Why are they dying!!?

[BenjiLew]

I manage a 60 gal freshwater tropical tank for my elderly mother who doesn't know how to care for them or can't remember when or what to do.

I visit her a few times a week to check on it and do maintenance.

The last thing I did was replace her weak internal filter with a more powerful external filter because the water was cloudy.

Her fish were happy and active at the time.

Now two days later 5 fish have died with no apparent cause.

The water temp is fine and it is no longer cloudy.

I am worried about the water quality.

It's the only reason I can think of as to why the sudden mass deaths.

The other fish are not acting normally either.

Kinda lethargic and slow.

Could the new filter have drastically affected the water pH?
Or what could have happened?

What do I do?

I am currently trying to find a PH kit at a local pet store.

Please help everyone!

My mom won't stop crying over the loss of her two favorite fish the fire eel and Akra.

Other than that 2 leopard cats have died and a zebra cichlid.

 

[salembetta]

I'm so sorry to hear about what's happening!

Until you get the water tester kit, I'd do several water changes and see if that might help.

Are the fish gills red at all?

 

[BenjiLew]

I'm so sorry to hear about what's happening!

Until you get the water tester kit, I'd do several water changes and see if that might help.

Are the fish gills red at all?

No. Just lethargic

 

[salembetta]

No. Just lethargic

Hm, I'd still do ~25% water changes everyday, monitoring the fish for a change in behavior.

Be sure to let us know what your readings are once/if you get the kit

 

[crystalbettas]

definitely try one of those 6 in 1 tests to check for ph, nitrates, nitrites, hardness, chlorine, and alkalinity. it's pretty all inclusive. did you make sure to scrub the filter well? with no soap or other chemicals that will leave residue?

 

[coralbandit]

It sounds like you removed the bio media from the tank when you change the filter?
Did you transfer any media from old filter to new?
Is it too late to do so? For real, if you have the old stuff and you didn't clean it completely the tank will like it back..
Otherwise you are on water change duty..Anything less then 50% will only remove less then half the crap you need gone..

 

[crystalbettas]

one other thing, are you using a gravel vacuum? it's basically just a siphon for aquariums. it cleans the gravel and sucks up all of the stuff at the bottom. it's a life saver. id also try bacteria supplements if the nitrates or ammonia are high.

 

[Fresh2o]

definitely try one of those 6 in 1 tests to check for ph, nitrates, nitrites, hardness, chlorine, and alkalinity. it's pretty all inclusive. did you make sure to scrub the filter well? with no soap or other chemicals that will leave residue?

Those strips do not test for ammonia, which is probably elevated if the media from the older filter was not transferred to the new one.
OP says the old internal filter was swapped for a new external filter.

 

[Evan]

Is your ammonia to high?

 

[BenjiLew]

It sounds like you removed the bio media from the tank when you change the filter?
Did you transfer any media from old filter to new?
Is it too late to do so? For real, if you have the old stuff and you didn't clean it completely the tank will like it back..
Otherwise you are on water change duty..Anything less then 50% will only remove less then half the crap you need gone..

I spoke to the people at the pet store and I got several pieces of advice.

First one guy said to put about 250 grams of rock salt in the water.
He said he has a tank like mine and does it every week or so. He thinks it sterilizes the water for the fish.

Second guy said that he thinks the new filter cleaned out all the bio in the water.
Said to add more bio over the next week.

Last was a lady who said that she thinks the ammonia levels where too high.
The fish then went into shock.

I got some stuff for balancing ammonia levels and nitrates in the water and additional bio and stress liquids, also got rock salt.

Total death count is:

All the catfish:
2 leopard cats
1 upsidedown cat

1 large Akra
1 fire eel
1 zebra cichlid
1 tiger barb

Total still alive:

1 snowflake moray
2 peacock cichlids
1 zebra cichlid
1 blood parrot cichlid
1 Bolivian ram
2 bluegray mubna
1 leopard pleco
1 bearded pleco
4 tiger barbs

I got rid of the Oscar because he was an [mod edit] inappropriate specimen for this tank.

 

[BenjiLew]

I spoke to the people at the pet store and I got several pieces of advice.

First one guy said to put about 250 grams of rock salt in the water.
He said he has a tank like mine and does it every week or so. He thinks it sterilizes the water for the fish.

Second guy said that he thinks the new filter cleaned out all the bio in the water.
Said to add more bio over the next week.

Last was a lady who said that she thinks the ammonia levels where too high.
The fish then went into shock.

I got some stuff for balancing ammonia levels and nitrates in the water and additional bio and stress liquids, also got rock salt.

Total death count is:

All the catfish:
2 leopard cats
1 upsidedown cat

1 large Akra
1 fire eel
1 zebra cichlid
1 tiger barb

Total still alive:

1 snowflake moray
2 peacock cichlids
1 zebra cichlid
1 blood parrot cichlid
1 Bolivian ram
2 bluegray mubna
1 leopard pleco
1 bearded pleco
4 tiger barbs

I got rid of the Oscar because he was an *******.

Btw. Also added prime and stability.

 

[salembetta]

Let us know if your tank improves!

 

[BenjiLew]

Let us know if your tank improves!

Will do. Don't know when I will post though. I am an American that lives in Israel so timezones..

Also makes it hard to find what I am used to in the US

 

[crystalbettas]

Will do. Don't know when I will post though. I am an American that lives in Israel so timezones..

Also makes it hard to find what I am used to in the US

prime is definitely a good product, i've used it on several occasions with my goldfish. i honestly don't think switching out the filter should've caused that much damage if you didn't completely clean the tank at the same time. a lot of bacteria lives in the filter, but a lot also lives in the tank. you should never change it all at once, but if you leave one of them alone it should be fine. so honestly i can't be sure why the fish are dying. i hope things get better though!

 

[UntimelyLord]

It sounds like you unknowingly re-cycled your tank, or at least created a mini-cycle. By this I mean that the nitrogen cycle in your tank has been disrupted. I strongly suggest reading up on the nitrogen cycle. Here are a few links https://www.theaquariumwiki.com/The_Nitrogen_Cycle
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/showthread.php?t=116287

You should definitely get a test kit for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. This will help you and us know what the exact problem is.

 

[Toad]

I wouldn't add rock salt, it's not going to solve the problem. It really does sound like you crashed that tank :/ I'd say keep up with water changes till you get everything built up.

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