# Nothing but problems..please help!



## Starlight (Apr 20, 2011)

I have never posted here...but I do come on the board every once in a while to read post. Anyway, I am having pretty much nothing but problems with my freshwater fish tank. I'll start from the beginning.. This will be a long post..

This past August, I bought a 26 gallon bow front aquarium. I set everything up, and let it cycle for 1 week before getting fish. The only thing I put in the tank was stress coat and some bacteria supplement. When I got fish,(from petsmart) I went with the tropical fish. I got 2 cory cats, 5 danios, 7 guppies, 2 dalmatian mollies, 2 loaches and 2 platy fish .I lost 9 fish total out of all those. 6 guppies and 1 platy fish and both loaches. I expected to loose some since the tank was just getting started so that didn't worry me. 

4 weeks later, I got some more fish. 6 neon tetras, 6 cardinal tetras, 1 dwarf guarami, 1 small ball shark and 1 small pictus catfish(I know these two are semi aggressive, neither one of them ever bothered any of the fish, even the neon's) I did loose 5 of the neon/cardinal tetras(not 100% how many of each kind, they were kind of hard to count because they schooled and were fast) No problems for a few weeks, I did get 3 more dwarf guaramis and an algae eater soon after I got the other fish and that was it.

The tank did great for close to 7 months. I know I kind of overstocked the tank, but most of the fish were really tiny and since I was new(er) I got that "oh I just want one of those, oh one of those to! lol) Only thing I had problems with(obviously) was I had a hard time keeping the ammonia levels at bay and when I first got fish, I fought with cloudy water for porbbaly a good 4-5 weeks, when it finally cleared up, it was crystal clear. I did partials, cleaned the rocks every 6 weeks and the ammonia never seemed to effect any of the fish. I didn't loose any fish for close to 6 months.

Well In Feb. I found one of my danios dead. I didn't think much of it at the time. Well not long after that, I found a gourami dead. Not long after that I noticed a few of the fish were acting funny, and some had these weird stuff growing on them. Well things went from bad, to worse. In a matter of 4 days, I lost every single one of my fish. I also figured since I always fought with ammonia, their immune systems were probably not the best and that's one reason why it spread like wildfire and wiped everyone out.

After doing research and reading, I think what they caught was fin rot and ich, and when I thought back, I am pretty sure I knew what fish brought it in. The day I got my last few fish, the 3 dwarf gouramis and the algae eater, I bought them on a day petsmart had got a shipment in.(I knew this because they had a ton of bags floating in the water) Yes, this was very stupid. Trust me, I was never doing that again..

So, I emptied out all the water from the tank, took everything out, decorations, rocks, plants(I use fake plants), filter, heater...everything, And rinsed and rinsed and rinsed some more with just plain water. I scrubbed all the decorations, plants filters, I scrubbed EVERYTHING. After putting everything back together and refilling the tank, I went on to treat the tank with this tetra, all in one treatment that says it kills ich, tail, fin and mouth rot, clamped fins, fungus and hemorrhagic septicemia. I treated the tank like I had fish in it, and did exactly what the box said, I treated 5 days in a row, I had the filters out(box said take filters out) waited a full day before returning the filters etc. The only thing I did not do was the 25% partial on the sixth day. I didn't see a point since I didn't have any fish...maybe this was the mistake...

After I waited a MONTH before putting more fish in. I went with the semi aggressive this time. I got bigger fish but not huge. I got 2 bala sharks, 1 brown knife, 1 black ghost knife, 1 algae eater(smaller sized one) 3 giant danios and 3 leporinus fasciatus(I just called the tiger fish for short lol) I was going to get just a couple more fish( just 2 gouramis) after everyone settled in and the tank went through the initial startup phase, but soon decided not to because everyone was doing really well and I didn't want to take a chance and mess it up.

Well I thought to soon. Only 3 weeks of having the fish(no one had died) I found my algae eater dead, didn't think a whole lot about it, the day before, I noticed his tail fin was half chopped off, I figured one of the fish took a chunk out of him and he died from that.. well the next day the black ghost knife was covered with white. It wasn't really spots, it was everywhere..well I got rid of him(he was half dead, barely even swimming) and started treating the tank..again, It didn't take long until pretty much all the fish in the tank(everyone but my brown knife) had the ich and fin rot again. Well I used the same dosage I did the first time, the box says to use 1 tablet per 5 gallons of water. So I put 5 tablets in. Well not long after putting that in, my water smelled like rotten eggs. It was bad. Then all 3 "tiger fish" started acting crazy, trying to jump out the tank, spinning in circles, swimming upside down, floating around..they were obviously dying. They died probably about an hour and a half after putting the treatment in. Well not long after, both bala sharks died and 1 giant danio. The next day I lost another danio. Well stupid me, did not even think that the rocks and decorations probably took up close to a gallon of water, and I over dosed my tank. So the only 2 fish I had left in my tank was 1 giant danio and my brown knife.. The danio got better, his fins got better and I didn't see any more white spots on him, except he had these 2 little tiny white spots on the tip of his fins, one on the top and 1 on the bottom. I didn't think it was anything, because it did not look like the other spots I had seen before. Well These two fish did fine for 2 and a half weeks. (also, I did do the partial this time on the 6th day)

I started having problems again with the ammonia after I have overdosed and lost the tank, but it wasn't as bad as before, but even though I put ammonia reducer in the tank, it would not come down. Well after a few days it went down a little bit, so this past Saturday, I was planning to get some more fish. Not from petsmart again. I'm not getting from there..ever again. I was going to go to a local fish store that we used to go to years ago when we had a saltwater tank. We never had one problem with sick fish from them so I was going to go to them. Well when I turned the lights on in my tank...my danio fish had a white spot on his right eye. And one teeny spot I couldn't really tell if it was anything or not on his right side. So, needless to say, I did not get any fish, and for the third time, started treating the tank. Well day 3, the danio was getting better, the spot was pretty much gone, but my brown knife developed one small white spot on his side! This is the first thing I have seen on him, he never developed anything before. Well yesterday, the 4th day of treatment, when I woke up in the morning,the danio fish is COVERED. Not surprising, he was dead when I got home from work. But the spot on the brown knife is still there, but it doesn't look any worse, and from the brief glance I got of him when he came out to eat, it seems to be a little better.

I do not know what else to do!! I was testing my tank almost every day the second go round, I did not want to make the same mistakes I did the first time. I have treated the tank, THREE times, I never had any ammonia problems the second go round with the tank. Besides a 2 day small spike a couple of days after getting fish, it came down quickly and stayed at 0 ammonia the rest of the time. The only time ammonia went up is after all but 2 fish died when I overdosed the tank. Then I couldn't get it to go back down fully. The nitrates, nitrites and PH was never an issue either the first or second time I started the tank. 

Any ideas on what else I can do???? Because I am LOST!! I am pretty sure this is ich and fin rot but I am no expert on fish, so I cannot be 100% sure. The only fish I have left now if my brown knife, and other than that tiny little white spot, he is doing fine, eating well, active etc. If it wasn't for him, I would do what I did last time and rinse everything and try again(maybe) and get my fish from somewhere else. 

Any help at all, advice, ideas...anything would be a help. I have spent so much time and money on this tank and I am really upset I am having so many problems after I'm doing everything that I can think of to do to not have them. I'm on the verge of giving up, but I really don't want to, but I don't know how much more of this I can take. Its getting really annoying.

Also, even though I lost the danio, I am on the fifth day of treatment now, today will be the last day I put the tablets in, then I will do the partial on Thursday. After that, I don't know what I'm going to do. Should I maybe treat for longer than 5 days???

Also..in case its important, the temp. stays at 78*, About a week into getting the new fish the second round I put accu-clear from API in 2 days in a row to clear my water up since it started to get a little cloudy. That cleared it up fast. I put stress coat pretty often. I used stress coat more than anything else. I used Aquoen ammonia neutralizer to try to get my ammonia down. Put that in a few times my first go round, and 2 times at the end of my second round. It never helped. 

Thanks for reading, sorry it was so long!


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## Aflat (Apr 16, 2011)

Wow you do have a lot of problems. Sorry to hear that. Honestly the high ammonia levels makes it sound like something is dead in the tank. Yes you did have it a bit over stocked, but with only two left its not now. Too high of ammonia can kill your fish, if it is still really high I would do a major water change, maybe up to 60%. Was this a NEW tank or Did you buy it from some one? The first thing I will tell you is no more fish until you can figure this out. I have never had to treat my fish more than 3 days for ick. Are you new at fishkeeping? If so I would recommend to do research on fish and what healthy fish look like so that when you go to buy you do not buy from a tank that has any sick fish in it. The bad thing about most stores is that the filter is linked to each tank so you have to be careful.


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

Please also read up on cycling a tank. A week of runing a tank with no fish and adding bacteria is NOT cycling a tank. And then you should only add a couple of fish at a time depending on the size of the tank.
If using a bacterial assist it is done once the fish are in the tank!


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## Starlight (Apr 20, 2011)

afloat. I am pretty new. Its been years since I had a fish tank. I did bring a good friend who knows a lot about fish to help me out with choosing fish when I first got them, both the first time and the second time.The tank was brand new when I got it. I bought it from petsmart.

I didn't have a problem with ammonia the second time I got the tank. The first time I did. I know now a week is not long enough, I was brand new and (to) eager to get fish. Thats why before I got fish again for the second round, the tank cycled for 4 weeks.

I did not leave any dead fish in the tank and I know I got them out ASAP when they did die. So I don't think that contributed to the ammonia, I think it was from the tank being over stocked. Like I set, ammonia wasn't an issue the second time. Except for after I overdosed the tank and lost 98% of my fish from it. But it has been getting better the past few days.

Don't worry, I am not going to get any fish until I do figure it out.


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## Lanette001 (Apr 7, 2011)

Hello!

Sorry you are having problems!

1. There are a lot of steps to cycle a tank. You can check out the stickies on the "Beginner Freshwater" section of this forum. If something happens to the fish you currently have, I would suggest tearing down, cleaning, and just recycling the tank using the steps that are laid out in the section.

2. Too many fish at once! When you add all of the fish you ever want in a tank all at once, you stress out the tank and the fish, which opens the door for disease. Only put a few fish at a time into a tank and you really shouldn't be overstocking a tank because that exacerbates any problems that you are having or will have in the future.

3. Try switching medications. I used QuICK Cure from Aquarium Products when my tetras came in with ick and they cleared up within the week I know. Then when my betta had fin rot I used Jungle brand Fungus Clear tablets and he cleared up quickly. Of course, along with those I did frequent water changes. It sounds like you may have been battling Ich, though I am not sure because I have only dealt with it once for my tetra tank and then once in my main tank when I accidentally infected them.

4. Diseases only ever show up in tanks that are not healthy to begin with. For instance: not cycling, adding too many fish at once, overstocking, uncleanliness, etc. I would monitor your fish for a while and see what he does. Keep his tank amazingly clean though, water changes everyday if you have to (making sure that the parameters or the water that you are putting in are the same as the ones you are taking out). If your medication isn't working, try something different.

5. Sorry you are having these problems. In the future I would definitely try steps 1-4 heehee!

Good luck!!!!!!!


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## Aflat (Apr 16, 2011)

It sounds like your getting back on track. All the post on here is really good info for a fish newbie. It's sad that it happed that way but don't beat yourself up about it, you now know what not to do. Right? I would probably leave the tank with the fish you have in it for a few months and let it get even more stable. I don't think buying from petsmart is a horrible thing but you do want to be conscious of the condition of the tanks. Also Starlight it may not be a bad Idea to first condition your new fish in a separate tank to ensure they do not bring something into your other tank. Keep an eye on the water quality, you may have to do another partial water change but maybe not if things are improving. The biggest piece of advice I ever got that I would pass on to you is to watch and get to know your fish and their behavior. When you do this you can notice the smallest change in their behavior. Keep us up to date on how your tank is doing. Wish you much luck.


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## fishloverzj (May 3, 2010)

I agree with her. I think that at most you should add 2-3 at a time. It's tempting, know.


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