New tank advice

[drdream]

Hello I have a 70 Gallon aquarium that i've had for years.. The problem is I move alot. I've noticed one thing. I've been using this new carbon (looks like solid rabbit poop pellets) instead of the rocky stuff. Ever since using this carbon my tank never seemed to get that ugly white cloud.

So this time I just set it up, let it run for 72 hours, put in some chloromite remover and dropped in 6 tiny fish (sorry forgot the species... little tiny glow in the dark purple fish). One died immediately (which is normal when adding fish), one died a couple days later. LFS Said not to worry. Then all was fine for about 3 weeks so I added 4 tetras. All was fine with sparkling clear water and happy fish. Then after about week 3.5, oen fish is bobbing at the surface. Then the alarming multiplication of bacteria so I can't see anything in my tank. All of the fish are gasping for air like ready to take off in an airport. I immediately did a 25% water change but it didnt seem to help much.

Based on what i've been reading, this is all normal bacterial bloom but what I don't understand is why it took so long (3.5 weeks) and why this time and not other times when I was using other carbon.

1) How long will this last
2) Should I do anything
3) Will all the fish die? is that normal too?

Tank Dimensions (LxWxH): 1.5 ft x 4 ft x 2.5 ft
Tank Volume (litres or gallons): 70g
Lighting Intensity(No of Watts) : high powered single tube plant light
Type of Lighting (FL/PL/MH) :
No. of Hours your light is on : 10hrs
CO2 Injection Rate (bps) : none
Type of CO2 (DIY/Liquid/Tank) : none
Method of Injection (e.g. Diffusor/Reactor):
Substrate Used : colored Rocks
How thick is your gravel : 1.5" (getting more)
Liquid Fertilizers Used : None
Tank Temperature : 81 degrees f
Type of Filter (overhead/internal/canister) : FLUVAL 304
Filter media used : Carbon & Bio circle things
How long has your tank been set up : 4 weeks

[freshfish]

man you should not put in fish immediately , you need to cycle your tank before just dumping in the fish , and NO it is not normal for a fish to die when you just add it to your tank . in my humble opinion , i believe your tank has not cycled properly , ammonia , nitrite , and even nitrate will cause harm to your fish as its extermely toxic to them.

4 weeks might not be sufficient unless you had "help" from other tanks like used media ( from already stabilized fish tanks ) plants in the stabizlied fish tanks .

also why use carbon ?

READ HERE FOR MORE INFO :
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/article...ss_cycling.php

or just type in fishless cycling in our forum search function .

please stop just dumping in fish , its kinda dumping them to their deaths .

my 2 cents worth . cheers