Help me asap!! Fish dying.

[jussy]

HI CAN SOME1 PLEASE HELP ME I HAVE A TANK WITH AROUND 35 ADULT FISH INCLUDING 2 DANIOS AND THE REST ARE GUPPIES, I ALSO HAVE A FLOATING FRY TANK WITH ABOUT 20 BABY FRY GUPPIES IN, TODAY AROUND 5 OF MY FISH DIED 4 WERE ADULTS AND 1 WAS A FRY

HERE ARE SOME PICS I HAVE TAKEN

(p.s sorry for the caps :P)

[alLexX]

unless your tank is fairly big,your overstocked.how big is you tank? is it cycled?how old is it?

[jcolon]

to AA

In order for us to help you, we need to know the size and age of the tank. Also read the link below. Could be your tank is not cycled? What are your water parameters .. ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH?

I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?!

[jussy]

hi m8,
my tank is 50L roughly about 11 UK gallons
i try 2 cycle 25% it regularly when the water starts 2 foam
the tank itself is quite old around 7/8 years but its been fine.
i had done a full clean of the tank this morning,
also the fish were swimming towards the top of the tank for the past couple of days,
im not sure about all the nitrate levels ect.. but usually when i check them there bang on perfect.

[alLexX]

that is incredibly overstocked.

[jcolon]

Originally Posted by jussy

hi m8,
my tank is 50L roughly about 11 UK gallons
i try 2 cycle 25% it regularly when the water starts 2 foam
the tank itself is quite old around 7/8 years but its been fine.
i had done a full clean of the tank this morning,
also the fish were swimming towards the top of the tank for the past couple of days,
im not sure about all the nitrate levels ect.. but usually when i check them there bang on perfect.

Ok ..
First If you do not have one yet .. get the API test master kit to get an accurate number of your parameters ... strips are not reliable IMO.

Second when you say you gave the tank a cleaning .. did you rinse out the filter media and substrate? If so did you use chlorinated tap water?
If you did you just wiped out the beneficial bacteria that turns ammonia and nitrites into less harmful nitrates, causing your tank to cycle all over again.

Generally when the fish are hanging out at the surface its because there's not enough oxygen in the water ... you need to do 2 50% PWC back to back. Clean water will bring them some oxygen and get rid of pollutants.

Third .. your tank is WAY overstocked with 35 fish in 11 gallons. All those fish are just producing ammonia at will and there's either no bacteria or very little of it to convert it. You'll need to get a larger tank and or rehome many of the fish.

But for now PWC's is key!

[jussy]

:O i wasn't aware, ive had it like that for a couple of months now and up and till this morning they just started 2 die.


i have air lines in the tank wont the fish get there oxygen from that?

[jcolon]

It helps but an air line like an air-stone just agitates the surface to promote gas exchange. Most if not nearly all of those air bubbles don't actually diffuse into the water, they pop at the surface and then hopefully some of that air goes back into the water .. eventually.

For the past months the pollutants .. either ammonia, nitrites or nitrates have been building up till the tipping point. Ammonia and Nitrite poisoning is nasty stuff .. see this link below. Nitrates not as bad in small quantity but nasty in higher. And in overstocked tanks, fish just keep producing Ammonia constantly.

Fish Poop and You: A Primer - Aquarium Forum

[jussy]

i do have a carbon segment for my filter which i put in from time to time to help remove all the finer problems in the water.

another pic of my tank i still don't think it looks overpopulated

[jcolon]

Carbon is really only useful for removing medications and some trace elements .. useless against the nasty pollutants. In fact most members of AA don't even use it in their filter unless they're removing medication. For Ammo and nitrite you need the bacteria to grow in the filter media through the nitrogen cycle. Nitrates can be taken care of by plants and PWC's.

As soon as you can ... get a test kit and measure the water parameters, that's the best way for us to give you more accurate advice .. I'm just guessing at this point based on your descriptions.

[jussy]

cheers mate ill post back with the results shuld be near the weekend when i can get my hands on a kit

[jussy]

Hi, another 1 of my fish died today and I had a close look at it and I had noticed alot of red around it head area does any1 know what this means/indicates??

[jetajockey]

sounds like ammonia poisoning.

[jussy]

Cheers m8 Is there anyway in which I can prevent or cure this?

[Ickletas]

By head area do you mean around the gills? If so then the prime suspect here is ammonia poisoning. You will need to do a 50% pwc (at least I should think if not 75%) to get the levels down. Seachem Prime dechlorinator has an ingredient that will neutralise ammonia for a while, not sure about other brands, but you will still need to do the pwc's until your tank is cycled properly. There are some great articles here on cycling with fish but I don't have the links. Maybe someone else has them and can pop them up.

[jetajockey]

I would start doing large water changes every day (50-75%) until you can start testing the water to see exactly where you are at, beginning with one immediately.

[jussy]

Yes around the gills and on the top if the head. Water changes I had only just done a complete wash of the tank. When I do the water changes do I still add the water conditioner?

[Ickletas]

ALWAYS use water conditioner, chlorine and chlorite are toxic. When you say "complete wash" what exactly do you mean? Did you wash the filters? Did you use soap?

[jetajockey]

any time you add new water to the tank you need to condition it.

[jussy]

As I always do, yes I cleaned the tank from a to z washed all the gravel out, washed the filter ect.... I did use fairy liquid to clean the glass but I made sure it was rinsed properly before I started putting the gravel in.