Seems like we are losing 1-2 fish per week. 3 weeks ago 2 panda corys. 2 weeks ago a bloodfin tetra. This week 2 mollies and a shrimp. Tank was established about 3 months ago. The mollies and bloodfin were in the tank since the beginning. Fish are coming from 2 different stores, both seem very clean with good staffs (local not a chain).

Any ideas what we are doing wrong?

Tank details below.

Tank info:

Tank size: 45 gallon
Ammonia: btw 0 & .25 (color looks closer to 0 on the chart)
NitrIte: DK
NitrAte: DK
PH/GH/KH: DK
Cycled,yes or no: YES
Number of fish: 16-18: 1 shrimp, molly, pleco and cory, and about 12 tetras
Acclimation process: Let bag float in tank 1/2 hour and then dump them in
Physical signs of illness(IE spots,shimmer,ECT): none
How often between fish additions: 2-3 weeks
Waterchange schedule: change 5 gallons weekly
Tank temp: 78F
I'm using an aquaclear 70 filter and have changed out the foam, charcoal and now the biomax (1 each month).

You should be doing more than 5 gallons per week, if you ask me. I do 5 gallons per week on my 10 gallon. Especially considering you don't know your nitrite and nitrate concentrations and the tank is still relatively new.

Observe your fish for odd behavior. Are they near the surface, near the bottom, "flashing" (bouncing) off stuff, or chasing each other? Not eating? Are their colors faded? Do they freak out when you turn the light on in the morning?

They may have some internal parasites as well.

I would suggest adding some aquarium salt and PI Stress Coat+, elevating the temperature to 78-80, and feeding medicated fish food to get any parasites (if any, and it won't hurt them if they don't have them). If they don't eat the medicated fish food, let them go without food until they're hungry enough to eat it. That's how I have done it with my fish. If any start acting oddly, quarantine them.

Oh, and DO NOT ADD ANY NEW FISH until you've established what's wrong with your existing stock. Otherwise, you run the risk of trying to combat multiple problems (if you aren't already).

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

Usually for a water change you do 15%-25%. But, like Gizmo said, since you don't know the Nitrite or Nitrate levels, you may have to do a bit more. You really need to get some liquid test kits for those two parameters. Nitrites are highly toxic to fish! That could be the problem.

Also, since some of the fish that died were fish from the cycle, it could just be that they're immune systems were weakened during the cycle and they finally died. It's not uncommon for fish used in a cycle to die off.

Also, letting the bag float for half an hour then dumping the fish in does NOT acclimate them. It just gets the water all the same temp'. You're shocking your fish and this can lead to death minutes, days, weeks or even months later. Look into Drip Acclimation - there is a sticky on how to do it in the forum - it's simple and greatly reduces the risk of having the fish die of shock. If you won't do drip acclimation, at least float the bag, add a little tank water, float the bag, add a little more tank water, float, add - for about an hour and then add the fish. (That's the very least that you should ever do if you aren't going to drip acclimate.) And never add the water from the bag to your tank - it could have parasites or disease in it.

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Thanks for the help. Took a water sample to fish store, everything was good in regards to nitrates, ph, copper, ammonia, etc. (he ran all the tests).

Fish guy's prognosis is that tank never completed cycled. He is citing lack of algae growth, and extremely clean water (there was not many traces of anything in the water). He also believes that the small number of small fish in the tank with the big Aquaclear running full bore from the beginning did not really help the situation in regards to cycling.

In a nutshell, I don't know what to think :-) I will most definitely read up on how to acclimate new fish into the tank, I just did what I remembered doing when I was a kid many years ago.

Thanks Again!!

Um...... you should run your Aquaclear full bore..... there's no reason not to, even when cycling a tank (remember, not all fish store workers knows what they are talking about.) For the good bacteria to grow and thrive, they need oxygen and water flow... so, keep the filter on full. You could even put an air stone in the tank as well.

If the tank hadn't finished cycling, you would still see ammonia or nitrites in the water sample, so, if those were both at 0ppm (like you said the store worker said they were), then the tank IS cycled.

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Ditto on the water changes and fish acclimation. And adding an airstone would probably benefit your fish a lot more. And I don't think you should change your filters so often. The filter is where some(but not all) of your beneficial bacteria is. I don't change my filters until they are falling apart. If they get clogged enough to block the water flow, I just rinse it off in old tank water when I do my water changes to get all of the fish funk out. Did the guy at the fish store use a strip test? If so, you most likely didn't get an accurate testing. The strip tests can be really inaccurate. Your tank should be cycled by now. I would look into a possible parasite or disease problem.

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Hi Again,
Yes everything was strip tests (test tube with tank water, add drops, place against strip = strip test ?). Everything I read preaches lots of filtration and water changes, so I am more inclined to agree with you guys. Any recommendations on another testing method? Is one kit brand better then others?
The guy at the store who did the tests is highly regarded around these parts as being very knowledgeable so you can see why I am lost :-)

Thanks again everyone!

Gizmo-What does it mean if your fish freaks out when you turn on the light? Does this just mean they are stressed or can this be diagnostic of a particular problem?

Also, what is the name of the medicated fish food you use? I'd like to look up a source online.

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10 g planted community, 10 gallon danio/RCS tank, 10 g ghost shrimp grow out tank, 10 g blue pearl shrimp tank, 75 g in the works.

Anti parasite medicated fish food by Jungle lab at Petworldshop.com

Medicated Food

In particular, the Jungle Brand Medicated Fish Food (top of the list).

Some of my fish when sick or stressed will dart around the tank, bounce off the tank walls, and in general go nuts when the lights come on. Caused by stress and indicative of any number of ailments. It's not a smoking gun by any means, but it does give you a heads up if something's wrong with them.

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

API makes a great liquid test kit - you can get a master kit with all the tests you need, or you can get them singly. (I think you asked for a test kit name... if not, sorry and ignore this, lol.)

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