I finally got my new 100g tank set up about 4 weeks ago. At first, I added 3 tiger barbs and 3 danios (this was all the lfs had left in the entire store...pathetic, isn't it). They all died within 2 weeks. After they were all gone, I went back to the lfs and bought guppies. I know they weren't the best choice to cycle with, but the selection was extremely limited at the lfs. I bought 16 guppies and they've been steadily dying since last week. I changed out 50% of the water last night and got up this morning to find 2 more dead. Now I'm down to only 4 left as of this morning. At the rate I'm going, I don't expect to have any alive by tonight!

I've been testing the water religiously to keep track of how the cycling is going, but as far as I can tell, the tank hasn't even started to cycle. When the guppies all started dying, I was so sure it was ammonia causing it. I guess it isn't though because I'm getting absolutely zero readings on ammonia and nitrites. The only additive in the tank is Amquel Plus.

I'm just about ready to throw up my hands and go back to goldies. If it weren't for the fact that my daughters really want guppies, I would. My youngest daughter was upset this morning cause "her" guppy was one that died sometime during the night.

I'm wondering now if my test kit is no good. I'm so frustrated and I'm totally clueless as to what I should do. Any suggestions?

Have you tested your pH? I had terrible problems with Amquel here in Virginia with the county water I have. The amquel crashed the pH in the water and I lost a bunch of fish - beautiful show guppies included. That was heartbreaking, I'll tell you.... For some reason, the Amquel was reacting with my water and causing the pH to go very low -- way too low for fish to live comfortably. The fish dropped like flies and it took me a long time to figure out what it was. Now I use PRIME and it's a lot more stable.

My guess is that there is something wrong with the water perameters (like the pH from Amquel), or the fish you're buying are sick somehow....... I'm really sorry you're losing fish..... That's never fun.

I'll check the ph when I get home from work. Usually my tanks always run on the high side for ph...around 7.8 - 8.0. My tap water has a ph of 8.0 almost every time I check it.

The ph could be what's causing the deaths, but I tried to acclimate the guppies before I added them to the tank. When I brought them home, I put them in a bucket that I use strictly for the aquarium. Then I used a siphon hose to drip water from the tank into the bucket over the course of several hours to acclimate them before adding them to the tank.

That's the same thing I do with new fish, only I release them into a quarentine tank for three weeks before they get to the aquarium. I understand you're trying to cycle your tank though....

The problem may very well be the pH and Amquel. I would test the pH straight out of the faucet. Then test the pH on a gallon of aged water from the faucet that you've put the Amquel in -- aged like 24 to 48 hours. My guess is that you'll find the pH vastly different than what you started with.

Here in Virginia, the amquel could crash the pH of the water in less than 24 hours. Out of the tap the pH was like 7.8 to 8.0 -- also high like yours.... Then I'd put in the Amquel, let gallon jugs of water sit for a few days, then do water changes -- and I didn't even realize that the water I was replacing in the tank had crashed from the Amquel. The pH of water that stood out for less than 24 hours would tank and go down in the 6.0 range and the fish couldn't handle it and died.

It was really awful and killed off a lot of my fish before I could figure out what it was. I immediately switched to PRIME which is more stable in this water and haven't had a problem since. Another time I was at a HUGE fish show and they used something else. It wasn't Amquel or PRIME and a lot of these beautiful show fish started stressing out and going belly up. Now, THAT was really terrible because the de-chlor just didn't work..... People were really upset. So the wrong de-chlor can really mess with your fish......

BTW, did you salt the water for your guppies? Did you add anything else to the water? Any algecide or pH up or Ph down products? Anything?

I didn't get a chance to test the ph last night...my daughters both had projects for school that I had to help with. Hopefully I'll get a chance to test it tonight. On the bright side, I haven't had any die since the two that I found yesterday morning. I'm still hanging in there with four guppies!

I've never tried Prime before, but I'm willing to give it a shot. I'll have to wait until I go out of town though since the lfs doesn't carry it (they don't carry much of anything!).

As for salt, no I didn't add any to the tank. I didn't add anything except the Amquel.

How about a fishless cycle? It takes a little longer, but much less heartbreaking Sorry about your fish. I used Prime and Cycle for my tanks. On a related note, don't you have goldfish tanks? You have two more options if you do, run your new filter on an established tank (keep the old filter running too, obviously). After a few weeks your new filter will be "seeded". Or, you can cut some sponge from your goldie filters and presto, instant bio-load.

What type of testing kit do you have? The paper ones usually aren't very reliable. The drip ones (w/ the glass tubes) are usually a little better.

I don't think it would be the cycle that is killing your fish though. You usually see amonia burns, etc before the fish pass, and it usually takes some time.

I'd try and find a new pet store.

I've got four guppies left in the tank and if they die, I'm going to try a fishless cycle and probably go back to gf. I did have two other tanks, one with gf and one with trops (that I didn't have alot of luck with either), but I sold both of them in the same week last year. Big mistake! I missed them so much after they were gone! Now, I'm starting all over from the beginning.

I'm using the liquid test kits from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. It's the kit that has all the test included.

You know, it's really sad. The lfs used to be a decent one, but the lady that owned it sold out to the current owners. Now it's horrible.