Fish dropping like flies

[Garrett]

Now, I know when you first start up a tank and get the first fish in there, you can expect one or two to die, it's sort of the way these things go.

I've had four die already, three of them in the last 36 hours, and other than the water being slightly base-around 7.3-I can't really figure out why. None of them had torn fins or signs of fighting, and to be honest, I've got neon tetras, a couple of gouramis and a pair of the yellow guys called glofish-nothing that's normally aggressive. I woke up this morning and found one of the tetras and one of the gouramis dead, and it's starting to freak me out.

I ran the tank and filter for almost a week before I introduced a couple of plants, and then ran the tank for another few days before I got the fish. They were all good for a day or so, then the first neon died. I figured that was sort of the odds, it didn't bother me. Flash forward four days later, though, and three within 36 hours is a bit much. None of the fish showed any signs of distress that I could notice, although the gourami was swimming in one corner of the tank among the plants and didn't seem very interested in what was going on yesterday evening. That really all I can think of.

The shop I bought them at has a really high reputation here on Long Island. Am I just horrifyingly unlucky or did I miss something?

[rich311k]

Do you have test kits? What is the ammonia and nitrite? i am sure the cycle is not done. Please read the free E book it will explain all of this.

By the way what store? Always looking for a new one.

[Garrett]

Selmer's in Huntington. They've won 'best pet store' awards like every year since the last Ice Age.

From what I read I I figured over a week combined would've been enough time for the cycles to work. I'll pick up the test kit this morning, it's honestly something I'd not worried about in my previous tanks when I was a kid and it never hurt me before. Bugger.

[KingFisher]

Your tank is cycling. Ammonia is building up and killing the fish. You need to get a good test kit to test for ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates, and do frequent partial water changes to bring these down to safe levels. Here is a link that will help you learn all about what to do:Free Aquarium Ebook ([Only Registered Users Can See Links.])

[Nautilus29]

Just running your filter without fish isn't going to do anything for your biological cycle. When fish pee and poo in the water it turns into ammonia which is deadly to the fish. Bacteria have to form in your tank that breaks down the ammonia into less toxic forms nitrite which further breaks down into nitrate. So untill these bacteria form your tank will have deadly levels of ammonia and nitrite in the tank. Read the link above for a more in depth explaination.

[Garrett]

*downloads link, starts reading*

[Twe3k]

no better place to learn than the fabulous AC!!:) by the way welcome:)

[MonkeyPox]

In addition to cycling, did you add dechlorinator to the water?

[Garrett]

So, I've tested the water, I was at .6, which according to the diagram with my water pH of 7.2 is in the 'yellow' zone. I added the recommended dose of the cycle-booster stuff and now we play the waiting game. If it means anything, the fish today in general seem much more active compared to yesterday around this time.

[KingFisher]

What was at .6? The ammonia? If so you need to do a waterchange to bring it back down to safer levels. Anything above .25 causes stress to the fish. You should try to keep the level at or below that.

[Nautilus29]

The more oxygen in the tank the less stressed your fish will be so make sure you have something breakin the waters surface like an air stone or your filter outtake.

[Garrett]

The filter and an airstone are both breaking the surface of the water, I reset the stone's position so the air stream's got a better path to the surface of the water, it was hanging up in one of the plants before.

I'm about to start doing a water change, my only real concern is I've only got a gallon of water prepped, from the way you guys are sounding I should probably do more than that. I hadn't figured I'd need to do a major water change so early, obviously I'm noobing this up pretty badly.

[Nautilus29]

We've all done the same thing. For your fishes sake you should do somewhere around a 50% water change everyday to cut the ammonia down. But don't touch the gravel because that will hurt your cycle.

[Garrett]

Every day until the ammonia problem's sorted out, or every day period? I realize that sounds like a dumb question, but it's a small tank so it'd be more annoying as opposed to completely impractical. For the rest of the summer anyway, I teach so this is pretty much the closest thing to work I've got until after labor day. ;)

[KingFisher]

As many times as it takes to keep the ammonia and nitrites down to safe levels. Yes, it could mean every day. This is exactly why it is a PITA cycling with fish. I realize you already have the fish so the fishless cycle is not an option, but it is important for the health of the fish to take the necessary steps to keep them healthy.

[Garrett]

Well, I meant at the minimum until the cycle stabilized, sorry if I wasn't clear about that.

[Nautilus29]

Ya after your tank cycles you can cut back the water changes I usually will do 25 to 50% once a week.

[Garrett]

So, after changing the water and giving the culture stuff 24 hours to do its work, I checked again this morning and the test sample was too pale to show up on the chart really. Going between the completely clear 'zero' and the first comparison at .4, I'm figuring the sample was between .1 and .2. So while I've gotta keep an eye on it, I think the problem, if not solved, is at least in decline. I haven't lost any more fish and they're generally much more active today. So, thanks for the help everyone and a general 'huzzah'.

[rich311k]

Keep testing every day. A water change will likely be in order in another day or two.

[Garrett]

*nod* Once a day testing, or every 12 hours?