What is killing my fish?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Of course, don't spray for bugs, don't use bleach etc near your tank...I suppose your bucket is reserved for fish only uses and not the one you mop the floor with, etc

And what is your water reading now?
 
what do you mean by the levels were fluctuating??? Ammonia should be 0 and nitrite should be 0. Its not smart to add another fish until your other fish get better
 
My entire tank is dead there are no fish in it whatsoever, the last ones died last night and today. As far as fluctuating I know that with tanks that are being established there will be a spike in the ammonia then that will lower then a spike in the nitrite then that will lower, then the nitrates. That's what I've read at least. then once it's established the ammonia and the nitrite will be at zero and the nitrate will be low.

So what I want to do now, is make sure all the ick is dead, last night was supposed to be the last night of the treatment. I'm going to do a 30% H2O change, keep the temperatures high and continue salting the tank, then test the water in a day or two and if the levels are all low then I am going to add a fish or two. Sound wise? Anything else I can do to keep everything safe.

I also forgot to mention that since I was treating the ich my tank was not getting any chemical filtration. Could that have been a contributing factor?
 
Well if your tank was going through a cycle it could have been made worse by removing the chemical filtration. so yes that could have made things worse but the ich medicene wouldn't have been as effective. if you keep the temperature of the water at 86+ the ich will die off and you wont need to add salt. Keep making sure your levels of ammonia and nitrite are 0 when you restock and if they arent make sure you detoxify it with a product like prime.

Also it will help if you add a few small fish at a time instead of a bunch at one time. that will let the tank slowly get used to the bioload
 
High temps can result in further oxygen deprivation, I assume ur talking 85-88 degrees, combined with ammonia and nitrites (assuming u have nitrites) medicine and salt is what resulted in your fishes death, too many factors all causing stress, not to mention already sick fish.


Slow down and add a fish at a time, u need to do regular wc to keep toxicity low, I suggest u wait a few weeks to add anymore fish so that the bb can support that type of bio load.


Go S. Vettel #1 rb8
 
shawneedaniel said:
My entire tank is dead there are no fish in it whatsoever, the last ones died last night and today. As far as fluctuating I know that with tanks that are being established there will be a spike in the ammonia then that will lower then a spike in the nitrite then that will lower, then the nitrates. That's what I've read at least. then once it's established the ammonia and the nitrite will be at zero and the nitrate will be low.

So what I want to do now, is make sure all the ick is dead, last night was supposed to be the last night of the treatment. I'm going to do a 30% H2O change, keep the temperatures high and continue salting the tank, then test the water in a day or two and if the levels are all low then I am going to add a fish or two. Sound wise? Anything else I can do to keep everything safe.

I also forgot to mention that since I was treating the ich my tank was not getting any chemical filtration. Could that have been a contributing factor?
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Ok if their all dead start over. Break the tank down and clean with hot water and vinegar or a small bit of bleach, but then add some water and dechlor to rinse. Ditch the substrate, add pool filter sand from a pool supply store, 8$ and Ull have plenty left over.

This time, set it all back up, new media and filter pads or cartridges, add a few small fish, like guppies or tetras, feed them daily and this will help tank cycle, don't add any other big fish. Change 50% water ever 6-7 days and in 3-4 weeks you'll be golden to add a couple decent fish, it takes the bb a little time to adjust to the bio load, it is important you maintain 1x/week 50% wc.

Add bio media to your filter so the bb has a place to colonize with out risk of dying. Fluval bio max, api chem stars, matrix are all good.

The more time you take the more things will go right.



Go S. Vettel #1 rb8
 
shawneedaniel said:
As far as fluctuating I know that with tanks that are being established there will be a spike in the ammonia then that will lower then a spike in the nitrite then that will lower, then the nitrates.
Click to expand...

This is wrong.
Your tank died from the typical ammonia poisoning. The ich was secondary because your fish were sick from ammonia poisoning.

There should NEVER be an ammonia spike. ammonia kills in minutes to hours. If it's detectable, you needed to do a 50% water change immediately.

On the next restart, just use easy modern bacteria laiden products.
Seachem Stability - bacteria in a bottle.
CaribSea Instant Aquarium - bacteria in substrate.
Activ-Flora - bacteria in substrate.
With these bacteria laiden products, there should be no ammonia spike, which is instantly deadly.

Get a Seachem Ammonia Alert
http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11147371
To instantly detect ammonia and do something about it. As in, change 50% water right away.

Minimize feeding for the first 2 weeks. 1 meal a day. Your tank is not ready to process food wastes.

I put my fish in on tank setup day #1 all the time. Nothing bad happens. The TV show Tanked, they put fish in on day #1 all the time. Nothing bad happens. You just need to buy products that have bacteria that eats up the ammonia. And 50% water changes as frequently as necessary, initially, as often as daily to weekly. Most likely 1 water change every 3-6 days, until the tank stabilizes.
 
I'm not sure about your other fish, but the pleco and knife probably died because you used salt. Salt can be fatal to all scaleless fish and catfish.
Instead of doing a fish in cycle, I suggest doing a fishes cycle. Less stress for your fish and you, plus you don't risk having to waste money on fish.

Sent from my PC36100 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
sandofarms said:
..........
On the next restart, just use easy modern bacteria laiden products.
Seachem Stability - bacteria in a bottle.
................
The TV show Tanked, they put fish in on day #1 all the time. Nothing bad happens.
Click to expand...
SeaChem Stability is a good product. there is an MFK test thread about it.
However, such products do not prepare tank for an immediate full population of fish. the BB takes time to multiply, as fish are gradually added.
and the show Tanked is very deceptive. there are mfk threads by firsthand witnesses to whole tanks of fish dying right after the "production" is over and the crew leaves. They are marketing a show (and that company, IMO) not teaching how to properly stock new tanks.
 
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