Why do my son's fish keep dying?

[proud_daddy1]

As my username states I'm a proud daddy of a 4 year old son. His favorite movie is Finding Nemo. For his birthday I bought him all the fish I could find that looked like characters from the movie. Well they keep dying, and it's almost instantly, overnight. What is going on?

I can't afford to keep buying him fish and trying to teach him death at this age is tough, especially because it keeps happening. He seems to be feeding them properly but I'm really not an expert. My expertise extends to a couple goldfish I had when I was a young boy myself.

Any tips?

Thanks to the experts in advance,

proud_daddy1

[Mebbid]

It seems like you started up an uncycled tank and are experiencing the fish loss associated with it. There are bacteria in aquariums that feed off of ammonia which is produced by uneaten food and fish waste. These bacteria convert the ammonia into nitrite. There is a different type of bacteria that then consumes the nitrite and converts it into nitrate. Both ammonia and nitrite are highly toxic nitrogen compounds in the water while nitrate is much much safer. You really should be shooting for 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, and less than 40ppm nitrate. In a cycling tank it is okay to have a .25ppm concentration of both ammonia and nitrite but you will need to perform a 50% water change when they rise above that level. An API master test kit will allow you to accurately test for those.

What fish do you have in the aquarium?
How large is the aquarium?
What are you doing for water changes?
How long has the aquarium been set up?
What are your parameters?

Take a look at this link and it will explain maintaining a healthy tank while cycling.

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

[proud_daddy1]

What fish do you have in the aquarium?

A clownfish, a regal blue tang, and a moorish idol.

How large is the aquarium?

Here's a picture of one that's similar:



What are you doing for water changes?

I dump out the old water and add a couple bottles of room temperature Aquafina until it's full.

How long has the aquarium been set up?

I bought it about a week ago.

What are your parameters?

I'm not sure.

[mfdrookie516]

So, you're not mixing salt? You realize these are saltwater fish? I won't even begin to go in to detail on aquarium size requirements for these fish... But let's just say you're in over your head.

How about getting your son a betta for that bowl? That's really all it's suitable for, and some will argue it's not even appropriate for them

[proud_daddy1]

Originally Posted by mfdrookie516

So, you're not mixing salt? You realize these are saltwater fish? I won't even begin to go in to detail on aquarium size requirements for these fish... But let's just say you're in over your head.

How about getting your son a betta for that bowl? That's really all it's suitable for, and some will argue it's not even appropriate for them

Ok...that makes sense. They're dying because they're salt water fish. I have a new batch of fish. I used my table top salt shaker and measured out two TSP of salt. Hopefully that fixes the issues and they live a little longer for my son.

[Robynleigh]

They need sea salt from an aquarium store, amongst other things and you are really asking for nothing but trouble keeping them in such a confined space. Sorry to be blunt but you are killing your fish through lack of research!!!

[proud_daddy1]

Originally Posted by Robynleigh

They need sea salt from an aquarium store, amongst other things and you are really asking for nothing but trouble keeping them in such a confined space. Sorry to be blunt but you are killing your fish through lack of research!!!

Isn't sea salt just marked up table salt?

[mfdrookie516]

This thread has closed.

To the OP - If this is a legitimate problem, please do some research on keeping an aquarium.

If you joined with only the intent to stir things up, those posts are not welcome here.

To those who replied with sarcastic and/or inappropriate replies, those posts are also not welcome here.