My fish are dying!

[Mjntrainer]

I have a 70 gallon tank started 5 weeks ago. It has a 100 gallon filter, live plants, airstones, and at the moment has 3 fancy guppies, 2 dalmation mollies (a male and a female who seem very sick), 5 platys, 3 glass catfish, 1 cory catfish, 5 neon tetras, 5 glofish, and 4 glass tetras. The glofish were first, then the guppies, then the platys, then the mollies, then the cory, then the glass fish. About 2 weeks ago, the fish started dying. The guppies were being attacked by the mollies, and their fins would be shredded, and I would find a dead guppy who never acted sick. 3 guppies have died like this. Then one platy died- the same day I got him. Didn't seem sick, floated him for a while, and the others who came with him are still fine (except one with a chunk missing from her tail). Today I found another dead guppy and a dead female molly. My remaining male and female mollies are staying close to the bottom together in the same spot, barely swimming, and they are usually very active. The rest of the fish seem fine. I have been observing closely, and no one has any white spots, or red gills, no flashing, and no strange swimming patterns (exceot the sick mollies). We do a 15-20% water change and vacuum weekly. I have been testing daily since the first fish died, and the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate have been 0 until this morning when nthe ammonia is still 0, but the nitrate and nitrite are very high. I have been treating with Melafin for the last 3 days just in case there is fin rot (though I highly suspect it is just aggressive behavior.) I use a bacteria supplement weekly, and EasyBalance weekly. I use water conditioner with the addition of new fish, and only add 3 at a time. The sick fish do not have cloudy eyes, or anything else visibly wrong. What can I do?

 

[Mjntrainer]

Also, the pH this morning was 7.0 and the temp always stays 78-80 F.

 

[eco23]

Did you cycle the tank? I wouldn't rely on any bacterial additives because they are normally a waste of money and can also potentially develop an unstable bio-filter.

If the nitrItes are above .25, you need to get them down by doing water changes ASAP. If the tank wasn't cycled you're most likely in the nitrIte spike phase which can be extremely deadly...and if the ammonia hadn't been kept in check in the early stages, they are probably suffering the effects of that as well

Here's a guide to check out. The key is going to be water changes, and Seachem Prime as your dechlorinator as well as aquarium salt during this phase of the cycle can be of some help as well-
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/artic...g-but-I-already-have-fish-What-now/Page2.html

 

[Mjntrainer]

The ammonia has never been high... I keep a monitor inside the tank, and test often with strips. And we did cycle the tank for 2 weeks before any fish were added. But thank you for your links, I will definitely check them out, and water changes are already in progress.

 

[HUKIT]

Amazon.com: Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Aquarian Freshwater Master Test Kit: Kitchen & Dining

This will be a invaluable tool in your fishkeeping journey, much more accurate than strips.

 

[eco23]

The ammonia has never been high... I keep a monitor inside the tank, and test often with strips. And we did cycle the tank for 2 weeks before any fish were added. But thank you for your links, I will definitely check them out, and water changes are already in progress.

By cycling, do you mean letting it run empty for the 2 weeks? Unfortunately, that's the pet store version of "cycling", but does nothing to establish the beneficial bacterial colonies which stabilize a tank and actually consider it cycled. there has to be an ammonia source in the tank for the actual process to begin.

If you're using strips, you might as well guess what the levels are in most cases. It's definitely worth investing in a quality test kit like an API master kit. They'll give you reliable results and be able to track where you are in the process.

Regardless, water changes are in your forseeable future to be maintain the ammo and no2 level at or below .25 until you get the chance to get a good test kit.

 

[Mjntrainer]

not empty... there was ammonia, live plants, rocks, and bacteria supplements. but I will invest in a better testing kit.