# help my fish are dieing



## anthony1536 (Nov 19, 2013)

I am new to cichlids , I got the aquarium and all its contents form a friend about 4 months ago. it has 2 red parrots and about 12 zebras. the past few weeks I have noticed my zebras swimming at the top of the water. they would go to the bottom if I walked up to them be they would return to the top after I walked away. now I have found 8 of the zebras dead. the other fish seem fine. as I said im new to these fish. thank you for any help


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## anthony1536 (Nov 19, 2013)

I really need some help . should I clean the aquarium ? I really enjoy my fish and don't what to loose them.


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## B.Roberson (Nov 6, 2011)

water parameters please would help.. ammonia,nitrate ,nitrite..tank size. temp?? filters?how many? did u clean them??


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## anthony1536 (Nov 19, 2013)

its a 40 gallon tank the water temp stays around 78. it has water straight from the sink. it has the same filter that came with it . I remove and replace about 3/4 of the water about once a month. I feed them once a day.


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## B.Roberson (Nov 6, 2011)

ok. but we need to know water parameters to know what is going on. .. nitrite, nitrate,and ammonia levels to see if something is going on there.. obviously something has changed since you aquired the tank right? i dont know if it is stress,it has been 4 mo? so have u cleaned the filters at all? could be amm spike., r u adding prime or equivalent every water change?


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## anthony1536 (Nov 19, 2013)

as I said im new to these fish. i have had gold fish before and all i did was change the water on a regular bases and keep them feed. i asked the girl i got them from if i needed to do anything special , she said no. she is a good friend so i feel like she would be straight with me. i don't add anything to the water if that's what you mean. the only change is they were staying at the top , the fish that are left are swimming around and acting normal. is there something i should be doing that she didn't know about. she said she had the fish awhile. so im not sure about there age.


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## B.Roberson (Nov 6, 2011)

anthony1536 said:


> as I said im new to these fish. i have had gold fish before and all i did was change the water on a regular bases and keep them feed.
> lol.. i have a pond with a whole bunch of gold fish that are now small coy, and i could prolly add gasoline to the water and not kill them, but not africans. or any community fish for that matter.
> what im asking is do you have well water? if not then every water change your adding chlorinated water to your tank. you need to be adding a dechlor.prime or similar also detoxifies ammonia.so it doesnt harm your fish. otherwise every wc your killing your fish slowly.. get a test kit, liquid is best. not test strips. im not saying your friend didnt tell you everything maybe just not enough. also what is the substrate? could be something going on there.


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## anthony1536 (Nov 19, 2013)

yea i have well water. if im understanding you right the substrate is just regular aquarium rock. i did add some that i had in my old aquarium about a month and a half ago. but i boiled them for about 3 hours to be sure they were clean. i got the aquarium mostly because it was free.( she is having another child and needed the room) but i have feel in love with these fish. my wife asked what to get my for Christmas and i told her new things for the aquarium because i want to make it more colorful and get rid of the dull pond floor look my friend had in it . so i finding them dead really bothered me.


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## ILCichlid (Feb 27, 2012)

Anthony, Do you have well water or city water that would be treated by a water treatment plant? Also when you do your water changes do you use a dechlorinator of some kind?

If you have city water and you are not using a solution that removed the chlorine, it can be very harmful to the fish and often kill them.


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## chopsteeks (Jul 23, 2013)

Suspecting Ammonia or Nitrite spike......post water parameters.


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Anthony1536, I recommend purchasing an aquarium water test kit that contains tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. This will allow you to know whether a high ammonia or nitrite level is causing the death of your fish.

You said your source water is from a well. Is this a private well or is it supplied by your local water authority? Do you treat the water where it enters the house or is it just raw well water?


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## B.Roberson (Nov 6, 2011)

and i asked several times,but no response..


Deeda said:


> Anthony1536, I recommend purchasing an aquarium water test kit that contains tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. This will allow you to know whether a high ammonia or nitrite level is causing the death of your fish.
> 
> You said your source water is from a well. Is this a private well or is it supplied by your local water authority? Do you treat the water where it enters the house or is it just raw well water?


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## JP_92 (Aug 2, 2013)

Deeda said:


> Anthony1536, I recommend *purchasing an aquarium water test kit *that contains tests for *ammonia, nitrite and nitrate*.


You absolutely need to get a test kit, take the test and report the results back to us. Also answer the other questions by the other posters in this thread.


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## Azawakh (Nov 20, 2013)

Are the fish pumping, I mean breathing heavily? If fish stay at the top, it is usually an oxygenation problem. Do you aerate your tank?


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