My fish are dying

[Ree]

I have lost nearly all my fish in a five day period. I have made x2 water changes. All my water parameters  are good. I am using the aquarium coop dip sticks. This has never happened to me before. The only thing that is different in my tank is during the routine water change I removed a piece of driftwood. All was good for a bit then I began to loose fish. I lost 8 just this morning! My tank is heavily planted with many snails. Mystery, nitrite, and such. I have not lost any snails as of yet. My tank has cory’s, tetras, barbs, and a few danios. I would appreciate any advice. 

[nabokovfan87]

Hello @Ree and welcome to the forums.

Let's take a quick look at everything going on.  I'm very sorry for your struggles and hopefully we all can get you going on the right foot and having some success in the hobby.

What is your filtration and how is it setup?
How did you acclimate the fish?
Does ammonia or nitrite testing show any water issues?
Temperature of the tank?

Some fish in your stocking like cooler temps (72-74) and some like warmer temps (78 degrees).

For now, one of the best things you can do is add an air stone.

[dangerflower]

So sorry you're going through this 😞

how long has the tank been running and how long have you had the fish?

my first thought was that there could have been anaerobic bacteria in your substrate that released toxins when you moved that driftwood. Have you noticed any bad smells coming from the tank?

[Ree]

Thank you for responding. Fluval HOB with bio rings and purigen. I have been so rattled with all my fish dying I changed out the purigen again and forgot to rinse it. This all started this past Wed. I am in rural Oklahoma with a 3hr drive for fish or I order them. When I got home I had a fish. A older had died, I was not that concerned. I only added 2 fish and snails acclimating them slowly. I have never lost a new fish before. Thursday more dead fish. Partial water change. Saturday more dead fish. Another partial water change. Today I lost 8. I look just now and I have lost another barb. My ph is going up and is now 8.0. I have some api proper ph of 7.5 but it says not to use with plants. 
 

nitrate 25

nitrate 0

gh 150

kh 8

ph 8 which is up from 7.5

chlorine 0

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Wow.  Heater malfunction?

Edited November 5, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[nabokovfan87]

On 11/5/2023 at 9:47 AM, Ree said:

Another partial water change. Today I lost 8. I look just now and I have lost another barb. My ph is going up and is now 8.0. I have some api proper ph of 7.5 but it says not to use with plants. 
 

nitrate 25

nitrate 0

gh 150

kh 8

ph 8 which is up from 7.5

chlorine 0

Because of being in a rural area, you could have issues from tap water contamination. Is your tap water showing  any signs of nitrate?

What is the temperature of the tank?

[Galabar]

So, you added new fish and snails to the tank?  They may have carried a pathogen.  It's tough and inconvenient, but quarantine is definitely your friend.  It's a roll of the dice whenever you add new fish to an established tank.

[lefty o]

i see 1 of 2 possibilities. 1 your tap water changed. test it, just to make sure they havent added a ton of chlorine/chloramines. 2, the new fish were sick, and brought something with them. seeing your above test results, i lean towards the fish werent healthy.

[Colu]

Water contamination would be my first fought possible cleaning chemicals or high levels of chlorine or chloramines as @lefty osuggested or a fast acting bacterial infection like columnaris can cause mast die off with out any symptoms in 24hr

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 11/5/2023 at 12:47 PM, Ree said:

Thank you for responding. Fluval HOB with bio rings and purigen. I have been so rattled with all my fish dying I changed out the purigen again and forgot to rinse it. This all started this past Wed. I am in rural Oklahoma with a 3hr drive for fish or I order them. When I got home I had a fish. A older had died, I was not that concerned. I only added 2 fish and snails acclimating them slowly. I have never lost a new fish before. Thursday more dead fish. Partial water change. Saturday more dead fish. Another partial water change. Today I lost 8. I look just now and I have lost another barb. My ph is going up and is now 8.0. I have some api proper ph of 7.5 but it says not to use with plants. 
 

nitrate 25

nitrate 0

gh 150

kh 8

ph 8 which is up from 7.5

chlorine 0

 

I noticed you mentioned you used test strips. Do you have both types? One would be the multi test strip, and the other type would be the ammonia test strip. Have you been taking ammonia readings?

The parameters you listed above are only the ones from the multi strip.

Of “the big 3” (ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate), ammonia is the most toxic.

Edited November 5, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Macready]

My .02:
If you can't test for ammonia as @Chick-In-Of-TheSea mentioned consider treating for it, add appropriate amount of water conditioner just in case. If you can test awesome, may not be ammonia. 

I also wonder about what @dangerflower mentioned, disturbing the substrate causing issues, water changes and water conditioner might help. I ran into that early on with my tank and I believe I caused a new cycle by heavily disturbing the substrate.  

The PH increasing feels significant to me but I don't know enough to be sure. I'm relatively new to the hobby (Started my tank in Feb this year).

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 11/6/2023 at 9:55 PM, EL2 said:

water conditioner

To add to what @EL2 said, not all water conditioners are created equal. Be sure you have the one that detoxifies ammonia. Prime or Fritz Complete are examples. You must redose daily until you get your ammonia test kit, because the detoxifying effects do not last… 

Edited November 7, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea