Ok, much sympathy please, for I have been crying for days.

As you all know, my husband ruined my fishless cycling plan by going to a very old fashioned fish stockist who advised him to put a couple of fish in our 65 Litre foot and a half tank. And put them in he did.

I did the leg work, and I got the tank cycling and amazingly, our fish, daddy and george seemed healthy, happy and well. They showed no signs of distress or illness at all for a while. They fed well and loved their tank. I remember the day I discovered the white spot on Daddy's tail well!! I tested the tank and the levels were
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 25-50 (tetra test kit used, 5 in 1)
PH 7.6
Calcific Hardness 3-10
I remember thinking that it was not the tank water levels and I bought myself a protazoin white spot treatment that claimed not to kill the tank's useful bacteria. You add on days 1,2,3, and 6! SO i did!

Daddy and george, seemed to recover THEN!

Two days before yesterday, I come downstairs to find an ORANGEY, RED TANK and two dead fish!!

Why? WHY?? What happened to Daddy and George??

I need to know! Please help me, as I may never buy a fish again, I'm so upset for them. They were lovely, feeding from my hand and everything! I loved them.

Im so sorry thats so sad, dont blame yourself you did all you could, dont give up as you know fish can give you so much joy, your next fish will too. sorry i dont know what happened but im sure somebody will.

I have finally got round to emptying my tank out tonight as I could not even bare to look at it!!

Believe it or not, it STILL smells of fresh soil, but I am now fretting it was Brown Algae. However, I did my water changes, and my fish seemed so happy.

Now I am the only person on this site who is fishless!!

I am considering tropicals if I ever put fish in again as I feel my tank would be suited to smaller fish than goldies.

I don't know, but, I am just devestated. I adored Daddy and George. They were so sweet. Thank you Sadie for your kind words.

Your welcome. I only have 2 fish now. and would be so upset if anything happened to them I can imagine how you feel. but dont give up you seem such a caring person just what the fish of this world need.

im sorry you lost your fish ....

Very sad news, so very sorry to hear that

Thanks guys, I'm just so depressed. I know I am just torturing myself but I keep looking at the gallery and sighing!

For baby fish, they had the most fantastic wen!! They were red and white Oranda, and would have been gorgeus adults. I was looking forward to a life of happy fishkeeping and have never had problems with my single tails or shubunkins/comets.

I feel so tragic, keep wondering what it was I didn't do! They tank looks horrible. How will I clean it? Can I reuse the gravel? If so, how do I clean that? Or tank toys/ornaments? I just don't know?

I also have 3 malaysian trumpet snails, mere babes, in a separate bowl, I don't know what to do with them poor things, they may have carried the "virus" that killed my fish? Could they? I just don't know what to do, I'm so depressed, sorry to bring you all down guys!!

Sorry about your fish, big hugs to you Losing a fish sucks but please don't give up. You sound like you know a fair bit and really want to learn more and that already makes you a great fishkeeper in my book.

If you empty all the water out of your tank and clean everything that might help. I think you can use the stuff for sterilising baby bottles to clean it, as long as you rinse it properly.

Thanks Fishy Fishy, I'll buy somemore of those steri tablets as my baby has long since given up bottles, lol.

Will be cleaning the tank out today! It's still so sad.

And what of my poor snails in the bowl? They are tiny!! Bless them, can they ever be re-homed in my tropical tank? Or will they spread disease? THey're Malaysian Trumpets!

Yeah, they'll be fine. They can spread disease but it's not likely that they will. They'll be OK in the bowl for now, just remember to give them a little bit to eat and then just put them in your tank when it's set up