CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

what wrong with the water in my fish tank?? all my fish are dying.
the tank and the water are brand new .......i know thats bad but i waited a while and the ph is still 7.0 i have well water and i dont feel that i need any comnditioner but im about to try anything here i only have 3 fish left! this has never happaned to me! the tank and the filter are brand new as well. the temp is roughly 78 degrees.

------------------

What kind of fish are they? How long did you cycle your tank for? Are there any strange markings on your fish such as mucus or white spotting etc? What size tank do you have and how many fish did you keep in their? I also find it strange your well water would be around 7.0 rather then in the 8.0 or higher range. Well water usually has traces of lime rock or other similar chemicals that act as a buffer and will keep your water exactly at the PH it is. A conditioner will remove some of the harder chemicals as will a water pillow. PH up or down, even proper PH will not change any settings of your well water as long as you have a buffer. You might want to try RO water or Distilled water. Available from your LFS for roughly 50 cents a gallon. You can make your own distilled water. You will need two containers. One full of tap water the other empty. You will need to connect both containers together. Boil the container with water, the water will evaporate up the connection into the empty container and leave all metals, chemicals behind.

-S42K

thanx i mighty distill some water, the tank is 55 gallons and the well water is new england water im not sure if there is any limestone around here or not. i had roughly 18 fish mostly small gold fish and a few real fish like a jack dempsey and a knife fish. they arent really big i dont want to wast e the money if they are going to die

------------------

Well limestone is just one chemical that acts as a water buffer. Ok now that you mentioned goldfish........ Goldfish's natural defense is to give off ammonia. Ammonia is very toxic to all other fish. This could be the main factor as to why your fish are dieing off. You can aquire some ammonia tablets or chips that you can add to your filtration. However bacteria needs ammonia to thrive. Without bacteria your cycle will never be complete. You might try to add half the amount of ammonia chips directed by product to your filter. This way it should leave some ammonia in your tank for the biological filtration to take place. The other thing and most easiest thing to do is get rid of all goldfish. I hope this helps you out.

Good luck,
-S42K