Fish questions: Why does my fish die? It's only been 1 month!?

Question

My fish are less than 1 month old, and my fish die already! I have 11 fish: 2 balloon mollys, 3 tiger barbs, 1 green tiger barb, 1 sucker fish, 1 bala shark, and 2 fish that i don't know. I have 2 fake plants, 1 real plant, and one big rock with holes in it. My tank can hold 10 gallons of water. Does anyone know why they are dying?

Answer 1

Well, first of all, that is not a great combination of fish, and secondly, your tank is overstocked. Since it has only been a month, I am going to assume this tank is a new tank. The tank has to go through a cycle where it builds up beneficial bacteria. It will go through a stage where it is very high in ammonia, then it will be very high in nitrites, and then it will be very high in nitrates, and then it will level off and the nitrates should be no higher than 20, and there should be no readable level of ammonia or nitrites. All of these things are toxic to fish, so each of these spikes is in effect, poisoning your fish.

Here is how to cycle a fish tank properly...
http://www.worldcichlids.com/faqs/cycling.html

Answer 2

Have you checked the water? If not you need to get a test kit or test strips. There are many byproducts of fish waste that will foul their water. Generally these are handeled in three ways, regular water changes and filtration, and establishment of a bio bed.

Water Change - use a fish tank syphon to clean debres from the gravel and remove 10% to `15% of the water. Discard the removed water (great for plants) and replace with dechlorinated water at approximately tank temperature.

Filtration - use of a power filter on the back of the tank will help maintain the fishes' health. Be sure to change the cartridges as recommended by the filter manufacturer. These cartridges contain activated carbon and various levels of filtration material. Many of the new ones also establish a bio bed, as will be described in the next section.

Biobed - A colony of bacteria that break down fish wastes. Generally they extablish in the sand at the bottom of the tank. Most tanks have a grid and 2 lifters on a plastic insert. This device is designed to provide an optimum enviornment for the bacteria. You can buy dried bacteria at the fish store to help start a new tank and to reseed an active tank. I always do this when I start a new tank.


Other possible solutions:

You should be using dechlorinator for your water before you put it in the tank.

Do not overfeed. If you have food remaining on the bottom of the tank you are feeding too much.

Two of your fish were labeled as unknown. This makes it possible that your tank is over crowded. Even if those are not large fish, you are probably at the maximum capacity.

Suggestion

The larger the tank, the easier it is to stabalize. A 20 gallon is much easier to maintain than a 10 gallon.

Answer 3

You have WAYY too many fish in that tank. I don't even know where to begin here.

Tiger barbs need groups of at least 6, so a 10 gallon is too small for even tiger barbs alone. They also are very aggressive.

Suckerfish means nothing, there are hundreds of suckerfish. I'm going to assume you either mean chinese algae eater or common plecostomus. Both of those get WAYY too big for a 10 gallon tank and should not be there.

Bala Sharks grow to 10 INCHES LONG! They DO NOT belong in anything under 125 gallons.

You need to take back all of your fish except for the mollies. Then get a mystery snail for a scavenger. Mystery snails will not breed like pond snails do because they are single sex snails, not hermaphrodite like the pest snails which overrun a tank if you feed too much.

Also, did you get the nitrogen cycle going in your tank before putting fish in your tank?? Read up on cycling at http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=84598

Answer 4

That sounds like way too many fish. A good rule to keep in mind is to only have one inch of adult fish to each gallon of water. Check the pet store labels under the fish-usually it'll tell you what size they grow to be.

Also, I've found that barbs don't mix well because, in reality, the little buggers are pretty vicious. Your mollies are a good snack for them. You might want to get a certain theme of sorts going- you can find them on the internet- and try to only get fish of that sort in your tank.

Try this site- it should tell you what mixes with what.
http://www.aquahobby.com/e_gallery.php

Answer 5

Well for 10gals your a little over stocked. This can lead to bad water quality. Get yourself a test kit or take a sample of your water to a pet store that deals in fish. I would take out the big rock thing because its just taking up more space in your crowded tank. This will allow more room for the fish to swim.

I would do a 25 to 50% water change and don't forget to take out the chlorine.

When ever you set up a new tank never add all of those fish at once. You add a few at a time and then wait a while before adding more...this gives the water perimeter's time to work themselves out.

Also when you set up a new tank it needs to cycle before you add fish or you can kill off your fish.

I would do the water change I suggested and also check for disease.....better yet add something for fungus and bacteria diseases just in case your missing something.

Answer 6

It can be caused from a varity of factors.
Most liekly, the petshop you got them from doesn't take good care of their fish. Prepare ot be dealing with this. Serch around for a Petsmart or local store, NOT WALMART. Their fish are AWFUL.

I also think you have WAY too many fish for a 10 gallon tank. They may be fighting and biting at eachother.

Answer 7

Make sure you have enough life plants in tank a water filtering system air pumping into the water, and don't over feed the fish.Go to your local pet store for snail for the fish tank to help keep the glass clean.

Answer 8

omg..you shouldn't get the fish all at once. you should gradually add them..because the more fish you put in a tank at once, they feel cramped and die..i learned that the hard way...

Answer 9

your overstocked, mixing the wrong fish, and is your tank cycled?

Answer 10

You are mixing fish that you shouldn't be mixing. Talk to the pet store.