# why are they dying?



## luvdux (Dec 13, 2009)

I don't know if its just my tank or what. I have a 10 gallon I've been trying to set up for some time now. I let it cycle for two weeks while I was on a trip. I put one betta in it and later tried to add 4 mollies and a sucker. The sucker is fine but all the mollies died. I thought it was just the betta killing the other fish so I divided the tank into 3 parts and put in 2 more bettas. They were fine for a few days then 2 days ago one of them died and today the original one died. Now I'm left with one that doesn't look like it's doing to good either. Any help?


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## Sea-Agg2009 (Aug 2, 2008)

When you say cycle, what exactly did you do? Also check the pH of your water. You can take the water to your petstore and they will check it for you.


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## luvdux (Dec 13, 2009)

well I just put a couple of feeder fish in the tank and let it run for awhile. That's what the guy at the pet store told me to do anyway.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

..... Test kit would help alot. figuere out what your ammon, no2, no3. Right now you don't know anything about your tank aside from it has water in it. Either way, do a 50% waterchange, and make sure to use a dechlorinator if you have chlorinated water.


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## luvdux (Dec 13, 2009)

I just did a test strip in my tank.

nitrates: 100 ppm
nitrites: 10 ppm
ph:8.4

So everything is too high? How do I fix it? I just did a 1/3 water change.


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## Sea-Agg2009 (Aug 2, 2008)

Well, all are too high. Start with water changes. I really hate when people suggest feeder fish. Yes they are good for starting the cycle, but a really small dose of ammonia will do the same, and now what do you do with these fish? Since you have had nitrates for a while now, your cycle is done. Water changes will drop the nitrates and nitrites, but now how to fix the pH? 

My suggestion is a TINY dose of vinegar. Specifically distilled white vinegar. A friend from the wholesale side has been telling me that they use vinegar to drop the pH of their tanks. I've been using it for quite a while, and it works great. I've found that 1 *teaspoon* (5 mL), will drop 1 gallon of my tap water (pH of around 8.1 from the tap), to about 6.7, which is where I like things. For a 10 gallon with betta's, as long as you are close to 7 you should be fine. 

Do this change over the course of a few days, so the fish don't die from stress. I would say 1 teaspoon every other day till it is where you want it.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Put the fish in a clean bucket, bowl or glass and replace all the water in the tank. Use a water conditioner that "detoxifies ammonia and nitrite". Then net the fish and put them back without any of the water they were in (be sure to match the temperature). When you have fatal levels of nitrite, any fish you put in will die. You 'cycled' the tank with feeder fish that are used to living in unlivable conditions and then made your tank uninhabitable for most fish by overfeeding them and not changing enough water to remove the toxic byproducts. 

I hate cycling with feeders and I hate the advice to never change water during a cycle. 

Sounds like your cycle isn't all the way finished, either (nitrite should be 0). And 100 is the top of test kit's nitrate scale, right? For all you know it could really be 200 or 300 or even 1000. 

Bettas and mollies will take the high pH just fine. Leave the pH alone so you can do faster water changes. Take care of the nitrite! But you will need to acclimate new fish by putting them in the bottom of a large container and adding your water really slowly so as not to shock them.


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## luvdux (Dec 13, 2009)

My last betta died last night. I did another water change and added some stuff that gets rid of "nitrates, nitrites, and chlorine" and a couple other things. I checked the water earlier today and the nitrates are down to 25 ppm and nitrites are at 0. The pH is still high though. When is it safe to try and add some fish again?


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

The ph is not a problem. Mine is 8.2 and I keep a number of different types of fish with no problem.
I always have bettas in that ph and they live for a couple of years.
I have tetras living in the same type of water and they are 7 years old.
Do not worry about the ph. Listen to what EM7 has said and worry about the ammonia and nitrite levels. Put 1 betta only into your 10 gallon tank and let it sit for 4 weeks- testing the ammonia and nitrite levels every day.A couple of low light plants like a java fern would help.If the ammonia levels get up past 1 I would do a 25 % water change. After the levels are 0 for ammonia and nitrite but up a little for nitrate add 2 more small fish that you want.
Or Buy a couple of fish that you want, a bottle of Stability, follow the directions on the bottle, keep testing for ammonia and nitrites. In 4-6 weeks the tank should be fully ready to add another 2 fish.A betta and a couple of platies would be nice to start. Feed very sparingly-- ie 1 piece of food for each fish until all your levels are at 0 except the nitrate. When Nitrates start to go up and ammonia and nitrite are 0 do a 50 % water change.nitrate levels are ok up to about 30 ppm. bettas don't add a lot of ammonia to the water but platies do. Fish can go a long time without eating.
I have one that has chosen not to eat for at least 3 weeks.So a couple of weeks of very light feeding won't hurt yours.

And to those who regularly use stability I know you can add a bigger load in a shorter time but This person is having such a hard time it would be better to go slower rather than faster.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

What kind of filter are you using? also, need to test for ammonia. Need to test for Ammonia, no2, no3, otherwise you're flying blind. I would suggest holding off on putting in more fish in that tank until you figuere out where you are. Read the posts on cycling in general and newbie forums. Google "Cycling aquariums".


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

So do you have the sucker left alive?


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## Zinedane (Dec 24, 2009)

Do you still have the sucker alive? if so what kind of catfish/pleco is it?


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