My new fish are dying.?

Question

I had a tank of Guppies and they just had 12 babies so I got a 10 Gal aquarium, and bought 2 algae eaters with it. I set up the tank and let the filter run for 24hrs, before adding the fish. All the guppies are still alive but 1 of the suckers died within 4 days and now the other one is swimming around towards the top, it looks like it keeps trying to jump out of the water. Then it will stop swimming and float around for hours, upside down or however. Any ideas on what is wrong?

When I bought the new tank I went from 2gal to 10 gal, so I have all new water, I used Aquasafe to treat the water also, and the water is the same temp.

Answer 1

Their water might be dirty.

Answer 2

Your tank isn't cycled! You're experiencing deadly ammonia and nitrite spikes, which will kill the algae eaters off before the guppies as the guppies are more hardy.

There's no wonder your poor fish are dying, you have to cycle the tank for at LEAST two weeks before adding a TINY amount of fish, not leave it a day and dump them all in.

I'd advise moving the algae eater and the baby guppies and however many adult guppies back into your old tank, leaving 2-4 adult guppies in this new tank. They will help cycle the tank. In addition, add some gravel from the small tank into the large tank, even a handful will do. This will help culture the bacteria, and should speed up the cycling to about 2 weeks. Get a testing kit. When the ammonia and nitrites have 'spiked' and then both returned to zero at the same time, it is safe to add fish, slowly. Add maybe 4 a week. This will avoid a tank overload.

Answer 3

Are you sure the temperature is correct? Did you "ease" the fish into the water by placing them in a plastic container with the old water until the temperature gradually became the same? Did you do something to the water that you didn't do to the water in the other tank (special treatment etc)? Are you sure that your filtering system is working correctly and that there is enough oxygen in the water? (If the fish is trying to jump out of the water, it might be trying to breath)

Fish are very sensitive.. and any little change can really disrupt them and cause them to die if conditions are not perfect (especially with tropical fish.) I had fish for 2 years, but when I had to move I gave them to a friend and within 24 hours they all died. I don't know how her tank was set up, but I didn't have any problems with the fish even when I would take them out of the tank to clean it.

You may also want to make sure that the "guppies" are compatible with the suckers... I would suppose they are, but sometimes you never know. I had a beta fish once that was destroyed by a red eye. Red eyes are mean, just so you know.

Answer 4

You put far too many fish in the new tank at once. When setting up a new tank, you need to let it cycle and generate beneficial bacteria first. What you should have done was to add two guppies, and then monitered your water parameters until the tank was cycled--ammonia 0, nitrite 0. Then you could've added the rest slowly.

As for the "algae eaters", do you mean plecos? Plecos cannot be kept in a 10 gallon tank, as they get FAR too large and produce a lot of waste. Plus, why would you get algae eaters if there wasn't any algae for them to eat?

My guess is that your ammonia is spiking from the addition of too many fish at once. The pleco will probably die. Do frequent water changes until your tank cycles, and return the remaining algae eater if it lives as you won't be able to keep it in that tank anyway.

Answer 5

The aquarium i got my fish from suggests that you leave the water for a week before adding them in. This might be the reason, you may have added way too many fish aswell at the same time not to mention some fish are actually tougher than others. You should be getting fresh water fish which actually are stronger to test the water first. Don't add a million at once. Where did you get them from? a pet shop? A good aquarium who has been running for years arnt gonna sell you a fish until you've had your tank set up for a week. then they'll sell you afew fish recommended for new tanks set ups. A week later they'll want some water from your tank to test to see if it's ok to sell some more fish periodically to add in. Sounds like you've fallen victim to people who dont care about fish and just want their sales.

Answer 6

You need to make sure that you have a heater in the tank because any sudden temprature change can kill the fish. Also make sure you rinse off in very hot water all of the plants and accessories that you add to your tank as well they can have toxins on it. Make sure you have a thermometer on the side of the tank to make sure the temp stays at the appropriate temp. Good Luck and try try again as they say.

Answer 7

Perhaps you used the wrong water - NEVER use tap water.
Also, if you scrubbed the tank beforehand with any sort of soap or windex on the inside, thats deadly..
Maybe you are feeding them too much - the excess poo & uneaten food becomes a fatal chemical in the tank.
Also, check the water temperature.
Also, do you have allll these fish in one tank? The rule is generally 1 inch of fish per gallon. If you have a 10 gallon tank, you should have no more than 10 fish. If not, the weaker and smaller fish will instinctually die off. It's happened to me. The baby fish have to be moved out of the tank anyways because the adult fish will most definitely eat them.

Hope some of this helped..

Answer 8

Take a sample of your tank water to your aquarium shop and have them test it. Tell them what fish you have and they will tell you how fix your water. Most shops do this as a courtesy. There is definately something wrong with the water, I'd say the Ph level is wrong, but they will put you right.

Answer 9

Make sure the food which you're feeding them is good for both fish. Also watch their behavior when they're being fed. Maybe all of the guppies are eating the food and not saving any for the other fish?

Answer 10

same thing happend to me u need to get an air pump inside there ur fish cant breath trust me this is exsactly whats wrong all my fish were doing the same thing they float to the top and try to jump out and then a day or two later there dead buy some air pumps this will definatly work

Answer 11

What if it got infested somehow?If it wasn't a professional one,I'd say bacteria.
I don't know about professional aquarioums, but in a small one, you need to rub it with a cloth (wet) or something, to disappear mud,bacteria and the rest dirty...elements.
Hope this is helpful.Really wish your fish to get well soon, I know how it feels like to lose an animal.God bless them!:)