Hi all, I'm new to the forum although I'm not new to fish keeping. I've never seen anything quite like this before though
I set up a tank last week and had it running for a few days, after the temperature was stable (78F) I went and got some fish. I grabbed 2 little angels, 2 honey gouramis and 1 cory cat. I set my tank up the way I set up all my tanks, I gave it a thorough cleaning with hot water and a little vinegar, rinsed it really well and dried it. Then I rinsed all the gravel of debris and put it in the tank. I filled the tank (15 gallon) with 4L ice cream pails of water to which I added aquarium salt (1tbsp/5gal) and water conditioner. I stuck in the filter (aquaclear) and heater and let it run.
When I got home I floated the fish for a good 1/2 hour then scooped them out of their bags and put them in the tank. They all seemed fine and ate that night when I fed them. Then 2 days later I got up, gave them breakfast, then that evening I noticed one of my angels had died So I scooped it out. I also noticed that the cory cat was going a little crazy, swimming frantically around the tank and up and down the sides. I didn't think anything of it until today, when I looked in the tank and it was flopping helplessly on the bottom of the tank. It's been not quite a week since I added the fish and so far 2 deaths. I also returned the dead angel for a new one, I intro'd the new angel this afternoon in the same fashoin and just a minute ago when I peaked in, it looks like it's losing equilibrium, kinda listing from side to side, but it's been in there for hours.
The pet store checked my water and said it was great, almost perfectly clear on testing. I don't understand what's going on. I know angels can be sensitive, but my other angel is doing fine, as are the 2 gouramis and the male betta. The cory cat appears to have bloody streaks on his body, I don't know if this is from him bashing himself into the gravel or not. The two angels that had problems were both white, black and gold with very red gills (you can see them through the operculum), they look like they're blushing, I'm wondering if there was something inherently wrong with these fish or if there's somethign in the tank.
The gravel in the tank is used, I had used it in another tank about 2 years ago, and while rinsing it had noticed a number of fruit fly like bugs floating up out of it, so maybe there's a parasite? Any ideas?
Sorry for the long post

Firstly sorry to hear that you are having some bad times at the moment.

Thalia wrote:

I set up a tank last week and had it running for a few days, after the temperature was stable (78F) I went and got some fish. I grabbed 2 little angels, 2 honey gouramis and 1 cory cat. I set my tank up the way I set up all my tanks, I gave it a thorough cleaning with hot water and a little vinegar, rinsed it really well and dried it. Then I rinsed all the gravel of debris and put it in the tank. I filled the tank (15 gallon) with 4L ice cream pails of water to which I added aquarium salt (1tbsp/5gal) and water conditioner. I stuck in the filter (aquaclear) and heater and let it run.

Right i would ask the question why you have added aquarium salt ? Also i would say the biggest problem is that this tank has not cycled

Thalia wrote:

When I got home I floated the fish for a good 1/2 hour then scooped them out of their bags and put them in the tank. They all seemed fine and ate that night when I fed them. Then 2 days later I got up, gave them breakfast, then that evening I noticed one of my angels had died So I scooped it out. I also noticed that the cory cat was going a little crazy, swimming frantically around the tank and up and down the sides. I didn't think anything of it until today, when I looked in the tank and it was flopping helplessly on the bottom of the tank. It's been not quite a week since I added the fish and so far 2 deaths. I also returned the dead angel for a new one, I intro'd the new angel this afternoon in the same fashoin and just a minute ago when I peaked in, it looks like it's losing equilibrium, kinda listing from side to side, but it's been in there for hours. The pet store checked my water and said it was great, almost perfectly clear on testing. I don't understand what's going on. I know angels can be sensitive, but my other angel is doing fine, as are the 2 gouramis and the male betta. The cory cat appears to have bloody streaks on his body, I don't know if this is from him bashing himself into the gravel or not. The two angels that had problems were both white, black and gold with very red gills (you can see them through the operculum), they look like they're blushing, I'm wondering if there was something inherently wrong with these fish or if there's somethign in the tank. The gravel in the tank is used, I had used it in another tank about 2 years ago, and while rinsing it had noticed a number of fruit fly like bugs floating up out of it, so maybe there's a parasite? Any ideas? Sorry for the long post

You have done right in how you have prepared the fish for release in the tank, but i would say at 15 U.S gals the tank is far to small for the fish that you are intending to keep in there. You say the lfs has checked your water stats when ? and how often ? Do they know that you have just set this tank up with new water ? The reason i ask is due to the fact i dont think the tank has cycled so your water is/could be poisioning your fish Have a look at this post and follow the links to the fishless and with fish cycling of the tank links, it might help you help your fish By the way the angels that you said looked like they were blushing, are probably what are known as bludhing angels If you need any more help just shout up

I put salt in the tank, I guess out of habit. When I first started keeping fish I had to use water I had boiled and cooled (since our water came directly from a lake). I found out the hard way that without boiling it the water was full of nasty parasites and other stuff. Then I had problems with ick and I found that the easiest way to prevent ick was to keep my tank fairly warm (b/w 75 - 80) and add 1 tbsp aquarium salt per 5 gallons. I've always done it and have never had any problems, in fact my fish are generally healthy and long lived. These current fish seem bound and determined to break that standard though
My tank is not too small for the fish, the angel is teeny tiny, about an inch high, and I know he will grow, but in my experience they don't grow all that fast. The white one unfortunately died today, I think there was just something wrong with those angels, the petstore tank was full of dead ones when I went back on Sunday. The silver one is still healthy though so I'm happy with that, although if that one kicks it too, I'm going to go grab 2 pearl gouramis and make it a gourami tank.
The pet store ppl checked my water Sunday when I brought back the angel and it was clear. Although it probably is that the tank hasn't cycled, I've just never had any problems with tanks cycling and this much die off. Maybe I was just always lucky before, I have no idea. I forgot to grab a water sample when I went back today, unfortunately my cory cat died last night When I got there they had obviously gotten a new shipment of fish in, so I snapped up a new, bigger,fatter, spottier cory, I hope he does ok. I fed them tonight and he ate, so I hope that's a good sign.
I think I'm going to look through my cupboard and see if I can find some ammonia-carb and put that in my filter too, just incase this is ammonia poisoning. I never had problems running tanks w/o the ammonia cleanser, but it's worth a shot.
Thanks for all the advice

No worries Personaly i would not add any more fish for the time being, untill the tank has settled down. Have you thought about getting your own test kit ? Do you know loaches dont like salt in their tanks ?

I have thought about getting a test kit, since I've been having these problems, if they continue I definitely will invest in one.
That's funny that loaches don't like salt water, I always had fabulous luck with my loaches. The only ones I had die died after the tank exploded and they were on the living room floor for too long before we got them into a new tank. We had 4 or 5 clowns and a yoyo, the clowns were about 6 inches long. One reason why I kept using salt was b/c I had heard that loaches were prone to ick and other parasites and that ick and parasites don't like salt in the water. Maybe I never added enough salt to bother them? I only add as much as the box says to for "healthy gill function".

With loaches being a scaleless fish you need to be carfull on any meds you use on them.
In my opinion (for what it counts) i think every body should have a least a basic selection of a test kit, so as you can keep an eye on your water quality, as good water quality = healthy fish

What parameters did the lfs test for?
Look at these and let us know what the reading is/was:
GH
KH
PH
ammonia
nitrite
nitrate

The red streaks down the body is septicemia. Don't add any ammolock or anything like it yet. It is a very bad thing when starting a new tank. It will turn into a vicious cycle with the tank needing it all the time because it won't fully cycle with it. What kind of aeration/circulation and filtration do you have in the tank? Clunkster is right about the clowns not liking salt. They are a scaleless fish and a very sensitive. Only use salt whe you know there is a problem. If they come down with ick, then add salt and raise the temp. to 82*F and add salt. This will speed the ick cycle up and kill them faster.

they just put the water in little vials, added some stuff and when it didn't change colour he told me I had good water.
I'm using an Aquaclear 300 filter, but I modified it, since it's far too large for the tank, and slowed the flow so it won't A) suck up my fish or B) blow them around. The water seems to circulate nicely with it and I really like the aquaclears. I had a mini for the tank but can't find the darn thing I wasn't going to use ammolock, I was going to use one of the ammonia filter inserts you can get for the aquaclear, I used to use them all the time, they're just like the carbon bags only they're white and are supposed to help clear out the ammonia in the tank. Isn't ammolock a liquid additive? maybe I'm thinking of the wrong product.

Thalia:

Just to echo what you've already been told so you know these guys know what they're talking about (and they do)...

You may have several issues (salt, stocking level etc..) but DEFINATELY your most pressing problem is that it sounds as if you didn't get a full cycle. If that's the case, your fish are dying because of ammonia and/or nitrites.

And (I think it was Clunkster who said it?) definately invest in a master freshwater test kit. They're about $30 US - gives you hundreds of tests - and is cheaper than buying new fish all the time. (I've offed a few myself!) I love mine.

Good luck!