Fish dying

Hello over the last four weeks or so ive seen a steady stream of my fish dying. I cant see any thing visibly wrong with them other than they seem to go thin, goto bottom as if they got no energy then try move about a bit then eventually die.

Ive done at least 2no 50% water changes and 3/4no 20-30% water changes.

Ive treated them with antibacterial stuff i had but this seemed to make more die.

All the parameters seem fine although the ph is usually around 7.6.

The types of fish ive lost vary from a rasbora, molly, 2 neons, a couple of BNs, 3 swordtails and probs a couple more.

Im at me wits end with it, ive spoke to a few people and theyve just said do water changes. Can anyone else help PLEASE

Have you got air going into tank

this week i've lost my male apistogramma, 1 honey gourami, and my female melanochromis auratus and theres not a thing on them. I've heard of a lot of people losing fish recently with no reason at all it's been suggested that the water board has put something in the water but surely if using hma and ro water it would take most the nasties out. Theres something going on thats for sure.

Timmy like i told you before i think the problem was the filter you had wasnt strong enough to handle the bioload meaning theres not enough good beneficial bacteria causing amonia and nitire spike intoxicating your fish. adding anti bacterial meds will only make this worse as it will kill the beneficial bacteria. now you have your new filter and it has had time to cycle, this will no longer be a problem. whether there is after effects such as parasites caused by stress i don't know.

DON'T ADD MEDS UNLESS YOUR SURE OF THE PROBLEM!

Chris i got both filters running atm int and ext filters. That u4 is bigger than what i needed as far as int filters go according to manufactures instructions. I dont think it can be filters now.

Yer i got an air stone/tube in there and theres also air created off the int filter.

its either water board and what they put in or only other is nitrite spike

Forgive my ignorance Marty but what is a Nitrite spike and how long does it last.

Is this something which is likely to of come in with some fish ive bought?

timmy u say they are going thin are they eating before they just sit on the bottom if so try to worm them with kusuri discus wormer

Hi Timmy you say the water parameters are okay what are the figures, if you give us the nitrite,nitrate and Ammonia it may point us in the right direction.

Mick

A nitrite spike is caused by one "type" of bacteria breaking down ammonia (fish waste) into Nitrite and there is not enough of a different "type" of bacteria to break down the Nitrite to Nitrate.
It takes time to build up colonies of bacteria, hence the advice, add fish to your new set up slowly.
Both Ammonia and Nitrite are poisonous to fish new filters always start with an Ammonia spike followed by a Nitrite spike, that is why it is important to keep using your test kits at this time. Testing for Ammonia is not good enough as no ammonia dos not mean no Nitrite
Nitrite is more toxic than ammonia.
hope this explanation helps

It is VERY difficult to lower high Nitrite levels with water changes the only way is to do a 50% water change daily for at least a week! Check your readings every day.
Finally when you add anti bacteria treatment to you tank to treat fish you also kill the filter.

Tim, didn't you get an Aps 2000ef filter? That should easily handle your tank mate (maybe I heard wrong) its what I have on my 5 footer and it easy handles my overstocking on Malawis

timmy74 wrote:Chris i got both filters running atm int and ext filters.

I know you have 2 filters running mate but sometimes takes weeks to cycle yours has only been up and running 2 weeks and id you added anti bacterial; stuff may have killed the bacteria to start again. starting a whole new cycle.

Whats them tablets called you can get to add when 1st setting a tank off?

The filter is not only there to keep your water clean but also to harbour beneficial bacteria that break down the nasty chemicals given off by rotting food and fish waste, this bacteria takes time to grow and grows in stages...the first stage of bacteria break down the harmful AMMONIA into NITRITE, this 2 is harmful for your fish, the second stage breaks down the NITRITE into NITRATE, this isnt harmful in small ammounts and is used by plants in your aquarium. Once the filters are cycled and the beneficial bacteria has grown to a large enough ammount to cope with your bioload everything should settle down and you should only need to do a part water change maybe once a week just to keep NITRATE levels safe....

Yes you are still using your old filter but as you used medicine to kill bacteria it is most likely that u wiped out all the good bacteria in the filter too and so started the cycle all over again and this could take a few weeks to regrow and so my suggestion would be large water changes and regular testingto make sure ammonia and nitrite levels remain as low as possible while your bacteria is growing

hope this helps

timmy74 wrote:Whats them tablets called you can get to add when 1st setting a tank off?

your talking about filter start stuff? tbh it sounds like your just wanting to throw something in and hope everything is ok lol keeping water isnt always that easy mate, first id go out and buy a test kit to make sure nitrite is the problem if so do 50% water change every day a test the water daily untill the water is good.

we are water keepers before fish keepers

if you dont have a test kit or want to spend £20-£30 on one...let me know m8...i will happily pop thru and do some water tests for you ?...if you still have my number drop me a txt !...also..when setting up a new tank i always use viresco aquarium....its a natural enzyme that zeros nitrates...it works over night too...ive had good results with it and its not a chemical....you can read up here....http://www.viresco-uk.com/information/aquatic_products.asp

think u mean that aquarium "pure " timmy

feel like im going round in circles here and getting no where.

been to fints and hes tested waters with me

nitrite 0
ph 7.6
nitrate - trace
ammonia 0

the fish just seem to get weary and you can tell as they find it hard to swim against the filter. they tend to goto the bottom and then just eventually end up dead with no signs of anything on them

tonight i noticed my biggest x ray tetra brushing itself off a piece of bogwood but none of the fish seem to have anything on them

my first internal filter been running at least 4 months in there so i would assume the tank is mature, i added the exterior filter about 2-3 weeks ago but the internal filter is already in the tank inc the media.

ive spoke to someone tonight who lives about 3 miles away and he says hes lost some fish lately and it could possibly be something to do with water board putting something in the water. he also recommended putting some form of good bacterial tablet in to enhance the new filter.

ive also thought about putting a general tonic in there to see if that helps..

hope this sheds some more light onto the situation.

Is the filter too powerful? Are the fish just stressed constantly swimming against the current? Its a possibility you should check out. Only riverine species enjoy/like a current, lots of tropical species come from still or slow moving waters.

The current is just off the internal filter Ned. My intentions are to remove this once ext filters established.

you could try turning the flow down on the internal filter i know u can on most models mate

The flow has nothing to do with it, mine had a constant flow going an I've never lost a fish since I set it up

Hi everyone ive added some kusuri fish wormer tonight hoping this sorts the problem out. If not ive also got some Myaxin too to try.

Hi everyone, i think theres a problem with our water supply im not sure if this is the problem or something which has contributed to it.

Is there anything i can add to me tanks in exchange for doing water changes?