# Fish dying really confused!!!



## icfish (Mar 8, 2013)

Hi, 
I am having big fish problems . :help:
55 Litre Tank (Roughly 18 gallons) 
Temp 26C 
PH 6.8
2 Platies, 1 Neon, 1 Rummy Nose, 1 Albino Bristlenose, 1 guppy 
2 Chainswords, 1 Wisteria, 1 Corkscrew Val, 1 Anubis, Java Moss, 1 Driftwood

So basically, I set up my tank about 6 months ago, did a fishless cycle for about 2.5 weeks with plants (no fish). Had no problems, thriving tank with 5 rummynose, 5 platies, 2 bristlenose, all seemed to be well for 3 months. I left to go overseas and returned to 3 platies, 2 bristlenose, 1 rummynose and the neon (but mum had bought another set of 5 rummys which also died during the process). She had been doing 10L water changes every week, but the PH was around 6.6, and all the plants had died (3 swords, 2 corkscrew val). 

When i got back i replanted the tank with what it has now, slowly brought up the PH and nutrients levels, did a 15L water change and didnt add any fish for 2 weeks. The plants have establised well. What happened then, however, was that 1 platie died. I left it a bit longer and all seemed well so i went and bought 2 bristle nose the other day. 

My frist two bristlenose both then died, then one of the two bought bristlenose. even more confusingly, the new albino bristlenose is happier than ever munching away at the algae. 

I dont know what to do, ive spoken to people in fish shops and done what theyve recommended, like higher nutrients and higher ph. Why is one bristlenose okay when my longest surviving arnt (they were the first in my tank after the cycle)? Why is one rummynose surviving (and theyre so damn picky too) when the others didnt? 

Whats going onnn. :help:

Sorry about the long post.  

Thankyou for reading all that.


----------



## DarwinAhoy (Mar 13, 2013)

Concentrate on upping the number of rummynose/neons. One bushy/bristlenose is plenty for this tank, so I would stop trying to add more. As for the ones that survived, it just shows that they were the hardiest of the group in the tank.


----------



## kcrunch (Aug 17, 2012)

When was the last time you checked the level in your tank? Even with a water change it s important to see if you have an ammonia spike or heavy amounts of nitrates or nitrites. If you feel like they are dieing and you have no clue I would add some bacteria to the tank after getting some good readings on your levels to see who knows you might not need to. Just make sure o dechlor when changing the water. As simple as it sounds a friend in the fish hobby for some time had a similar issue and with all the salt and misc he was adding just forgot to do something so simple as adding a chlorine removing agent and was killing off his stock for almost 2-3 months. He only caught it after his wife pointed out to him he had left the bottle under the kitchen sink for some time and wanted to know what the battle was for. He could have kicked himself, since he couldn't I did it for him>>>


----------



## Guest (Apr 1, 2013)

How long did you actually cycle the tank for? 2.5 weeks is not long enough for a tank to cycle at all. It needs to cycle 8 to 12 weeks in order for a tank to be well established. I am betting that you had an ammonia spike and that is why your fish are dying.


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I think the tank had "new caregiver syndrome'. The new person overfeeds, the ammonia goes off the charts and kills fish and also destroys the filter bacteria. All the problems after that are likely "new tank" or "uncycled tank" type issues with water quality varying all over and "new fish" issues like dying from transfer shock and new fish bringing home the store disease of the week.

Go back to basics. Treat it like a new tank. Go light on food, light on new fish, heavy on water changes and watch it, watch it, watch it.


----------



## dereklawler (Mar 4, 2013)

The nitrate level is the issue here. You need to do daily water changes until you bring them well under 40ppm, preferably under 20ppm. I dont believe the plants are the issue here and they likely may have brought your nitrates down from whatever level they were originally at (which we dont know).


----------



## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

When old fish live while new ones die, it's usually nitrate to blame.


----------

