OK next question. Why do my fish keep dying?

Well, is your water 'fine', or do you have high ammonia levels?

Frankly, petstores aren't worth squat when it comes to giving advice or helping people. They just sell fish and tanks, pretty much.

What are you EXACT water levels? By that I mean ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. How many fish, what type, and what size aquarium is it?

I suspect that you aren't properly cycling your tank. In the wild, and in an established tank, nitrifying bacteria break down fish waste (ammonia - toxic) into nitrites (toxic) and then into nitrAtes (less toxic, up to 30ppm is fine). In a new tank, these bacteria colonies don't exist, and so until enough of these bacteria develop, any fish in the tank suffer from ammonia and nitrite burns. And, if this doesn't kill them, it seriously weakens them for life (which will be significantly shortened).

Cycling a tank can take up to 4-5 weeks, if you use fish or another source of ammonia (such as a piece of shrimp left in the tank, or adding pure ammonia or fishfood daily).

If you buy Bio-Spira (which is those bacteria) you can instantly cycle your tank. Do NOT use products like Cycle, they are useless. Another way to instantly cycle your tank is to get some gravel and a filter cartridge from an established tank. It will only take a couple hours to a day for the bacteria to develop.

And are you doing weekly, 20-30% water changes?

If the cycle was properly done, though, and your levels are at 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and up to 30ppm nitrates, it may be something else in the water. Are you using a dechlorinator? What is your pH? Anything from 6.5 to 7.5 pH should be fine, but higher or lower could kill certain fish. What is your temperature? If you have common freshwater tropical fish, you need about 78F.

Are you buying appropriate fish for your tank? Fish at the petstore are usually sold as babies, but can grow considerably bigger (Pacus, for example, are sold at 3" fish but can grow to 3 feet!) If you put a fish that is too big (or a fish that produces a lot of waste, such as a goldfish) in a tank that is too small, the fish will be stunted, suffocated (fish need oxygen, and with too much fish and too little water, there is not enough oxygen), and will eventually die.

If you're getting whitespot (aka Ich) from the fish at your petstore, you should try getting your fish from a different source. Also, using Ich medication, frankly, does more harm than good. In the future, use 1tbsp of AQUARIUM salt per 5 gallons of water, and leave it like that for two weeks (then resume doing your regular water changes. Oh, be sure to disolve the salt in dechlorinated water before putting it in the tank). This treatment will kill the Ich without harming your fish.

Wheew, I hope that some help! It's tough dealing with dying fish, it can be so hard to tell what the problem is. A great resouce is http://www.fishforums.com./

Good luck! Fish can be very longlived fish (10-20+ years) if properly cared for.

You say your water levels are 'as they should be' - please give exact numbers. What you think is fine, may not be fine.

Edit: The problem is with your cycling. Stores will just tell you to turn on the tank and let it run for a few days. That's so far from true, and it's completely useless. Letting the filter run doesn't change anything in the water. To properly cycle your tank you need NITRIFYING BACTERIA, which ONLY develop if there is a source of ammonia (either a fish, or fish food, or a piece of shrimp). And then, it takes 4 weeks with constant ammonia source for the bacteria to build enough to be able to break down the ammonia produced by fish.

OR you can use an established filter gravel and filter cartridge, or Bio-Spira, which is just putting that bacteria straight into the tank.

If you haven't done those things, then it's the buildup of ammonia and nitrites that are killing your fish.

PLEASE read up on the nitrogen cycle: http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/article2.php

What do you mean when you say the water is fine? If the ammonia and nitrite are anything other then zero then that could be why the fish are dying. Did you cycle the tank before you added the fish? Most petstore don't ever mention the cycle but it is a very important part of fish keeping, I suggest you do a little research before getting more fish.

Letting the tank sit for 3 days doesn't cycle a tank, all it does it gets the water to room temp. Here are some links that tells you all about the cycle and what it does for your tank, http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-cycling.html

http://www.bestfish.com/breakin.html

http://www.fishforever.co.uk/cycling.html

First off I would buy a master test kit to test for PH and shuch! This way you can buyit on your own. Drain the tank and start fresh.....let it set a day without any fish! When you do *** fish only *** one or two at a time because adding to many can cause a drop or rise in your ph. you can add prevenatative meds before adding the fish. And when buying fish never buy from places like walmart (they suck at caring for fish and they are almost always sick) Go to a local pet store like petsmart. Maybe even order online! test water everyday and add whats needed to keep water levels right!

There could be a few reasons: 1) check the temperature of the water, it should be around 25 degrees (c).

2) If you didn't you should put in some anti chlorine, because there is Chlorine in the water which poisons the fish

well are your fish warm or cold water fish? the temperature could be what is killing them....Or maybe its the way you put them into the tank. Usually tou need to leave them insice the bag you buy them in and place that into the fish tank for a while before letting them go into the tank (without bag)

Ya know, we had the same problem. I guessing these are saltwater fish right? We had three or four die within about 2 weeks from each other. We thought it was ick (the white spots you see), but we treated them for it, and some of them still passed. The others we had would just stop eating. It is common for some of these fish to get liver diseses, and die from it. Try feeding them their food dipped in garlic oil, and do a water change about every week.

I dont think we ever figured out what was completely wrong wth ours. But in one case the fish would just sit at the bottom of the tank and stare, and eventually he passed in that same position....try going to www.reefcentral.com and looking around at their posts, we found many of them helpful, and you can post your question in a community of many people who may know what is causing your fish to pass.

Good luck!!

iki

the problem is you are doing it by the book. just clean the tank, get new fish and start over. keep the filters clean and by a brush to keep the glass clean(walmart) add some type of air supply i.e. bubble strips . let the tank and the fish do the work. you are putting too many get well chemicals in it. ive done it too and killed every fish. since i just laid back and let the tank alone ive had several fish for 3 years the others ive had since february and they have since laid eggs and now i have over 20 fish in one tank alone. the air supply is very important (bubbles).

What size tank is this and what kind of fish do you have?

Im sorry i think your a little obsesed with fish. Get something that you know will live longer, like a cat or dog. Or a hamster! But if they die to soon, your obvesly not ment to be a pet owner. Sorry...