Help my fish are dying?

My 7 year old and I are very new at this hobby. We have a 30g tank that has cycled. All the water tests have come back fine up until yesterday. The phosphate is reading .25ppm and we've lost our fire goby, a damsel, and a cleaner shrimp so far. We have 2 clowns, a dotty bank, another damsel, 2 snails, and 2 hermit crabs left. We have a bakpak with bio filter and a regular filter on the tank along with a circulation pump. The clowns look like they are gasping heavily and we are afraid they will also die. I've adjusted my skimmer so it doesn't bubble very much into the tank but when I really lower it - I'm afraid its not doing its job. Again, we are new at this and my son is devastated that our fish are dying and I'm not sure what to do with it..

 

Sounds like too many fish too quickly.

Dottybacks are very aggressive especially in smaller tanks, I doubt one will work long term in a 30 gallon with other more passive fish.

Good luck

 

Sounds like an oxygen problem. Try putting an air stone in there as well and see if tht helps. Take a water sample to a LFS and make sure your readings are accurate as well. You might have some high ammonia. Also, check for stray voltage in your water.

How fast did you add all the livestock?

 

How do I check for stray voltage? where do I put an air stone? Our ammonia readings have been .25pp for the past two days and I did add the new clowns and dotty back in one day. I know now to not add that many fish at one time, but I can't figure out if my skimmer is working right... how do I check if its an oxygen problem? fish look like they are gasping - do I need more bubbles in the tank or less

 

You have a "new tank syndrome" problem.

Too many fish too fast.

Ammonia should not be detectable in a tank. Do a small water change and get some Prime or equiv. Slow down and let the adjust to new fish for a week or so prior to adding more.

Ammonia burns gills, so an increase in oxygen would help.

How old is the tank?

 

It isn't really about the bubbles. You really don't want micro bubbles in there anyways. Your skimmer cup should be about 1/8" below the water line in your skimmer. It takes abouit a week to break in. You will know if it is working if you are getting nasty skimmate in your collection cup. You can put an air stone anywhere in the tank. The only reason I suggest to do this is to see if the additional oxygen will help he fish to stop gasping. You should have enough surface agitation to not have an oxygen problem though. Make sure the return for your skimmer is about half way above your water line as well. Your ammonia might be the be problem as well. I suggest doing a partial water change and see how much that helps you out as well.

 

Much better put then what I said lol. ;D

 

the tank is 3 months old - everything seemed to be fine until now.. I will take it easy with adding for fish a long time now but I'm confused about the bubbles in the tank and how or why this may be stressing the fish out...

 

my personal way I go about it (even freshwater) Add a fish, wait a month, add a fish, wait a month... Within reason of course. Could we maybe get a pic of the tank?

 

Most likely a water level problem in with the pump area or the skimmer. Have you topped off with RO/DI water recently. If not I would check the SG gravity and top of appropriately or adjust the air intake on the skimmer.


Also try feeding less, over feedings contributes to a rise in ammonia as well.