I got an aquarium. Spur of the moment purchase. Wal-Mart. Softenened ( Culligan) water. Two days later: d

Question

Two days later, dead fish... Damnit, now what?

Answer 1

Well, you kind of answered the question yourself, spur of the moment purchase. Like any other living animals, fish have certain requirements to stay alive and without some research and guidance you were doomed to failure from the beginning. All is not lost though, you can certainly start your tank from scratch and be very successful this time around. Here's a couple of links to help you out and feel free to email me with any additional questions you have after reading these.
http://fishlesscycling.com/articles/how_to_set_up_a_freshwater_tank.html

http://fishlesscycling.com/articles/how_to_do_a_fishless_cycle.html

Hope that helps

As an aside, it was the water, but not because it was softened with water. Because it was softer than what the fish were used to and because the tank wasn't cycled. All of the previous answers are way, way off base.

MM

Answer 2

Your biggest problem is that you used purely soft water. I would recommend you get a book on Aquariums before you start again. Now I recommend when you refill your tank you go 50% hard water and 50% soft water. The reason for this is you don't know what the hardness of the water is from the different stores you are purchasing your fish. Whatever the hardness with a 50/50 split it will be an easier adjustment fo the fish.

After you have filled the tank up you need to add an agent to remove the chlorine or chloromine in the water so the fish aren't poisoned. Personally I use Prime and have had good results.

Finally you never specified what kind of fish you purchased and the size of your tank. Once you have checked your water out and made sure that there is no chlorine or chloromine in it I would recommend starting with Danios. The are almost immune to beginner errors and will survive the aquariums first nitrogen cycle spike. Then you can look at adding new fish in a month or two once the water has established itself. While you are waiting for the aquarium to establish itself get all the books you can on fishkeeping so you can plan your tank ahead. That's very important.

Answer 3

1

Answer 4

You don't state how many fish and what size tank...but likely your fish died from a non-cycled tank or otherwise called "new tank syndrome"...to make a long story short...your tank has to cycle to get the right bacteria growing to eat the ammonia your fish and their food create. If you added a lot of fish in a small tank (or even a big tank) they could certainly die that quickly...Also you can use regular tap water for fish....you just need to use add a tap water conditioner to get rid of the chlorine. That can be found at any pet store or Wal-Mart has it as well. I would recommend that you do some research on the internet in regards to the cycling process of a new aquarium....and buy a testing kit of some sort so you can test your ammonia, nitrate, nitrite levels while your tank is cycling. I think if you understand that process you will have much better luck if you try again. Fish are very easy to care for but unfortunately there is a little more involved than just putting fish into water.

Answer 5

It could have been a number of factors.

The water is the first. If you are unsure about your tap water, the easiest way is to just grab some distilled water from your local grocery store and use that. You can use the soft water for water changes if you don't use more that about 20%, but the key is not to let water parameters change too drastically.

The second is to pick up a bottle of SeaChem Prime. It will remove Chlorine, Chloramine, heavy metals and other nasty stuff. It will also prevent new tank syndrome and let your biofilter (several kinds of bacteria) mature without killing your fish. It also will protect the fishes slime coat. I've had fish for many years and I use it both for new tanks and in a maintenance mode.

Its kind of neat really. It converts Ammonia, nitrates and Nitrites into a form that isn't toxic to fish, but at the same time cultivates and encourages the several types of bacteria that you need to have a healthy tank. If you decide to add plants later it also is plant friendly.

You also didn't say if you acclimated your fish.

Water parameters can be wildly different from store to tank. You need to acclimate the fish from store to tank.

First you float the unopened bag in the tank for about 20 minutes to get the temperature close. Second you open the bag and take a some water from the tank and over an hour or so period you add water a bit at a time until you have added the same amount of water that was in the bag originally.


Then you net the fish out of the bag and put them gently in the tank. Never pour the water from the bag into your tank. You never know what kind of stuff is in the water especially anything from walmart.

Invest in a freshwater test kit. It is your friend.

Also, you need to make sure that your water is able to buffer and resist wild swings in things like PH and alkalinity. I use cheap old baking soda as a buffer. When you add new water add about 1/4 teaspoon to about 5 gals of water. It will keep your PH at a stable level.

You also didn't say what type of fish you bought. Different types of fish require different water parameters. Find out what your fish need and make sure that the water is suited for those kind of fish. Thats where the test kit comes in handy.

Answer 6

stable one, right here is one for you Jon's engaged on the lumberyard, pushing a tree throughout the time of the thrill observed, and by twist of destiny shears off all ten of his arms. He is going to the emergency room. The wellbeing practitioner says, "Yuck! nicely, supply me the arms, and that i'll verify what i can do." Jon says, "i've got not got the arms." The wellbeing practitioner says, "What do you propose, you have no longer have been given the arms? that is 1999. we've microsurgery and all kinds of impressive recommendations. i'm going to have placed them lower back on and made you like new. Why did no longer you convey the arms?" Jon says, "nicely, sh*t, record, i could no longer %. 'em up." F1E

Answer 7

I'm affraid Walmart seems to be a bad place to buy fish. Test the waters ph etc and see from there.

Answer 8

Softened water is salty. Change the water, wash the stuff well in clear water, fill back up and use a de-chlorinater. Your fish will do well.

Answer 9

Take a sample of water to your local pet store and they can tell you where you went wrong.I always let my tanks set up for atleast a week.

Answer 10

It's not the tank or the water. Just a bad fish or wrong feeding amounts.