Cycling questions/dead fish

[Ross]

Need Help! I have a 28gallon fresh water tank that I recently re-did. The tank was previously a cichlid tank for five years after the last fish died(4 1/2 yo) I decided to start over. I basically gutted that tank and changed all decor. I set the tank up using most of the original media in my Fluval 105.

-Ran tank for 4-5 days using Stress-Zyme
-Then added 4 Zebra Dannios and 2 White Clouds (very small)
-9 days later I have 1 Dannio left
-Water chemistry is good I test with API liquid-
-Temp 76-78
PH 7.8, Ammonia always Zero as well as Nitrite and Nitrate readings

What is going on?

Thanks! Ross

 

[Calypso77]

Sounds like your tank isn't cycled which would be the big problem. How long has your tank not been used by fish? If your tank was cycled you should have some nitrates.

 

[Ross]

The tank has always had fish, except the 4-5 days it ran before adding the six new fish. After the last cichlid died I wanted to start over with different fish. I did use most of the original media in the filter only replacing 2/4 foam pads. Why did I lose 5/6 fish without any amonia levels?

Thanks,
Ross

 

[bloodlucky]

Without ammonia the beneficial bacteria can't play its role

 

[Ross]

With only one small fish in the tank will this be enough? Should I add more, which I'm hesitant to do, or just wait it out?

 

[jlbfish]

How often are you testing? My tank crashed and I added cycled media which brought the Ammonia down but the nitrate never went up. In my case the pH changed drastically in a very short amount of time. Anything like that possible? Ive taken to testing it 2x per day. Good Luck! Sorry about your losses

 

[Ross]

How often are you testing? My tank crashed and I added cycled media which brought the Ammonia down but the nitrate never went up. In my case the pH changed drastically in a very short amount of time. Anything like that possible? Ive taken to testing it 2x per day. Good Luck! Sorry about your losses

I test daily and have not had any ammonia detected. My ph has been stable at 7.8.

 

[jlbfish]

Did the dead fish have any signs of illness or issues?

How old is your test kit?

 

[Ross]

I did notice that some would stay in one spot and appear to shiver. The test kit is a new liquid API. Results were confirmed at the pet store. The remaining dannio appears to be healthy. Added my final 14 day dose of stress zyme.