All Comets Died, Last One Is Floating And Trying To Live

[gfish605 0]

Hi, I posted earlier about my comet going up for air. I did the %50 water change, added a new filter. All the other comets died. one had a white spot. there was white cloud that hasn't been able to settle since I did the water change yesterday. By the way, this is my first fish after I bought a brand new fish tank and cycled the water for a month. I did the steps that were put on this website. I would like to mention, that when I bought the gravel, I never washed it, because I asked the woman in the store if i needed to wash it and she said no. I wonder if it's the gravel that killed the fish.

I am so bummed about these fish dying, but i don't want to give up yet.

[ashlee18 1,169]

Can you fill out everything at the top please?

Did all these fish die before or after the water change and new filter?

[gfish605 0]

I filled this out when fish where dying

[*]Test Results for the Following:

[0]Ammonia Level?

[0]Nitrite Level?

[0]Nitrate level?

[8.2]Ph Level, Tank (If possible, KH, GH and chloramines)?

[*]Ph Level, Tap (If possible, KH, GH and chloramines)?

[API]Brand of test-kit used and whether strips or drops?

[72.5]Water temperature?

[36]Tank size (how many gals.) and how long has it been running?

[penguin bio wheel 150]What is the name and "size of the filter"(s)?

[fish were put in in cycled tank first fish ever to be in tank.How often do you change the water and how much? changed water a week before fish entered tank. i changed 95%, since ammonia levels didn't go down after days and days.

[2 1/2 weeks]how many days ago was the last water change and how much did you change?

[there were 4 but only two left on tiny comet and one small comet size of quarter and half]How many fish in the tank and their size?

[tetra aqua safe plus, amquel plus,Nova Aqua, had used small amount of ammonia and microbe lift and aquarium cycling and conditioning kit]What kind of water additives or conditioners?

fish flakes]What do you feed your fish and how often?

[no]Any new fish added to the tank?

[no]Any medications added to the tank?

[none]List entire medication/treatment history for fish and tank.

Please include salt, Prazi, PP, etc and the approximate time and duration of treatment.

[no but fish that died earlier had ick]Any unusual findings on the fish such as "grains of salt," bloody streaks, frayed fins or fungus?

[fish likes to come top of water and gasp for air? small fish likes to lay low on ground and later swims like nothing. the other two comets died, med size had ick, white spot on his side, and small comet died as well. Only left with two.]Any unusual behavior like staying at the bottom, not eating, etc.

I just got a new 36 gallon tank that I just finished cycling for a month. I added 4 fish on friday from the feeder fish tank. I got one bright red comet named "AKA" he is about an inch in size, smaller gold comet named "Kin", smoked colored gold with black about 2 inches, had white spot on him, he laid low on bottom of aquarium entire time he was placed in my tank, found him dead this morning (I named him Kimori) and the other yellow smaller comet also found dead later this midday(named Kirro).

I am so new to this, but I don't want Aka and Kin to die. Aka keeps going to the top of the tank to gasp for air or look for air bubbles. I also have a air bubble wall, that lets out a few bubbles to one side of bar, I have small snails and some plants that I forgot their names, sword fern, moss, and bamboo are a few.

Okay so that was my earlier post, I just checked the water right now and I have the following:

[*]Test Results for the Following:

[.50]Ammonia Level?

[0]Nitrite Level?

[0]Nitrate level?

[6]Ph Level, Tank (If possible, KH, GH and chloramines)?

[*]Ph Level, Tap (If possible, KH, GH and chloramines)?

[API]Brand of test-kit used and whether strips or drops?

[72.5]Water temperature?

[36]Tank size (how many gals.) and how long has it been running?

[penguin bio wheel 150]What is the name and "size of the filter"(s)andjust bought another filter the aqua clear power filter 70.

changed the water 50% yesterday used tetra aqua safe plus.

they were all small comets (4 in total, biggest was half an inch diameter, and had white spot, died immediately the next day, the other small comet followed the next day, then smaller comets died yesterday and now today)

[tetra aqua safe plus, amquel plus,Nova Aqua, had used small amount of ammonia and microbe lift and aquarium cycling and conditioning kit]What kind of water additives or conditioners?

Aqueon Goldfish flakes]What do you feed your fish and how often?

[no]Any new fish added to the tank?

[no]Any medications added to the tank?

[none]List entire medication/treatment history for fish and tank.

Please include salt, Prazi, PP, etc and the approximate time and duration of treatment.

[no but fish that died earlier had ick]Any unusual findings on the fish such as "grains of salt," bloody streaks, frayed fins or fungus?

This last fish that died, I noticed had some black/brown small strips and stiples on top fin and sides by the gills.

He was gasping for air yesterday, and did the 50% water change. He was ok all day today. he stopped and started hanging out lower part of aquarium. I posted a video of two events of complete behavior changes on youtube. you can go to pscyicj605.

i noticed that the cloud that was made from water change from yesterday had not gotten clearer today. I fed fish before he died. I took som Aqueon goldfish flakes and wetted them in a seperate clean container with the same fish tank water. let them soften up for 20 min or so, and then submerged them in the water to feed him. I had tried feeding him lettuce earlier, but he didn't eat it.

[fish likes to come top of water and gasp for air? small fish likes to lay low on ground and later swims like nothing. the other two comets died, med size had ick, white spot on his side, and small comet died as well. Only left with two.]Any unusual behavior like staying at the bottom, not eating, etc.

Hi,

ok, so the gravel wasn't washed from the get go, even after I tried syphoning it last night. the cloud still is apparent tonight. Fish was suffering but was ok until after I fed it. i think it was everything. I stopped the bubbles that came from the airstone in the dragon's mouth because he seemed like he was straining to swim in place too much. afterwards, he liked going there to swim right below his mouth.

before water change, i took him out and scrubbed all the decorations as well.

the plants I have are ; aponogeton, java moss, bamboo, swordfish fern.

I want to change the gravel to real flourite gravel for plants, the lights I have are plant lights and i think they are a little too bright, i used them less on the fish, for about 6-8 hrs max. it's a 24" 610 mm 17 watts T8.

this is my first attempt on keeping goldfish, i hope to get this right. any advice or tips with a lot of info would be grateful. The people at the aquarium stores, really don't know how to keep fish and give people the wrong advice, from filters, to gravel to how many fish, or how long to cycle water or even what or how to cycle water. plants, etc.

Thanks,

Jobi

[ashlee18 1,169]

I think what might have happened was a HUGE cycle bump. Since your cycle was so new, it couldn't take the four goldfish added all at once. So that is why you now have ammonia. Add to that how poorly commons/feeders are treated at the fish store and it was a recipe for disaster.

And it appears as though your tank has also experienced a pH crash. Your pH went from 8.2 to 6.0? That is very dangerous. I would advise to either use a buffer added to the water every water change or crushed coral. pH buffers are found as products such a API Proper pH of Seachem Gold Buffer. You must make sure the product says buffer. pH up and down drops are not good products as they do not hold a stable pH. You can also add crushed coral to the filter. It is an all natural way to buffer the pH. I have found that 1/2 cups per 20 gallons of water gets my pH to a nice 7.6.

[koko 14,327]

Did you use this with the fish in the tank?

had used small amount of ammonia and microbe lift

[wndywees 0]

I'm sorry to hear that you're having so many problems. With regards to your gravel I've always rinsed mine really well before putting it in my aquarium; there's alot of dust and debris in it which if not rinsed then ends up in your tank. There are some types of gravel that have pretreated water already added and these don't need to be rinsed, but it will be stated on the bag that there is no need to rinse.

I hope that your last fish makes it.

[Helen 8,511]

please update us with the status of your fish. do you require further help?

[gfish605 0]

Did you use this with the fish in the tank?

had used small amount of ammonia and microbe lift

No, I did this when I cycled the tank a month ago, and i even did a couple water changes of 50% and more. I did use a ph pill and that didn't work. I had to take 95% water change after that too. This was all before I brought the fish home.

i didn't was the gravel since I started out with the brand new tank. I did try syphoning it clean but there was still a cloudy mess. the fish died after I did this. I changed the water and added the water conditioner. Was I suppose to wait over nite before adding the fish? and in the future where and how do I keep the fish when i do water changes?

I am so bummed that all these fish died. I haven't done anything to the tank and of course haven't bought anymore fish. but i don't want to give up after all the expense.

[gfish605 0]

I'm sorry to hear that you're having so many problems. With regards to your gravel I've always rinsed mine really well before putting it in my aquarium; there's alot of dust and debris in it which if not rinsed then ends up in your tank. There are some types of gravel that have pretreated water already added and these don't need to be rinsed, but it will be stated on the bag that there is no need to rinse.

I hope that your last fish makes it.

thanks for your thoughts. my last fish died and it was my pride and joy of them all. he started getting these little brown stippling on his gills and after I did a water change he died. The cloud that came from the gravel was still strong. The girl at the pet store said I didn't have to worry about washing the gravel. I was so stupid to do what she said. she was such a know it all in the store. i thought i wouldn't go wrong. oh well.

I haven't done anything to the tank yet. I do want to buy some plant gravel and take out this other gravel I have. So i will see how that goes first before I add any fish.

[koko 14,327]

Plant gravel?

Yeah i always rinse everything off before I use it, unless it is the bio gravel and that I only have used for salt water tanks.

[mardaokansi 2]

Perhaps we can try and sort these issues out for you? I'm really very sorry about your fish.

The gravel you have now, just take it all out. I'm assuming you are still dealing with the cycle bump?? Rinse out your filters if you think any of that debris from the gravel got inside with dechlorinated water. This cloud from the gravel, is it always there or only when you are siphoning out the water? Do you mix up the gravel while you are siphoning out the water?

I want to ask about your water changes. Do you make sure they are temperature matched, pH matched and dechlorinated? The buffers Ashlee mentioned should help you in keeping a consistent pH. Water changes can shock fish if they temp and pH are off. It seems something may be off when you were performing them if the fish would literally die after each w/c. The pH dropping could be behind your fish's death since it dropped so drastically. edit I forgot to ask you if you could also test your tap water for pH.

Now are you using all three of these with each w/c; tetra aqua safe, amquel plus, and nova aqua? If you are using all three that's a bit overkill on the dechlorinator. You only need one, and only add the proper amount recommended on the label of the bottle.

One more question for you about your fish-less cycle. Did you use pure ammonia? It would have no additives and if you shake the bottle the liquid would remain "still" and not look like soapy bubbles.

Edited August 18, 2011 by Martha

[gfish605 0]

Perhaps we can try and sort these issues out for you? I'm really very sorry about your fish.

The gravel you have now, just take it all out. I'm assuming you are still dealing with the cycle bump?? Rinse out your filters if you think any of that debris from the gravel got inside with dechlorinated water. This cloud from the gravel, is it always there or only when you are siphoning out the water? Do you mix up the gravel while you are siphoning out the water?

I want to ask about your water changes. Do you make sure they are temperature matched, pH matched and dechlorinated? The buffers Ashlee mentioned should help you in keeping a consistent pH. Water changes can shock fish if they temp and pH are off. It seems something may be off when you were performing them if the fish would literally die after each w/c. The pH dropping could be behind your fish's death since it dropped so drastically. edit I forgot to ask you if you could also test your tap water for pH.

Now are you using all three of these with each w/c; tetra aqua safe, amquel plus, and nova aqua? If you are using all three that's a bit overkill on the dechlorinator. You only need one, and only add the proper amount recommended on the label of the bottle.

One more question for you about your fish-less cycle. Did you use pure ammonia? It would have no additives and if you shake the bottle the liquid would remain "still" and not look like soapy bubbles.

yes, i used pure ammonia from true value. i am going to do what you guys reccommend. I am taking out all the gravel and rinsing it in dechlorinated water and then taking half and putting not that much back in. I decided to get bigger rocks. I will rinse out the water filters, plants and decor and do a 25-45% water change. I really want to get my new fish, but i guess I have to see if this fishless cycle tank is working out first.

thanks for the help!