MY FISH are dieing to often?

Question

MY FISH DIE SO OFFTEN. i DONT know why i clean the tank about every week. the fish usally sit on the gravel then i find them dead the next day. what should i do i change the water will the gravel cleaner so the water should be clean. i am also trying to bread guppys. please help my fish are dyeing like every week.

i even have life plants that should make it alot cleaner

i even have life plants that should make it alot cleaner

its a thirty gallon tank

Answer 1

Unless it's a fish bowl. You really shouldn't be cleaning the tank that often. I change the water about every 6 months or so. You also need to make sure there isn't a lot of stress in the water, amonia blah blah blah, you should be able to go to Petsmart or any pet store and ask the person in that department about what water treatment is good etc...

I think the reason for your fish dying is from cleaning the tank too much. and not taking care of the water.

Guppies are really sensative. The water has to be perfect. The reasons for them not breeding is DEFINATELY from the tank being changed all the time. That is affecting the water temp//balance etc.

Answer 2

Keeping on top of cleaning is important, and I hope you won't take the previous advice and neglect your tank ofr half a year at a time. Cleaning your tank every week is certainly not the problem.

If this is a new tank that isn't cycled, and you suddenly introduced a whole bunch of fish, then you are probably killing them with ammonia poisoning. Look up 'aquarium cycling' on google and you'll find a wealth of information on it. If you have made this common beginners error, I recommend taking back all your fish except a couple of them. You can add more later once the tank is cycled.

As mentioned, cleaning your tank weekly is the best thing you can do for your fish (they can't have water too clean, whatever people think), just make sure you are cleaning it right. You should be replacing the water in portions only - about 25% per week is a good schedule for most tanks to keep them fresh and clean and stable for a long time to come. You should be treating this replaced water with dechlorinator and matching it fairly close to the temperature in the tank.

You should be vacuuming the gravel when you do this, that way it prevents too much of a build up of waste. vacuuming the gravel will not harm the bacteria, and niether will water changes.

You should not be cleaning the filter unless the tank is fully cycled. Once it is cycled, make sure you clean the filter media in de-chlorinated water only (you can just use the tank water) to preserve the bacteria. If you need to replace the media, do it in portions, not all at once, unless you have a fully funcitioning bio-wheel.

You should not be adding anything to the tank besides dechlorinator. The more junk added to the water, the more likely things will go wrong. Keep it simple.

Forget trying to breed guppies. They'll do that themselves - concentrate on keeping them alive.

Answer 3

It's possible your tank is TOO clean. If you have live plants, I don't believe it is necessary for you to change your water every week. Your plants do what changing the water does, so your almost double dipping and making the water unliveable for fish. Skip a week or two on changing your water and see what happens.

It is also very possible you are adding TOO many fish at once. Fish cannot handle a dramatic increase in bacteria levels in the fish tank. If your water is at a certain level of bacteria and you add too many fish that is a problem.

Answer 4

You are most likely cleaning the tank too well each time you clean it. Fish need a certain level of particular bacteria in the tank to break down harmful and deadly waste products and over cleaning removes too much of this bacteria. This process is usually referred to as cycling the tank. Here'a a link that explains the entire process and how you can properly deal with the process to keep from losing anymore fish. Please also see the link at the bottom of this page titled cleaning your tank.
http://www.firsttankguide.net/cycle.php

If after reading these (they are short) you have any additional questions about the nitrogen cycle and your tank, feel free to email me.

MM

Answer 5

i don't know anything about this but is the tank maybe too clean? when i've had fish before, we always left a portion of the old and slightly dirty water and let it mix with the clean water. i forget why though cuz it's been a really long time... but the fish seemed to last for a while!

Answer 6

your fish might be stressed out. Did you use anti chlorine chemical? your water may be too hard. Condition your water at least an hour before putting fish. 2nd, cleaning aquarium every week is too much. Once a month is fine. Changing at least 40% water twice a month is recommended tho.

Answer 7

Guppies can be very sensitive.

It depends entirely on how large your tank is and how many fish you're trying to put in it. It also depends on if there's any spots/bumps/bruises/etc on the fish. Where are you getting these guys?

Toss me an email and I'm sure we can clear this up.