Fish Dying After 1 month

[ophiura]

Do you put your hands in the tank around the time the fish die? This is an odd question but do they always die on a certain day of the week, or early in week, on weekend, etc? Do you do a water change in the days before?
Believe me, this was an important clue once into a fish dying question (fish always died on Tuesday/Wed in an office building...it was the cleaning crew on the weekends using stuff that was the ultimate problem). Fish often die about 48-72 hours after a stress. If you have a spouse/kids also be sure what they are doing (eg cleaning, playing) anywhere in the same room as the tank). This is not necessarily cleaning THE tank (eg the glass) but even in the same room.
IMO, this is not the nitrates. I would be careful to get those higher, but I don't think it is killing your fish.

 

[pstone7972]

Interesting you say that, I used Bruces hard wood floor cleaner 2 days before the fish died. But it was on the floor. If you need to reach in the tank what do you recommend for putting on the hands or washing the hands with? I have reached in a few times. But why is my coral beauty surviving this all? Also I use to clean the glass with windex but that was before I knew better and havent done that in months.
Originally Posted by ophiura
http:///forum/post/2842225
Do you put your hands in the tank around the time the fish die? This is an odd question but do they always die on a certain day of the week, or early in week, on weekend, etc? Do you do a water change in the days before?
Believe me, this was an important clue once into a fish dying question (fish always died on Tuesday/Wed in an office building...it was the cleaning crew on the weekends using stuff that was the ultimate problem). Fish often die about 48-72 hours after a stress. If you have a spouse/kids also be sure what they are doing (eg cleaning, playing) anywhere in the same room as the tank). This is not necessarily cleaning THE tank (eg the glass) but even in the same room.
IMO, this is not the nitrates. I would be careful to get those higher, but I don't think it is killing your fish.

 

[jag2232]

Originally Posted by pstone7972
http:///forum/post/2842266
Interesting you say that, I used Bruces hard wood floor cleaner 2 days before the fish died. But it was on the floor. If you need to reach in the tank what do you recommend for putting on the hands or washing the hands with? I have reached in a few times. But why is my coral beauty surviving this all? Also I use to clean the glass with windex but that was before I knew better and havent done that in months.

Could be that he's built up a tolerance to whatever the problem is that's killing the other fish. I don't think your nitrates are a problem but I'm just using this as an example of a similar situation. Sometimes people will have tanks with really high nitrates and the fish in it will be fine but then fish taken out of higher quality water and put into the tank water will die from not having the tolerance for it.

 

[pstone7972]

what do you recommend to get the nitrates down the fastest?
Originally Posted by jag2232
http:///forum/post/2842459
Could be that he's built up a tolerance to whatever the problem is that's killing the other fish. I don't think your nitrates are a problem but I'm just using this as an example of a similar situation. Sometimes people will have tanks with really high nitrates and the fish in it will be fine but then fish taken out of higher quality water and put into the tank water will die from not having the tolerance for it.

 

[jag2232]

Originally Posted by pstone7972
http:///forum/post/2842529
what do you recommend to get the nitrates down the fastest?
I'm not saying the problem is the nitrates, just giving an example of why one fish can live in a situation while others die. I've never really had to drop them fast, just do water changes every week and vacuum your sand and they will fall. Make sure the water that you are using doesn't have high nitrates either. I've heard of some people having water that they put into their tank for water changes that already has nitrates in it. Replacing filter pads or cleaning them out can help lower it too. Back when I ran a canister filter I used to clean out the sponges then replace them once and a while because of all the stuff that would get stuck in them. I'd wait for what ophirua or someone else has to say about the windex and floor cleaner, there's a lot of people on these forums that know more about fish than me.

 

[ophiura]

If you can smell a product, it can get in your tank. I would be careful with anything around a tank - cleansers, paint, air fresheners, etc