All fish died overnight??!!

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redruckus

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Feb 25, 2011
Messages
257
Location
North Bay, ON
I had a 15gal tank with a few fish in the tank they ate regularly and i did a 15-20% water change once a week..i woke up this morning to see all my fish dead 1 very small clown loach 1 weather loach and 1 buenos tetra..i tested the water after i flushed them the paramiters were at prity much 0 and the ph was at 7.1ish WHAT HAPPENED??? I dont spray chemicals neer my tank and only wipe the out side with water. and i know i didnt put any thing in the tant..they looked perfectly fine nice bright colours and very active last night this morning all dead.
 
the API fresh water master test kit..so the exact one a fish store would use if you brought them water samples
 
0 amonia 0 nitate and maby 5 nitrite ph aprox 7.1...every thing was in neer perfect spec my fish just all died im just wondering what happened
 
When was the last time you did a PWC and whats the temperature in that tank?
 
today was supose to be my pwc i use a python and i hold the thermometer unter the tap to get the right temp when i fill it up its at absolute max 5 degrees off..i would think they would get ich befor they all died if there was temp fluxuations.but its been running for a week and today they all were dead when i went to turn the light on i keep the... temp at 75-76
 
Do you keep the heater on at 75-76 degrees or do you actually have a thermometer in the tank showing 75-76 degrees? Also, what kind of filter are you using.

Since they all died together overnight, it's not likely that some kind of disease killed them. Maybe the temperature shot up too high overnight due to a faulty heater...or maybe something got into the water that killed the fish?
 
the thermometer shows 75-76 and it showed that in the morning you would think the water would be still warmer then usual if the heater shorted out..and i dont even spray things neer my tanks so nothing gets in them i have no idea what could have gotten in the tank i rinse my test kits tubes extremly well after i use them so thats not the problem
 
Ok... 5 nitrite and 0 nitrate means you aren't cycled. Your about 2 thirds of the way there. Your fish died of the nitrite spike. Soon you will start seeing nitrates and losing nitrites. When nitrItes are at 0 and nitrAtes are at a reasonable level (preferably below 40 ppm) your cycled and can add more fish.
 
i cant rember if it was nitrate or nitrite that was at 5 but i know it did go thru a cycle everything went up for a week and a bit even with regular water changes at then end of the week. i know it did cycle and when i tested my water right after i took the fish out everything was at prity much 0 you would think the spike of what ever it was would still be in the water?
 
When you use the python to fill your tank for the water change, how are you doing it? Are you adding enough declorinator to your tank for the whole amount of water in the tank, or just for the amount of water that you're adding to it?

You should add enough declorinator to declorinate the entire 15g.
 
i use enough for the whole tank maby a little less just as its almost full so i dont over load the fish with prime and i give it a bit of a swirl with the python then stop filling
 
The reason you need to put enough to dechlorinate the whole tank is so that you make sure you inactivate all of the chlorine before it goes in your filter and kills all of your beneficial bacteria.

Do you turn your filter(s) off when you do a water change? That's another way to make absolutely sure you protect your beneficial bacteria.
 
ya i turn off the filter because the water line goes below the intake and i dont wana burn out my filter motor i let the prime work for a good 5 mins then turn the filter back on...from the best of my knowledge i am doing everything almost perfectly right all the fish just died
 
ya i turn off the filter because the water line goes below the intake and i dont wana burn out my filter motor i let the prime work for a good 5 mins then turn the filter back on...from the best of my knowledge i am doing everything almost perfectly right all the fish just died

I'm really sorry.
This is a strange one to me, all in one night is extremely rare. Did you notice something abnormal during the previous 24 or 48 hours? Like fish not eating well, strange swimming, any fish changing in colors, etc?
 
You said something was running for a week. But you said your tank was up for 3 months. So, to clarify: did you cycle for a week or were the fish in for a week?
 
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