help on tropical fishes?

Question

i just got 3 pairs of different tropical fishes yesterday and today one of them is already dead... i felt my tank was getting dirty when i fed them and there was food at the bottom of it.. did it die becoz of 'overfeeding' or the 'dirty water'? i tht tropicals r the easiest to maintain.. i also have the filter 24 hrs on as well as the temperature controller.. help me so i can take care of the others..

Answer 1

http://www.hagen.com/pdf/aquatic/bag.pdf
http://www2.tetra.de/tet_internet_import/import_data/The%20fascination%20of%20aquariums_GB_2006_T062048.pdf
Here two good free books.

Answer 2

First, is this a newly set up aquarium. Because if it is you have what is known as New Tank Syndrome. This is caused by to many fish in a new aquarium. There are three kinds of filtration that you use in an aquarium. Mechanical is the standard "floss" or spongy filter. Chemical is the Activated Charcoal (Carbon) that is usually inside of the Mechanical filter. And last but most important is Biological. Biological filtration takes place in many different places. Inside your filter, filter tube, substrate (gravel), plants and decorations. It is a bacterial colony that breaks down harmful elements (ammonia, Nitrite, Phosphate, etc.) into necessary elements. When there are to many fish in a new aquarium the ammonia reaches toxic levels quickly. It takes almost two weeks to properly cycle (get the bacterial colonys established) a new tank. There are few things that will help. Stress Coat, AmQuel, Stresszyme, and Biozyme. Amquel removes Ammonia, Stress Coat helps replenish the slimy coating on the fish, Stresszyme and Biozyme are supplements that introduce the good bacteria to your ecosystem speeding up the cycling time.

If this is the case, don't feel bad. Most pet stores don't explain NTS to customers for fear of putting them off. This happens to most people at least once. The best thing to do now is do a 25% water change daily as well as purchase some full range test strips (Mardel makes some really good ones). Keep an eye on your fish and watch for gasping. This means that the Ammonia is getting toxic.

Hope this helps. If you have anymore questions you can email me at [e-mail]

I will answer any of your questions to the best of my ability.

Answer 3

What bubbles said, plus did you dechlorinate the water? What chemical did you use? What size is the tank? Did you cycle the tank? How long has the tank been running? This is only a small part of the information needed to answer your question.

Answer 4

What kind of fish do you have? What temp. do you keep the tank at? How often do you feed them? How big a tank do you have? how many fish do you have?

You need to be more specific so we can answer your question better.


ßübblëš


Ps. it is very possible that the fish just died of a natural sickness...

Answer 5

I have 3 answers-maybe it was old. Also, whenevr I had to take one of my tropical fish out of the tank to clean it, the fish was in shock and it died. Maybe your fish was stressed or was in shock from leaving the pet store.

Answer 6

Sometimes fish are already sick when you buy them.
It sounds like your doing everything correctly, I think it's just bad fish.

Only feed as much as they can eat in 15 seconds.