Dead fish......help!

[courtnee]

I dont know what to tell you. Find out what temp the LFS has the fish at when you purchase them and try to match that.

What is left in the tank to continue the bioload and keep the cycle going?

 

[neilanh]

I'm worried about your tank being empty. The good bacteria need an ammonia source to survive. If you have no fish, they're not producing waste which is the ammonia source your bacteria survive on. If the bacteria die off, you will have to go through another cycle on your tank.

 

[LandGhoti]

I think jazzy may have one or two (or three) fish left in the tank. Three small cats? Can't remember at this point. But, yeah, if there are no fish in there, jazzy, throw a raw shrimp in there to keep some ammonia going until you can get more fish or figure out what is going on with the tank.

 

[jazzyarizona]

Yes, 3 small cats are still there, and 1 small snail. Oh, I would hate to start all over...

 

[LandGhoti]

That's what I thought. Good deal.
How about leave these guys in there for awhile by themselves, keep testing the water for another week or so, then add one fish at a time if parameters continue to check out OK?

 

[jazzyarizona]

OK, sounds good, I will do that, and thank you. I think I am going to go with a community tank, just tropicals and not get into fantails and such right now. Maybe I need to get my 'sea legs' and then go from there. What do you think ?

Pretend you are talking to a 10 year old.. What fish would you recommend ? Relatively easy, zippy, colorful. In a few months, when I get a blue thumb, I can branch out and go into slightly more exotic varieties.... then we can start emailing about that... I now know not to mix tropicals and goldies.

Did my weekly 25% today and nitrates are down to 10. No algae growth, water is fantastic. Yipppeee......

 

[rich311k]

I wopuld suggest blackskirt or serpae tetras. They are tough, pretty fish. I think you would like either and they would be a good first fish to add.

 

[LandGhoti]

I always vote for cherry barbs because they add lots of color to a tank and are fun to watch and pretty easy to keep.

(So ignore my post in your other thread about duckweed. I hadn't read this one yet about not keeping goldies.)

 

[jazzyarizona]

Thank you both so much for the suggestions, and thanks for remembering about my change to goldies. I changed my mind 'cause a suggestion was made about a community tank and it sounded nice, colorful, and active. I haven't added any fish yet..... almost afraid to. I am increasing the temp slowly to accomodate tropicals. I'll do another pwc and another nitrate test then, taking your advice, add one at a time.

Stay tuned for more news on the Arizona Serial Fish Killer.......