, and the water is clear and unscented. Help please!!!

 

[armymp327]

what are your nitrite levels? if ammonia is low yet you have no nitrates, then id think your nitrites would be pretty high

 

[Mebbid]

what are your nitrite levels? if ammonia is low yet you have no nitrates, then id think your nitrites would be pretty high

Agreed, Nitrites would be the most likely culprit for the death of your fish. If you don't have the testing equipment I would suggest about a 50% water change as soon as possible. In a fully cycled aquarium it is really difficult to lower your nitrates down to 5 or less. When you start to see the nitrates rising faster than they have been recently that means you should be in the home stretch of your cycle.

 

[AlexandraDanielle21]

Agreed, Nitrites would be the most likely culprit for the death of your fish. If you don't have the testing equipment I would suggest about a 50% water change as soon as possible. In a fully cycled aquarium it is really difficult to lower your nitrates down to 5 or less. When you start to see the nitrates rising faster than they have been recently that means you should be in the home stretch of your cycle.

Thanks. I do not yet have the nitrite testing kit, but I changed the water. I am planning to get the kit tonight so that I check the levels ASAP.

 

[AlexandraDanielle21]

Agreed, Nitrites would be the most likely culprit for the death of your fish. If you don't have the testing equipment I would suggest about a 50% water change as soon as possible. In a fully cycled aquarium it is really difficult to lower your nitrates down to 5 or less. When you start to see the nitrates rising faster than they have been recently that means you should be in the home stretch of your cycle.

Update: After testing all the levels they are as follows:
Ph- 7.5
Gh- 120
Ch/Kh-180
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-20
Ammonia- .25 or less

Carbonate hardness is a little high, but other than that can't figure out what would be killing the fish. Any thoughts?

 

[calfishguy]

how long have you been doing cycling. just a thought but the ammo in your tank could be burning your fish's gills and stressing them out. especially if you have been cycling for a long time. Are your other fish okay?

 

[AlexandraDanielle21]

how long have you been doing cycling. just a thought but the ammo in your tank could be burning your fish's gills and stressing them out. especially if you have been cycling for a long time. Are your other fish okay?

This cycle has been going on for a week and a half now. I started out with 6 Mickey Mouse platies (2 males 4 females) and a pair of balloon belly mollies. Now, I am down to three female platies. The mollies are unaffected and have acted completely normal this entire time. Could it be that they are better at dealing with the changes in all the levels? Or that the ph suits them better? I having a hard time figuring this out because the fish and the tank levels seem relatively normal.

 

[calfishguy]

since they have only been in the tank for a short period of time I would think its bad stock. The ph is not an issue as long as it is stable. Call your lfs and tell them that your fish died. Most of the ones around me will give you another fish or a store credit if the fish dies within a month of you bringing it home.

 

[AlexandraDanielle21]

Thanks. It looks as though your right, but I can't help but feel somewhat responsible. Although you can never really tell the healthy fish and the sick ones apart in the store. Thanks for all your help.

 

[calfishguy]

I know I went through an entire batch of bad fry from my lfs. they would die within 5 days of being introduced. When they got the new batch they were fine.