3 dead fish in last 2 days

[davexx]

Hi
I posted a thread last year about brown algae in my 800l tank. I had some help from members and followed advice and removed the pebbles in the bottom and replaced with aquarium sand just before xmas. Ive added Elodea Densa plants and the water in the tank looked noticeably clearer though even before it didn't look unclear.
My Nitrate levels with the pebbles were around 500ppm and since the changes and 50% water changes twice a week the Nitrates have come down to 20ppm but i couldn't get any lower. To do water changes i mix new water in a 120l drum and add API conditioner and get to same temp as tank before pumping it in.
So thursday i noticed a silver shark having stability issues so suspected swim bladder prob and added some swill bladder medicine, it was enough to do a 500l tank so a bit weak really. I came home from work to find a dead 6" tinfoil barb so did a 70% water change. This morning the 2nd large barb is dead in the tank. Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate poss 10, Ph 7.6.
About a week ago i added API Nitra-Zorb Pouch, Size 6 to both filters.

I don't know if the issue is:-
excessive water changes
the swim bladder medicine
The Nitra-Zorb

ut im sure im going to loose more fish. The Shark was euthanized last night as no improvement and the fish seemed to be suffering.
The fish that died looked in very good physical condition and i'm totally lost as what to do next.

Thanks Dave

 

[fishwonder]

I was hoping someone would jump in here to assist as I have very little experience in fish deaths. I read the above and I assume the 500 ppm nitrates is a typo and it's really 50 ppm. Not sure if this would be a fast fish deaths or slow fish deaths. So here is some information on both.

Aquarium Fast Fish Deaths
Aquarium Slow Fish Deaths

 

[charliebankston]

I think swim bladder issues are a bacterial infection. If that's the case, antibiotics are the only sure cure. Things like melafix and pimafix are a mild antiseptic only, and they are more preventative than curative

 

[davexx]

Hi

Thanks both for the replies.
Unfortunately due to my father's ill health i didn't have the time to look after the aquarium as i should have and the Nitrate levels were in fact 500 for a long time. It's only been the last 3 months were i have tried to get this under control and had gotten the level down to 10 to 20 ppm over the last month.

Thats why im confused the tank water is in better condition that it was for a long time and now i start loosing fish.

I must admit i'm beginning to think that that i really just had 1 poorly shark and maybe i shouldn't have treated the whole tank with the Interpet Swim Bladder treatment. It seem that after putting that in i then lost the 2 healthy Barbs and still don't know why. Has anyone else lost fish after using that? The bottle was supposed to be enough to treat 500l tank and as mine is 870l i didn't think it would cause any bad effects. I always add the API conditioner during the water changes as well.
Ive had no more dead fish since Saturday morning and have done another 50% water change today.

 

[Aiken Drum]

500ppm nitrate is super high. Fish will become aclaimated to these conditions and will be quite happy.

However a sudden change in nitrate, for instance dropping from 500ppm to 250ppm after a 50% water change, or from 500ppm to under 20ppm after several water changes in a short timescale could explain ill health.

Its better to gradually bring down poor water parameters with frequent but small water changes over an extended period.

Sorry. Doesnt help with your issues, but might explain why you are experiencing what you are experiencing.

 

[davexx]

Hi

I was doing about 20% water changes sadly only about every 3 weeks and i know that's not good enough. Even with these big changes the best i've achieved has been 10 to 20ppm.
Is it possible the waste from my Map turtle is the reason i cannot get it to zero?
He's a fully grown male and about 5 to 6" long.

I am convinced that if i hadn't put the swim bladder medicine in i would only have lost the shark that was poorly. Obviously its just my thought but very strange i put it in thursday night and lost a fish the next morning.
After looking at the site info regarding filter media it looks like i shouldn't have bothered swapping my alfagrog for biohome ultimate. Again this was due to looking online to find a solution to my high nitrate levels.

Thanks again Dave

 

[Aiken Drum]

10 to 20ppm nitrate is fine. 0ppm shouldn't be a target and in most aquariums probably unachievable. Generally keeping it below 40ppm is the target.

 

[charliebankston]

10 to 20ppm nitrate is fine. 0ppm shouldn't be a target and in most aquariums probably unachievable. Generally keeping it below 40ppm is the target.

[emoji106]

 

[Caliban07]

Hi



I was doing about 20% water changes sadly only about every 3 weeks and i know that's not good enough. Even with these big changes the best i've achieved has been 10 to 20ppm.

Is it possible the waste from my Map turtle is the reason i cannot get it to zero?

He's a fully grown male and about 5 to 6" long.



I am convinced that if i hadn't put the swim bladder medicine in i would only have lost the shark that was poorly. Obviously its just my thought but very strange i put it in thursday night and lost a fish the next morning.

After looking at the site info regarding filter media it looks like i shouldn't have bothered swapping my alfagrog for biohome ultimate. Again this was due to looking online to find a solution to my high nitrate levels.



Thanks again Dave

I don’t know much about this medication or many medications in fact but is there a possibility that the medication destroyed your biofilter?

Personally I mostly had issues when changing water. Very often I would get cloudy water indicative of biofilter disruption. Of course I am in the minority here because many people do weekly water changes with no issue. I always like to suggest adding a floating plants to help safely reduce nitrate coupled with smaller routine changes.

I would invest in a TDS meter. It’s useful to know how many conductive ions you have in solution. This is the parameter that is most likely to shock fish when large amounts of water are changed.

 

[charliebankston]

Its active ingredients are: Bronopol 1,045mg/100mls, Formaldehyde 1,800mg, and Benzalkonium Chloride 500mg. No antibiotics

 

[charliebankston]

Antimicrobial and antiseptic mainly

 

[davexx]

Hi

Sorry but those ingredients don't really mean anything but i did see formaldehyde and don't like that sound of that one. So are you thinking i could have poisoned the fish using that product?

 

[charliebankston]

Hi



Sorry but those ingredients don't really mean anything but i did see formaldehyde and don't like that sound of that one. So are you thinking i could have poisoned the fish using that product?

No, not at all. Alot of ich medicine, including the one I use, has formaline or formaldehyde in it. I was just responding to mr caliban. Some antibiotics will kill the good bacteria in your filter. I was just showing that this medicine you used wasn't really a true antibiotic, and probably didn't upset your cycle. The meds didn't kill or hurt your fish

 

[charliebankston]

If you read reviews on fish meds, ppl on this forum and reviewing occasionally think that the meds killed their fish. Not true. I want to ask them, weren't your fish sick before? Isn't that why you medicated?

 

[Kyle0226]

Ph levels need to be at least 7.5

Hi my name's kyle I have a 55 gallon tank with 4 angelfish 8 neon tetras 3 glo fish one iridescent shark one bala shark and two giant danios and two plecos also 3 snails to keep my tank clean so I can do less water changes. Anyway I have gone through a lot of dead fish it's depressing buying them and losing them so I did alot of research and found out if your ph level is off by .5 it will make your fish not breathe all I did was bought this stuff called ph up added 3 drops and added 3 teaspoons of baking soda mix with water and water conditioner before adding and your ph level with be perfect but 5 in 1 test strips to confirm

 

[charliebankston]

Hi my name's kyle I have a 55 gallon tank with 4 angelfish 8 neon tetras 3 glo fish one iridescent shark one bala shark and two giant danios and two plecos also 3 snails to keep my tank clean so I can do less water changes. Anyway I have gone through a lot of dead fish it's depressing buying them and losing them so I did alot of research and found out if your ph level is off by .5 it will make your fish not breathe all I did was bought this stuff called ph up added 3 drops and added 3 teaspoons of baking soda mix with water and water conditioner before adding and your ph level with be perfect but 5 in 1 test strips to confirm

Good deal. On a different note, your 2 sharks are going to be way to big for a 55g. That bala gets about a foot and those iridescent can get over 3 feet. That iridescent is raised as food and sold as Basa or Swahi. They're very shy and sensitive to water changes. Hard to keep alive in an aquarium

 

[Kyle0226]

Yes I am aware of that when they get too big my cousin has a 125 gallon tank that I have to set up but I'm going to wait till they get bigger. Also on a different note I have a cloudy water problem I mean it's not bad but I can def notice like a yellowish to the water I've tested my tank, my levels are perfect but I cannot get my tank clear I even used water clarifier it worked a little but didn't complete the job. I have done the 20% water change my bottom is clean but it won't go away it's bothering the heck outta me please help

 

[charliebankston]

Do you have driftwood in the tank?

 

[Aiken Drum]

Yellowish water, like a tea colour? Sounds like tannins. Do you have driftwood?

Activated carbon or purigen in the filter will absorb those. I dont think clarifiers work very well at removing tannins. More for removing particles.

 

[charliebankston]

And how long has your tank been set up?