New tank with rapid death rate

[Hobgob]

Many strores use strips as well. 1out of 6 don't use them here. The other 5 only use the strips... Have you done a water change yet?

 

[Boogety48]

Guppies prefer a little salt in their water. If your guppy is swimming around the surface do a water change and try to add an air stone. Guppies aren't a schooling fish either. They like to have company but they aren't a schooling fish.

 

[librarygirl]

IMO, I don't think guppies need salt. Many LFS use salt in their tanks to help fight disease but it's generally not needed in FW setups unless you're treating for illness. I wouldn't add anything else to the tank that isn't needed. If the guppies were used to salt though and you just dropped them in your tank without the salt the change might have killed them. When you get the new fish try acclimating by floating the bag and dribbling small amounts of your tank water into the bag every 10-15 minutes; do this until the volume in the bag doubles. Then drain half the water (not into your tank ) and do it again, then net the fish into the tank. The process should take about an hour.

Since they died so quickly I'm guessing they were sick to begin with and/or they weren't acclimated properly.

 

[Boogety48]

Oh and 1 tablespoon per 5 gallons, but make sure your don't add anything to the tank that can't handle the salt, like cory cats.

 

[Kingzilla]

So I just got back with 4 new guppies, and I've added 1 TBSP of salt for 20gal water... so it's 1/4 of the dose.

I will be doing a partial water change later after dinner however the water tests don't show that I need to do one yet.

as for right now, I'm preparing to add water to my fish bag and do it right this time

 

[Snype2live]

if you got some air line tubing i would put them in a bucket with a slight angle on it (to keep the fish under water) and take the air line tubing in the tank and the other in the bucket and start a suction and tie a couple knots in it till you got about 1 drop per second and drip them for about 2 hours that what i do for mine and i never have a issue with anything they never hid the out swimming around within seconds of netting them out the bucket into the tank ..much safer and much more preffered

 

[Teshi]

*salt at *concentration of 1-2 tablespoons /10 gal. This helps them deal with stress.


This is from a post on Simply Discus QT forum. I'm not sure how it would work for other tropicals.

 

[Hobgob]

Salt in general is just like a stress coat. Used to get rid of disease and such. There is no need for salt in a guppy tank other then to treat fungus or other parasites. Your acclimation may have caused it. you only matched the temperature of the water, no other parameters. If you say you got each fish from a different tank and they are not all on a central filtration. I doubt they were all sick although it is possible. Everything checks out in your test kit.
Are you still using the strips?
What is the temperature at now?
Also how did you add the salt?

 

[Hobgob]

*salt at *concentration of 1-2 tablespoons /10 gal. This helps them deal with stress.

This is from a post on Simply Discus QT forum. I'm not sure how it would work for other tropicals.

My sterbai were fine with salt. I put 1 tbsp per 5 gallons.

 

[Kingzilla]

so by the time I released my new fish on Friday (after doing it properly this time) my last remaining fish from before was practically dead but his health picked up when the new fish were released but one of the new fish bullied him and was nipping at his fins. he didn't last though, he hid for a bit before finally dieing like 30min later. I think the new fish increased his will to live so he fought a little harder but was doomed anyway.

so now I just had my 4 new guppies until the one that bullied the old fish died yesterday, and another one in the evening. then I found one more dead this morning so I'm back to one fish.

I've been doing 10-15% water changes daily, properly treating the new water before adding it to the tank. daily water tests, with no nitrates or nitrites and ammonia always under 1ppm. I am seeding my tank with borrowed filter media and my filter is turning a light brown so it must be working.
everything was rinsed before adding it to the tank, no soap used.
I'm trying to keep the temp at 25C but am having trouble as the temp in the room is anywhere from 25-28C so the tank is operating in that range. I'm suspending a ziplock bag in the top of the tank with a few ice cubes at a time to try to keep the tank from going over 27C but they're for the most part proving ineffective but still better then nothing. I'm going to replace the tanks incandescent bulbs with flouresent bulbs later today as they produce less heat.


as for the aquarium salt, I added 2 tablespoons for 20gal and I added it 1/2 a tablespoon at a time by sprinkling it across the gravel and letting it dissolve. It's really coarse so the salt was released slowly and the aquarium has good water circulation so it would have mixed in evenly as it dissolved meaning no pockets with a high salt concentration. With two water changes since then, the salt level would have dropped. I want to keep the salt level low as I do plan on putting in some corys or something of that nature once my tank is stable and fully cycled.
All my fish have pretty much stayed in the top half of the tank anyway, 95% of the time they're in the top 1 inch of water but death was an issue before the salt, so if anything, it has extended life.

so the question still remains, what could be killing all my fish?

 

[janky]

I'm sorry, I didn't see if you said you purchased them from a different store or not?

At this point I would heavily consider taking some store credit and going elsewhere with your business.

If your tank parameters are 0's across the board, your water is fit for fish. There is NO reason for them to be dying, unless you've got soap or some toxins in there that we don't know about (did you scrub any decor with dish soap? Doubt you would do that... just have to ask)

My next move, personally, would be a different lfs and see what kind of results you get with their fish instead.

 

[Kingzilla]

I bought 5 guppies at Big Als, took 5 dead back for credit and got 5 more the next day. The following day I had 4 dead and went to Petsmart to get 4 more and the remaining one from Big Als died, followed by 3 from Petsmart.

So I have one still alive from Petsmart and he seems happy, but lonely.

As I stated, no soap has been used at all.


I was just doing some research and found out that not all tap water is treated with chlorine, my tap water tested negative for it so that leads me to believe that its been treated with chloramine... When I originally filled my aquarium I only treated the water for chlorine but when doing water changes (with big als water conditioner with aloe vera) the bottle said to use double for chloramine or to help repair damaged skin and fins. I figured that the double wouldn't hurt (plus it was easier to measure) so the new water has been treated for both chemicals and the original water was only treated for chlorine... could this be the reason for my fish dieing (as the death rate seems to be slowing down) and if so, should i do a 50% water change to dilute the original water?

 

[Kingzilla]

I should add that the original water was treated with Tetra water conditioner, the sample pack included with my aquarium when I bought it.

 

[Kingzilla]

well I've gone ahead with the 50% water change and now I'm going to attempt a different fish... I'll let you know what I get when I get home

 

[Boogety48]

I treated my tank once with the stuff that came with it and it made my water look so horrible that I had to take it all out and start the water over again. It made it cloudy and brown/yellow color. After that I just use Prime now.

 

[librarygirl]

Is it Tetra aquasafe? That should detoxify heavy metals, chlorine and chloramines so that should be good. When you run out though, invest in some Prime. It's more concentrated so it'll last longer and it's used by most aquarists.

I'd try a different source for your fish and see how they do. If they die as well then it's the tank. Also try to keep ammonia .25 or lower; anything higher can be harmful to fish.

 

[Sssea]

Just as a precaution, if you ever add salt, you want to dissolve it in water outside of the tank before pouring it in. Large grains of salt on the gravel can be eaten and thusly dangerous.

 

[Hobgob]

Is there a way to lower you room temp? Do your heater can keep it steady?

 

[Kingzilla]

Yes, it was Tetra Aquasafe and I'm currently using Big Al's Multi-Purpose Aquarium Water Conditioner. It mixes at a ratio of 5ml/1teaspoon to 10gal/40L or 10ml to 40L depending on if the water has chlorine or chloramine.

Good point on the salt, I didn't think of that but my guppies don't like the bottom anyway and I'm 99.99% sure non was eaten.

I just bought 3 Zebra Danios and am in the process of acclamation right now. Hopefully these live, although I do still have one guppy left from my 3rd purchase on Friday so I have high hopes. and ftr, I went back to Big Al's...
The lady serving me there actually told me I shouldn't do water changes on an uncycled tank so I told her off lol

 

[Kingzilla]

I'm trying to improve air flow in the room but with all the stuff going on in here, it tends to get hot on its own. I'll be setting up an AC in here soon, but with it still being March, it's a little early for AC so im a little hesitant.