Fish dying not sure why

2235 Views 29 Replies 10 Participants Last post by Robin Conor Sallade, Apr 4, 2017

Robin Conor Sallade

Discussion Starter · Mar 30, 2017

So my tanks fully cycled and i got fish for it, 6 glowlights and 6 glass catfish. Surprisingly it seems the glass cats are doing fine but im losing some glowlights (2 at this point). They seemed fine and happy and their corpses don't really look bloated or have any markings my levels are all fine a ammonia is like one notch above 0 (.25ppm I think), nitrite 0, and nitrates flux a bit but it's planted so it always drops. Should I be worried?

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BettaBettas

· #2 · Mar 30, 2017

ammonia should always be 0ppm

Reactions: 2

Attackturtle

· #3 · Mar 30, 2017

Robin Conor Sallade said:
So my tanks fully cycled and i got fish for it, 6 glowlights and 6 glass catfish. Surprisingly it seems the glass cats are doing fine but im losing some glowlights (2 at this point). They seemed fine and happy and their corpses don't really look bloated or have any markings my levels are all fine a ammonia is like one notch above 0 (.25ppm I think), nitrite 0, and nitrates flux a bit but it's planted so it always drops. Should I be worried?

Bettabettas is correct. .25 will kill all of your fish with time. May take a day, may take a week, but if the ammonia stays that high (or that low) the fish will die. How long hast the tank been set up? How did you cycle it?

Reactions: 1

Willcooper

· #4 · Mar 30, 2017

Seems like you just set this up and did a fishless cycle? If so, you may have added too many fish too quickly which the beneficial bacteria that you established wasn't enough to handle the current bioload. You'll need to do prob daily water changes until you have built up enough beneficial bacteria to handle the bioload.

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Robin Conor Sallade

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 30, 2017

Fishless for about a month and a half then had some fish in there for about 2week. The ammonia isn't actually at .25ppm, just retested, it seems too light for 0 but too dark for the .25 on the API tester. I'll up my water change schedule and give a good clean if there is excess food in there.

clownplanted

· #6 · Mar 30, 2017

How many plants you have in there? The more the better for handling the continuous ammonia but immediate large water changes are a must to get it under control fast.

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Robin Conor Sallade

Discussion Starter · #7 · Mar 30, 2017

A good amount of plants (Val, wisteria, java fern babies, red flames, and a Lilly) also it's a 29gal I didn't mention that. I'll just up the water changes I did one a little bit ago, im just surprised the glass cats aren't having any ill effects but the tetras are.

Attackturtle

· #8 · Mar 30, 2017

HTML:

Robin Conor Sallade said:
Fishless for about a month and a half then had some fish in there for about 2week. The ammonia isn't actually at .25ppm, just retested, it seems too light for 0 but too dark for the .25 on the API tester. I'll up my water change schedule and give a good clean if there is excess food in there.

That is odd then. The fishless cycle pumps way more ammonia into the tank then you would normally ever get with fish so as long as the cycle was good you should be good. You are using the top with the test tube, not your finger to shake ya? I did that and got bad readings before. Your losses may have just been new fish stressed from the store.

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Robin Conor Sallade

Discussion Starter · #9 · Mar 30, 2017

Yea I used the top lol. Yea the only reason I didn't think it was ammonia at the get go is the more sensitive fish seems fine, the ammonia level I chocked up to being the over feeding (which at the moment is on purpose I only have flakes and the glass cats need slow sinkers and soaked flakes sink very fast) but it's entirely possible that it's ammonia poisoning just haven't seen any of it's typical signs and the levels always flux then fall within the day normally.

Dman911

· #10 · Mar 31, 2017

At .25ppm ammonia it will not kill or even harm your fish unless your PH is very high. If your PH is under 8 your fine. That said its best to keep ammonia as close to 0 as possible. Just keep on top of it until you show 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and some nitrates.

How did you acclimate your new fish?

Dan

Reactions: 2

Robin Conor Sallade

Discussion Starter · #11 · Mar 31, 2017

Drip acclimation for about 30min. pH is higher than I like but it's at 7.4-7.6 (been slowly lowering) I add tannins to control it some (driftwood ATM and probably some leaves later).

Reactions: 1

Jennywren

· #12 · Mar 31, 2017

For ammonia under 1ppm I would skip the water changes and dose the tank with Prime... 1ml/10 gal every 24 hrs until your reading is 0pm. This will protect your fish without slowing your cycle's recovery by diluting your "bacteria food".

Robin Conor Sallade

Discussion Starter · #13 · Mar 31, 2017

Okay I got home from work, checked ammonia levels they're just slightly lighter than 0 now not remotely green so my ammonia has gone down for sure. I did notice something strange with a fish one of the tetras are swimming at the surface at an angle with head up (Id say at like a 30-45 degrees off from straight up and down). It kinda looks like its gasping for air but that water definitely oxygenated (plants pearl regularly), my guess is possibly some infection I just hadn't noticed (I did get them from PetSmart so I doubt they quarantine at all). I included a picture, pardon the algae.

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BettaBettas

· #14 · Mar 31, 2017

may want to clean the algae since it absorbs oxygen as well

Reactions: 2

Dman911

· #15 · Mar 31, 2017

BettaBettas said:
may want to clean the algae since it absorbs oxygen as well

+1 Algae and plants will consume oxygen when lights are out but also your beneficial bacteria that are growing consume it. Plants pearling will help but not after the light go out and oxygen is much harder to dissolve in water than C02 the best method of ensuring enough oxygen is surface agitation. I could be wrong but I think you gain more oxygen exchange through the surface agitation an air stone creates than the bubbles rising to the surface.

I'm not saying this is what's happening but then again I'm not saying it not

Dan

Reactions: 1

nel

· #16 · Mar 31, 2017

Plants are pearling... Are you using CO2 by any chance? Maybe just pumping too much? I'm asking because it's pretty unusual to get plants pearl without it (if it's pearling after water change, then it means nothing).
The other idea is to check if you are doing the ammonia test right. It's a pretty popular problem.
With gasping fish, whatever the reason may be, I would up water changes and in the meantime look for real problem with people here

Robin Conor Sallade

Discussion Starter · #17 · Mar 31, 2017

Yes i know it does use O2 at night but overall it shouldn't be enough to harm a tank and it being low O2 couldn't be the case because that'd be a blanket issue and not one singular fish. I am taking care of the algae issue that is a few days growth been adjusting light levels/time. This kind of algae (mix of diatom and green) is non toxic as well (done several papers on the stuff in my area I know it quite well as an Ecology student who specialized in water quality/pollution).

Bump: I dont use CO2 and its barely been water changed since its cycle just last week and today.

Bump: I dont use CO2 and its barely been water changed since its cycle just last week and today.

Dman911

· #18 · Mar 31, 2017

Robin Conor Sallade said:
Yes i know it does use O2 at night but overall it shouldn't be enough to harm a tank and it being low O2 couldn't be the case because that'd be a blanket issue and not one singular fish. I am taking care of the algae issue that is a few days growth been adjusting light levels/time. This kind of algae (mix of diatom and green) is non toxic as well (done several papers on the stuff in my area I know it quite well as an Ecology student who specialized in water quality/pollution).

Bump: I dont use CO2 and its barely been water changed since its cycle just last week and today.

Bump: I dont use CO2 and its barely been water changed since its cycle just last week and today.

The algae is definitely non toxic. Do you have any surface agitation? The reason I ask is if there is a biofilm on top it will inhibit gas exchange. It could also be that one fish suffered some gill damage at one point or another and is more sensitive to it. Again I'm not saying this is the case but rather trying to eliminate it. If you don't simply add an airstone if you have or change the filter output to break the surface of the water and see if he is still gasping after about an hour.

Dan

Bump:

nel said:
Plants are pearling... Are you using CO2 by any chance? Maybe just pumping too much? I'm asking because it's pretty unusual to get plants pearl without it (if it's pearling after water change, then it means nothing).
The other idea is to check if you are doing the ammonia test right. It's a pretty popular problem.
With gasping fish, whatever the reason may be, I would up water changes and in the meantime look for real problem with people here

I agree its odd to see plants pearl without Co2. Water changes definitely won't hurt. I think your referring to the nitrate tests... the one you have to shake for 30 seconds like a bat out of hell?

Dan

Reactions: 1

Robin Conor Sallade

Discussion Starter · #19 · Mar 31, 2017

Yea Ive got the canister filter's spray bar pointed almost straight up (real easy reminder the filter is on during water change as you get sprayed in the face). There is almost no biofilm on the top just some right near the driftwood branches that break the surface (its got that white slime on it cuz its still new so I imagine that is the source).

Bump: It pearled during the fishless cycle and i had an airstone in there for a while before i had fish thats probably the cause. Fundamentally pearling means tandem to nothing other that theres allot of O2 in there. Since the addition of fish and stone removal its pearled 2x but not for like a long period of time also it was mainly the Val pearling at a specific height (1-2.5in from the top).

Dman911

· #20 · Mar 31, 2017 (Edited)

Robin Conor Sallade said:
Yea Ive got the canister filter's spray bar pointed almost straight up (real easy reminder the filter is on during water change as you get sprayed in the face). There is almost no biofilm on the top just some right near the driftwood branches that break the surface (its got that white slime on it cuz its still new so I imagine that is the source).

Well he may just have permanent gill damage, at this point idk what else to try but hopefully others will. The white slime on the wood is more than likely a fungus that is non-toxic and will go away on its own some fish eat it although I haven't seen a pic I'm pretty confident about that.

Added: without Co2 an airstone will actually benefit the plants as it will increase gas exchange for not only o2 but also Co2 they are independent of eachother

Dan

Reactions: 1

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