# fish dying in new tank set up/panic setting in.



## bernard donnelly (Feb 1, 2008)

can someone please help asap.set up new 54 litre tank 1st week december07. ran empty except for decor and stress coat/zyme and an odd flake of food for 3 weeks before adding fish[5 guppies].added 2 mor fish per week up to 12 fish. all ok till this week when fish started to die. first 2 guppies then 1 black mollie , 2 swordtails, another swordtail and 1 more guppy. none of them looked sickish except for the mollie which seemed to have whitish film on part of body[i dont think ich but stand corrected as i am a newcomer to keeping trop fish]. now i see the 2nd mollie doesn't look good with a loose scale?on top of her head and whitish film around the head as well, i also have a very sluggish plattie now . sorry for being so long winded but am in a flap. at moment tank contains 3 mollies [1 black 2 sailfins] 2 guppies,1 three spot gourami,1 dwarf gourami,2 tetras,1 swordtail,2platies. i know my ph was very high and am treating water for same 3 days now on advice from petshop as i brought them a sample of the water but they didn't say anything was wrong with nitrates/nitrites.all advice appreciated,thanks.


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## Mirta (Apr 21, 2007)

mmm... Could it be some kind of fungus? I have heard that mollies appreciate brackish water at times. What about the temperature in the tank?


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

hi and welcome.
is there any chance that you can tell us a little more about
your tank.....
do you test your water,and if you do could you please post the
results,
how often do you clean your tank out,and how do you do it,
do you clean the filter,and how do you do that.
do you add dechlorinater to the water going back into
the tank.
sorry for all the questions,however it will help members here to
be able to help you.
hopefully we will have you sorted in no time.


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## bernard donnelly (Feb 1, 2008)

thanks mirta and willow. the platy has died . have done a major water change but have probably stressed fish in the process. bought tetra "blackwater extract" 2 days ago but am afraid to use it. added stress coat / zyme + nutrafin ph down, to latest water change. i clean the tank with gravel suction filter. including tonight have done about 4 water changes [30%each time but tonight about 60%] since i started to introduce fish but havnt cleaned filter yet ,temp is 26c. dont have water test kit ,was dependening on lfs for advice but am coming to conclusion they are only interested in selling product. temp is steadily consistent with little variation, good flowrate from filter pump,they are both "vitatech"make.notice that sickly fish have been" hanging around "the top and sides of the filterpump, if that means anything.am brand new to the fishkeeping and really am an amateur. mostly have gotten my info from lfs and books.will buy water test kit 2moro but also will have water tested in lfs. its a 54 litre tank. : :?


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## Falina (Feb 25, 2007)

Your tank was quite overstocked, which leads to bad water parameters, so you're doing the right thing by buying a test kit as the stores more often than not just want to sell products and will tell you anything in order to do so.

Stop using th ph down - it leads to instabilities in the water which are often drastic and this in itself can kill the fish. but also, all of your fish are livebearers which appreciate a very high ph, especially the mollies, so there is absolutely no need to lower the ph. A ph of anything up to 8.5 would be fine for these fish so don't worry about that.


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## bernard donnelly (Feb 1, 2008)

*fish dying new tank question/water now tested*

have had water rested, all results are ok, thats ph,nitrates,nitrites,ammonia. lfs told me to stop using "ph down"now and to do nothing else only regular water changes as per normal.i didnt realise that my tank was overstocked , what do i do now? 2guppies,1swordtail,1platy,2gouramis,2sailfin mollys,1black molly,2 tetras.the male sailfin is lingering at bottom of tank but is lively enough at feedtime,is this a prob? seems to be an awful lot of work involved in kooking after trop fish or is it just me? what do you think about using stress coat/zyme versus[KING BRITISH] SAFE WATER? another lfs told me zyme was rubbish and i should use only SAFE WATER,is it a question of docters differ and patients die or am i getting bad advice?also should i now add Tetra blackwater extract or not and if so how much. apologies for all the ???s from a total newbie but hate to see the fish suffer through my ignorance. :?


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## herefishy (Dec 14, 2006)

StressZyme neutralizes ammonia and does not rid the tank of it. You will get a calse reading when testing for ammonia concetrations. I would say that your tank had not cycled prior to adding fish. Patience is a virtue, especially true when setting up a new tank. When you do water chanbes, do not do gravel sweeps as this may remove some of the denitrifying bacteria need to cycle. You may do gravel sweeps later , but not until we can get the tank to cycle. Do not add anything else to the tank, no meds, no amendments, no fish. continue testing the water every other day, if not daily. Check specifically for nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia. When ammonia levels reach zero, your tank should be ready for fish.


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## willow (Sep 9, 2006)

hay there 
they can be a little bit of hard work in the begining,
however hang in there it really will be worth all your hard work,
just follow what has been advised adnyou'll be fine.
just add the de-chlorinater to the new water on water change
day,and as already advised nothing else.
if you could possibly get your own testing kit,then it will
benifit you alot,it will give you exact results,and not the shop saying
"it's fine" we would be able to pretty much see where you are in the 
cycle process 
please don't worry about the asking of questions, 
we all started some where,and if you don't ask then how will you know if you are doing the right thing.


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## Mirta (Apr 21, 2007)

I should agree with the above posts and encourage you not to give up - it's a very rewarding hobby! 

I did have serious problems with my 80 gal when I first set it up as I understand now due to the lack of the cycling time. It was such a disaster - and now it is all over and the sad memories are fading. I took this mistake into consideration and avoided fish loss when set up the new 40 gal. It maybe a bit 'overstocked' but the tetras are healthy and happy there. 

Sailfin mollies might be a bit capricious - they might require brackish water (as well as swordtail and platy), but I am not sure. I like them and have read about them, but never tried to keep, just because of this salinity requirement. But they can live happily without it, if healthy, I suppose.


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