My Fish Die within 12 hours some within 6 hours... help!

[Amhodgie]

I am starting a new 5 gallon tank. It was given to me by a family member. I have had nothing but trouble! I rinsed everything in the begininng, added dechlorinater and used tap water, let the tank run for a couple days. Added a Cherry Barb and a Danio, the Cherry Barb was dead in 6 hours, the Danio in 7 hours. When I added them to the water the Cherry Barb was swimming very irractic, swimming up and down the side of the tank, very quickly! The Danio was swimming a bit crazy as well. Took them back to the pet store, water is testing fine, temp is set at 24 degrees. Tried 2 more Danios, they died in less than 12 hours. I do float the fish to climatize them as well as add water to the bag, then net them out to the tank. Water tested fine again. Upon advice from the pet store, I added a bubbler, and took everything out of the tank, used a diluted bleach and water solution to clean EVERYTHING in the tank. Rinsed everything well again, bought a new filter sponge. Ran the tank for 4 days, added 2 white cloud minnows, they died within 12 hours again, the other one within 24 hours! Any idea would be helpful, I am at a loss and I don't want to kill anymore fish, or spend anymore money on a tank that I can't get running. I have read the Nitrogen cycle, have testing strips and my water ALWAYS tests fine.

Help...

 

[KcMopar]

You need to read the fish-less cycle post. I like to use a chunk of raw shrimp from the meat market that I have peeled the shell off of. Basically drop the shrimp in and let it rot, your test will read ammonia, then nitrite, then when it reads nitrate and the other two are zero its OK to add fish. This will take a couple weeks or so.

 

[Amhodgie]

Thanks, I have read that. I was under the impression that my fish were not in the tank long enough to even have really started the cycle.

 

[lauraf]

Can you give us the exact readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate?

 

[Amhodgie]

I just looked an the test strips I have do not test for ammonia - Nitrate 0 Nitrite 0 Hardness 150 (Hard) Chlorine 0 Alkalinity 180 PH 8.4, The pet store I am going to is only a 2km distance and on the same city water as us. They have tested my water and advise that the PH is always high, should I maybe try and use bottled water?

 

[Fuzz16]

idk any test strip that tests for chlorine...

did you use water dechlorinator? when you added water to the tank?

tanks not cyced, so i cant beleive the nitrites are 0...and nitrates are rarely 0...ive never had them at 0. nitrates arnt bad unless their high, mine averages around 5-15ppm

your pH is SUPER high...add some peat to the water or get some driftwood. cant really keep anything in this pH cept maybe africans.

you can use bottled water, but that would get expesive, unless you have like the jugs you can get thare huge, or a petco that sells ro/di waer. ask what your local pet store uses to lower their pH.

5g tank is not alot of tank space for much, so maybe look at a bea, but no livebearers or danios, or tetras

 

[frankenfish]

idk any test strip that tests for chlorine...

did you use water dechlorinator? when you added water to the tank?

tanks not cyced, so i cant beleive the nitrites are 0...and nitrates are rarely 0...ive never had them at 0. nitrates arnt bad unless their high, mine averages around 5-15ppm

your pH is SUPER high...add some peat to the water or get some driftwood. cant really keep anything in this pH cept maybe africans.

you can use bottled water, but that would get expesive, unless you have like the jugs you can get thare huge, or a petco that sells ro/di waer. ask what your local pet store uses to lower their pH.

5g tank is not alot of tank space for much, so maybe look at a bea, but no livebearers or danios, or tetras

these do. i've used them before Amazon.com: Jungle Labs Quick Dip 6-in-1 Aquarium Test Strips, 100 PK: Pet Supplies

 

[Amhodgie]

I checked the PH again and it looks like 7.3, how quickly can PH change? maybe I read it wrong the first time, I read it in bad lighting. I did use Dechlorinator

 

[skjl47]

Hello; When you cleaned the tank, did you use any soap or chemicals other than the bleach already mentioned. Did you carry the water in a bucket that had been used for some other purpose? Did you seal the tank with silicone?

 

[lauraf]

Test strips are notoriously inaccurate. Ideally you should be using a liquid test kit. Does your fish store use liquid tests? You can ask them to check your water for nitrates, nitrites and ammonia. With a new uncycled tank, ammonia will be the first thing to show, even before nitrites. Don't worry too much about pH - fish can live in a wide range of pH levels. What is problematic is if they endure a swift dramatic change in pH.
What brand dechlorinator are you using?

 

[FlameTetra333]

idk any test strip that tests for chlorine...

did you use water dechlorinator? when you added water to the tank?

tanks not cyced, so i cant beleive the nitrites are 0...and nitrates are rarely 0...ive never had them at 0. nitrates arnt bad unless their high, mine averages around 5-15ppm

your pH is SUPER high...add some peat to the water or get some driftwood. cant really keep anything in this pH cept maybe africans.

you can use bottled water, but that would get expesive, unless you have like the jugs you can get thare huge, or a petco that sells ro/di waer. ask what your local pet store uses to lower their pH.

5g tank is not alot of tank space for much, so maybe look at a bea, but no livebearers or danios, or tetras

To add on to what fuzz said:
To lower the pH of the tank, head down to Petco and buy some Fluval Peat Granules and a filter media bag. Since your tank is 5 gallons, take a fourth of a handful of peat granules and put them in the filter media bag and put that into the filter.

For fish I recommend a coldwater tank (64-72°F) so you don't need a heater. Then I would buy 3-4 White Cloud Mountain Minnows, but not before putting many live plants (anubias nana, java fern, water wisteria just to name a few) into the tank. They suck up nitrates in the tank. These plants are very easy to take care of; they don't need much light. Just buy a bottle of Seachem flourish and you're good to go.

If you think you're ready, then add 1-3 Ghost Shrimp. Feed them Hikari Algae Wafers (they contain small traces of iodine which shrimp need to molt).

If you get shrimp then be VERY careful when dosing Seachem Flourish; it contains copper which kills invertebrates such as shrimp.

 

[Amhodgie]

I pitched to old tank and bought a new 10 gallon tank, I have had fish in the tank for close to 4 days and I am happy to reply they are alive and well! I think that the old tank must have been contaminated with something, thanks for all your assistance

 

[exhumed07]

i would suggest using api test kits. i use them for both my fresh and saltwater tanks. also what is the temp of the tank? if it's to cold tropicals will not survive very long

 

[KcMopar]

I pitched to old tank and bought a new 10 gallon tank, I have had fish in the tank for close to 4 days and I am happy to reply they are alive and well! I think that the old tank must have been contaminated with something, thanks for all your assistance

Keep those water changes up until you see it produce nitrate!!