# my tropical fish are dying can anyone help??



## t1lissa

hi everyone just after a little help, my tropical fish are dying 1 yesterday 3 today, i bought a siamese fighter on monday and yesterday morning it was laying on the bottom of the tank i tapped the tank and it swam off later on it was on top dead, i woke up this morning to find a clown loach and a guppy dead and in the last hour ive noticed a cardinal tetra swimming weak and looks like its going to die, dont know if it helps but the body on the tetra doesnt look straight, also ive got another fish which is about 6" long which has been laying on the bottom of the tank avery now and again since yesterday but doesnt look to be breathing but is still swimming about, ive tested the water myself with the ph and nitrate test kits everything was ok also took a water test to the pet shop and they said it was ok he gave me some melafix (antibacterial fish remedy) anyone got any ideas or solutions thanks paul, also no signs of whitespot ect


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## Berber King

It wont be ph or nitrate,more likely nitrite or ammonia.Do a large water change immediately.Make sure you wash your filter media in tank water,not under the tap.


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## Marinam2

Def sounds like water quality!! What filtration are you running?

Marina


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## mike515

Berber King said:


> It wont be ph or nitrate,more likely nitrite or ammonia.Do a large water change immediately.Make sure you wash your filter media in tank water,not under the tap.


 
why won't it be these two? True more likely to be nitrite or ammonia, but high levels of nitrate are toxic and all three of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate cause pH problems. Significant rises in these 3 pollutants can cause massive changes in pH. If the pH changes quickly then this can and often will kill the fish.


To the Op. Testing for pH and nitrate is not enough. In addition to these you need to test ammonia, nitrite, GH and KH. GH and KH problems will again cause pH issues. If you lose a lot of hardness then the pH will crash causing problems for your fish.


You need to invest in a proper test kit. When you have the water tested by someone else you need to watch them do it. Ensure they do it properly. Then check the results yourself as well. Trust me, after a whole day testing water, even the best member of staff will be bored of it and may not be bothered to do it properly


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## t1lissa

its a fluval 205 external filter,il do a water change now then see how that goes, and il buy a proper test kit tommorow


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## guitarjon

Do the water changes as suggested and get your water checked out properly. Most pet shops who sell fish can do these or you can buy a kit yourself which will probably work out cheaper over time but some places do it for free just for the love of fish.


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## Berber King

mike515 said:


> why won't it be these two? True more likely to be nitrite or ammonia, but high levels of nitrate are toxic and all three of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate cause pH problems. Significant rises in these 3 pollutants can cause massive changes in pH. If the pH changes quickly then this can and often will kill the fish.
> 
> Because the op has tested for these already,and the majority of fish deaths in the average tank are due to nitrite spikes,nitrate as you know does not suddenly kill numerous fish,as it takes a while to build up.In the years i worked in the trade,virtually every test i had to do for customers with the same problem was nitrite-stocking new tanks too quickly,or washing media under the tap.Lets wait for the op to do further tests....


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## mike515

Nitrate can spike quickly in some cases. If something has been rotting in a low water flow area of gravel for example, then if it is disturbed then it can spike within hours.

Also even if it has increased slowly there is a point (around 100ppm) where very few fish will survive, even if the exposure has raised very slowly


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## t1lissa

ive taken another sample to viscum water gardens who tested the water for everything, they said the water is practicaly perfect for the fish?? another neon is dyin its brething but looks paralised


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## Berber King

Have you sprayed any aerosols near the tank,or added any new plants? I only ask because some of the singapore fish farms, where the majority of plants are grown,dip the plants in some really toxic snail-killers.Also,do you have any chemical filtration such as carbon or zeolite in your external filter,these should be changed frequently.Keep doing small water changes anyway,but perhaps the fighter carried something nasty? Melafix will help,but you need to establish what disease it could be for accurate treatment.Photos may help.


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## t1lissa

heres som pics i added some more melafix about an hour ago, the big fish shown look as if its not breathing and looks miserable compared to normal, he`s usually sucking at the ornaments and gravel but last few days heasnt. theres no live plants in the tank just ornaments and 3 airstones


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## Berber King

Nice looking tank.I see you have airstones,sure nobodys sprayed anything near the tank,or those plug-in air-fresheners? A little aquarium salt might help by relieving the osmotic pressure on the fish,but dose carefully as your neons,cardinals and glowlights wont like it much.Also make sure theres no carbon in the filter as it will absorb the melafix.


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## Shelly24

Can i just add.... if your asking for help it simply isnt good enough to say the LFS tested my water and its perfect. You need to go get your own test kit, anyone who is a responsible fish keeper will have one anyway for when these situations arise and regular maintenance checks so go get one and get the results yourself, that way you can be sure that nothings wrong, it seems highly unlikely the waters perfect when youve had so many deaths and you water change 'every no and then'.


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## t1lissa

nope no one dare go near my tank! nothing gets sprayed near it, and the plug in air freshner is at the other side ofr the room 19ft away, il go to the quatic shop and get some of that then and give it a try thanks for the help


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## Marinam2

Is your temperature okay?
To be honest it sounds like a disease is spreading like wildfire amoung your fish.
If thats the case and the incubation period of so short you dont stand much of a chance.

Marina


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## t1lissa

thats what i thought, it seems to be since i put the siamese fighter in on monday only 1 has died today but wee`l see how it goes, ive changed the water and cleaned the filter and have got melafix in im going to the aquatic shop in abit and geting a tester kit etc..


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## 12843

After reading though the posts two thing spring to mind, Might be or might not be either of them but I'll share anyway.

1, I know you have 3 air stones in there but could it be Oxygen?

2, Are all your fake plants safe for water? Just some would probably use glues and so on, and over time would dissolve.

Kris


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## Berber King

Unlikely to be oxygen,fish would be gasping at the surface.Bettas and the kissing gourami are labryinths anyway.


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## t1lissa

the fake plant is from an aquatic shop and has been in there for around a year or so..


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## Haggles

does the inside of the glass feel slimey if you run your finger along it? more than likey ammonia if its slimey and it sounds like the problem to me personaly, no chance of a bottom feeder having died under the substrate?


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## LindaE

do you have one of those air freshners that sprays every so often near the tank? if so MOVE IT we made that mistake we lost 4 clowns, 2 sucking loaches 2other fish and 2 breeding oscars all within days of eachother all because the airfreshner was too close to the tank, it was heart breaking


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## Trillian

t1lissa said:


> ive taken another sample to viscum water gardens who tested the water for everything, they said the water is *practicaly perfect* for the fish


"Practically perfect" means nothing. You need to be sure that the ammonia and nitrite are both zero and that the nitrate is as low as possible (less than 40ppm). It might also be worthwhile to test the KH and pH if you live in a softwater area as low KH can be associated with a pH crash...:whistling2:


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## LindaE

if you have one of those airfreshners that sprays fragrance every minuite or so near the tank MOVE IT that can kill fish, i know from experience not so long ago we lost every thing in our tank, 1 sucking loach, 4 clown loaches 1 plec 2 rainbow coulored fish the names escape now and 2 breeding oscars we did`nt know why until we we went to the shop and they explained


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## mike515

Test the water YOURSELF. That way any mistakes are your own with results etc. Then post the results up here. Ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, KH and GH.


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## t1lissa

the only air freshner weve got is 19ft away from the tank, ive not had anymore die since yesterday morning and the kissing gourami look a lot better hes started to go around kissing again


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## Lamprophis

am i not wrong in saying that nitrite is more dangerous to fish health then nitrate which is what the more dangerous (to fish) nitrites are broken down into.... therefore if a test for nitrate is high, a high level of nitrite has been broken down... either showing filter efficiency... or too much nitrate being produced (ie. overstocking of the tank)


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## cvil

*mine seems the same*

3 fish last 3 mornings all with same sort of signs and now ive another 3 looking likely to come out. It looks like flaky skin and white any ideas wat this cud be as its my we boys tank I got him for his birthday


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## wilkinss77

cvil said:


> 3 fish last 3 mornings all with same sort of signs and now ive another 3 looking likely to come out. It looks like flaky skin and white any ideas wat this cud be as its my we boys tank I got him for his birthday


first, test the water for ammonia & nitrite. if the tests are positive for either, that will be the cause.


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