my sick fish =(

Question
QUESTION: I have a black moor and had an alge eater and 2 silver finned sharks along with a few others, recently my fish have had thick red feces and are acting sluggish and unable to control their own bodies. I got a new, larger tank and thought this would help, but my fish are all dying within a few days... I don't know what to do. I have had 2 sharks, a gold fish ( I can't remember what kind) a pot belly molly, and an alge eater all die on me within the last week =( please help

ANSWER: It is very difficult to say what is happening as I have been given limited information. If I just went on the waste and not being able to swim I would suspect an internal parasite. If it was an internal parasite you would have had to treat them for them to survive. Did you get all your fish at the same store? If so, I would recommend getting them from another store as the fish may have been from a bad stock that was prone to parasites and diseases. Were there other signs like white salt-like spots, fuzzy patches, not eating, losing color, torn fins, or other odd markings? I ask this as this information would better help me find out what the problem may have been. Let me know alittle more and hopefully I can assist you more. If you wish to not get back to me I would suggest doing a complete tank cleaning and re-setting the tank up, not forgetting to declorinate. Then get one or two very hardy fish from a different store. Wait a week or two and do not buy anymore fish, if the fish you bought are still acting normal after one or two weeks than feel free to add some more, but add slowly. Bottom line is that it could have been anything, stress, bad stock, bad fish store, perhaps you forgot to declorinate, or just old fish. Try over and take it slow. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have more information or need anything else.

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QUESTION: the fins aren't really torn up looking, but on my black moor the ends of his fins are starting to turn white I just noticed that... and declorinate.. I never did that..that may be an idea... thank you so much

Answer
Yes, you MUST always declorinate the water for fish to live in it. If you have never done this, this is your problem. All of the fish have died from clorine in their water. Be sure to go to walmart or your local store and get a very basic declorinator that says it makes the water safe for fish. Follow the directions exactly. Considering you have never declorinated, I would not suspect any other reason for your problems other than not declorinating. So, declorinate immediately, this removes harmful clorine and chlorimine from the water, to make the water safe for your fish. Always declorinate any water you get to add to the tank. In other words, if you do a water change, declorinate the water you will be adding BEFORE you add it to the tank. If you add ANY water to your tank it must be declorinated. Basically, ANY water the fish is in MUST be declorinated, and declorinate it BEFORE you place the fish in the water NOT after. I think once you declorinate you will find the fish are acting normal and you do not have a problem. I hope this is clear and it helps. Hopefully you will go on to enjoy your fish and they are happy after you declorinate. Let me know if you need anything else of have any more questions.