# Fish keep dying, am I missing something?



## Petey (Jun 18, 2010)

I bought a 5 gal tank to move my blue dwarf gourami into. Woke up the next morning to a dead gourami stuck to the filter intake. I checked ammonia, chlorine, and other levels and everything was well within safe ranges. My best guess is maybe he got stressed and couldn't get away from the intake.

So I got a beta. He was fine for the first week, but I got into a wreck and broke my arm. I spent a month at my parents while my roommate took care of my fish. When I got back, the beta was dead. Maybe lack of feeding on my roommate's part?

So for round three, I bought two red wag platys. They seemed fine but they would sit at the bottom of the tank and not move. I thought they were dead at first but when I reached in the tank, they would start swimming around normally. They were fine for about a week, but I got up yesterday morning and one of them was at the bottom not moving. I scooped him up and he was actually dead this time. When I got up this morning, it was the same story with the other one. 

So, is there something I'm missing or am I just unlucky? I've checked the levels in the tank several times and everything seems to be fine. I used water, gravel, and decorations from my 55gal cycled tank and I used the tetra safestart. 

Other than buying a pet rock, what should I do?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Hows the 55 doing? Does it have fish. Does the 5 have a heater? 1 dead fish is unlucky, 2 is a trend, 4 is an epidemic. 

A 5 is a small tank, naturally unstable. Small changes can have quick, drastic effects on water quality. Temp. can swing wildly. pH can drop suddenly. And, most importantly, ammonia or nitrite can kill and vanish before you test for it. Spot checking can miss it. 
IMO a small tank is harder than a large one. So the smaller the tank, the more likely the cause was water quality.

A pet-sit betta usually suffers from overfeeding and under waterchanging. 

There are a few more possibilities. New fish that die within days are often 'shocked' or diseased. Poor acclimation of fish from a different water chemistry can kill. Some stores keep lots of salt in their fresh water systems and fish suffer when you move them to straight fresh. 

Diseased fish are also common from stores. A platy sitting on the bottom is cold or unhappy. Fish can be unhappy about water or because they feel sick. 

A tank that repeatedly kills fish placed in it could be toxic or diseased. Toxic tanks are usually used and have been repaired or decorated with non fish-safe products. A tank can also harbor disease from sick fish and give it back to new fish. 

If you no longer have another successful tank, you could have problem water. Testing tap was for ammonia and chlorine before and after dechlor can rule some potential issues out.

My advice is to bleach everything (like 1 bleach in 5 water), and rinse well, then let totally dry. Including rinsing the substrate in a colander in the sink. Remove anything you suspect isn't fish safe. Start over like a brand new tank and be obsessive about water quality.

Use this tank a QT/hospital tank. Using a 5 for long-term aquarium should be limited to tiny fish or single bettas.


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## Petey (Jun 18, 2010)

Thanks for the advice. The 55 gal is still running great. There was a mutiny while I was gone and the cichlids devoured one of their own and the small pleco. So now there's 4 cichlids and an 8in pleco. I don't think I'm going to add any other fish. 

I think I'm going to retire the 5 gal for now. It'll be a good spare tank in case the cichlids decide to try and finish off another one or if one gets sick.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Its hard to resist filling a tank, but leaving it empty kills a lot of potential disease and you should always have a hospital tank for chewed cichlids.


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## someonefishy (Oct 14, 2010)

And since your gourami got trapped in the filter intake, I would put a plastic grid or screen over that intake to keep fish out. Don't use metal screening, as that can be toxic. I'm surprised your filter kit didn't already come with a fish guard to place over the intake tube. That should be a standard component of any and all aquarium filters.

-- someonefishy


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Killer filter intakes are, IMO, largely a myth. Unless a fish is very stupid, it usually learns to steer clear of them quickly. Usually a sucked-up fish is already dying of disease, injury, or poisoning. Even my tiny convict fry are not getting sucked up. I think momma taught them to steer clear. I suppose a filter could be so strong for the size tank that fish can't avoid it, but its pretty rare. People with little tanks usually have little filters. 

If you do have reason to think your fish are imperiled, a sponge makes a nice, safe filter guard. Just remember to squeeze it out in the old water and wc time so it doesn't clog and restrict flow.


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## Petey (Jun 18, 2010)

The intake has a plastic guard on it. Neither the platys nor the betta had a problem with it. My guess is the gourami got stressed and couldn't swim away.


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