Why did my fish die?

Question

First I got some fish, and a ten gallon tank, did what the pet store guy told me to do. Got the tank all ready. Put them in my tank, like a week, they were dead. Bought all the testing stuff. Got it all right, bought some more fish, about a week later, they were dead as well. It look kinda like parts of the fishs body parts were falling off or something. I bought some anti fungi stuff and it didn't do any good. They were all fresh water fish. This was like 6 months ago, and I'm asking this becouse we might set the tank up again soon. But their is no point if they are all gonna die like last time.

I live in Oklahoma, we have well water (From our own well). And our water is very hard. I tested it though, and put the softener stuff in it.

I'm pretty sure the testing kit we got does it all. Their was like 5 different tests you do, or something.

The tank was brand new from walmart. Yes I put their bags in the tank for a while before letting them into tank.

The tank was left, without fish in it for a few days, maybe a week.

Answer 1

when you set up the tank again, wait a couple of days to get some fish. this will help airate the water, and help you get your temps up for your fish. then get some cheap fish (a small school of 3 danios does well). acclimate them to the tank, and dont add n e more fish, or do n e thing for about 3 weeks. you will be going through new tank syndrome. your ammonias, nitrites, and nitrates will spike for apporxiamtely 3 weeks, so you may have fish death. if this happens just take the bodies out, and keep the tank running. on the 4th week, take some water to the petstore, to get tested, and see where you are with your levels, and usually about this time, your ready for a water change (usually i do about quarter to almost half the water). after this point you should be ready for more fish. usually the first month is when you get your highest amount of fish death because your bacteria is trying to build up and in the process, your poisions from the fish waste, spike.
if you want you can add Cycle, to the tank, to help ease this process (bacteria in a bottle).

but after all is said n done, do at least a quarter water change 2xs a month (after your first month is over with). and you shouldnt have major problems. just watch with over stocking, and over feeding.
and make sure you use a water conditioner.

Answer 2

Hi, What happened to you is what is called new tank syndrome. You need to wash the tank, gravel, filter, and decorations out with just water. Then set up the tank and fill it with freshwater. Also add some stress coat to the water. The stress coat will remove the unwanted chemicals and heave metals that might be in the water. Let your newly setup tank run for a week or two. Then test the water if everything is okay, add two or three fish to the tank. After that test the water again every few days. When every thing reads 0 for about a week add two or three more fish. Why'll your waiting for the tank to cycle. Do some reading up on the type of fish you are thinking of keep. Good luck

Answer 3

maybe the water is too warm?(because the house is too warm which heats the water) When you get the fish you are suppose to leave them in their plastic bag and keep the bag closed and plop it into the tank water so the water around the fish adjusts to the same temp as the tank(for a couple of hours) Then you can let the fish out of the bag. Just plopping them into the water, the shock of the change in temp has been known to kill fish.
Perhaps your city water has a lot of chlorine in it. The water in the tank should stand for a day or two so that the chlorine gas will escape into the air.
I believe that is the length of time.
Also feeding the fish helps. You also may need an aerator to help put oxygen into the water.

Answer 4

adding fish into a brand new tank is a big nono. what happens:
1. lovely clean sparkly tank with dechlorinated water, brand new filter, brand new gravel.
2. in goes fish, who eat and poo.
3. all the food and poo sinks onto your nice new gravel and into your brand new filter and starts to rot and go manky. this rotting material releases ammonia into the water, but because the gravel and filter is brand new, there's no good bacteria in there to convert the fatal ammonia into harmless levels of nitrate.

this is what cycling your tank means. it's best done fishlessly really, sometimes it takes 2 weeks, sometimes 4 and is the main reason that fishkeeping should never be rushed! see the link below. that site has lots of details on setting up a tank correctly. there's no one 'correct' way to do it, everyone does it a little bit differently, but skipping this step, as you've found out, kills your fish.

Edit: Just leaving your tank for a week does NOT grow bacteria, you need to add it either with the "cycle" products you can get from fish stores, or by adding pure household ammonia, even fish food can work.

Answer 5

If you can select fish that do well in hard water(African Cichlids,Guppies,Platys,Mollies) you can have a great aquarium and since there is no chlorine in well water tank maintenance will be easy.
However first you must learn how to "cycle" your tank. This process takes several weeks,and should be done without fish in the tank.(Look up the "fishless cycling " website for more information and go from there.
One more thing,a 10 gallon tank would be too small for most African cichlids.
Good luck.

Answer 6

You need to set it all back up but, don't put any fish in it yet. Let it run as if there were fish in it for at least a month, then it should be cycled enough to try again. Try some easy fish first like guppies or mollies,platys or even a couple of plecos(algae-eaters) That way if you do lose them again it won't cost you so much. Plus they can handle a lot more then some fish. GOOD LUCK!!

Answer 7

there are hundreds of things that could have gone wrong.
the best thing you can do before starting the new aquarium is read.
this is a fantastic book:
http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Guide-Fresh-Water-Aquariums/dp/0793821010

the more you know the better.

but one thing really is bothering me.
why did you add water softener to perfectly good water?
many fish (like guppies and gouramis) love hard water, and most others will adapt. in fact if the fish came from a pet store in the area they should already be adapted to hard water. adding chemicals to the water will only add to the osmotic pressure (which stresses the fish), and the shock could possibly even kill the the fish who are already adapted to the hard water.

if you have well water, it might not be chlorinated. if it isn't, you don't need water conditioner either (though it won't hurt if you're not sure).

also, 25% water changes bi-weekly are not enough. i recommend 50% weekly water changes. never do a 100% water change or your biofilter will crash, and your ammonia will spike.

the fish you pick are important too.
when you start you aquarium remember to start with a hardy fish until your biofilter (the bacteria that turn the ammonia produced by fish into less harmful stuff) is up and running.
i recommend guppies(males only or they will overrun the aquarium), they are small hardy fish and they enjoy hard water. once everything is running well (and if you have room) you might want to try a pair of dwarf gouriamis. they are attractive, peaceful, medium sized fish, who also like hard water. if you have any algae problems try a few cory cats. corys are small, peaceful, adaptable, catfish who come in several colors, and like to live in groups.
or if you want something fancy there are several other types of gouramis (all of whom enjoy hard water). these get a bit larger (but not huge, 4 inches is normal) and can be slightly aggressive.

fish examples:
guppy- http://www.guppywest.com/GreenMoscow_BryanChin_PhotoBryanChin.jpg
dwarf gourami- http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/gourami.jpg
dwarf gourami- http://www.winternet.com/~mchristi/fish/dwarfgourami.jpg
cory cat- http://www.aquariumfish.net/images_01/corydoras_panda.jpg
pearl gourami- http://z.about.com/d/freshaquarium/1/0/Y/2/pearlgourami02.jpg

Answer 8

4 gallon of water in line with inch of fish is the guideline for installation a tank this facilitates area for them to locate there personal territory and room to advance also en ought oxygen as they ex hail carbon witch continues to be contained in the water for alongside time actually have an below gravel filter out this makes pleasant bacteria to digest waste you should start with a twenty gallon tank in case you opt for to save fish don't be fobbed off with cheep novelty tanks you should have a heater this keeps the water consistent tropicals like 80 to 80 3 degrees & gold fish dont concepts

Answer 9

First - check the stuff in the tank. Did you use soap to clean the tank? If so, that's a big NO NO. The water - where did it came from? Try setting the water for 48hours to get rid of chlorine. What other stuff did you place in the tank? If you think it's a disease. Clean the tank and the accessories, then change the water.

Answer 10

Here is a resource for you to try and identify the diesase. It's possible that the fish you got from the pet store were infected already. Nowadays the major retailers usually have some kind of warranty on freshwater fish where if anything happens within a certain time period they will replace the fish for free.