Your current Fish tank Setups!

Ammonia is probably the most important test, especially if you have nothing else!

I would go for some big water changes over the next few days, and get an ammonia test kit until the levels are stable, it sounds like an ammonia spike caused by the increased bio-load of the added fish overloading the biomass of the existing filter media..
 
thanks for the info, we were looking to rehome some fish, just finding it difficult and they kept breeding and I cant even give them away.

I'm pretty sure the nitrate level is reading as we test it quite a lot and there are slight changes, with 2 different types of testing kit.

Only have 6 plecos left and 6 tetras (dint lose any tetras after all), all the Tigers have gone. Seems the plecos that have died appear to have enlarged stomachs and the Tigers seemed a little red in color if that means anything.

Absolutely gutted, really dont like my mistakes leading to things dying!
 
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The Nitrate tests are useless, you have to have a tank absolutely rammed with fish before nitrate is ever a problem.

For reference, my tap water has 40+ ppm nitrate in it and I dose more in the ferts I dose.

They do the ammonia tests in pets at home. As others have said, do 50% water changes daily until things calm down.
 
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I agree with the overstock comments, I only have 10 small fish (minnows & danio) in my 70L tank and I consider that well stocked.

Do some more frequent water changes (daily 10-15%) for a week, then gradually move to weekly changes. Don't add any more fish for a while either
 
Wont be adding any more fish until everything settles down, I think I'm going to lose all the fish, it doesnt look good, down to 4 plecos and 5 tetras and those left dont look too happy (except 2 of the original orange colored tetras who seem fine).

The Mrs did a large water change today and took out a load of the ornaments and said there were a number of small decomposed plecos under the ornaments so the breeding may have been a lot worse than we thought (with them hiding and dying off so we didnt notice)

We will change the water daily, people have said between 10 - 50% so we will do 25% and see if any survive. The Mrs will pick up an amonia test kit tomorrow, could get out today and see what may be happening although I think the damage is already done and it will take a miricle for the fish to recover.

The plecos seem to be at the top of the tank, or go up to the surface a lot, they never used to do that, mainly they just hid?
 
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I would given what you just said, do a 75-80% change and then 50% daily then reduce it down until there is no more ammonia. It should be zero with a healthy filter.
 
TBirdUK said:
We will change the water daily, people have said between 10 - 50% so we will do 25% and see if any survive. The Mrs will pick up an amonia test kit tomorrow, could get out today and see what may be happening although I think the damage is already done and it will take a miricle for the fish to recover.

The plecos seem to be at the top of the tank, or go up to the surface a lot, they never used to do that, mainly they just hid?
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If the fish are gasping near the top of the tank, there is a nitrite and/or oxygen problem.

Nitrites prevent the blood cells from delivering oxygen to the fish's body.

Are any fish covered in tiny white spots? Whitespot can devastate their gills, again messing with oxygen uptake.

Do you have Seachem Prime or Seachem Safe? These can be overdosed following the instructions to temporarily detoxify ammonia and nitrite for up to 24 hours.

Personally, I would definitely turn off the heater (cooler water holds more oxygen) and I would create more surface rippling (even if that meant having to drop the water level due to a fixed level filter output) to help oxygenate the water better. I would also add a 5x standard dose of Safe for the volume of water in the tank.

The gamble is whether to do a big 75+% water change. I know I could do this on any of my 5 tanks totalling ~1300l, because I normally change 40-50% of each tank's water weekly without fail.
"Old tank syndrome" will kill fish through shock if you suddenly change a lot of water, when their tank does not get regular and decent sized changes over a period of months.
 
Have done an amonia test and all is well, although we have done a few water changes so that could be masking the spike. The nitrite, nitrate, ph and temp is all ok.

None of the dead ones had any white spots (other than the ones they have always had)

All I have left is 2 orange tetras, everything else has died, my little boy is gutted. We will wait a few weeks before adding any more.
 
I really need to give my tanks a really good clean. The plastics inside and out need wiping down and the muck/algae removing. Any recommendations on products I can use that won't affect the water but bring everything up like new?
 
@ TBirdUK - I echo some of the comments that others have made, especially the overstocking & possibility of infection.

This is just a thought, but if a disease is the culprit, then it 'could' have been related to the neons - but by no means a cert. Check this information page out, and head to the healthcare subheading. If nothing else, this should provide you with useful reading about neons.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fwsubwebindex/NeonsCardsArtNeale.htm
 
hamesy said:
I really need to give my tanks a really good clean. The plastics inside and out need wiping down and the muck/algae removing. Any recommendations on products I can use that won't affect the water but bring everything up like new?
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If you can take out anything do so and dip in white vinegar over night then a good rinse brings it back to brand new.

These for cleaning glass or acrilic

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tetratec-Easy-Wipes-Pack-10/dp/B000XA8RJI
 
Added a albino long finned bristle nose and a frog today.

Cleaned and rearranged the tank:
TRCVKn8.jpg


Burt the frog and whitey the bristle nose:

KTZd9EC.jpg


uL8PWII.jpg

In there now is:

1 Sword tale
1 Glass bloodfin tetra
2 Albino cories
1 betta
1 female gourami
2 bristle noses
1 frog
 
HELP!!!!

Just over a week ago I found that my in-line heater had failed, I last checked the temperature about 2 weeks ago, so I've no idea how long it had been broken for.
The temp when I found it was 19c.

I bought a new heater straight away, but since them I've lost all but 2 of the fish.

I went and bought 4 new plattys at the weekend, but have lost 2 already.

The levels are :-
Ammonia = 0.25ppm
Nitrite = 0ppm
Nitrate = 60ppm

I've been doing water changes to try and reduce the Nitrate.

I've taken a pic of the most recent fatality, does it look like swim bladder problems?

S1DTLNq.jpg
 
So difficult to tell. If it was a swim bladder problem you probably would have noticed them swimming differently.

0.25ppm ammonia can still be fatal. You need it a 0. Also platys like a temp of around 26, 19 iss way too low and it may have even dropped more during the night. That causes major stress and illness. Even though the temp is now back up, the illness caused by any low temps will have taken hold.
 
nst68 said:
HELP!!!!

Just over a week ago I found that my in-line heater had failed, I last checked the temperature about 2 weeks ago, so I've no idea how long it had been broken for.
The temp when I found it was 19c.

I bought a new heater straight away, but since them I've lost all but 2 of the fish.

I went and bought 4 new plattys at the weekend, but have lost 2 already.

The levels are :-
Ammonia = 0.25ppm
Nitrite = 0ppm
Nitrate = 60ppm

I've been doing water changes to try and reduce the Nitrate.

I've taken a pic of the most recent fatality, does it look like swim bladder problems?
Click to expand...

Tank dimensions?
Fish species and numbers before the major losses?
How long had the tank been setup with the previous fish?
What temp is the water maintaining now with the new heater?

60ppm nitrate is nothing to worry about, the UK south coast water typically comes out of the tap with ~40ppm, some believe that tanks should be stocked no higher than to a level where you can suitably feed the inhabitants and not have nitrates rise more than 20ppm over the "fresh" source.

Ammonia is in equilibrium with ammonium in our fish tanks, the former is toxic and the latter is pretty safe. In colder and more acidic water, the equilibrium shifts towards the safer ammonium. Most "ammonia test kits" are actually giving you a Total Ammonia Nitrogen reading.

Definitely no nitrites? In my experience, toxic nitrite levels are far more common in fish tanks, nitrite prevents their blood cells from providing oxygen to their body.
 
robfosters said:
0.25ppm ammonia can still be fatal. You need it a 0.

Also platys like a temp of around 26, 19 iss way too low and it may have even dropped more during the night. That causes major stress and illness. Even though the temp is now back up, the illness caused by any low temps will have taken hold.
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A 0.25mg/l ammonia would only be fatal in very extreme setups, where the equilibrium has been massively swung by very warm temps and very alkaline water.

Variatus Platties would not be stressed in the slightest by 19C, they are not full-on "tropical fish." Temperature drops in an indoor tank would be very slow at this time of year, because the ambient room temp is unlikely to be much below 19C if the windows are closed. ;)

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/xiphophorus-variatus/

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/whaddaya-mean-too-hot/
 
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