I cleaned my fish tank for the second time( I'm a rookie)and for som reason two fish died.What did I do wrong?

Question

I have five fish in this ten gallon aquarium tank. The water was looking cloudy so I cleaned the tank for the second time in a two week lapse and in the process of cleaning the tank, one (a female swordfish) died. Then, as I placed in the rest of the aquatic things ( two black big eyed goldfish, a guppy, a shark, and an aquarium frog) within minutes, my shark died. I asume the swordfish died of old age since I hadn't even TOUCHED the tank when it died but why did the other one die?!?! Now that I took all the fish out, they're all still. Now I did everything right. I put in declorinator in washed the rocks and stabalized everything so why is this happening???? PLEASE send answers ASAP becaus I don't want my fish to die! SOS. MAYDAY!!!

Answer 1

Did you change ALL the water? If you did, then that is why your fish died.

Changing all the water removes all the good bacteria that the fish need. So putting them in new water is like putting them in thin air.

You should only change 25% once a month.

Was the water heated? Sharks can be very sensitive to temperature. If the temperature drops below what they are use to (78-80ish usually) they can die at the drop of a hat. At the store I work at, when ever something goes wrong with our filtration and temperature they are the first to die.

Technically you should not have a goldfish, guppies, and sharks together. They are three different types of fish. Goldfish are cold blooded fish. Sharks are semiagressive tropical fish and guppies, the frog, the swordfish are community (non agressive) tropical fish. All but the goldfish need a heated tank at the temperature of around 78 degrees.

Answer 2

As a general rule you should have 1 inch of fish per gallon of water. This means that if a fish is going to grow to be 2 inches long, you should have no more than five in a 10 gallon tank. You can have more, but you have to clean the tank more often, have a better filtration system as well as an airation system and test the water regularly.

Be aware when you purchase a fish for your tank that even the water temperatures they do best in are different among different species.

Having a 10 gallon tank, you will have to change the water more often than you would if you had a bigger tank. You should change out 25 percent (two and a half gallons) of the water at least once a week. Put the water in clean gallon jugs for a couple of days so that the chlorine and any other chemicals can evaporate. When you're changing the water, you don't have to remove the fish from the tank. Add the new water gradually if the temperature isn't close to the tank water temp.

When you're starting out, your aquarium has to build up beneficial bacteria to break down the waste (poop) the fish produce. You can purchase different bacteria builders (or boosters) at your local pet store. Just ask an employee for help.

You should also check PH, Ammonia, and Temperature levels regularly. Your pet store should also sell test kits.

Keeping live plants in your aquarium will keep amonia levels down(as the waste that produces the ammonia is the plants' primary source of food) and boost the oxygen levels in the tank which is beneficial if you want to keep more than the recommended amount of fish in your tank. Remember that these also have specific requirements.

Good luck!

Answer 3

Too many fish of different species in a 10 gallon tank. Stress can kill fish, and exotic species such as sharks and swordfish are less adaptable to stressfull conditions. Why? because those animals are territorial.... and also, you have to make sure temperature is right, and these fish that you have now require different water settings and temperatures. Hopefully more fish will die because your second chance is always more successful.

I'm pretty experienced in caring for fish, and everything to what you feed them, to the water temperature, to what type of fish you put in there can cause disease and stress and wipe out an entire tank.

Only certain fish are compatible with eachother also. Do research, and please please please do not buy a fish from the pet store only because it looks cool. I can't believe you have ONE guppy (a SCHOOLING FISH), in the same tank with a shark(which ISN'T a very good community fish as is the swordfish)... Next time you set up a new tank, you CAN'T rush it. Get everything set up, condition the water, let the filter run for about 5 days with no fish in the water, decor is ok. Then after 5 days then you can get what we call starter fish. They break in your tank... guppies, gold fish, plecostamus, snails, shrimp, whatever the cheap things are.... and if they die, that can usually mean a good thing on the first round, because the life cycle of dying ads crucial bacteria to the water that a successful tank needs.

Buy small testing strips that test for chemicals, NEVER buy a fish you know nothing about (especially if you just think it looks cool), and NEVER NEVER, dump fish water from the pet store into your own tank. Empty as much as you can before adding your fish..... And oh yeah, acclimate your fish to your tank before dumping them in.... you do this by letting the fish and the bag they come in float on top of the water for a good 15 minutes, that way, the temperature of the water in the bag will slowly balance to the temp. of your tank.... if you don't do that your fish will recieve a tough shock if you just dump it in the water, causing it to die.

There is alot you have to know... but your tank is small, its a good idea not to buy fish that are capable of growing larger than your tank can hold. Surf the internet and good luck.

Answer 4

i had a fish tank for years,but in the end gave the fishes away because it was too much trouble.When changing the water never put water directly out of the tap into the tank.A few days before u are about to clean ur tank,fill water in a bucket and let it stagnate for a few days,then when ur cleaning ur tank use this water to fill the tank. Ur fish tank must have an oxygen pump.tank fishes always need a pump becuse the water in the tank does not have enough oxygen for them to survive. Also when u remove the fishes from the tank to clean it make sure ,u put the oxygen pump in the bucket in which fishes are kept .

fishes also suffer from diseases like fin rot.If u notice that a fish's fins are drooping or they appear torn it means they are ill.u can get abootle of anti fin rot medicine at the fish store .Just pour a capful into the tank and that should most of the time solve the problem.Do not change the water too often as that would be harmful for the fish but at the same time dont let water get too murky.clean he tank when the water just begins get cloudy
also while tranfering the fish from the tank to another container while cleaning the tank make sure u catch the fish gently because the fish tend to get ill if their handled roughly.
when i first got my tank some of my fishes died in the beginning due to this reason.
dont warry ull become apro with some practice.
GOOD LUCK

Answer 5

the second sentence of you message gives the answer. The tank is cloudy because it is too "clean". You probably emptied all the water out of your tank----this removed all the seasoned water you had built up. The tank is too cloudy due to it being too clean--always keep some of the "dirty" water to replace in the tank when you refill it. The "dirty" water is like a flu shot to us--it helps immunize the fish. In a new set up or a too clean tank you will more than likely have cloudy water -people make the mistake of cleaning it again due to the cloudiness--you can get some taablets to temporarily "clear it up---after a few weeks the tank will start to clear and everything will be fine unless you make the same mistake. I have set up hundreds of tanks in my ten years of having a pet store--icluding salt tanks and very seldom ever lost a fish. this sounds weird but that is the reason your tank is cloudy--the only thing you did wrong was make it too clean---just remember to keep about a third of the water to put back in your tank next time--good luck

Answer 6

You did not cycle your tank before you out the fish in. I did the samething. Your amoina is WAY to high and its killing the fish. STOP cleaning the tank out and let it run. Only feed your fish once a day and only 6 days until the tank clears out. Whn you do a tank cleaning (wait about 2 weeks before you do) you want to do it once a week and only aobut 25% of the water. Also if you can get real plants (1 or 2 is good you don't need lots) that will also help with the amonia.

Answer 7

Before you even consider cleaning the tank, you should put water into old empty but clean milk jugs and let them sit out in the open but with the cap on for several days to allow the water to get to at least room temperature.

When you go to clean the tank, put the fish in bags with water from the tank and seal them (the more water the better). Clean the tank and make sure to rinse it very carefully.

Fill the tank with the water in the jugs. Place the sealed bags with the fish in the clean tank (still sealed) and allow the bags to float around for about 1 hour (this allows the water in the bag to slowly match the temp of the fresh water and not cause the fish to go into shock)

Open the bags and allow the fish into the tank. Yes it does allow a little dirty water into the tank but its not that much

Hope this helps a little and good luck

Answer 8

You didnt find out enough info before you started your hobby, read a fish book, go onto a website, you need more knowledge, theres more things you need than experience, Please, I dont want to sound mean to you, its what i think.ANYWAY, let the water settle for a couple of days, and keep some old water somewhere like your bath to put back in, drastic water changes kills fish.Buy bigger fish, they are hardier. Dont put too mach dechlor in.Best of luck, theres a good question in section 1 of the trop fish section that asks why do people buy fish when they dont know how, have a look and browse the answers, you will learn loads.

Answer 9

Your local pet store should test your water for free...take them a sample. My guess is too much nasty from the gold fish. Also probably too many fish for a ten gallon tank. Gold fish are about the nastiest fish so I personally try not to mix them with other kids of fish for that reason. All though my Beta does OK with them.

Answer 10

You may have had too much difference in water temperature , or had too much clorine in the fresh water. Don't do a complete water change, just a 1/3 change every few weeks. A fresh tank will go cloudy for a few days, It just means the bacteria are stabelizing. don't do anything, unless your fish don't seem to be breathing well