dying fish... very sad?

Question

Got a 100L tank. Did all the chemical stuff - Nitro1 then Nitro2 -- waited 2 weeks - added 2 fish. Waited another 2 weeks - added two fish. Waited another 2 weeks - added two more fish.

Aquarium started having brown spots inside everywhere. Bacteria NOT harmful to fish - so SAID the pet store. I continued to add the chemicals they sold me. Bubbles at the top of the aquarium - never go away. Same answer from the pet store.

First guppy died yesterday - all fins gone. Another one hasn't had any fins (almost) in three weeks - but seems ok. Then, another blue fish (don't even remember the "type") died yesterday evening. Fins HORRIBLE - until yesterday it looked perfect.

I tried taking the fish back to the store - I said to "save" them since I don't know what to do. They said, "Oh no, if they are sick we won't take them."

So what the HECK do I do ????

Answer 1

I am not sure what you mean by Nitro 1 & Nitro 2
(Nitrofurfurylidene & furfurylidenamino) I am going to assume this is a chemical to dechlor your water. Unless you have heavy metals or other chemicals in your tap water, only a dechlorinator should be used when starting up your tank.

Your cycling process was probably not completed after 2 weeks. Sometimes cycling takes more than 6 weeks....sometimes it takes 2 weeks more the latter though.

The brown algae is diatoms, which really at this point mean nothing as to why your fish died. There should have been NO other chemicals you needed to add to your tank at this point. Even a water change would warrent very small does of the Dechlorinator.

The bubbles on the surface of your water are more than likely from the excessive use of what ever chemical you are tossing into the tank. (A 25% water change once a week would clear them up)

If there was no culprit for eating the fins from your fish, chances are your tank was suffering from fin rot. Fin rot is a bacterial infection which can be caused by a number of things. Due to a fish disease such as parasites, or overcrowding, low oxygen levels, bullying, poor water quality etc. The most important first step is to resolve any stressors. If caught early, this may be sufficient. Opportunistic bacteria such as Aeromonas, Pseudomonas or Flexibacter that abound in all aquatic environments. Secondary fungal infections are not uncommon.

Adding aquarium salt to your tank may help. If the fin rot has advanced the full length of the fin and is threatening the body, this procedure would need to be accompanied by a course of suitable antibiotics.

If you have no aquarium salt you can use cooking salt. Do not use salt containing anti-caking agents such as sodium ferrocyanide (yellow prussiate of soda – this can release hydrogen cyanide when exposed to sunlight!)

Since Guppies are salt or fresh water fish, do not worry about adding too much salt.

Before aquiring any additional fish, DO NOT CHANGE your filter. The beneficial bacteria trapped in the filter will help to finish cycling your tank.

Be sure to test your water quality. If you don't have a test kit, take your water to a pet store. I would also suggest finding your self a new fish store to aquire any new fish.

The one you are dealing with doesn't seem to know much about the fish or the products they sell.

Do a 25% water change, add your salt ( I would start with about 4-5 tablespoons for the tank. If your last fish still is showing signs of bacterial infection, you may need to treat with an antibiotic.

Answer 2

Anytime anything goes wrong immediately change just over half the tank water - not sure what chemical they gave you to treat the water but I'd say this is adding to the problem. Guppies are really hardy too.. change half the water again after 2 more days and dont add any fish until it settles down and no bubbles. post another question with your filtration method etc if you still have problems. brown spots might just be algae - you have done everything right really, I'd say change your fish supplier

Answer 3

fins gone means fin rot. when the fins go it then progresses to body rot, when thats untreated it's pretty much fatal. this is brought on by bad water conditions. how often are you doing water changes? what are you ammonia readings in the tank? and what fish did you have in the tank?

a tank cannot fishless cycle for 2 weeks without having ammonia added, did you do this?

the brown spots on the tank were diatoms, or brown algae, what every new tank gets anyway, easily removed with algae scrapers or wiped away.

Answer 4

I'm not sure what the brown spots are...Maybe you should do a partial water change and run a general antibiotic through the tank..but that might be hard on your biological filtering.
Other than that you could try isolating the 2 remaining fish and treating them in a smaller tank..and completely restarting your original tank.

Answer 5

Find an artivcle on how to properly cycle a tank. Then get a test kit for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. Don't use killer chemicals. They don't do what they are supposed to and they make the water quality unstable and dangerous for fish.

Answer 6

relies upon how the death is, if it became eaten via one in each of my different fish i'm getting annoyed on the fish that ate it. If it died from organic motives, i attempt to discover if i'm able to circulate and get yet another one on the puppy save lol... As for fishing, i dont get unhappy, i see it as a delectable meal in a pair hours yumm

Answer 7

You should have cycled it with like fish food or something. Keep up with water changes and test your water regularly