Help Fishy dying

[ShakyJay]

Help Fishes dying

I have had my 26bow front set up for about two months now, I started the tank with some mollies then about two weeks later added a bala, ghost black knife fish, albino whiptail. Two weeks after that I added a black finned shark, an elephant fish and an african butterfly fish.

I have been doing the typical maintenance such as 20% water changes and most fish have survived, then this last week my butterfly fish died suddenly without warning, checked all the levels, and the only thing that was questionable was the nitrite, so did another 20% water change, and then the next day the knifefish died, he was starting to swim erradically before he died. Checked the levels again, and everything was within par, the next day the elephant fish starting swimming "weirdly" backwards, upside down, and poking his nose to the surface. And then he died. I do not know what is happening, all my tests have been within range since then, I have taken several samples to the local aquarium on a daily basis and they have all been fine, yet they keep dying. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice. I took a video of the elephant fish as he was swimming in his last moments too if anyone thinks that might help I could send it to you. I am just getting tired of killing fish with no obvious reasons. They do not have ick, or pop eye, or any other noticable disease......PLEASE HELP. Thanks

 

[WhiteDevil]

do you smoke?

a stray ash( i smoke) falls into that water, the water is toast.

How long after set up did you add the mollies?

General question....

Dont mollies carry weird stuff that doesnt effect them but effect other fish with weaker immune systems?

 

[ShakyJay]

No i don't smoke...if an ash does crap out the water, won't it be on one of the tests??? I put the mollies in a couple of days after the tank had been running, i say about 48 hours. And if the water is bad, wouldn't all the fish be affected, what is weird is that the sharks are doing quite well and as well as the whiptail.

 

[joy13]

African butterfly fish are usually wild caught, need live food and food that floats. They are rather difficult fish for someone just starting out. I know that knife fish and the elephant nose are wild captive so it is possible that the stress might have caused their death Here is a couple of good links that I use when deciding on fish Success with Butterflyfish, Pantodon buchholtzi, with pictures and Tropical Fish Care Guides With a 29 gallon you should figure on about 29 inches of fish when full grown this will vary on the bioload since some fish are poop machines and I consider them double their size plecos are a good example.

 

[happygirl65]

It sounds like you had not completed your cycle yet. And though it was probably close, each time you added more fish than the established bacteria could handle and it takes a while for it to catch up.
When you say the tests were "within range" what does that mean? Did you test the water yourself with liquid test kits? And if so were Ammonia and Nitrite 0? You should test daily when adding new fish and you may find it necessary to do daily water changes until the cycle catches up to the new load.

The ghost knife is a bit sensitive as joy mentioned so is the butterfly fish. Ammonia and nitrite spikes can cause the symptoms you describe and some fish (like the sharks and mollies) are hardier and can survive it. How often do you do the 20% water change? And when you do, do you use a dechlorinator? And do you make sure the water temp going in is the same as the tank temp? Sometimes it is necessary to age your water for more sensitive species.
Also be aware that while all the fish are small it may not seem like it but the knife fish will get quite large and needs a tank larger than 75 gallons eventually.

It is so easy to buy a fish because it looks cool at the LFS but I recommend waiting on some of the more exotic things until your tank has been up and running with no fish deaths for a good 6 months for best results with the more sensitive species. Write down the fish you are interested in and do some research and it will really help avoid issues with mysterious death, aggression, outgrowing their tank and putting non compatible species together.

Best of luck to you.

 

[ShakyJay]

My levels are currently, Nitrate: 0ppm, Nitrite; .1ppm, Hardness; 75GH; Total Chlorine; 0ppm, Alkalinity 150ppm, PH 7.2. Amonnia 0ppm

This is what the tests have been for the past month. I currently do about a 20% water change everyweek, I started this about a month ago after the butterfly fish died.

So what is the next step, do I just continue along keep doing what I am doing? Or take a more aggressive direction, and if so what direction would that be.

 

[An t-iasg]

Sorry about the fish deaths. The bala shark will definitely outgrow the tank. I agree with happygirl - the fish may be small now but they will grow larger and require more room. Also as they mature they will seek out territories and become aggressive.

As long as your nitrite readings are above 0, you need to do some extra water changes. Match the temperature of the new water to the old water and remember to add the dechlorinator.

 

[happygirl65]

I agree with An t-iasg and do not add any more fish until your ammonia and nitrite are completely undetectable. Just keep doing your water changes.

 

[ShakyJay]

So once the nitrite level is down to zero, should it be more manageable? Or do I need to keep doing weekly/every three day water changes?

I am not worried about the fish outgrowing the tank, as my buddy has a 210g planted aquarium and he said that he wants to add some fish to it, he has already called dibs on the sharks once they outgrow my tank.

I currently use two five gallon water jugs to do the water changes, one I put the water from the tank into then dump out. The other one, I add tap water to and dechlorinator and let it sit until it comes up to room temp.

 

[happygirl65]

Once the nitrite drops to zero your nitrate will rise and your water changes will take care of that. Once you have 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite then you are considered "cycled" and you can back off the water changes to your regular schedule (once every two weeks or so)

 

[ShakyJay]

I also have a 5gal at work, i am at work 7 days a week, so I wanted something there as well, currently it has a couple of danio's??? in it, but it is nothing special, I have had it going for about 6months, and the people at work love to come in and check it out. I was thinking about changing it over to a brackish water and adding a dwarf puffer. Do you think that this would be an ok setup for him? Any suggestions as to special supplies that might be needed. I have never set up a brackish system, so kind of new to that.

 

[joy13]

A true dwarf puffer is actually freshwater Keeping the Dwarf Puffer: Caring for the Smallest Freshwater Puffer | Suite101.com There are several other puffers that are brackish. YouTube - My Dwarf Puffers