help or some advice needed bad!!

hey all..right i am a beginner to the fish tank world..i have a 90LITRE(26GAL) fluval roma tank which i fishless cycled using biomature, this took me about a month to achieve;

0.00 ammonia, 0.00 nitrite and 10nitrate

my ph is 6.4

it is partially planted with java fern and cobomba plants

i was chuffed when i finally cycled my tank..i went out and brought 5 swordtails..3 died after 4 days

all parameters stayed the same

went and bought 4 platys...i know it was a bad combo but all fish lived in tank fine for about a week..

all 4 platys then died within the space of 12 hours..i still had 2 swordtails..then 4 days later these died

not after noticing that some of the platies and both swordtails had a slimy residiue on them before dying..

right so i went to my petshop..they double checked my water..said it was fine but noticed my water is extremely soft here so encouraged my to by some seachem reef carbonate to raise the hardness in the tank.

i added a capfull

then i went and brought 2 zebra danios as they are claimed to be the most hardiest of fish...

anyways 12 hours after getting them one has a slime coating already..really lethargic!!!

what am i doing wrong!! it is really upsetting and i have done so much researching i am at my wits end!!

i have spent around 400 pounds english money so far just to see this happening!

please i need answers!

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Permalink Reply by Chris T on May 6, 2012 at 7:36am

hard to tel without pics becuase it can range from fungus to parisitic infections if you can get some pictures it can help much more with identifying it

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Permalink Reply by Mc Fish on May 7, 2012 at 12:34am

are you acclimating your fish before tossing them into your tank?

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Permalink Reply by Mac's Fishroom on May 19, 2012 at 3:11pm

i bet its this one!

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Permalink Reply by Bryan T Campbell on May 9, 2012 at 12:24am

what is the temp?

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Permalink Reply by Peter on May 9, 2012 at 12:39am

Um try doing a water change 20% then add fish n see wat happens Some inexpensive fish invade it dies

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Permalink Reply by seth roach on May 10, 2012 at 6:49pm

It could also help to just try a different store if you have any other options and watch the fish for a while before you pick one out get a lively one, if they will ask them toss a little food in and make sure their eating. Be wary of stores that don't have a filter for each tank. There's a relatively good chance that if you've done your research and are checking all that it's not you killing the fish....

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Permalink Reply by Robert Jango on May 13, 2012 at 10:34pm

Give up the fish hobby. You're cursed.

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Permalink Reply by Ronald Last on May 14, 2012 at 5:01pm

Just how soft is extremly soft?
And... what was the change when you added the "seachem reef carbonate"?
I really don't know what the problem is but I was wondering about the water hardness. Platys and Swordtails (at least the ones we normally run in to in the shops) like a bit of mineral content in the water. They can adjust to fairly soft water but may need a slow transition to adapt. If you have extremely soft water then....

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Permalink Reply by Clarke on May 15, 2012 at 4:57pm

You are better off finding fish that are suited to your water. If you are having to adjust the hardness of your water, it will be a constant fight.

Ask the store how long they have had what ever you are buying. If they have high turnover in their livestock, the fish are stressed to the max........wholesaler to store, store to you in a few days.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Jango on May 15, 2012 at 9:11pm

Sorry for the wise-ass answer Tristan. If your water is very soft its possible that your local fish store's water is harder. Soft water generally has a low PH - hard water the opposite. Figure your lf's water is PH 7.2 and your water is 6.2. That's bad news. Its called PH burn. A sudden change in PH can kill fish. Honestly I don't know what the hell is going on with your fish deaths but PH burn seems to be a real possibility.

Transitioning from soft water to hard water is easy - google it. Changing fish stores is easier. Usually all local water is all the same. I don't know what's going on between you and your lfs, but get a test kit and make sure there's no big difference in PH. This is a very strange problem. Your local fish store should have the same water as you, but who the hell knows?

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Permalink Reply by Laura Cole on May 16, 2012 at 8:32am

If you don't have ammonia issues or anything foreign in your tank poisoning your fish then you might want to look up some soft water fish. Neons only need a Kh of 2-3 and a Gh of around 5ish. They'll die like gassed canaries in an ammonia spike, but if that's not an issue then check them out. Plants tend to do fairly well in Kh/Gh of about 3-6 so you will be able to find some plants and fish that will love your soft water.

Also, acclimatize! When you buy them, put them in a bucket. Floating the bag just assimilates temperature. You need to slowly get them used to your tank conditions. Pour all their water in with them and every half an hour or so tip a quarter cup of your tank water in with them. This will take a while. I add fish when I do a water change and I use the water I'm removing rmto acclimatize the fish. Once there's twice as much water (if not more) from your tank in the bowl than what the fish came with (500mils of lfs water and a minimum of 1000mils of yours--1500mils total) just let them sit for another hour. If need be, put an airstone in there or use a syringe to periodically jet air into the water during the process so the water doesn't start to get stagnant. I do it just as a precaution, but it probably isn't necessary.

Once you've done that, you can then use a net to scoop the fish into the tank and discard the other water. This way, the only fish shop water going into your tank is what is left on the fish.