# HELP dying fishes



## jasonmemo (Jun 19, 2010)

I don't know why but my fishes have been dying...
i have rasboras, rainbow fish and cories.
I have a 55 gallon tank 
with 4x54 watt fixture i bought from homedepot with a pressurized co2 system. 
I don't know what may be wrong...
i do 1 bpd for co2 thinking that was the problem but the fishes still dies.
the light is on for 10 hrs a day...
the temperature of the tank is 86 right now...
is it too hot for the fishes?


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## BobAlston (Jan 23, 2004)

When I have such I typically do a large water change immediately. It will fix a number of problems.

Yes 86 is too high, especially for the cories (as i recall). Lower to max of 80 F

Turn off the co2 until you know the cause.

If you think co2 may be the issue, add an airstone NOW.

HTH

Bob


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## stmarshall (Jan 24, 2012)

86 is way to hi for your fish. They may be tropical but the waters in the tropics are not normally that hi. Like I try and keep mine around 76 and raise a couple of degrees when I want to breed certain fish. Like previously stated, water changes now and ongoing hopefully will help. Good luck.


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## jasonmemo (Jun 19, 2010)

I think the temp is going up because of the light. Any suggestion?


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## stmarshall (Jan 24, 2012)

Try raising the light higher.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

You can also blow a fan over it or use the computer cooling fans. That will significantly reduce the temps. It sounds like your temps to me.

If you see the fish gasping at the top for air I would first suspect the CO2. 1 bubble per second is not alot so I'd be surprised if that is your problem.


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

I would say it's tank temp. the higher the temp the les oxygen there is. also if I remember you don't have any vents in your canopy. I would get a whole saw and cut a vent on each side of the canopy, then you can get fans and have one pull in air and one take air out. zoo med also makes a fan that blows on the aquarium water, I use there protect and it works for me.


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## jasonmemo (Jun 19, 2010)

for a computer fan, is it more beneficial to have it pullin in and pushing air from left to right or from back to front or does it not matter?


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

The temp. is a bit high but nothing to really worry about. I think we can assume that cories live in the same areas with discus, which love high temp. Unless they don't live together of course.

Other than the temperature there are 3 more things to consider:

1. Your dechlorinator.
Does it remove Chloramines and Chlorine? If in doubt use Seachem Prime. It removes both.

2. Your tap water.
The water company is a clown that likes to play tricks just because. Your water was fine for years but one sunny day it is not. And noone tells you. Have no idea how you can figure this issue out though.

3. How long ago did you buy your fish?
Proper quarantine is 3 months. Yes, 3 (three) months. But noone does that because freshwater fish are cheap and no dealer cares if they die. The fish can actually die from being transported a month after the ordeal. Or even later. If you had the fish for a while then that's not the problem.

And man, this 4x54 watt light over a 55 gallon tank is a killer. You can fry eggs on the bottom of your tank. I don't think that the fish gets stressed from that much light but do follow the advice of raising that crazy light a little higher above the tank to reduce the light intensity.


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## jasonmemo (Jun 19, 2010)

thanks niko.
The fishes that i buy usually die in a week from purchase from petsmart.
But my cories been in the tank for a while, 1 year.
what would you recomend to be the correct height for the light?
it's currently 6 inches off from the top of the tank


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## fishyjoe24 (May 18, 2010)

petsmart - all the tanks are connected together so if one tank of fish gets sick it will spread to others. did you acculmate the fish? I'd put them in a qt tank, till you know the fish don't have any illness.


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## mg7454 (Aug 9, 2012)

jasonmemo said:


> thanks niko.
> The fishes that i buy usually die in a week from purchase from petsmart.
> But my cories been in the tank for a while, 1 year.
> what would you recomend to be the correct height for the light?
> it's currently 6 inches off from the top of the tank


Hi jasonmemo!
First, let me say that I have been keeping fish for 15 years.

I have had no problems with the fish I have procured from Petsmart.

The cory-catfish are able to breath from the surface by grabbing a gulp of air, it goes into their blood stream via their stomach. This is an adaption from living in low-oxygenated water (the higher the water temp. the lower the oxygen content). This is probably why they persevered in your aquarium.

You may need to do a bit more investigating into the fish-keeping hobby...80 F. is as high as you should go for most tropical fish. 

Are you doing partial water changes and monitoring the pH? pH shooting up or down with large water changes will kill your fish, just like too high temperatures.

What is the ammonia reading in your tank? It should be 0ppm.

Here is a link to some Seachem products to help you:
http://www.seachem.com/Products/Products.html

Good Luck with your hobby!


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