Hello, I have a 5 gallon tank for about 3 months. When I add new fish (correctly) they die next day.?

Question

2 tetras (one of the tetras died 2 weeks ago)(male)
2 golden gurami (male)
bio wheel
heater
water conditions checked regulary
I tried to add a guppy, another tetra several times but the all die next day the day before they seem fine they eat, well adopted.
Thank you.

Answer 1

Are you sure you aren't getting an ammonia spike after you add your fish? Two golden gourami's are too many fish on their own for a 5 gallon, without the tetras. I'm surprised the gouramis haven't gotten territorial and one isn't beating the other one up. If your ammonia still reads zero after you add new fish, buy a new ammonia tester, because in an aquarium that small there is no way it doesn't affect the ammonia to add a new fish, no matter how good your filtration is. Your other option is that the gouramis are killing every new fish you put in because they have claimed the whole 5 gallons as their territory. This would also be because they are being kept in such a small aquarium. For the mix of fish you want, I'd get a 20 gallon aquarium. With a 20, you could have the two gourami, and a school of 6 tetras. With your five gallon, you could keep a betta, or a dwarf gourami, or some colorful shrimp and plants.
Ammonia should be at zero, Nitrites should be at zero, Nitrate should be under 20ppm.

Answer 2

Can't answere this very well without more info.
Do you use something to remove both the chlorine and chlomine? How often do you do water changes (about 20% one a week is good)
Is your tank cycled... if you don't know what that means, google "Nitrogen Cycle"
What is your heat on? should be between 76-80F
A golden guorami is much to large for a 5 gallon tank. Stick with a few guppies and maybe some ottos.
Buy your fish from a repuitable place. Big chain stores that don't specialize in ONLY fish, usualy don't have very healthy fish, and many will die at no fault of your own, worse, they may bring diseases back to your tank.
Good luck!

Answer 3

Being only a 5 gallon tank water conditions can change extremely rapidly in hours.
You could try adding some nitrogen and ammonia fixing bacteria in something like cycle (but be aware after about 6 weeks you will get an ammonia spike due to it being an ammonia based product, bio balls come in handy to counter this or water changes)

Golden gourami's are...to say the least strange fish, i would suggest starting off with 2-4 small tetras and then waiting at least two weeks while adding some sort of bacterial supplement. During these two weeks i would barely feed them, only extremely small amounts and i would add the bacterial supplement in a dose every day.
Leave the mid-large fish for later, just tetras for now!
You might also try buying your fish from another pet shop, who knows what diseases they may have.

Answer 4

For starters, you can't put 2 gold gouramis in a 5 gallon tank. Gold gouramis get 4+ inches, and males can be aggressive.
If you put in tetras, put in more than 2 (get 5 or 6). And if you have tetras, you can't have any other fish. 5 gallons is NOT very much, remember the 1 inch of fish per gallon rule.
Your other choice would be to get one male betta and 2 or 3 african dward frogs: http://www.petplace.com/reptiles/choosing-an-african-dwarf-frog/page1.aspx

Anyway, did you properly cycle your tank? In the wild, and in established tanks, there are bacterial colonies that break down the ammonia in the fishes' waste into nitrites and then into nitrates. In a new tank, these bacteria don't exist. If you just put fish straight into the water, the ammonia will just build up and burn/kill your fish until enough bacteria develop (2-4 weeks). Does your fish store sell bio-spira? Try to find some, it puts that bacteria straight into your tank. Don't use CYCLE, or any other product like that, it doesn't work. Another way to put the bacteria in is to get some gunk from someone else's filter. That gunk is full of those bacteria, and it will speed up the cycle. Or you can get some gravel rocks from someone else's tank, that will work too.

Also, maybe try another source for your fish. Try to get them from a breeder, or from other hobbiests in your area (try http://www.fishforums.com - you could ask and see if there is a fish club in your area).

Answer 5

1) Cycle with one fish only, or a few if they are small schoolers. 2) One rule of cycling with fish: keep ammonia and nitrite under 1ppm (no matter what) with water changes. Anything over 1ppm is considered lethal. 3) Test daily using an API liquid test kit. 4) Use Prime water conditioner. It detoxifies ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in low levels. You can dose up to 5x for higher levels of toxins. 5) Make sure any new water added to the tank is temp and pH matched (get a pH test kit as well). 6) Once cycled (0 ammonia/nitrite, any level of nitrate), wait one week to add a fish (or a few small ones). Add fish in one week increments to keep the cycle stable. The ONLY fish that can be in a 5 gallon tank is one betta. Either upgrade and cycle, or just get a betta.

Answer 6

i had the same problem but my fish lasted a week. but i would say once they (if u have fish in there now) die. clean the tank very good with soap and water(i did that and now i had my Betta for a month now :) ) then buy new rock and clean that really good with hot water till the water that its rinsing in is clear(leave it under the fustiest). i also use a fish bowl buddies. its tablet that takets the corline out of the water.

but maybe the fish ur getting had some kind of ick. the frist on had and u didnt know about it so it stayed in the rock and went to all of the other fish (my mom thinks that is what happen to me) but i hope u have better luck in the future.

Answer 7

I've had that problem before. Sometimes you gotta check the water everyday to make sure the PH and everything else to make sure it is perfect. If it isn't... the poor little guys pretty much sufficate or die cause of the water. Do you have a filter and a bubble system? No matter what fish I have I always put in a filter and a bubble wall. Maybe you should replace the water if nothing else works.

Answer 8

firstly you have too many fish for a 5 gallon 2 gold gouramis is too much for a 5 gallon not to mention anything else. I would say the carrying capacity is saturated and you just have too many fish. this probably has induced illness in the tank and the new fish are more suceptable to it due to the stress of being moved.

Answer 9

No clue. I was the type that would always kill off fish, no matter what I did. Then I got my last goldfish, he could be thrown into any water and not feed for weeks and the little guy would live. But I have him and his tank mate, another golfish, in a 10 gallon tank. Which has a filter and it gets water added when it gets low, it also has an alge out added, water conditioner and a clear water solution- to make the water clear again. They get fed 3 times a day, had the one for 2 years and the other for 6 months and they are doing great....I would talk to your petstore where you are getting the fish and see what they have to tell you and I would get some goldfish, they seem harder to kill off...Good luck.

Answer 10

You may not have enough bacteria in your water, I know it sounds crazy but the bacteria in the water actually help the fish somhow. The people at PetCo say to let the tank sit for 24-72 hours before you put fish in it too help it grow bacteria with the pumps on.

Also your water may be to hot, even if you have tropical fish, many of them are grown in stores and not in their natural habitats so they are not used to the heat, try turning off the heater, the heater may also be killing your fish

It sounds like you have already invested alot of money into your fish. Good Luck.