# dying fish



## aerynkelly (Mar 24, 2008)

I have a 20 gallon freshwater tank that I am starting - this tank used to be established, but after a long weekend and a power hit to the building (the tank is at work) we ended up losing all the fish. We completely cleaned the tank out, so now it's brand new again. I'm definitely familiar with cycling...had no problems establishing the tank last time. This time however, any fish I put into the tank isn't surviving 24 hours. I've tested the water and can find nothing wrong with it. When the first fish died I thought maybe it was sick from the pet store (it wouldn't eat, wasn't swimming much) but after the 2nd died, I started to suspect the tank. Any thoughts/suggestions?


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## crazy4fish (Dec 31, 2007)

how did you clean it and what did you use to clean it? and what kind of fish did you get?


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## aerynkelly (Mar 24, 2008)

we emptied the tank completely, rinsed the rocks and the tank several times. The plants (fake) that were in the tank were rinsed in a bleach water solution (very little bleach, mostly water) to clean them, then rinsed in water, soaked in water, rinsed in water again, and soaked in water again. We've done this before to clean the plants (when the tank was still established) and didn't have any problems. We have tried guppies and platies - both of which I've had success with before.


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## Flashygrrl (Jan 18, 2008)

Well...unfortunately they could all be sick from the store. You used water conditioner before putting them in? Acclimated them correctly?


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## aerynkelly (Mar 24, 2008)

Yes I used water conditioner, and the fish were in the tank (in the bag) for half an hour before I let them loose.


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## Flashygrrl (Jan 18, 2008)

I'd guess something from the store then. Bummer...can you return them?

One other thing, usually when I acclimate, I usually float them for half an hour, the open up the bag, fasten the top to something and pour in about a half cup of water every 10 minutes until the bag gets too full, then net them out of there into the tank. Might sound like overkill but it's worth the extra effort.


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## aerynkelly (Mar 24, 2008)

I'll give that a try...anything to help these fish survive! I've avoided buying more fish until I was sure there wasn't a problem with the tank


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## mattyphilly (Jun 23, 2007)

anything peculiar abt the behaviour of the fish....swimming near the surface, swimming a bit slanted to one side....swollen chest, clamped fins?


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## crazy4fish (Dec 31, 2007)

i would try buying from a different fish store. :? if those die too then there is something wrong with your tank.


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## aerynkelly (Mar 24, 2008)

I did buy from 2 different stores. Anyway I bought a few more fish on Friday and they survived the weekend! They seem to be doing just fine, so I guess it was the fish.


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## crazy4fish (Dec 31, 2007)

yeah everything is working! let us know if something goes wrong again....hopefully it wont lol!


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## aerynkelly (Mar 24, 2008)

*just to update...*

Those fish survived a week and then suddenly died, so we completely emptied the tank, and put new rocks in. We put in some live plants this time. We added a green swordtail (female.) She has been swimming happy for almost 2 weeks now! She did have babies...8 that I counted, but she also ate them all. Last week we also added a Betta. They both seem happy and are doing well


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## gymnothorax (Sep 20, 2007)

I would check your tank for stray voltage and probably consider installing a ground probe : )


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## Fishcricker (Feb 16, 2008)

I know that you understand about cycling the tank. Since the super clean-up, has the tank been cycled? Have the water parameters been checked since adding fish? Maybe there has been spike in ammonia and or nitrites and the tank is trying to cycle and that may be why your fish are dying. Just a thought.


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## mitcore (Apr 5, 2008)

aerynkelly said:


> I have a 20 gallon freshwater tank that I am starting - this tank used to be established, but after a long weekend and a power hit to the building (the tank is at work) we ended up losing all the fish. We completely cleaned the tank out, so now it's brand new again. I'm definitely familiar with cycling...had no problems establishing the tank last time. This time however, any fish I put into the tank isn't surviving 24 hours. I've tested the water and can find nothing wrong with it. When the first fish died I thought maybe it was sick from the pet store (it wouldn't eat, wasn't swimming much) but after the 2nd died, I started to suspect the tank. Any thoughts/suggestions?


i am thinking it was the bleach that killed the fish, you wouldnt need alot of it left behind to kill them
my aplogies to the other members i didnt read the responses


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