Fish tank is 6 weeks old and losing lots of fish?

Question

I have a 55 gallon fish tank

heater set at 80 degrees not sure if thats good was told it was
penguin bio wheel power filter 330
air wall on one side of tank
air stone on other wanted to make sure was enough oxygen
ph is 7.0
amonia and nitrate and nitrites are all perfect,

i have 5 danios used to have 6
had like 12 tetras lost them all
have 3 geromie if i spelled that right, and i had 6
3 snails,
1 platy but i had 2
6 guppies and have zero
1 small frog have not seen him in days
i keep getting different answers from any fish store i talk to. I have not replaced my filters yet i was told not till 3 months.
tank is crystal clear,
i have these baskets in my filter that i dont know what to do with them, it says its for filter media, what is good to put in there. i feed once a day and i used to do 3 times but was told it will kill fish which i think happed with tetras and guppies, i only feed once in the am, and i also have a pleco but i had 2. my fish are dying one by one now help?

i also tested my tap water ph and it is 7.0 but i was told the water is a little hard..

i feed the pleco algae tablets cause i was told the other pleco died because there was not enought algae

yes i cycled it, the only thing i cant find is the frog and he has hid for days before, what should i do about the media baskets on the filter, i looked in the filter housing and it was full of floating stuff.

i have only in the tank what was from pet store and i was advised to rinse off the stuff with cold water before putting it in tank.

Answer 1

Make sure "perfect" means ammonia and nitrite are zero. Not "low"... ZERO. Nitrate up to about 50 is okay.

pH 7 is fine. Temp of 80 is good. Don't pay any attention to
that "76" crap. Most of these species are happier closer to 80.

I disagree with other posts on your choice of fish. Danios and tetras, unless they are neons, are hearty and a good choice for first fish in a tank. Platys are also a good choice - very tough.

Guppies - no. People say they are "tough" like goldfish, but that has not been my experience. Neons - no. They are quite delicate and hard to keep in a new tank.

The real problem is you put way WAY too many fish in there too early. You should put two fish, no more, in a new tank. Let the cycling process complete (you see ammonia burst, do water changes until it subsides, you see nitrites, do water changes until that subsides)... THEN you can add a few fish at a time - SLOWLY. In your case, you could do something like add 6 danios, AND NOTHING ELSE. Leave it like that for a month, and watch for the ammonia or nitrites to spike again. What happens is, your biological culture that develops (as part of the "cycling" process) is not mature enough to consume all the ammonia from a large number of fish. So if you think you have the tank cycled, but add a large number of fish at once, there will be a spike in ammonia that will kill fish. It is quite possible that it surged, killed fish, and you didn't happen to measure it until the bacterial culture "caught up", which was too late. The fish had already been poisoned even though you measured zero ammonia at a slightly later time.

Short answer - You've got the fish in there now, so there's nothing you can do. Chalk it up to a lesson learned. Never populate a tank so fast. For now, do water changes every day (yes, change out about 30% of the water, every freakin' day), make sure you keep the ammonia and nitrites at dead zero. If the ammonia or nitrite is ever not zero, change out 50% of the water immediately. This can be a real pain, and can go on for weeks. But it's either change the water whenever you see the slightest whiff of ammonia or nitrite, or the fish will all die.

As for those media baskets - put charcoal in them. Get it at the fish store. Make sure you wash it under running water in the sink first before you put the basket into the filter, or it will make a mess - black dust will wash off into your tank. Charcoal is only effective for about a month. So you need to change out the charcoal that often.

Other things to beware of: you are dechlorinating this water you are putting in the tank, right? I use StressCoat brand. Just look for one that treats for chlorine AND chloramine. If your town water supply treats with chloramine (instead of chlorine), letting the water stand in buckets overnight will not detoxify it. Chloramine is a chlorine/ammonia compound created for town water supplies because it doesn't evaporate out of the water in just 24 hrs like chlorine. So as a water and pool disinfectant, it's more effective and less costly. But for fish, it's horrible because it's hard to get rid of. Make sure you are treating the water before you put it in the tank.

FYI - 3 tanks 150, 75, and 65 gal, been at this 7 years.

Answer 2

Did you cycle your tank properly?
This means you waited a 2 week period and tested your water for the following:
0 nitrates
0 nitrites
0 ammonia
and 6.7~7.4ph

Of course, in a freshwater system, you are always going to have nitrAtes. As long as they don't go over 40, you'll be good.
If you don't have a kit to test your water, the API water test kits are great for this. Make sure you get the master test kit, and check for expiration. Don't go ask one of the employees at petco or petsmart what you need to do, the 99% there will just read the back of stuff like you would. To check expiration, all the bottles will have a lot no. on them. it will say something like.. 04062007
That means it was bottled on april 6, 2007. It'll be accurate for about.. 2 years afterwards.
How did you add the fish? Did you add them all at once? This could be your source of the problem. If you can't find them, I reccomend you to immediatley search the tank in the gravel/sand to find them and take them out to prevent a high ammonia spike (deadly).
You should never ever rush an aquarium. Always do it with patience.

To the feeding question, twice a day should be good. Whatever your fish can consume in a minute is more like it, I don't trust the 2-3 minute rule thing. Its just too much. If your pleco is the "common pleco" as they call it, return it now. They are not good at eating algea, and once they reach 6 inches, they will become lazy pooping machines that all they do is just eat uneaten food.
The best pleco in the market for algea eating is the bristlenose pleco/ bushy nose pleco. The males grow to a maximum of 5" and the females to 4" I think. They will always eat algea no matter what. If there isn't algea in your tank I reccomend feeding it a small slice of zucchini once a week. (your fish will more than likely eat the entire algea waffer before the pleco gets to it) So feed your fish first, then put a piece of zucchini with a clip at the bottom or something so it doesn't float up.

If you have ammonia or nitrites in your water, do a 30% water change and test your water again after the water change. (make sure you are using a good water conditioner)
Afterwards, if they did not drop, do another 30% water change, and do it again the next day until nitrItes and ammonia are zero.

Answer 3

Sounds like to me they died of new tank syndrome, from the tank cycling. The stress killed them, now the tank has cycled and stablized and perameters are reading correctly. A 6 week old tank just went through the cycle which can take 3 to 7 weeks. Over feeding and stocking the tank to capacity at first will make the tank longer to cycle. They just didn't make it. Ph doesn't necessarily have anything to do with hardness. A ph reading will not tell a store employee anything about how hard or soft the water is. That takes a Gh and Kh test. 7.0 is not usually associated with hard water though, so my guess is that employee doesn't have a clue. And that is common. Don't rely on the petstore for advice. Find someone you know is an advanced hobbiest. They work for miniumum wage and likely have never kept a fish tank in their lives. Look in the yellow pages for a fish tank cleaning service in your area and ask them. They will know better and have no conflict of interest in the advice they give. The petstore tells these kids what they need to know and coincidently the advice has more to do with making a profit then the health of the animal in question. I would even go so far as to say the store policy itself wants the fish to die and get sick so you will spend lots of money trying to fix the problem.
they will never let you know the miracles of plain table salt and heat and that the meds they sell you can and do kill the fish they intend to cure. Simply because the customer is ignorant and at the will of the petstore. Top of the list of the worst fish stores are the main ones Petco, Petsmart and the inexcusable Wal-Mart. Buyer beware and do your own research, the information you need is out there. Stop asking them, get your own test kits too. Aquarium Pharmasuitacles are best.

Answer 4

Is there a larger bucket or tub you can transfer them to? 3 gallons is way too small for any one of those fish, let alone 6. I'm not even sure you're going to be able to keep a head of the ammonia build up they'll produce. The water will turn toxic very quickly. If you can, I'd find the largest water holding thing you can find and put them in there. Keep them covered and the lights off (that will calm them down and slow down breathing rate). Feed them the minimal amount every three days (fish can go a while without eating particlarly if they're conserving energy). Change some of the water at least once per day. That should keep the oxygen level up and the toxic chemical down. Don't worry about adding fish chemicals. If you see them swimming at the surface a lot, they might be running out of oxygen. Water changes can help or you'll need a bubbler, or some other way of getting some movement in the water's surface. If you can't move them to something bigger. take out the rocks, etc. They need as much water as they can get. Change the water frequently, the toxic chemicals will build up very quickly. The filter will keep the oxygen level up, hopefuly. Feed them minimally, cover them up, and turn thier lights out. It sounds like the mollies are showing signs of stress or low oxygen. good luck with them.

Answer 5

ok well cycling a freshwater tank is a breeze, so theres not too much to worry about there, if u put all the fish in at once then that is your problem even if you arent registering anything...tetras, guppies, pleties, and pecos are horrible to put in a new tank, theres almost a 100% chance you will loose them, and if you havent pulled thenm out thats why u lost the danios...the frog in a 55 gallon tank is gonna be hard to find, but if everyting else is dying then i wouldnt stress trying to find it, cuz its gonna be dead...u need to change the carbon filter once a month otherwise the carbon gets deactivated and actually can start releasing everything back in the water...with the empty plastic things, u can put foam, extra carbon packets, ammonia remover...basically anything u want, i would start with carbon, use that for 3 weeks then the ammonia remover for one week, but thats just me...decrease the water temp to about 77, i know it doesnt seem much but it makes a difference, at 80 u can start cooking some fish...aka plecos and danios...ask the petstore for a beta cup with a lid, but the AQUARIUM SALT at the store and put that in the tank it will relieve stress of the fish...do not use regular table salt unless u want to kill the fish...all the airstones arent needed the filter produces enough water flow, so if you dont like the way it looks u can take it out...i know people are gonna argue with me, but ive been doing this for 10 years, and have no problems...i dont know who told you to use cold water to wash everything, but they are dead wrong, if you can boil the stuff, if its plastic plants use really hot water to wash them...and one more question for you: when u washed all your stuff did u use any soaps or detergents or anything like that?...well i know this is a long answer but i hope it helps, if you want anything clarified or any more questions AIM me at "aquariumguy1985" yes i know corny, but i havent changed it in forever

Answer 6

hmm it looks like you stocked your tank too quickly, causing an ammonia spike and fish die off.

what make is your filter? and what media does it have in it? if theres none at all (what is the "floating stuff"?) then your tank hasn't cycled. the good bacteria lives in the filter media and is what makes your tank cycled.

what is the ammonia reading on your tank? anything other than 0 is toxic, you will need to do regular twice weekly minimum water changes. but it may be too late for a lot of your fish, once they're burnt by ammonia it can be
irreversable.

i noticed the guy above me recommend aquarium salt, any form of salt is harmful to plecs, avoid this. i would also go about ID'ing your plec, it's very easy to end up with a monster who really needs a 120 gallon tank!

Answer 7

I used to keep fish so another thing I might suggest you try checking is what did you put into the tank for decorations? A lot of people put things like sea shells into freshwater tanks but don't realize the salt could be toxic to the fish. How about the ground cover. What did you use? How about the little shelters or logs or even plants you might have put in? Were they something you bought at a pet store or did you provide them yourself? These are all things you should look for if other potential problems checked out all right.

Answer 8

your pH is perfect, it means it's neurtral

What do you mean by your other levels are perfect, you can't say that unless you give as your readings

Ammonia is suppose to be 0
nitrite is suppose to be 0
and nitrates are suppose to around 20

You should always feed your fish twice a day, as much as they will eat in under 3-5 min

for your pleco you should put an algae wafer every other day, jsut before you turn the light off

It also sounds like you don't have a cartridge in your filter, these pockets are for that

the one i have has one carbon cartridge as well as a foam piece in that pocket, that's where the actuall bacteria grow

You're suppose to exchange the carbon cartridge every 4-6 weeks and not 3 months

Also your temperature is ok, but maybe you should bring it down to 78 degrees

Also you need to do weekly partial waterchanges of 25% with a gravel siphon, and replace it with conditioned water



Hope that helps
Good luck


EB


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