Baby fish Deaths?

Question

I have a five gallon tank that holds about 70+ baby fish (it is big enough)

I have:

1 Platty
35 Neon swordtails
22 Guppies
13 Red eye swordtails

The tank also holds:
1 small heater (which has been going at a steady temperature of 24 degrees celsius)
1 small filter with carbon and sponge
1 Real plant

In the last 24 hours around half of the fish have died.

I cleaned out the tank, got rid of the real plant and cleaned the filter and heater, and gave the tank fresh, clean water.

A few more of the fish have died since.

What do you think it could be?
Is there anyway of preventing this?

Answer 1

You did more damage by cleaning the tank and adding new water, that is what is killing your fish. When starting a new tank the first thing you are supposed to do is cycle the tank. Think about what you did by cleanig everything out. You killed all the good bacteria in which kills the bad bacteria. A new fish tank must have time to create the good bacteria as it is was kills the fishes bowel movements and leftover food hanging around on the bottom. You should be cleaning your tank weekly by using a suction hose and only "sweeping" up half of the rocks and allowing for the other half to contain the good and bad bacteria. You will put your tank into a shock by cleaning to much, more or less you will be starting over your cycling of the tank. Research further on the cycling your tank as an uncycled tank just stresses and kill fish. Below I will copy & paste about cycling your tank. I found this info on the internet just by searching for fish tank cycling. Good Luck & God Bless!

Cycling is preparing a tank for fish to live in, people new to the hobby will often dive head first into overstocking their new tank and then wonder why fish start dying off after a week or so.
Basicly a fish gives off Ammonia (NH3,NH4)from fecal matter which is broken down by nitrifying bacteria into Nitrite (NO2) which in turn is broken down to Nitrate(NO3).
Ammonia and Nitrite can be harmfull and more often enough lethal to fish at any level and in a fully cycled tank both should read 0. Nitrate is not as lethal and "some" fish can live in high levels but its best to keep it under 20ppm(parts per million) once the tank is fully cycled.
Once the tank is fully cycled the nitrates can be kept to a safe level with regular weekly water changes.

This website will give you details regarding how to cycle your tank. http://www.worldcichlids.com/faqs/cycling.html

Answer 2

Your tank is NOT big enough!
The fact that your fish are dying should indicate that you have way, way to many fish in there. Even if they are all babies, a 5 gallon is only big enough to hold 30 newborn/newly hatched fry - and only for a week or two.

Even if you go by the one inch per gallon rule (which is bogus anyway) you have way way way too many fish. And consider that the heater, the filter, the plants, the gravel if you have some, is all taking up more space. You probably actually only have 4 swimmable gallons. BUT fry need to feel secure, they NEED plants and cover to hide in.

You could stand to increase the temperature to 26C but the big problem right now is SERIOUS overcrowing.

The way to prevent it is to get a bigger tank, get several bigger tanks with heaters and filters, and use dechlorinator, and clean the water (20-50%) every few days.

Fry are even more sensitive than adults fish. You can NOT treat them this way and expect them to survive, let alone thrive.

Answer 3

Are you feeding them properly? Have you tested the water to check the ammonia levels and pH? You say you have them in a 5 gallon and its big enough... are you sure? The water should be changed on a regular basis, but I wouldn't go doing any drastic changes right now since the fry are sensitive. Leaving the plant(s) for them to hide in would prob be a good idea so they feel safe and secure.
Baby fish are pretty hard to care for as it is, and you are always going to lose some. I lost all of the first 2 or 3 broods that my fish had. After that I'd kind of figured out what kind of feeding schedule I needed and things went much better.

Answer 4

Have you checked you Ph. O2, ammonia, nitrite,nitrate levels sounds like you they sky rocketed. they way of preventing this if that is what happened is testing once every 3 days the live plant had nothing to do with this. Ya know a 10 gallon is better than a 5 The thing is it is WAY overcrowded.1 fish per inch of aquarium if larger fish more. 1 fish per gallon if it is a smaller tank if more that that it is overcrowded,but I will not harrass you to much about that. Have you dealt with baby fish before?

Answer 5

Sorry to tell you but you have pretty much everything wrong. I would sugest you do a bit of research before you keep fish. Tank too small for that many fish, never put them in fresh water, never clean tank out completly, never wash filter under tap. Give the fish to someone who has a mature tank and start again but please research first. Your fish are not dying, Your killing them. Good luck in the future.

Answer 6

i just started keeping fresh water fish myself so im not an expert.
u may need an air pump blowing bubbles through the water to oxygenate it.if the fish stay at the surface they're starved of oxygen. if their tropical fish the water should be 2 or 3 degrees warmer. and u need to have the tank + carbon filter set up for a few weeks for the carbon to be activated, before u put in the fish or they may all die. good luck

Answer 7

I think your tank is overcrowded. You seem to have started fresh by cleaning everything out. Unfortunately, you just destroyed the ecosystem in the tank. Get a bigger tank. Save the small tank for the baby fish.

I used to use some of the small fry to feed my larger fish.

I don't think there is a way for you to prevent something like this. I do think overcrowding is an issue here. Remember, they get their oxygen from the water.

Answer 8

many people have already said a lot about your fish dying

well

to begin with

bigger the tank, better ti is. you have way too many fish in the tank. 5 gal is to small for 70 fish. and when u change water , change only about 1/3rd of it. do not change the entire stuff right away. that kills the useful bacteria in the tank. to add bacteria u could get those chemicals, and enzymes from the petshop, or goto walmart. u do not necessarily need an airpump. what i would do is just stick in foam, or spong pieces in the tank. it helps bacteria to grow.

dont feed ur fish for a cpl days. believe me hteres lot in the water for them to eat.

best of all get a bigger tank, for so many babies, or feed these babies to the other fish tha tu have, coz neways they r going to die

Answer 9

Your fish are not getting enough oxegen.Have you got a water pump.You need to get oxegen into the water quick.Prevention do not put any more fish in tank its too small.Been keeping tropical fish for 10 years & still learning.Also set heater to 25

Answer 10

The Tank Is Too Small