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I recently started up a new tank after having been without one for years. I purchased 5 fish for a five gallon tank, but over the course of the last 5 days i've already had 3 of my fishes die. I've had a 25 gallon with many livebreeders before and never had problems like this. I can't think of what might be causing a problem. One notion I'm curious about is the water softener that's within the house water supply. Could that be causing a problem? <br>

What size tank?

What fish are in it?

What are your ammonia, nitrate, nitrite levels?



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with softened water you should let it sit from 2-4 days before putting fish in so the chemicals can evaporate. Did you do this before adding fish?

Also a 5 gallon's water parameters are hard to control. There could easily be a spike without you noticing it. Can you give us your water parameters. Also, have you been doing plenty of water changes? And with water changes you have to let the water sit for 2 days to let the chemicals evaporate in that also.

A water softener removes calcium and magnesium ions replacing them with sodium. Most of the time that is not a problem for fish. It could be a problem if you had alot of sodium being added and very sensitive fish. Leaving water sit out will do nothing for the sodium added by the water softener. Letting water sit only allows gasses to escape and the water softeners I know of don't add any gasses.
The more likely problem is that you added too many fish too fast to a tank that was too small. To start a tank that size I'd ony add 1 or 2 fish unless the fish were around 1/4" but the only thing I have at that size is fry and fry aren't good for cycling a tank. The ammonia probably built up over a few days and killed off all the fish.

If possible give us the tank size & which fish you have bought & what are the remaining two.
Have you done any water tests, to see if it's good for the fish & have you cycled the tank?.
5 gal. isn't easy to keep & it's a small sized tank.
Do you use a water conditioner?.



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The tank itself is one of those hexegonal ones, 15" high, 11" wide, 13" Long. The fish i had originally in the tank were a Swordtail, Lyretail silver molly, gold platty, small balloon molly & a guppy (the latter two still remain alive). I purchased a water test kit yesterday and noticed my levels were crazy, not instant death crazy but at high stress levels. My pH in particular was greatly higher. The nitrite and nitrate levels were slightly high. Amonia level was a bit high too. I placed a solution to help restore the pH, but have not tested the water since yesterday. The two remaining fish appear in good shape though.
I only want livebreeders, is a 5 gallon not appropriate?
Should i only keep the two that i have and no longer invest in any more for the future?

Guppies are the only livebearer you have that is appropriate for a 5 gal hex. I would not worry about PH, but i would be very worried about your Ammonia, nitrate, nitrite levels. I suggest getting rid of the molly and doing water changes to get your parems in check.

Maybe 30 % every other day?


I'll do graffiti,
If you sing to me in French.

A recent test shows that my pH is Above 8, my Alkalinity at 240, hardness 50, nitrite .5 and nitrate 20..

Amonia is at about a high 1.0



Last edited by  izizing at 25-Jul-2005 14:03

I would do an imediat water change of 50%. Oh and welcome to fish profiles.

r u sure u cycled ur tank??? 5 fish like that in 5 g tank is too much... swordtail alone outgrows that tank. and u dont have enuf swimming space (tall tank instead of wide).

What does it mean to cycle the tank exactly?
I let it sit for 48 hours before adding the fish...

I've always had livebreeders and never problems like this.
So since it's hex 5-gallon, what fish are recommended? And how many?

I'm so frustrated cuz i felt i knew a lot about fish care, but i've been away from it about 3 years now and i'm feeling like a complete amateur...like an over-eager child. I just want happy fish

ok the cycle is the process that creates beneficial bacteria in the tank. beneficial bacteria is needed as it turns harmful chemicals such as ammonia (caused by waste)and nitrites(product of ammonia being broken down by bacteria) into nitrates, which are less harmful and can be kept at safe levels through water changes, live plants help too.

It takes awhile for the beneficial bacteria to get to where it needs to be to take care of the ammonia and nitrites(anywhere from 2-6 weeks). until then you should do at least 25% water changes twice a week.

here is an article that goes into detail about it:

http://www.fishprofiles.net/faq/begin-cycling.asp

Aside from the nitrate cycle don't use ph altering chemicals. You don't need them unless you have a ph up over 8 and then use peat moss or softer water like distilled mixed with your tap water to bring it down. Ph chemicals are tricky in the hands of even the most experienced and generally just lead to ph swings that kill fish.