Help!!!! I killed all my sons fish!?

Question

I was simpily trying to clean his fish tank, i removed the fish and placed them in a huge bow of waterl, i sifted the rocks to clean them and cleaned out the tank.. when i put all the fish back they were all dead!...what did i do wrong??

Answer 1

You water had chlorine in it. You need to buy this stuff at a pet supply store that removes all the chlorine from the water before you place you fish in the water.Also do not use any kind of cleaner to clean the side of the tank or the rocks.

Answer 2

First of all you should not remove the fish from the tank to clean it.

When cleaning a fresh (or salt) water tank you should use a siphon to remove the debris from the gravel at the bottom of the tank. Allow your filters to continue to run, since the siphon is designed to "suck up" the debris, using it also causes particles to float in the tank. By the time you are done cleaning the gravel with the siphon you should be around 1/3 less water in the tank.
Depending on the size of your tank and the amount you are willing to spend, they have a power gravel vacuum which runs 24/7. (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/NavResults.cfm?N=2004+113164)

You can use scrubbers (which are really nothing more than an acrylic pad on a stick, non-abrasive) and or an Aquarium razor to clean the in side glass. A good quality papertowel or lint free cloth used only for the aquarium also work well. Be careful with your heater. Most heaters must stay submerged so you may want to unplug it and let it cool down a bit before removing any water from the tank. This also goes for any power heads which will run dry when removing water.

Allow the filter to continue to run. In a bucket, Used only for your aquarium, add water which you are going to pour back into the tank to fill it. REMEMBER NO CHEMICALS. To this water, add an additive such as Start Right or other aquarium designed agent to remove the copper, clorene etc. from the water. Don't forget to add one teaspoon full of aquarium salt for every 10 gallons of aquarium water to the bucket as well. Add the water to your tank. Once it is filled, leave the aireator running and disconnect the filter. Clean the filter and replace. Then clean the aireator or other items you have in the tank. DO NOT USE BLEACH. If you do, you will need to soak the items in a Clor-out bath for about an hour before returning them to the tank.

Learning the proper way to clean your aquariums will make your fish much happier, and keep them alive.

If you are having problems with algae or other items, try adding a phosphate pad to the filter.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Chances are you replaced all the water at one time and placed the fish directly into the new clean water and shocked them both by temperature and chemical imbalance. This is what killed them. The new water contains chlorine and no chemical balance or biological material.
If you go out and buy new fish and add them all at once, the same thing will happen in a few days. There are several products available at your local pet store that can ease the shock to the fish. They should be added first to the tank. Then add a few “cheep” Fish to start the biological re-balance of the tank. They should be slowly acclimated to the new tank. This is done by placing the fish into a plastic bag, float the bag in the tank, add ¼ cup of the tank water to the bag every 15 minutes for about 1 ½ hours. This slowly adapts the fish to the new tank water. Only put in a few fish – overloading a new tank will cause the water in your tank to cycle, spiking nitrites and ammonia and potentially killing your new fish. A good rule of thumb is not to replace more than about 25% of the water in your tank in a single cleaning.

Answer 4

First you never clean out the whole tank! There is good bacteria in there that fish need.

You also have to take out chlorine in new water. They have chemicals for this or you can let the water sit or boil it.

A new tank goes through a cycling process. This process can be very long or short but you need to know how to do it and what it consists of.

They could of died for a number of things, chlorine in water. You maybe used soap or another cleaning agent and didn't rinse well enough. You may have done everything right but just dumped the fish right back into the tank when they really should be put into a bag and let sit into the tank for 30 mins.

Answer 5

I would venture to say that you did not condition the water that you put the fish in. The chlorine in water chemically binds to the gills of a fish and prevent the fish from getting the proper oxygen needed. However this does not just happen in a matter of minutes but none the less it is wrong. Also moving rocks around stirs up bad stuff. And I hope you did not remove more than 50% of the water becasue you would have removed to much benifical bacteria to keep the amonia down. Buy more fish and explain it to your son. It will all be okay, unless they were expensive!! Good luck

Answer 6

I'm so sorry, I'm sure you were trying to help...but really you did so many things wrong.
Fast temperature changes can shock fish. If the huge bowl of water was tap water that had not been treated, they'd be poisoned by chlorine/chlorimine.
Cleaning items like sponges, soaps, and sprays are all toxic to fish.
Sifting the rocks and removing all the slimey bits would kill off all the bacteria that eat fish waste byproducts (ammonia and nitrites) and would poison the water.
If I were you, I'd go buy him a bigger tank and a gift certificate to a local fish store.
Oh, and try to learn a lot more about fish.

Answer 7

The fish were probably shocked by the change in temperature. A rapid change in temp will kill them quickly. Chlorinated water usually takes a couple of hours.

Answer 8

The water, if it came from your sink it had
chlorine in it. I think the Fish couldn't breath.
I would have put a little salt in the bowl of water.
It would have been good to let the water sit for a
couple of days. They make pills for chlorine removal to.

Answer 9

well there is temperature shock, too much chlorine in the water, may be you used soap or you handle the fish the wrong way

Answer 10

It has not been suggested as of yet.... how long were those fishes in a bowl without oxygen and/or water circulation???