I have a new tank and a fish died. Why?

Question

This is day 4 of my new tropical fish adventure. I put 5 fish in 2 days ago and I found one dead this evening. The water tests were ok. Maybe the nitrite level was a bit high but it was boarderline/ambiguous. I did a partial water exchange. I've followed all the instructions exactly. what could it be? I also noticed his tail was missing. Could he have been attacked by the other fish? (They are not nippy fish - all non aggressive) Or would the other fish have had a go after he died?

4 days. I put the fish in after 2. These were the instructions I was given byt he fish shop.

Please understand I have followed all the advise from the fish shop and booklets etc! I have done EVERYTHING that I should have!!

Answer 1

umm, the fact that its only your 4th day of a new tank set up and you already have nitrates... Your over feeding. You shouldnt have ammonia this soon, not enough to show up on a test as borderline and make you do a waterchange. Feed once a day, just a pinch. The fish food lable tells you to feed several times/day because they want you to run out of fish food so you buy more.. I feed my tanks once every other day. Tempature should be around 76-78 degrees. PH at 7.0 for most community fish. You don't need to run a tank for days or weeks before you put fish in it. Thats for establishing nitrofying baterica and it actually needs fish in the tank for it to happen, as it lives off waste. If your adding tap water, do you remove chlorine? Is it well water, that can be hard and raise your ph even after you adjust it? Did you aclimate the fish slow, floating the bags in your tank for 15 minutes before you opened them to adjust the tempature so it wasnt a shock?.. Theres lots of reason fish die.. it may not be your tank at all. Good luck

Answer 2

Losing the first fish is always the hardest.

It may have been that you didn't give the aquarium enough time to develop its own microscopic eco system (you should wait for around a month before putting fish in a new tank).

Also, you'll get used to a few fish dying quickly. It could be shock, it could be picked on, it could have already been sick when you bought it. Many reasons. But taking into consideration that you still have the other fish surviving - it's likely that you just bought a sick one.

The tail will be missing as it's the first thing that gets nibbled at when a fish dies.

Keep up with the hobby. It's a great chill out - and better than watching a computer screen full of lame answers like this one! lol

Answer 3

Well, generally it's reccommended that you leave a fish tank to set up for at LEAST a week before you put the fish in, to let everything settle down, so maybe that's the problem. Maybe he's had some disease that you just didn't notice. And the other fish will nibble the tail normally when it's alive, but usually when it's dead they leave it alone. Plus, it should just e little bits missing - not the whole tail! Sounds like your fish had some wierd disease. Chack the others, and if any of them look different (from the other fish, or from how they should look) quarrantine them in a seperate tank, or in a small tank inside the large one. Good luck!

Answer 4

The fish could have been infected before you put them in the tank. Fin nibbling can occur even with non-aggressive fish. The best way is to get the water and plant system established before adding fish. Get the water temperature right for the fish you are keeping and select fish that thrive in similar environments. Make Small hiding places for shyer fish....There is a gel solution you can add to the water which removes chlorine and protects the fishes natural coating. When cleaning filters...plants or any other tank accessories use tank water or cold running tap water so as to not kill off the tanks natural good bacteria system. Any good Aquarium worth its reputation will advise and also do water tests for you. Inter-pet make a good basic range of books for Beginners fish keeping.

Answer 5

i just started a new fresh water tank as well.
Before you go and buy expensive fish to put in this tank, make sure the place ur buying them from has a fish warrenty! We've purchased 8 tetras and have had 4 die. Most fish just get verryy stressed. But i would check and make sure the fish you have put together are compatable. I doubt your fish was attacked since fish don't eat the fins. It might be fin rot.
Do a background check on your other fish and make sure they're not aggresive.
-- Also your tank might not be established yet. You need alge to filter in and start growing, and your water to filter for about a week before you add fish. This might be the problem. Go to your local pet store and find fresh water salt. It brings down the nitrate level and encourages natural alge growth.
I hope this helps.

Answer 6

There might desire to be chlorine interior the water once you replaced it. additionally, what did you clean the aquarium tank with? in case you in basic terms agitated the sand, then sucked the waste out with the aid of the tube and replenished 0.5 the water, then extra water conditioner you're able to desire to be suitable. I even tend to maintain a bucket of water it is left status overnite so extremely some the chlorine evaporates. additionally, if the water used to fill up the acquarium has been status at room temperature, then much less threat of temperature fluctuation once you upload back to the tank. on no account empty/clean out the water thoroughly. I used to do this when I did no longer have plenty journey whilst i became a toddler, yet i did no longer lose any fish from that. This became in Asia whilst the water temperatures do no longer selection too plenty, yet in a temperate united states, if the water is from the faucet, it would desire to be plenty less warm and the fish is way less tolerant. it is extra reported if the fish are tropicals as against gold fish that are chilly water fish. besides, you on no account clean a tank making use of cleansing soap and water except some thing poor has got here approximately such because of the fact the tank being poisonous via lifeless fish rotting there and then the drastic degree is to take out each and every thing, and wash with heat water and upload chemical compounds to kill off the germs, then wash the sand and pour it back. it would nevertheless be extra helpful to bypass away the water status for 2 days to settle in the past the fish bypass back.

Answer 7

If you just put the fish in the tank, it could have died because of stress of being moved from its old tank.

Try keeping the fish in the baggie it came in. Put the whole baggie with the fish in it in the new tank for a few hours to let the fish gradually adjust to the new temperature before you release him to the new tank.

Always start with cheap fish until you get the knack of it. Also, check with the store where you got the fish and tell them what happened. They might have some ideas about that particular type of fish. Also, they may feel sorry for you and give you a replacement, or sell you a new one at a reduced price to keep you as a future customer if it wasn't a very expensive one.

Answer 8

You should allow a new aquarium to settle and run for a few weeks before you put fish in.

Also, you should put one species in at a time and give each of them a week or so to settle down before introducing the next.

You haven't said what fish you have. I had Neon Tetras and Guppies together along with some Mollies and tiger barbs.

The guppies dies (tail bites). Never suspected the neons as they seem so placid (thought it was the mollies as they act quite aggressively), but later found out that it was probably the neons.

Answer 9

Could be you have "New tank syndrome". If you haven't, then you soon will. I assume you have a power filter?, any type as long as it is not one of the old air powered ones.Before adding any fish to a new tank, it is essential to allow the tank & filter to mature. this will take up to 4 weeks. This allows the gradual build up of essential friendly bacteria in the filter medium. The bacteria convert the fish's waste products, Ammonia, into Nitrite & then the less toxic Nitrate. Just a small amount of the Ammonia or Nitrite will kill fish. Adding a bacteria culture (from your fish shop) will speed up maturation.

Answer 10

Once a fishy wishy is dead, the other little finsters chomp the crap out of it.
Did you run your tank for a few days before lobbing in the new fishy wishys?
Did you buy a fishy with a full medical GUARANTEED to live beyond a certain amount of time?
Some of em simply die.
Take your time populating the tank. If you rely on the water tests for the state of the tank then it has to be the fish that was 'faulty'.
Also don't forget as you don't have many fish in the tank, DONT OVERFEED EM! That can do a load of damage and alter the chemical balance of the water as well!