My 55 gallon in trouble fish dying!!!!

trudymae

1. Size of tank? 55 Gallons

2. Water parameters
a. Ammonia?.5
b. Nitrite?200
c. Nitrate?3.0
d. pH, KH and GH? ph7.2 kh0 gh ideal
e. Test kit?tetra easy strips 6 in 1

3. Temperature?76

4. FW (fresh water) or BW (brackish)? BW

5. How long the aquarium has been set up?8 months

6. What fish do you have? How many are in your tank? How big are they? How long have you had them? 1 albino shark, 3 bala sharks, 3 tiger barbs, 3 albino tiger barbs, 3 guppies, 3 Gourami two blood red one blue, 3 african cichlids, 1 dalmatian molly,3 cherry barbs, 3 blood fin Tetras, 1 alge eater, 2 red tips. They are all young very small largest is the balas at 1 inch

7. Were the fish placed under quarantine period (minus the first batch from the point wherein the tank is ready to accommodate the inhabitants)? No

8. a. Any live plants? Fake plants? 3 live plants 3 fake plants
b. Sand, gravel, barebottom? Play Sand bottom
c. Rocks, woods, fancy decors? Any hollow decors? several rocks , large driftwood hollow, fake tree stump hollow

9. a. Filtration? tetra power filter
b. Heater? yes

10. a. Lighting schedule? What lights are used? florecent always on
b. Any sunlight exposure? How long? yes all day exposure

11. a. Water change schedule? only did one water change 20 percent done on monday 10 gallons total with Amquel plus added
c. Well water, tap water, RO water? Tap water
d. Water conditioner used?Amquel plus Ammonia detoxifier
e. Frequency of gravel/sand (if any) vacuumed? never vacummed sand not sure how too

12. Foods? API Cichlid pellets, TetraMin Tropical Crips, Omega One Freeze Dried Blood worms
How often are they fed? They are fed in the early morning and then in the evening they only get the blood worms at night

13. a. Any abnormal signs/symptoms? sitting head down my blood red and Blue Gourami laying on side two have already died
b. Appearance of poop?norma;
c. Appearance of gills?normal

14. a. Have you treated your fish ahead of diagnosis?
b. What meds were used?

15. Insert photos of fish in question and full tank shot if necessary.


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I started to notice all the fish acting funny yesterday and then around 3pm today I found one of my Blue Gourami dead and now I have a red one that is swimming then floating on its side then swimming. All the fish seem to be suspend in the water not moving a whole lot just way off for my tank.

essjay

Sorry to hear about your fish losses...

I don't know a great deal about BW tanks, but looking at your ammonia and nitrite levels, I'd suggest doing an immediate 50% water change to get those levels down.. And possibly daily 50% water changes until the levels are 0. Another more experienced BW tank owner might be able to clarify that...

Someone might be able to clarify, but to me, it looks like you have too many fish too.. Sorry to say, but if you read the profiles (Can be found in the Tropical Fish Profiles tab at the top of the page) of the different varieties, I think you'll find that some of them aren't compatible either...

Also, you mention that you don't vacuum, you should get a vacuum siphon from your LFS, if you tell them your tank size (dimensions as well as volume), they should recommend the right size one for you and if you ask, will probably show you how to use it too. I think sand is a little trickier to vacuum than gravel, but you should be getting at least some of the poop out of there, as that could be contributing to your ammonia and nitrite levels.. Some people may not agree, but I got one a size smaller than recommended for my tank, as I find it easier to handle...

nicolaas

Why is the tank BW? Only the molly and guppys can live in BW! The others will al die!

And what african cichlids are they?

Your tank is totally messed up those fish should not even be together.

Do a 50%water change as soon as possible and don't ad salt. How much salt do you normally put in the tank?

Sorry if I'm a bit harsh on you.
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trudymae

we only add about a teaspoon per 10 gallons of water. We questioned all this when we started to buy our fish and not once have we heard that our salt was to high for any of them. Most of the fish have been in our tank since July and the problems didn't start till after I did a 20 percent water change on Monday now I have fish dying.
They are Kenyi African Cichlid and so far they are happy and having no problem. I had been using Prime when we added the water to the tank. This last time we used the other stuff I had listed and I wonder if that would have caused my problem my hubby seems to think so. The only real fish having the problem is the Gourami. Once again they had no problems until I did the water change and used something other than prime.

trudymae

The lady at Pets mart did the water test and gave me the stuff that I used and no I didn't add prime when I added the other stuff could that be the problem. I don't know in 8 months I have had no problems. It all started because I was worried that I wasn't testing the water and was going to lose fish but I wasn't loosing fish now I am. We had had a brown algae problem and that's why I was testing the water and then did the water change that the lady recommended.

jentralala

It's probably just coincidence. These fish are living in very stressful conditions which is shortening their lifespan and causing their demise.

1)Ammonia should be 0, always. They are being poisoned and their gills burned.

2) Your Nitrite is holy crap high. This should also be 0, always. They are literally swimming in their own waste, and it's killing them.

4)Test strips, quite frankly, suck. The results are unreliable and inconsistent. I highly recommend API Master Liquid Test Kit, for the benefit of your fish.

5)I highly highly highly doubt that the conditioner has anything to do with what's going on. Right now, though, you should be doing 50% or more water changes every single day to get your levels in check. Add live plants, lots. Stuff like Anacharis, Wisteria, Water Sprite, Duckweed. Try to figure out the lighting on your tank. We can get back to this later though.

6)Cleaning. Water changes, once the tank has been sorted, should be done every single week, at a volume of around 30% of the tank, with mulm (poo) being siphoned off the top of the sand.

7)Fish. Before I say anything, let me say this. You may not visibly see aggression between fish, but it's there. Several of these fish will grow much too large for your tank, and even if they are small now, the lack of space severely harms them. They will become stressed and sickly and ultimately die prematurely.
Bala sharks need a 6 foot tank minimum, preferably an 8 ft. These fish get very large, and are very very active, and will swim the whole space. They are cramped in your tank, and due to their stress are releasing hormones, and other chemicals that are hurting everyone else in the tank. These fish absolutely should be returned.
African cichlids need much harder water. They also are very aggressive fish. I'd recommend removing them.

You have several other problems but they can be worked out once these major issues are addressed.


*To vaccuum sand...just hover the siphon (the tube you use to remove water) above the sand. The mulm will be pulled off and into the hose. You may suck up a bit of sand but it's not a big deal.

RSully

ok, to start with, you're running your lights WAY to long, hence the algae problem. Cut your lights down for awhile to 8 hours or less a day. Also, if you can do something about the direct daylight, that would help too. Looking at your water parameters, you need to get ammonia and nitrites to 0. Your nitrites are through the roof. Nitrates are ok, but not great, but I don't think they are the cause of your issues at the moment. Start with 50% water changes daily til you get those numbers under control. After that, when your doing water changes, try and vacuum about a 1/3 of your substrate at a time. You should be doing at least every other week or weekly water changes, 20-25% at a time for normal maintenance. Personally, during water changes, I just use tetra aquasafe plus at water changes and have never had an issue (or go back to prime) I also think you're way overstocked for fish even at a juvenile stage. WHen these fish start to grow, you'l really have an issue.

Also, not to sound to harsh, but the last place to get advice is from someone at petsmart. While I'm sure there is some knowledgeable folks there, for the most part, they're there to move merchandise and aren't concerned with what consequences happens to your fish or your tank.

Take a breath and try to get one thing in order at a time. I know it sounds like a lot but be patient and you can get this fixed.

jentralala

Wait. Do you mean your NitrAte is 200, with NitrIte as 3? Big distinction here.

RSully

Dear Lord, I hope that's not what she meant. Nothing should be living in those numbers, or nothing will be shortly. I read it as Trities as 2.0 ppm and trates at 30 ppm. If you're right, this tank is in bad shape.

trudymae

It is in bad shape I let people steer me wrong on the fish and we are thinning them out out as I type. My husband is telling me I am spazing over nothing. Everyone has told him the bala will only grow to the size of the environment. I don't believe that I have a ton of money invested in our fish. He has only had Gourami and he was younger he has never had a tank as an adult so he so no problems not the way I do.