I started my 10 gallon freshwater tank about a month ago and I have had 5 out of 6 fish die. The only fish that has survived is a swordtail. I have lost a 2 mollies, 2 plecostomus and one swordfish.
I don't know if we are feeding them too much or not. We do have a little food particles on the bottom of the tank. The water is a little cloudy but not too bad compared to what I see at the local Walmart. I did run a 5 in 1 test and found out that my:
Nitrate was close to 0
Nitrite was 0
Hardness was 300 which is very hard
Alkalinity was between 40-80 which is low to moderate.
PH was about a 6.8
We are now down to one fish and want to figure out why all the fish died before we get more. We change about 20% of the water once a week and the filter has been changed once a month. This is the standard glass 10 gal kit that Walmart sells.

Any advice would help... Ron

Hello Ron,
I commend you for your efforts in being a new fish keeper. Hopefully I can help you sort out a few issues to get your tank healthy and running properly.
By the looks of your 5 in one strip, your new tank has not yet completed it's nitrogen cycle.
The nitrogen cycle is the biological filtration that naturally occurs within the tank and filter that converts toxic waste into a non toxic form by the means of developing beneficial bacterial colonies.
Fish food and fish excreta and urine create pollutants called ammonia (toxic to fish). When ammonia is introduced to the tank, nature creates bacteria called Nitrosomonas. This bacteria creates a byproduct called Nitrites (toxic to fish). The Nitrite reading helps us to determine that our tank is in the process of cycling and where the tank is in the process stage of cycling.
When Nitrites are present in the water, nature creates another bacteria called Nitrobacter which converts the toxic Nitrites into a non toxic byproduct called Nitrates. Having a Nitrate reading tells us that the tank is cycled. As the Nitrate readings go up, the toxic nitrite readings will go down to 0ppm.
Nitrates are non toxic to fish if kept between 30 and 45 ppm in hard water and 45 to 70 ppm in soft water conditions. They are removed from the tank when doing maintenance water changes, so you will want to control the nitrates ppm by doing monthly partial water changes.

This cycle, without the disturbances of water changes and filter changes, takes an average of 8 weeks to complete itself naturally. There is a product I recommend to speed up the process to 3 weeks max time called Cycle by Nutrafin. This is however the only one I recommend as most of the other "bacteria in a bottle" can cause more harm than good. Cycle by Nutrafin in trusted by me and I've used it for many years without fail. It contains live inactive bacteria that develops stage by stage within the tank as nature would have it. Other brands contain active live bacteria which have already started their life cycle inside the bottle.
Hard water also make it more difficult on fish while cycling an aquarium. The hardness in the water intensifies the toxicity of ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.
Putting to many fish in an aquarium that's not cycled also adds to the stress as more fish equal higher amounts of pollutants.

I'm a little confused with the hardness of your water. Usually (but not always), when you have hard water, the alkalinity and Ph are also high - yours is reading low which would indicate soft water...

Do you have naturally hard tap water? Do you mind placing some tap water in a cup, testing it 30 minutes later, then giving me the readings from your 5 in one strip? This way I can determine what your water is like.

Do you have a well?
Have you added anything to the water?
What kind of gravel and décor are you using?
What is the temperature of the tank?
Did your filter come with a bio-wheel or a bio-sponge?
-The wheel turns on the filter and the sponge is black and fits inside the filter in front of the filter cartridge. Both of these devices are home to the beneficial bacteria that will form colonies to keep your tank healthy. They are never to be cleaned or you wash away the bacteria and have to start the cycling process all over again.
If your filter did not come with one of these, I'd suggest you buy the sponge to insert inside the filter. If you need more info on this, I'll be happy to explain further.
How is your remaining fish acting?

For now, do not change or clean the filter cartridge.
Make 10 % water changes daily until we find out about whether your water is hard or soft or what is causing it to be hard.
Its better to only have one fish while cycling the tank.
Feed only a few flakes a day, remove any left overs with a net.

Your tank will be cloudy until the cycle is complete. The cloudiness is caused by pollutants and by bacterial blooms... Don't be alarmed, the cloudy water is normal and it is likely going to get worse before it gets better...

This is the hardest stage you'll go through. Once your tank is cycled, you'll be able to add fish and enjoy a crystal clear, healthy, thriving aquarium...

Also, key to healthy fish also includes making sure you don't buy fish that are diseased and if so, treat them with medications accordingly. I have a lot more info on this as well.


Hope to hear back from you,
Kae

Kae,

Thanks for the quick reply. Let me try to answer a few of your questions back to me.
Do you have a well? We used tap water from our local city supply.
Have you added anything to the water? We added aquasafe to help condition the water.
What kind of gravel and décor are you using? We bought some blue green colored rock type gravel. I don't remember the brand or exact type. I can look at Walmart though and let you know.
What is the temperature of the tank? About 69-70 degrees
Did your filter come with a bio-wheel or a bio-sponge? I think I have a sponge filter. I have two sponge like filters inside my filter system. One is blue with carbon rocks and the other is a off white smaller filter. I don't know if either on is a "bio-sponge".
I tested a glass of water after 30 minutes and this is what my readings are:
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
Hardness: 300
Alkalinity: 40
PH: 6.8
Those readings are basically the same as my tank was.

My little swordtail normally acts what I would call normal. Swims around at times and other times it sits still. Sometimes it acts a little erratic but that is rare. I have a boat decoration and a log that the fish can swim into. We also have 2 fake plants.

When buying new fish how would you know if they are diseased? Asking this question reminded me to to tell you that most of the fished that died had some white looking stuff on their sides. The fins also got deteriorated in the days prior to dying.

You mentioned that this cycle take 8 weeks with no water changes of filter cleaning or changes. Then you told me to change 10% daily. Please clarify this a little more for me. I don't want to do one and not the other.

Thanks Ron

Hi Ron,
I'm sorry for the misunderstanding about the 10% water changes.

Having hard water intensifies the toxicity of ammonia, nitrites and nitrates on the fish and will require, for less stress to the fish, 10% water changes daily during the cycle period to make the water more bearable for the fish. I recommended a 10% water change daily because of how hard your water was reading.

I have soft water, soft water does not require water changes during the cycle, so my average time in cycling tanks without using bacterial additives is 8 weeks.

By your tap water test, it's clear that your area has hard water and there is nothing in your tank causing issues with the hardness. Certain gravel like crushed coral and décor like shells will cause a spike in the hardness of aquarium water - just needed to rule that out...

Your blue filter cartridge with the carbon is the one you change and the off-white one is your bio-sponge. That's where your bacteria colonies will set up home.

The white stuff on your fish was either ick or fungus and fin rot. This means they were sick to begin with and was not healthy enough to survive the cycling process... Being sick and the stress of cycling the tank is most definitely the reason they died.
Your remaining fish may have a touch of this as well. Darting erratically is a symptom of both ick and fungus (more so with ick though).
Can you see any signs of white stuff or fin rot on the fish?
Is/was the white stuff cottony looking (fungus) or sugar crystal looking (ick)?
Since he was with the other fish, even if he shows no signs now, it's quite possible that he's infected. You can buy effective treatment for both and if treated soon enough, fish have a good survival rate. However, diseases that have been left to progress often do not get better. It is also more difficult to heal during the cycling process

A few things to take notice of when shopping for new fish:
1. Are there any dead fish in the display tanks?
2. Do you see any obvious signs of disease on the fish for sale in the display tanks - fungus, ick, sores, wounds, clamped fins, cloudy eyes, waddlely swimming, resting at the waters surface, resting on bottom of tank, lethargic?
3. Does the fish department smell "fishy"?
4. Watch the fish carefully for a few minutes, find one that appears to be healthy and active, then request to buy that particular fish, double check to make sure the sales associate caught the right one.

All tanks in pet shops/fish shops/Walmart/petsmart (with the exception of some ma&pop shops) are running on one filtration system per type of environment. Salt, brackish, tropical, and cold water aquariums will each have only one filtration system (sometimes tropical and cold water are combined as freshwater). This means that even though the fish are in separate tanks, the water is shared between all the tanks and filtered out and back into the tanks by one filtration system. So if a good number of fish appear to be dead or ill but are in a different tank, still don't buy at that time.
Also, Walmart takes little pride in their fish department. Their fish are doomed for death as they are very poorly cared for and diseased.

I hope to hear back from you. You are more than welcome to ask as many questions as you like. This beginning process is sometimes confusing, but once you get through it, you'll really enjoy your aquarium.
You can still by the product Cycle by Nutrafin to speed the process up. They sell it at my local Walmart and petsmart along with other pet shops as well. The best prices are at Walmart and petsmart.
Kae

I started my 10 gallon freshwater tank about a month ago and I have had 5 out of 6 fish die. The only fish that has survived is a swordtail. I have lost a 2 mollies, 2 plecostomus and one swordfish.
I don't know if we are feeding them too much or not. We do have a little food particles on the bottom of the tank. The water is a little cloudy but not too bad compared to what I see at the local Walmart. I did run a 5 in 1 test and found out that my:
Nitrate was close to 0
Nitrite was 0
Hardness was 300 which is very hard
Alkalinity was between 40-80 which is low to moderate.
PH was about a 6.8
We are now down to one fish and want to figure out why all the fish died before we get more. We change about 20% of the water once a week and the filter has been changed once a month. This is the standard glass 10 gal kit that Walmart sells.

Any advice would help....Ron
Go to petsmart they can tell you everything about how to care for your fish. There is different stuff that you can put in the water to help clear it up and make sure that the levels are right. . On the jar of food it should tell you how often and how much to feed your fish. I hope this helps

Kae,
My fish has no white spots or any fin rot. I think the others had a fungus based on the way you described it. I will get some treatment to at least have on hand. I was also thinking about using some distilled water to help soften my tank environment. Any thoughts on this? We will also look into the cycle by nutrafin.

Thanks again for your help

Using distilled water is an excellent idea! You can also use drinking water.
I think you'd be pleased with the speed and turn around time with your tanks progress by using Nutrafin cycle. It also helps to keep the toxins during the cycling process from reaching extremely high levels. TIP: The bottle recommends that you continue to use the product even after the nitrogen cycle is complete. However, this is not necessary. After your tank has cycled, all the beneficial bacteria that will keep your tank healthy will have set up home in the bio-sponge and you will no longer need to use the product.
It's good to keep on hand if it's needed, say you accidentally over clean the tank and removed the bacteria or something, but other than that... it's not necessary to use.
Also something that I forgot to mention earlier is that the fish you mentioned need a bit warmer water between 76 and 80 degree F. A small 5 to 10 gallon heater set on low should warm the water up nicely.
Good luck! And remember, if you ever have any questions, concerns, or need anything, I'm always here to help out a fellow fish keeper!!
Kae

Kae,

I did a 20% water change yesterday with distilled water and took a 5in1 test today. It came out with:
Nitrate:20
Nitrite:3.0
Hardness: 150
Alkalinity:80
PH: 6.8
I did get some cycle but I wanted to check the numbers before using the cycle. Do you think I still need to use the cycle or wait. My nitrite is a little high so I considered putting in some aquarium salt or melafix. What do you think?
Thanks Ron

Srokar:D
Your water has made a big improvement:D
Your readings indicate that the nitrogen cycle is in progress.
You have a nitrate reading which is good and it's still in the safe zone.
Your nitrites are not high (let's watch to see if they go up or down). Tomorrow test the water before your water change, if they have gone up, add the cycle to the tank. It will be the only dose you will need to put in to complete your biofiltration cycle (the nitrogen cycle).
Salt and melafix do not do anything for nitrites or nitrates...
Melafix may do your fish some good. It's an all natural remedy that I happen to be real fond of. I use it a lot in my "fin nippers" tank to quickly heal fins.
Salt affects and raises the alkalinity in the water and yours is testing average right now (which is higher than it was before). I wouldn't add the salt just yet, reason being is because the alkalinity has gone up from your previous readings.
Did you already add aquarium salt or does your water conditioner buff the water?
If not, lets wait on adding salt and see where the levels go within the next day or so. (your water is different than mine, so I'm trying to get a feel for it before I can accurately recommend adding the salt)...
The alkalinity may be going up on it's own due to having hard water and adding salt wouldn't be good.

Your water is still a little hard, but adding the distilled water made a huge difference. The ideal range is about 75 to 80 ppm for the fish your keeping...

Things are looking up:D... It won't be long now! Good Job!!

Remember, I'm here if you need me,
Kae

Kae,

I have been out of town for a week and just returned. I took a reading today and my new readings are:
Nitrate: 40-80
Nitrite: 10+
Hardness: 150
Alkalinity: 40
PH: 6.2

My last readings where almost two weeks ago and they where:
Nitrate: 20
Nitrite: 3.0
Hardness: 150
Alkalinity: 80
PH: 6.8

I did about a 15% water change today and added some salt. Should these numbers start balancing out soon? We would like to get more fish, but we want the water to be stable first.

Thanks Ron

Hi Ron,
From your readings now, it appears that your tank is reaching the final stages of cycling.
When the Nitrites reach their peek you will begin to notice that they start to tapper down as the final stage fully develops.

When you do your water changes, are you just removing water or are you also cleaning the gravel and filters?

Never clean the bio-sponge (the off white sponge without the carbon) that is where your good bacteria is living. Some have probably developed in the gravel as well, so cleaning it at this stage could be a set back.
After your tank has been stable and good strong bacterial colonies have developed in the bio-sponge, then cleaning the gravel is OK.

You should start to notice within the next few days that your nitrites will have gone down and nitrates will have gone up.

Does your remaining fish seem to be OK?
If so, lets hold off on the water changes and let this thing stabilize. You are so close to being done.

I believe your nitrites are at their peek (10+)... They should start disappearing until you have a 0ppm reading real soon (within days).
While this happens, you will notice that the Nitrates go up, this is OK.
A cycled tank is always going to have a nitrate reading.

Right now, you are waiting on a 0 nitrite reading
Once your nitrites fall to 0, then you will be able to do a 10% water change and start adding 1 or 2 fish at a time every 2 weeks.
Adding too many fish at once will produce too much waste for the colonies your tank has established to break down fast enough.
Adding fish slowly gives your beneficial bacteria colonies time to adjust and grow without causing bacterial blooms and spikes in the nitrite and ammonia readings.
As always, if you have any questions, feel free to ask.

Kae

Kae,

I haven't clean my gravel. I have sponged off the sides of the tank but haven't removed any items. Our fish is doing really well thus far. I will check the levels again in about a week and see how we are doing.
Thanks Ron

Sounds great Ron!
Cleaning the sides of the tank is great too! No harm in being able to see your fish;) . Happy to hear he's doing good.

Kae

Kae,
It has been over a month with 3 fish in my tank and they have all been doing well. Until a few days ago I noticed that my molly looks like it broke its back. About 3/4 the way down the fish it turns a good 45 degrees. He seems normal other than that. Have you every seen a fish look like this after being normal looking for weeks? Any ideas?

Ron

Hi Ron,
I'm sorry to hear that.
I have seen this before, especially in livebearers (mollies,guppies,sword tails).
I cannot recall the specific name for the disease.
I want to say it's an advanced stage of wasting disease - which is actually a term used when fish just waste away for no apparent reason. (possibly bacterial, but unfortunately no one really knows)

I will ask some other fish keepers that I know and get back to you.

My first thoughts about wasting disease was confirmed.
This is a symptom of wasting.
Another symptom that must be present is the spitting of food.
If the fish is spitting his food out once he eats it, it's more than likely wasting.
2 other causes of a hunched back could be old age or genetic defects caused by inbreeding.
Female Mollies only live 2 to 3 years.
If you buy a larger molly it might be almost a year old already (or older). Males live about a year shorter.
If your fish is this old, then it could just be old age.
And unfortunately, these fish aren't choosy when it comes to reproducing.
It could be a genetic defect caused by inbreeding.

You could try a medication for bacterial infections, but wasting disease, as far I've experienced, has no cure.

Watch to see if he is spitting food.
If no spitting, then it's possibly old age or a defect.

I wish I had a solid answer for you.

Let me know:)

Kae

Kae,

All three of my fish seem to do the spitting. So all three of my fish maybe wasting... wow these things seem hard to keep healthy at times.

Ron

Are all of your fish livebearers? (mollies, swordtails?)
These fish are prone to the disease.

It's nothing you did or didn't do.

We have one mollie one swordfish and one tiger barb. The swordfish is the first fish we bought for the tank. The mollie and barb where added after the tank stabilized. I guess we can only wait until these die and replace them. My 2yr old loves to feed them in the morning and before bed so I have to keep something in the tank.

Thanks Ron...

Sounds like a good plan:D

Kae,

I forgot to mention that my Molly is very aggressive especially around feeding time. It seems to chase and poke at the other fish.

Ron

Very little is known about wasting disease, all the different effects it has on the fish and such.
Most of what is known about it in fish keeping is through people who experience it with their own fish.
There are so many different symptoms and not every fish seems to get every symptom of the disease except the spitting of food.
Perhaps the inability to hold down the food is causing hunger aggression.

I've had tiger barbs be nippy and a bit aggressive before, but never a molly.
Mollies are usually very peaceful fish, so this could be an explanation.

Being that the fish has a hunched back and is spitting food, it sounds like it's in the advanced stages of the disease.
It may be to the point where there is little to no food intake at all (everything gets spit out) and hunger is causing the aggression.
Fish can live about 1 - 2 weeks without eating.

If this is the case, then the Molly doesn't understand the cause of the hunger, therefore goes after the other fish. Sort of like chasing away the competition...

It's a possibility...

Kae,

Let me explain this a little more. They spit the food out almost like it was to big of a flake for them. They all rush to get the food down. After they spit it out they go for more and eat it. I don't think this molly is hungry at all. It is very very aggressive when it comes to feeding.

Ron

Also if it's a male molly, he could be checking the other fish out, trying to breed with them.
It kind of resembles chasing and picking... especially when the other fish want nothing to do with it...

Do you know how to tell the difference between male and female?

Ok, I do know what your talking about with the food.

The aggressive one, it's the one with the hunched back?

My molly has the hutch back and it is the most aggressive. It sometime splits food out and then eats it again.

My tiger bard is also aggressive at feeding time and it also spits food out and then eats it also.

My swordfish is really the only one that doesn't spit out it food and isn't aggressive.

Sorry for the confusion.

I thought the spitting thing was because the flakes where too big for them after they got it in their mouths.

Thanks Ron

I thought the spitting thing was because the flakes where too big for them after they got it in their mouths.

You are right, they do that... and then they eat it again...
That wouldn't be wasting.

The hunched back could be a genetic defect.
They would develop this as they grew to full size.

He may not be sick at all, just deformed.

If it's a male, getting 2 females could possibly calm down his aggression.

Also, if he's got the hunched back as a result of a genetic defect due to inbreeding, it could have something to do with the aggression as well.

Kae,

Thanks for the information. Hopefully my fish is healthy but time will tell. I attached a picture of what my molly looks like. Can you tell if this is a male or female?

Thanks Ron

I can't tell right off the bat because the pic is too small. It looks like a marble female Molly, but I cannot be 100% sure because the part I need to see to determine the sex is just to small in the photograph.
You can tell males from females by looking underneath their bellies:

A female will have a fan shaped anal fin.
3411
3412




The males have an elongated gonopodium.
3413

Kae

Kae,

Thanks. I actually have a female molly...

Ron

Great!

Even though she's deformed (possibly)
It may benefit her to have a male companion.
The best combination, when dealing with any aggressive fish, is to have 2 females and 1 male of the same species (3 females to 1 male is even better).
This way the picking is divided and usually the extra fish cause such a distraction that there is little to no picking.

I have never had a single female molly, but perhaps the aggression could be due to frustration of not having a male companion or companions of her own type.
The ones I have are in a community aquarium with lots of males, females and other fish - they never pick on anybody and are peaceful and pretty occupied with one another.

You can determine the sex of your sword tail fish the same way.
And the males also develop the sword looking tails whereas the females do not.

Keep me posted - I love and enjoy the updates:D

Kae

Kae,

I think my Tiger Barb might be pregnant. I noticed these little clear balls coming out of her. I have noticed that she was big, but I never thought she was pregnant. I understand I should remove the mom after she drops all the eggs. Any suggestions?

Thanks Ron

Do you still have 1 tiger barb?

Tiger barbs are egg scatterers.
The females will develop hundreds of eggs and drop them wherever in the tank.
If you had a pair (male and female), the male would follow behind her fertilizing the eggs.
They eat their eggs fertilized or not, so that's why you've heard that they need to be removed.

Breeders usually add a pair to a tank specifically designated for breeding, after the female releases all the eggs and they are fertilized,
They are both removed and put back into the community aquarium where they live.
And, the eggs are raised in the breeding tank.

In your situation, if you only have the one female, the eggs will go unfertilized and there's no reason to remove the fish. The eggs will either be eaten or cleaned up by the filter.
Sometimes unfertilized eggs that haven't been eaten will grow a fungus on them - no need to worry it won't hurt the fish.
You may want to remove them if this becomes an unsightly problem (seeing lots of fungus growing on lots of eggs)
Because it may set off a beneficial bacterial bloom (cloudy water).


Are you interested in breeding?