# All my fish are dying now since i got new fish at petco..



## Candymancan (Mar 10, 2010)

Hey guys, My tank is a 20 or 25 gallons hexagon I forgot the exact size.. It has been setup for about 6-7 years so its pretty well established.. I had 10 neon tetra's in the tank for over a year so yes I do regular water changes and keep the tank clean... But one day I cleaned the tank to agressivly and made the whole tank dirty and it killed a lot of my fish.. This was like 6 months ago tho, I still had about 6-7 fish tho so I didn't bother getting new ones..

They have been fine since, and I decided to go to petsmart and petco and see what they had.. Pertsmart didn't have anything so I went to petco and I got 5 neon tetra's and 3 Red/Blue barbs I think they are called.. they look like small silver dollar fish almost but have red fins and bluish scales on top.. Almost look like pirahnas lol but they aren't aggressive.. I also got 3 24k gold tetras I think they are called..

I acclimated them to the tank in the bag before I put them in and drained most of the store water out that I could anyway and put them in.. Within 24 hours they all cept 2 of the 3 barbs started getting big white bleach like blotchs on there body's and stopped swimming around the tank and just sat there.. Then shortly after then died.. I lost all 5 neons, all 3 24k gold fish, 1 of the barbs died, and I also lost 3 of my older fish which also started to develop the white blotch.. It looks ALOT like neon tetras disease to me..

So I went back to petco furious and brought the dead fish that I bought and a sample of my water and she said my water had high nitrates which when I looked at the test was in the 20-40 range.. Which is what I got when I tested it at home before I left. So I did some water changes and now the nitrates are around 10... My Ammonia is 0, nitrites 0, and ph is 6.6-6.8

My water is fine.. I went to petsmart and bought 4 of those orange tetra's that look like neons and put them in my tank... Its been 24 hours now.. 2 of them have the white blotch on them... I scooped them out and flushed them to try and keep my others from getting sick...

What is causing this ?? Was it the petco fish I got that infected my tank ? Because like I said even some of my older fish died... fish I had for years.. The nasty lady at petco is saying oh her neons were in her tank for 2 weeks and didn't get sick... After looking at her tanks more closely I noticed half of them have ich.. But this disease or whatever isn't ich... 

I need some help.. I've spent a lot of money on fish lately and I am pretty ticked off about this..

Here is one of the orange tetras I have left of the 4 I got... see how its upper and rear fins are all white ?? Im thinking of scooping him out too and tossing him I have 2 left that are ok so far but this one is sick looking


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## Guest (Aug 1, 2013)

Candymancan said:


> Hey guys, My tank is a 20 or 25 gallons hexagon I forgot the exact size.. It has been setup for about 6-7 years so its pretty well established.. I had 10 neon tetra's in the tank for over a year so yes I do regular water changes and keep the tank clean... But one day I cleaned the tank to agressivly and made the whole tank dirty and it killed a lot of my fish.. This was like 6 months ago tho, I still had about 6-7 fish tho so I didn't bother getting new ones..
> 
> They have been fine since, and I decided to go to petsmart and petco and see what they had.. Pertsmart didn't have anything so I went to petco and I got 5 neon tetra's and 3 Red/Blue barbs I think they are called.. they look like small silver dollar fish almost but have red fins and bluish scales on top.. Almost look like pirahnas lol but they aren't aggressive.. I also got 3 24k gold tetras I think they are called..
> 
> ...


I completely understand how you feel because I would feel the same way. I think that it is the stores water that is infecting the fish. Always quarantine any new fish for at least two weeks before adding them to your tank.

Also I think that the lady needs a lesson in how to tell when fish are sick and how to treat them.


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## Candymancan (Mar 10, 2010)

Shes really nasty,, she always tells you what you can and cannot buy in your own tank, and she wouldn't give me new fish just a partial refund.. Blammed it on my nitrate levels.. I understand they were 20-40PPM but that isn't THAT HIGH of a level.. its now 10PPM and my fish are still dying...

I spent like $40 in fish in the last few days and all of them but 4 are dead. Im reading more on neon tetra disease... How long does this disease take to kill a fish ? Mine seem fine when the light is on, when I turn off and go to bed and wake up in the morning I magicly have 3-4 new fish with those white blotchs on there fins.. Im almost afraid to turn the light off anymore.. It almost looks like false neon tetra disease.. because my fish don't even have time to get a curved spine.. they just get the white blotch and die a few hours later. The bigger barb who had it for awhile his fins started to rot off.. Maybe I could get some antibiotics and put it in my tank ?? Do they sell that in pet stores ?

Personally im thinking of going to petco with a vial and my nitrate tester and putting it in their water and testing the nitrates and see what I get.. Just to prove a point that it wasn't my tank that killed them.. they brought something to mine


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## Guest (Aug 1, 2013)

They did bring something to your tank. 

I honestly don't have an answer to your questions about the disease. I just don't have any clue. 

I would talk to the manager of the store about her being nasty to you and see what they say and also mention that you bought fish from them and they died, and that you tested your water and tell them the results.

You are right, 20-40ppm is not that high and it doesn't kill fish.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Not Neon disease. That takes weeks to kill. You have fin rot.


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## Ice (Sep 25, 2006)

If I see dead fish in a tank, I stay away and find another tank with same species of fish I'm looking to buy.


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## Candymancan (Mar 10, 2010)

TheOldSalt said:


> Not Neon disease. That takes weeks to kill. You have fin rot.




Are you sure its fin rot ?? Because like I said within 24 hours my fish get bleached white rear and upper fins and then they die within hours. Its super fast once I see the bleach white spots..

I dunno if you could see it in that pic I took.. Because I just looked up fin rot and the pics of google look nothing like this.. Well maybe except that one fish I mentioned that had his rear fin basicly rot off.. 


See this picture I found on google. see the white patch on this tetras back.. that's what my fish look like when they get whatever this is, but they die within a day


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## Guest (Aug 1, 2013)

Could it be columnaris(sp)? That is what it looks like but I am not sure. Or some type of fungus.


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

maybe- it is a fast killer.
I have had the same problems in the past But had fish from B.A's. Wiped out a whole tank in 24 hours after addition of new fish.
You have to set up a Q tank for new fishes. it is not 100% fool proof but it does help a lot. Some of the pet stores use UV light to keep disease under control. When you bring your fish home you likely don't have U.V. 
One of the kids told me at B. A`s that they hope to move fish out in 5 days- that is why the guarantee is 5 days. That is about the time it takes for any antibiotics the fish have been raised on, to stop working in the fish. Then the disease starts to come out. Some come out faster than that- believe me.

Some of the orange tetras( glo lights) do have white lines on the edges of their fins and sometimes on the tail, so don`t confuse that with disease
.
lots of pitfalls when stocking an established tank.


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## Candymancan (Mar 10, 2010)

Ok it seems to have stopped or drasticly slowed down.. All the original neons I got when I made the thread died awhile ago as well as the fish I already mentioned..

But its been about a week now and I got 2 more glow light tetra's to make it 4, and I got 5 neon tetras from petsmart, and 1 penguin tetra all 2 days ago.. So far they are all ok, one neon today did have a huge white blotch on his body faded spot so I scooped him out and euthanized him.. So far I don't see any other fish that are sick.. I just got a drawf gourami today too

I also got 2 Marimo moss balls the real ones which sink.. I don't have any live plants but these 2 now would they help with nitrate levels ?

I noticed my API test kits were old like expired 4 years ago... So I bought a new box today and tested my water again.. Aparently my old set was reading the PH, Nitrite, Ammonia correctly but the nitrates it was way off.. The old set says I have 10 nitrates after my triple 25% water changes (3 days I mean) prior it was 20-40.. The new kit tho says its 40-80.. So I imagine my nitrates were more 80+ before I did the water change..

Could this have been why my neons died so quickly ? Right now its blood red I cant tell the diff between 40-80 on the chart.. So what should I do ? Keep doing 25% water changes everyday or should I do a bigger amount ?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Go bigger. Start with a small water change & up the percentage each change until nitrates get down and stay down..


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## Candymancan (Mar 10, 2010)

OK, I know they have gone down.. despit my old kit being like way off.. It was red itself before I did the water changes so it was around 40 as well... Then after I got it down to 10.. but the new kit side by side is reading 40-80 (old is at 10 lol).. So my nitrates must have been like 80-100+... Geesh.. 

Hopefully more water changes will fix that and those 2 marimo moss balls I got. I'll just keep using half to a full cap full of prime as well


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## Candymancan (Mar 10, 2010)

Ok so far still no more fish have died.. nitrates are now down to 10-20 in between.. I got a few more fish today the last one im gonna get in this tank as its pretty heavily stocked now.. (28 fish mostly small ones tho)

The fish I got were Celebus Rainbow's. I bought 3.. While looking at them in my tank I noticed one looks like it has a broken jaw ? What should I do.. I doubt hell be able to eat.. And these rainbows were hella expensive for what I usually buy... Should I scoop it and bring it back and get another or see what happens ?


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## mousey (Jan 18, 2005)

Depends on a few factors if you should return it or not IMO.
I have had neons with broken jaws and they found a way to eat just fine.
They looked weird though.
Will the store take the fish back? Is it within the warranty period? Can it compete successfully for food?
I returned a goldfish that turned out to be badly bruised and they 
( petsmart)were quite annoyed - said they now had to either euthanize the fish or find a separate tank for it as it had been in MY tanks and it might spread disease to their tanks!!
Do you really like this particular fish? Are you attached to it? I might keep the fish if other wise it was spectacular or I just felt sorry for it.
Its really up to you.


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## Candymancan (Mar 10, 2010)

Well I was watching it.. apparently it can still eat.. so I guess I'll keep it and see what happens..


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## C. King (Dec 14, 2012)

Sorry about your trying experience with buying sick fish. If your nitrates were really high, it didnt help. Fish in an established tank will become accustomed to a gradual change, but new fish dont have a chance. The new fish probably brought something in, were made worse quicly from the drastic change in water parameters, and, well, you know the results. I probably would have not introduced any more new fish into the tank for a few weeks. It is never a good idea to stock so much in a short time; messes with the nitrate cycle. So be sure to keep up with frequent water changes for a few weeks. What you described sounds like columnaris, not tetra disease (which kilis more slowly, as someone else mentioned) Whatever the disease was, there are some things you can do to help. Adding some aquarium salt will greatly reduce the chance of a fungus spreading. Increasing water temp to about 80 (slowly!) will kill any ich organisims in their free swimming stage. Bacteria is more difficult; since columnaris is a nasty combo of both gram A and gram B bacteria, you may want to have a broad spectrum antibiotic on hand to use if you see any more splotches. And, of course, keep up with the water changes.


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## GoldenGirl11 (Nov 9, 2014)

Maybe if your fish begin getting the disease again you could always try aquarium salt and treat for ich but be CAREFUL


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