Help: Fish dying fast

[mrbiglive]

Hi,
I have kept this tank for a year now and it has served me well. However, in the last couple months, no matter what I do, fish kept dying. The only fish that survived is a suckerfish. Every time I add fish to it, they will die.

I have tried everything... clean out the whole tank of slime and grime, removed noisy filter, etc... but the fish and prawns always die. They die within minutes or an hour... sometimes a little longer.

I noticed that sometimes they get lethargic and just stay at the bottom of the tank... then they die. Sometimes, their fins become white and "torn" after awhile in the tank. even when they are new fish from the store. I have included a picture here. This picture was taken a few hours after I put the fish in the tank. The algae eaters have already died.

If anyone knows what is killing my fish, please let me know... Thanks in advance.

[Mystikboy]

test the water you are using. maybe there is some buildup in the taps that affect the water parameters?

and maybe because you clean out the entire tank, plus add in chlorinated water (do you age it?), the ammonia or chlorine, whichever gets the fish first, kills them.

[copycat01]

seems like some form of fugus or such.

sound really bad since you already clean out the whole tank of slime and grime, removed noisy filter, etc. and the live stock die within minutes or an hour. (BTW did you add anti chlorine and aclimatize the live stock before adding in)

else do reclean the whole tank totally (empty all live stock and equpiments). If possible replace the filter media also.

[wongce]

My lucky guess was you don't have the test kit to test water..LIKE ME...LOL

check the following:-
1) did put in anti chlorine? is it sufficient?
2) any bad smell or rotten egg smell in your tank? hunt for corpse of fish/critters which might hide somewhere in you tank
3) is the water cloudy( white:- bacteria bloom, green- algae bloom)...both will cause lack of oxygen..might be the cause
4) do you have any airstone or extra pump for oxygen? fish like neons are quite hardy... seldom have casualty unless lack of oxygen
5) i would recommend complete decom of your tank... sterilize all of your things like air stone, filter components,, sand, decorations with hot water... just dump everything into hot water will do and let them dry out normally... just a few second in to boiling water should do the trick... if you have plants..then its trickier( don't boil your plants pls) quarantine them in separate pail, maybe need to dip in diluted bleach or chemical..search forum for directions

after all is done, put back n assemble everything back into order start again... let the water cycle a bit..min 1 week if you are having hardy fish...shrimps maybe more than a month( need a lot of testing).. you can try out with hardy fishes like those 1 dollar per bag:- feeder fish(sword fish).. if they still die... something is very wrong then... maybe your decoration or equipment is leaking some chemical or even electricity into the tank??

Note; never pour in your fish with the LFS's water into your tank, you don't know whats in their water...
always put anti chlorine..that is the minimum for fishes to live... have some general aid or solution for white spot chemical(1-2 dollars each) add in during firstly introduce fish.. the picture seems like itch? some fishes will develop itch when unable to suit to the environment...

lastly acclimatization your fish before putting into the tank... put some water into the fish bag...let it float in your tank for a while... then release the fish into the tank..

Sucker fishes are super fishes..they can live in murky water..( i once fished one in my home town river and it was 1 foot long, i'm not joking) generally they won't die easily...

[mrbiglive]

Thanks for all your reply. I have done most of the things you all suggested. I do add anti-chlorine, anti-fungal and anti-bacteria solution. I've also added several rounds of feeder fish or shrimps to "test" the water... only about 30% survive. Like I said, the sucker fish outlived them all. The water is clear, there is some dirt on the gravel, that's about it. There is smell sometimes, but that comes from the fish/shrimp that die. Once cleared, the smell is gone.

I've also cleaned the gravel and ornaments. I've not ran hot water over them... Not sure if that will really help, but maybe worth a try.

I add the same water to another tank and the fish in there are fine, so I don't think it is the water. I'm not sure if a test kit will tell me much since I've washed everything and changed the water. Can you tell me what the testkit does and where I can buy one.

Thank you.

[wongce]

Sterilize the items & ornaments,hope it helps.. I seldom see ppl fail so many times.. Do u have anything from the wild?? Item like coral chips,oyster shells,sea shells will raise PH & sometimes will have harmful bacteria(from wild)..last resort is use mild dettol to sterilize everythIng, but I'm against using harmful chem as u might not be able to clean them thoroughly.

There are tonnes of test kits..but I don't use them.as I keep hardy fish n shrimps... There are some from API which is most affordable.

Last thing to check is item like air freshener or insect spray..do u spray them often? I am really out of ideas on what happened to your tank..maybe someone sabotage your tank??

Upload a picture Of your tank..hope can get some masters in AQ to help to see the problem.

[felix_fx2]

Can have full picture of tank?
Have you tired just bare tank and the substrate ?
Normal pelco have very good tolerance of conditions, bear this in mind.
If even pelco dies then START TO WORRY :\

Try keeping the tank as it is for 1-2 weeks. While still keeping the water change routine normal. You might want to get some test kits. They always come in handy.

[Arotiger]

when you add the problem tank A water to tank B, does the tank A water form more than or less than 50% of tank B water? What plants you use? Are there hidden parasites which attack the fishes?

[felix_fx2]

Sterilize the items & ornaments,hope it helps.. I seldom see ppl fail so many times.. Do u have anything from the wild?? Item like coral chips,oyster shells,sea shells will raise PH & sometimes will have harmful bacteria(from wild)..last resort is use mild dettol to sterilize everythIng, but I'm against using harmful chem as u might not be able to clean them thoroughly.

There are tonnes of test kits..but I don't use them.as I keep hardy fish n shrimps... There are some from API which is most affordable.

Last thing to check is item like air freshener or insect spray..do u spray them often? I am really out of ideas on what happened to your tank..maybe someone sabotage your tank??

Upload a picture Of your tank..hope can get some masters in AQ to help to see the problem.

Hoho. I did the insect spray before. All shrimps died. Fish guppy and platy alive

[wongce]

Hoho. I did the insect spray before. All shrimps died. Fish guppy and platy alive

Hoho, don't play play...your guppy n platy are very lucky... LOL

[barmby]

I think it is some kind of fungal illness that hit the cardinal, neon and green tetra only. The way to solve is to remove all the tetra and treat in separate tank. Stop adding feeder fish into your tank as they themselves carry alot of parasites and germs in their stomach. Meanwhile let the tank to sit and add some rasbora and shrimps sparingly. I suggest rasbora because they are more native and its from SE ASIA, it will help to cycle the tank.

Good luck

[felix_fx2]

Hoho, don't play play...your guppy n platy are very lucky... LOL

My guppy platy are "the expandables"
most of my cherries died. My 2 1/2 year old malayans lived lol.
I did a 70% WC right after I noticed my "abit of folly".

[mrbiglive]

Hi all,

mIMG_0791.jpgHere is a picture of my tank. The net is there to prevent splashes from the bubbles from the airstone. I added a separate airstone temporary since my filter is off. I've been adding bacteria too. So far, no new deaths since yesterday. Yes I have one Pleco (suckerfish) and one terra and some shrimps left.

I have nothing from the wild, the ornaments are an anchor and a ship. The block of wood is from the plants I used to have.

I did not move water from this tank to another... I do top up water from the same tap.

I mostly treat this tank as a feeder tank, so I just throw in the water with all the feeder fish and shrimp. Maybe that is where I did wrong. Could the parasite from the feeder fish really kill everything?

Also, I think I can rule out insecticide because the phenomenon only happened a few months ago. I've always used some insecticide, but carefully. However, I do keep the filter wool in the same cabinet as the insecticide. Could the fumes get trapped in the wool this way?

I used to have plants but they all died... maybe from the blue medicine I added. I'm currently adding some fungal medicine just in case. There seemed to be a little white "flesh" on the terra. Not sure if it is fungal or just wounded. So far its fins look ok. I must say this terra survived longer than I expected.

[barmby]

I have many doubts. First, the tank is very small, correct? one gallon tank?

Second, the tetra definitely kena fungus already.

Finally, yes insecticide - the layer of oil film will get in the wool and stay there..

[yepee]

I have this problem before....

1) the first time fish keep dieing i think due to PH crash(PH below 5) if fungus fish will not die so fast within hour or min.
2)Then second time die is because water too new.
3)Hot water boil is good but you must treat the soil too.

So it best that you restart everything....then let the water cycle for 4 day before you can add in new fish. As for now please don't add new fish cause the more you add the more it die.

[wongce]

Your tank seems ok, the prob might be the wood.. try not to put in the wood in the tank and restart the tank.. DW are good place for parasites/ bacteria to hide as they are porous or you can follow the below options

Option 1) soak everything in boil water. you might even need to disinfect your tank, but your tank & silicon might not be able to stand the boiled hot water, use warm water is better option..

option 2) if you want..you might even need to disinfect your tank using maybe diluted dettol on the glass.. make sure you wash everything till there is no more smell... repeat flushes with cold water should get rid of the dettol quite easily.

let the tank to dry open air... do not spray insecticide around the tank...insecticide can last for 2 week before it starts to breakdown...(its for roaches prevention..read the labels and you will be amazed).. if it can kill roaches, to wit your fishes..

disinfect your ornament, equipments like your net, filter components, air stone etc

Feeder fish is not clean, but at least you isolate the dirty water in the tank. i know some friends who even quarantine the normal fishes for few days before intro into tank.. since all fishes, plants, are from farms.. i don't think any of them are clean anyway..LOL.. btw, don't try to disinfect your fishes.it will never work..LOL..

For hardy fishes, cycling for few days are ok...for shrimps..better cycle for 1 month+ if you are keeping expensive shrimps. So what are you planning to keep?

always keep poison away from the fishes...don't put insecticide near them or in the same place as the equipments... update us after you disinfect and restart.. wish you luck...

[felix_fx2]

The anchor look damm real. Even till the rust detail.

Don't mix the spray, not a good practice.

[wongce]

Mrbiglive, any updates?