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I am relativley new to all this fish stuff but I know most of the basics. I was hoping that someone could tell me what im doing wrong. I have had a string of deaths over the last 3 months first I lost 3 swordtails to neon tetra disease and then both my mollies 1 to bulge eye and another to trichodona. I have a small 10 gallon with a good filter and I do water changes every 20-30 days. Im not sure whats wrong because some of my original fish are still thriving.<br><br>Please help

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

If you have a test kit, test your water for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrates. The more information you give the more we can help. If you do not have a test kit then a lfs can test a water sample for you.

Some more info about your tank would definitely help, once we get that we should be able to figure it out. I know it is very frustrating starting out and having losses, and the learning curve in this hobby can definitely be steep.

This is copy-pasted from the sticky at the top of the forum if you need to use the template again later:

ENVIRONMENTAL DATA

Water Parameters
There are many things in a fish tank that can cause a fish to appear sick, when natural toxins or water chemistry are not just right.

Ammonia:
Nitrite (note the “I&#8221:
Nitrate (note the “A):
pH:
Temp:

If you do not have one or more of these, please take a bag of water to the fish store and ask them to test it for you. Most will do this for free. If not, try another store. Make sure you write them down so we can review the numbers with you.

Tank Information

Tank Size (gallons and dimensions if known (20 gal long versus regular 20 or 20 gal high):
Stock List (Quantity/Species):
Fish size for larger fish (a 5 inch angel or a 9 inch oscar has a different effect on water parameters than a half-dollar size angle or a 3 inch oscar).
Filtration (ex: Penguin 330, Whisper 40, Fluval 204, etc).

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Additives
Tell us what you add to your tank or replacement water like conditioners to remove chlorine/chloramine, fertilizers for plants, aquarium salt, pH adjusters, etc. Describe for us how often you use and how much.

INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR SICK FISH

Be as descriptive as you can and provide pics, if possible (see the post about how to add pictures at the top of the hospital forum).

We not only need detailed information about what you see ON the fish, we need to know about it’s behavior. This does not attempt to capture everything, but gives you some ideas on how to present what you are seeing. Don’t limit yourself to what is here.

Examples of some physical attributes
Pale, darker, grey fuzz/white fuzz/off-white fuzz, grey slimey film, blue haze, gold dusting, salt grains/spots, blood bordered white area, ulcer, pustule/boil, cloudy eyes, protruding eye, eroding fin, etc.

Examples of some behaviors
Lethargic, rapid breathing, sits on the bottom, hangs out at the top with head down (or head up), darting in a spiral fashion, swimming slowly without orientation, choking, flicking against objects in the tank or gravel

One question I have to ask is if all of the fish were purchased from the same store? If your tank parameters look ok then it may be time to start buying them somewhere else.

I can't get test info for a few days but heres my other info.


10 gallon
no live plants
75F

3 Platy's 1 Male 2 Female
1 Male Cherry Barb
2 Zebra Danio's 1 Male 1 Female

I know my ratio on the danio's and barb is off and im in the process of fixing it.

Former Fish

Died during cycling
2 Female Cherry Barbs
1 Female Zebra Danio
1 Alge Eater

Died after cycling
2 Mollies
3 swordtails



"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

Well not too much can be helped with without water readings. But I can say for a 10g tank, you need to do weekly/2x a week water changes, not every 20-30 days. I'll bet that IF your tank is cycled, its high nitrAtes that is killing off your fish. better not speculate though until you get your water tested.

Hey I just got the water tested 0 ammonia and my nitrates are ok but im gonna do a water change anyway.

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

nitrates ok? did you get numbers?

I feel really dumb because I got distracted and didnt write them down.

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

Ok thanks to everyone for the help however I think I solved my own problem. I talked to my LFS and they said that a bad batch of swordtails was to blame for the neon tetra disease and I got a full refund. Also they said my mollies were probably stressed because they didnt have any salt in the water.

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

Mollies have been bred in tanks so much they can live and breed fine in complete freshwater all the way to complete saltwater. There was a thread on that not too long ago. I doubt that's the cause of the molly deaths. Many lfs will say nitrates are fine all the way up to 80-100ppm when really it's best to keep them around 20ppm and 40 has been known to cause long term damage. Did they test for nitrItes as well as nitrAtes? Some will also say a low nitrite reading is fine but it can indicate a problem about to become serious. You really should buy a test kit. The aquarium pharmaceuticals master kit is only about $15 and will last for more than a year. A test is invaluable when trying to find the cause of fish deaths.

Ya I have held off on buying one but I think now that I have 2 tanks I will need it.
How often would I need to test??

Last edited by bcwcat22 at 05-Aug-2005 19:57

"A noble spirit embiggens the smallest man" Simpsons

When you first get your tank set up/get the test you'll want to test it weekly probably to see when you'll need to do water changes to get them down. That is assuming you don't have plants. If you have plants then you'll want to test NO3 to see how often to dose it. Once you get a feel for the tank you won't need to check it too often, maybe monthly just to make sure your maintenance routine is ok, then after a while you only really have to test it if you have problems, something changes in the tank (added fish, etc.) or if you want to know how much NO3 you have for some other reason. They are really a good buy, $10 is worth it for the convenience and peace of mind.

Last edited by trystianity at 06-Aug-2005 08:10