Hooray! I have fish...but not without a couple problems

[apotocki]

My cycle completed last week!
On Thursday evening, I gathered up my cycling fish (23 small goldfish) and went back to the LFS.
I inquired about starting to stock my 70 gallon and they recommended putting no more than 23 fish in initially(!?) as they said the goldfish I was replacing are much 'messier' than any fish I would be putting into the tank. I was hesistant about this but decided to go as follows:
8 Bleeding HEarts
4 Punc Cory's
2 Clown Loaches (about 2 inches each)
I acclimiated them for a period of 1 hours and let them go (netting them). (1) of the Bleeding Hearts immediately went to the surface and the others directly to the bottom. Within 1 hour 2 were dead. The Cory's and Loaches looked fine (swimming around chasing each other and playing!)
Woke up the next morning and found 4 more Bleeding Hearts dead. Water tested fine (0,0,0,PH 7.0, temp 77). Called the LFS and explained what was happening. They told me to bring back the dead fish and they would replace them. Ok.....but why were they dying? Well, by the time I ran errands and came back home (to get the dead fish to take back), the other (2) Bleeding Hearts were also dead. That means all (8) died within 24hrs. The Cory's and Loaches continued to look great.
Arrived at the LFS with my dead Bleeding Hearts (and a water sample). Explained what happened (as it was a different person)....received a somewhat rude treatment and was told (after my water tested good) to pick out some replacement fish. After talking to another guy (in the fish area), he recommended not replacing them with more Bleeding Hearts (even though he said theirs were doing fine). I decided on Rasbora's and brought home 10. Acclimiated them for about 1 hour, and immediately lost 1! The next morning, 8 looked great but 1 other looked bad (sunken stomach). Lost him by noon.
Went through the remainder of Friday and Saturday afternoon and all looks fine. Decided to visit 'another' LFS Saturday evening. Talked to the owner and explained what happened, he 'thinks' that the other LFS had 'weak' fish that were probably stressed out by the move and couldn't handle it since the loaches and cory's were doing great (and now the Rasbora's). We also talked about my brown algae that is slowly taking over. He suggested adding a Pleco (and now isn;t too soon, he says). I was leaning towards 4 Oto's but he talked me out of them saying that a Pleco would do a better job. So, I bought a really neat looking Gold Nugget Pleco. (now, I'm glad I got him as he looks very unique!)
As of this morning all looks great. The fish are happy (at least it looks that way) and my water continues to be (0,0,0). I'm glad that I decided to go with Rasbora's (and will probably add another 8 or so soon) as they stay at the upper levels and school) Can't wait to add a few more fish....but I'm gonna wait a couple days just to be sure!
My original plan was to include Cardinals and Angels. Now, after getting the Rasbora's I'm re-thinking the Cardinal's.....but would like another 6-8 colorful fish (maybe with some red?) to supplement the large Rasbora school I want to have. Idea's?
Thanks Alan

[mandi]

What acclimation process did you use?? I know you said you acclimated them for an hour but I am curious as to how you proceeded.......that may have something to do with their deaths.

[malkore]

Considering the tank was cycled with 'dirty' feeder goldfish, the water could contain parasites and other diseases.

Also, if you're saying your nitrates are 0ppm, then I have to question if your cycle was completed. A cycled tank that has no plants should always have at least a slight nitrate reading.

[apotocki]

I floated the bags open and added about an ounce of my tank water about every 10 minutes.....same method for all and the clown loaches, cory's, replacement rasbora's, and pleco are doing great. I would have expected a problem (if there was one, with the loaches).
As to the nitrate being 0.....I was/am also a bit concerned with this. However, both LFS's I questioned about this indicated it is not a problem as I did get a Ammonia spike followed by a Nitrite spike then slow Nitrite decline until 0. During the time when the Nitrite spike and then was in decline, I also saw Nitrates....then they went to 0 like the Nitrite.....
I still think that the first 'batch' of Bleeding Hearts had a problem from the LFS. All the other fish are still doing fine today.

[BrianNY]

I have to agree with malkore. It isn't possible to have 0 nitrates as it's the end product of the cycle.

[SittingDuck]

If you take a look at this link:

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/p...cfm?pCatId=906

It says that the Bleeding Hearts prefer a pH of 6.0 to 6.5. This doesn't mean they won't survive in anything other than that (it's better to have things stable to prolong a fishes life) but this could explain a few things.

You might want to research what the "Best" pH is for the fish that you've got on that website. They have been very helpful and informative for helping me to decide which fish will thrive in the current setup I have now, and which ones won't.

[apotocki]

Yea...I agree with the 0 Nitrate thing...it is bothersome and I hope that it doesn't come back to bite me somehow. However, the fish are doing well....and I still have lots of 'brown algae' growing. I did question the LFS about the 0 Nitrate thing this morning......they responded with as long as you don;t have Ammonia or Nitrite, don't worry about it. We'll see what the next couple of days brings.
As to the PH - hmmm. good point. Mine has been rock solid at 7.0 (same as out of the tap) since I set-up the tank in February. Again, the LFS said that shouldn't be a problem, however, maybe I should look into getting it down to 6.5-6.7? How would I do that?