loosing fish rapidly

Question
I have a 10 gallon aquarium, which i keep only guppies in..at the beginning i had no problems, but for the past 3 to 4 months i am rapidly loosing fish..they are dying 1 or 2 a day sometimes..i have cleaned the tank and done everything i can think of, but nothing is helping..they do not appear to have ick and i have not recenlty added any new fish..what could this possibly be..PLEASE HELP IF YOU CAN

Answer
Hello,

This sounds like a case of new tank syndrome. This simply means that either your nitrite levels or your ammonia levels are getting too high because of waste in your aquarium and not enough good bacteria to decompose the waste. This is very normal in new aquariums.

First step is to not add any more fish. Have only a maximum of 3 until your tank is stable. Then begin to closely monitor your nitrites and ammonia. When they get high, daily water changes of no more then 10% will help. Also there is a great product called Cycle that should help. Make sure you syphon your gravel and clean your aquarium weekly and don't overfeed your fish. Once the Cycle is complete and both your ammonia and nitrites are at safe levels, you can begin to add a few new fish at a time. If you add too many at once your nitrogen cycle will start again and you will get high toxicity in your water again.

I hope this helps.

Regards,
Stephanie