Almost all of my fish are dead and dying help

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tess24278

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 10, 2009
30
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New Hampshire
Well I'll start with this a a 15 gal tank not permanant for most of the fish in it. Plastic decorating except a piece of drift wood and a small lava rock. I'm not sure what the levels are for the tank most of my stuff is in storage.
I do weekly to bi weekly 30-50% water changes. Heater filter air stone
recently meaningtwo days ago I had four of my fish just die. Yesterday I had another two and now my Raphael is out in the light not moving. When I scoop out the fish some of them had some weird red near the tail and head. I currently have left a Raphael, chinese algae eater, spotted Cory, african dwarf frog and a dwarf puffer and an upsidedown catfish. The Raphael, algae eater and upsidedown cat look like they are on their wayout. The puffer the Cory and the frog however seem to be doing fine.
I have no idea what happened I do have some sand in my tank and have thought about the bacteria that forms that I have read about but I don't know what happens when t gets loose if anyone has any ideas why all my fish died I wouldn't mind hearing
 
Nitrate or ammonia high? If it is could be slowly poisoning the fish. I really don't use sand but i know you have to stir it occasionally for dead spots.
 
Well I know when I change the water I use a nitrate reducer and ph balancer I also have tabs that say they clear ammonia but they didn't seen to change how the fish were acting.
I first started to notice when my yellow lab and a guppy were just floating near to top of the water which made my think oxygen but idk.
 
The red spots maybe ammonia or nitrite burn, if your nitrite is up add some salt with your water change as directed 1 tsp per 5 gallon water. A 15 gallon 1 1/2 in max, if sick add slightly more 1tsp. worth. I'd say if it does get worse treat with antibacterial medicine.

Are they always swimming near the top of the water daily? If constantly at the top not mid or bottom can be a swim bladder infection.
 
I've heard of that too. All of the bacteria breaking loose and starting a "bad cycle" in the tank, killing all of the fish. Hasn't happend to me, so not sure, but I've heard when it happens its bad news
 
Lol well thank you everyone. I don't think it's swim bladder but I did about 2/3 of a change added chlorine get ridder stuff, ph kh nitrate phosphate reducer balancer some stress coat and added the aquarium salt. Hopefully the remaining fish will survive. But do you think there's a reason why the puffer seems unaffected still eating swimming and being a freak like usual.
 
tess24278;3266241; said:
Well I know when I change the water I use a nitrate reducer and ph balancer I also have tabs that say they clear ammonia but they didn't seen to change how the fish were acting.
I first started to notice when my yellow lab and a guppy were just floating near to top of the water which made my think oxygen but idk.
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Refrain from using chemicals. Water changes are your better option. Believe it or not, most chemicals do not work efficiently. Doing more water changes eliminates ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in the process. Please get API liquid test kit and test for those three variables. Bigspizz is correct. We need those water parameters.

If your filter is producing vigorous surface movements, oxygen is not an issue. This is ammonia and nitrite intoxication. Only water changes can correct that. With that size of stock list, I would be doing 4 times water changes in a week by at least 40-50%.
 
could be several things. Ammonia poisoning, possibly. Internal bacterial infection is another one. Next time a fish dies, open it up and if you get a sweat smell you are dealing with an internal infection.

Can I suggest that you stop throwing chemicals in your water? They are a waste of money when basic water management is all you need.
If it is ammonia poisoning, irreversible damage might already have been done. You could add salt but I don't consider this a solution either. It's acceptable for fish transport over long distance but not a cure to your issues.
Daily 50% water changes for a couple of weeks should see your fish right unless they have already been so severely burnt by ammonia that nothing will save them.
 
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