All my fish died

So all my fish died....encludint the babies....except one! but I am hoping it will live. They all had ick...I am guessing.. Well I was treating the tank for ick and after they all died I cleaned out the tank... It stained the seilant blue!!! Does anyone know what I can do about it? And I am about to restart my tank again....does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do better to keep the Nitrates down and to keep my fish from getting ick again?? thanks!!

 

Sorry to hear about your fish.

Unfortunatlye, there's really nothing you can do about the blue seals (short of literally tearing the tank apart and replacing all the silicone which isn't really worth the effort).

Ich isn't caused by high nitrAtes. Ich is a parasite that is introduced when you put new, unquarantined fish in the tank. It is VERY important to quarantine all new fish for at least 2 weeks before adding them to an established tank.

That said, high nitrAtes still need to be addressed. Pretty much the only ways to lower nitrAtes and keep them low is to not overstock the tank and do more frequent water changes.

One other thing that needs to be noted is if you completely cleaned the tank including washing/bleaching/replacing the filter media, your tank will need to cycle again. If you haven't read this article already, I suggest you do:
http://flippersandfins.net/Cycling.htm

-Chelle

 

Just for clarification. Nitrates in themselves do not cause ich. High nitrate levels indicate an overabundance of waste in the tank. The excess of waste can cause bacterial problems which can cause an occurance of ich.

 

also, if u feed them more than once a day then it's too much. unfortunatly i killed a male and female guppy and a male and female sunset fire platy. the baby platy and guppies are doing good though. also i know that this is a little late because the fish are already dead, but when you are treating them you can put aquarium salt in there which is very inexpensive. also it is good to put aquarium salt in any freshwater fish. it makes them more vibrant and helps with treating disease as i said. well, good luck!