Fish dying one by one :(

TechieEddy

Ok hope someone can help me with this one.
We bought four fish from Pet Mania (great store). Two comets and two of those black moore fellas and a proper tank and air pump and the rest.
Anyways everythings going grand for a week or so. There all flyin around the place not a bother. Next thing I realise the water is awful dirty and that I forgot to put in the ol water filter into the tank. So I put the air filter in and after that some of them would stay near the top of the filter and don't move from there. Two of the comets died the last day and im worried that the other two will die now. Can anyone shine some light on this?
Thanks

Edit: Just checked them again and one of the fellas is up right beside the top of the filter and he just stays there. wtf are they at?

bigpinkelephant

How many fish can your tank hold? Did you put the fish in the same day as you bought the tank?

ValerieR

This all goes down to the quality of the water, I think, and has nothing to do with the quality of the fish you bought...
Please read up about cycling your tank, changing your water regularly and buying a test kit to measure your levels of ammonia and nitrite and nitrates. There is loads about it on the internet or even on boards.ie. Ammonia and nitrite are bad for your fish (caused by fish waste and food leftovers). You need to change the water regularly in order to limit the toxicity for your fish.
I hope this helps.
Valerie
www.irishfishkeepers.com

carwash_2006

Did the pet shop not tell you that you really should take the tank home and let it cycle before you put fish in?

I also have issues about keeping fancy fish with their fat bodies and fan tails with ordinary goldfish, it can be ok but it can be very stressful for the fancy fish.

LovelyTom

Pet Mania has never sold me or anyone i know any fish of any quality. If you're buying fish I'd avoid that shop.

I over heard the attendant in charge of the fish talking to another man about the nitrate levels and how they purposefully don't monitor them so they haven't the same stock of fish week after week.

carwash_2006

:eek:

miss_shadow

shocking absolutely shocking.
shame on YOU for obviously not learning how to take care of fish BEFORE you got them and 'forget' to put in the pump... did god forget to put trees on the land in order for you to breath.
and shame on those cowboy 'pet stores' maybe fish are not human but why treat animals any different.

TechieEddy

Thanks for the replies. Yes I put them all in together. No I didn't cycle the tank or whatever that means. I changed the water after a week and put in the filter. Hope the other two don't die.
Thanks again.

bigpinkelephant

TechieEddy wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. Yes I put them all in together. No I didn't cycle the tank or whatever that means. I changed the water after a week and put in the filter. Hope the other two don't die.
Thanks again.

OK, well in that case you need to learn to look after them properly, as that's why they are dying.

Fishyfreak

TechieEddy wrote: »

Yes I put them all in together. No I didn't cycle the tank or whatever that means.

You need to learn how to look after fish and learn about the nitrogen cycle. I doubt you will do this so you'll either:

a) Keep killing fish and continually go through the endless cycle of buying more and killing more

or

b) You'll end up packing it in.

(I hope you do (b) )

TechieEddy

Well considering there only 4 euro ill probaly do A. Ah in fairness I don't want them to die. I've never heard of the the nitrogen cycle before. I should have been told about this when buying them.
I will read up on it over the weekend and sort out the tank.

20goto10

I'm sure the Nitrogen cycle is the best why to go but to be honest I just condition the water when changing (woodies sells the stuff, will be called "Tap Safe" or something similar - read the labels). My goldfish has been a happy chappy for over 2 years now so I don't see the need to change my technique. Thats my advice.

Fishyfreak

20goto10 wrote: »

I'm sure the Nitrogen cycle is the best why to go but to be honest I just condition the water when changing (woodies sells the stuff, will be called "Tap Safe" or something similar - read the labels). My goldfish has been a happy chappy for over 2 years now so I don't see the need to change my technique. Thats my advice.

You don't need to change your technique because after 2 years the tank is now cycled. The tap safe will remove the chlorine in the tap water so that it doesn't kill the bacteria in the filter.

Cycling the tank is the initial process thats slowly builds up the beneficial bacteria in the tank.

ValerieR

OP,

There are a few good pointers on this particular thread ...
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055350095

HTH
Valerie
www.irishfishkeepers.com

shoelaceface

one fish may have had a disease and infected the others, even though they are bought from the same shop! you should check the tanks in the shop and just see are they all looking healthy. sometimes you might find fish belly up in them or with tail rot or something, stay clear of them if this is the case.

black moors need to live with at least one other black moor, they wont survive alone! were you told that?

very important that you treat the water, i put in 'tap safe' or something like that name that treats the water and removes chlorine and all that, and i also put in some treatment every time i change the water. these can be bought where you got the fish

4 fish is a lot to take on when you dont know anything about them! iv had all sorts of fish over the last few years including black moors, they all died one after another and the most likely cause was because one was diseased and the other was infected! left with one goldfish and as i already said he's doing great!

Madame Razz

TechieEddy wrote: »

Thanks for the replies. Yes I put them all in together. No I didn't cycle the tank or whatever that means. I changed the water after a week and put in the filter. Hope the other two don't die.
Thanks again.

Therein lies your problem. Cycling a tank is really straight forward, all you need is patience. You don't even have to understand the nitrogen cycle to do it; just do it, and your fish will be happy and healthy!!

TechieEddy

Another one died just one left. I won't be having kids anytime soon.
Thanks for all the replies. I really want to keep fish but ive a lot to learn.

ValerieR

Ok - you don't know anything about fish keeping but gotta start somewhere ... If you really want to keep fish, you will have to document yourself on this wonderful hobby that is fish-keeping.

One way of eliminating the possibility that the quality of the water in your tank is toxic for your fish and kills them... is to do a water change NOW !!!
Proceed as follows :
- Empty 50% of the tank water getting rid of all the dirt you can (an aquarium "hoover" is great for this).
- Get yourself a bucket and fill it with water from the cold tap (not the hot water tap)
- Bring up the temperature by adding some hot water from the kettle
- Add some water conditioner which removes chlorine and chloramines. If you don't have any, as this case is urgent, just stir the water thoroughly for a few minutes - it will help the chlorine to evaporate.
- Replace the water in the tank with this new water.
- Stop feeding the fish for a few days, they'll be fine.

You need to change regularly some of the water in your tank and get yourself the right equipment (test kit, water conditioner ...).

Please let us know how big is your tank.

ValerieR
www.irishfishkeepers.com

TechieEddy

Hi Valerie.
Thanks for the advice. The tank is approx 2.5 foot by 1 foot.
Going to change the water now. I also have some "Organic Aqua - general treatment" will i throw some of that in aswell?

ValerieR

You're welcome... :-)
Did you put some Organic Aqua when you started up the tank last week?
ValerieR

TechieEddy

Yes i put in one quarter. Should i put in any more?

ValerieR

That changes everything really! :-)
Organic Aqua is supposed to make the water ok and does not need to cycle ... (I don't know why and how, but this is what I heard. I haven't experienced this myself, but friends do use and swear by it). This thread (http://www.irishfishkeepers.com/cms/component/option,com_fireboard/Itemid,28/func,view/id,19344/catid,8/) talks about it.
From what I gather, you have to measure carefully the amount of the stuff you put in. You will have to measure the quantity of new water you put in the tank and add the correct proportion of organic aqua.
How is your last fish behaving ?
ValerieR
www.irishfishkeepers.com

TechieEddy

Well he's moving around a fair bit and he seems ok. Have you ever seen that where the fish just stay beside the air filter and dont move from it?
That's what the ones that died were doing. Strange.

ValerieR

They were either looking for oxygen or else they just sit where there is the least current as they did not have the energy of swimming around as they were feeling under the weather.
You might have had a case of some disease...
Fishkeeping can be tough when starting but once you are up and running, you'll be fine.
Keep the chin up.

ValerieR
www.irishfishkeepers.com

TechieEddy

Sound. Thanks again for your advice.

ValerieR

No worries - Let us know how you get on :-)

ValerieR
www.irishfishkeepers.com

Scawgeen

If your using furniture polish/hair spray/perfume sprays in the same room as the aquarium it's a good idea to cover the tank with a towel for an hour or so until the mist from the aerosols settle, and don't overfeed.

Jimkel

LovelyTom wrote: »

Pet Mania has never sold me or anyone i know any fish of any quality. If you're buying fish I'd avoid that shop.

I over heard the attendant in charge of the fish talking to another man about the nitrate levels and how they purposefully don't monitor them so they haven't the same stock of fish week after week.

Hi I assume your talking about petmania in santry, I am in charge of the fish there and I closely monitor all water parameters, Our water in our tanks are kept at PH 7.0, Nitrate - 0, Nitrite < 0.5 ppm, amonia - 0 ppm. hardness is maintained at tap water leves to ensure fish are suited to customers tap water. We however use RO water remineralised to acheive this. I take my job very seriously, and the aquarium system we use is World class and high tech.

Every person who buys a tank here is advised on how to keep and maintain there aquarium. I personally go through the basics of the nitrogen cycle, recommend further research, and NEVER sell fish with a tank unless they opt to use organic aqua, which allows you to stock the tank with fish without cycling.

We have used and are still using organic aqua in shop for the past 8 months, after 6 months of using it we began to sell it having thouroughly tested the product. I however cannot be responible for people forgetting to put filters in, forgetting to add the air pump which is essential for organic aqua to work, and not following instructions.

Please note anyone who does use organic aqua that it is a precision product which requires you to follow the instructions exactly, any deviation will involve filter crashes, having to start the tank again with fresh water and a full treatment with organic aqua start up kit.

We pride ourselves here on our animal welfare and ethics, I dont know what you "Overheard" but if you heard what you say you heard then it obviously was not me saying it, because I work my ass off 50+ hours a week to maintain perfect water parameters. You may have heard something out of context. Please keep an open mind. If you have an issue with how I care for the fish I will gladly take the time to explain how things are done with the fish here, although unless you have a backround in chemistry and 20+ years of experience it may go over your head.

The persons fish were not diseased, the fish died because unfortunatly the instructions were not adhered to which unfortunatly is out of the staffs control.

Jimkel

TechieEddy wrote: »

Ok hope someone can help me with this one.
We bought four fish from Pet Mania (great store). Two comets and two of those black moore fellas and a proper tank and air pump and the rest.
Anyways everythings going grand for a week or so. There all flyin around the place not a bother. Next thing I realise the water is awful dirty and that I forgot to put in the ol water filter into the tank. So I put the air filter in and after that some of them would stay near the top of the filter and don't move from there. Two of the comets died the last day and im worried that the other two will die now. Can anyone shine some light on this?
Thanks

Edit: Just checked them again and one of the fellas is up right beside the top of the filter and he just stays there. wtf are they at?

HI

I work in petmania and am the person who looks after the aquatics in santry. Unfortunatly Your fish died because you forgot to put in the air pump, Organic aqua needs this to work. As a result there was no filtration in a newly stocked tank and your fish suffered from lack of oxygen cause by high ammonia levels.

You will have to start the system again with a full dose of B-Bac, General treatment and Health treatment. I will give you the dose free of charge if you drop in to me and also go through it again with you and provide any other information and help you require in order to achieve a healthy aquarium.

Regards
Jim

TechieEddy

Hi Jimkel,

Thanks for the posts. Very interesting.
Will call up next weekend. Thanks for letting me know what it was. I was going mad wondering what I was doing wrong.
Cheers.

TechieEddy

Just giving an update.
Went back to the Pet Mania today. Talked to Jim. Very helpful. Sorted me out with treatment for the tank and explained everything very well.
Bought another two today so hopefully I will have more luck with this lot.