I had thought about getting some plants. I'll go check that out this weekend. Thanks for the tip! I did a 200L this morning (50 gal). I'll pull some more water out when I get home.
Absolute disaster. Each day another dead fish.
- Thread starter White Noise
- Start date
S
skjl47
‘s advice is spot on as usual.. I know I’m late to the party but I’ll add this tid bit of information. It sounds like you over did it on the cleaning and that’s what caused your tank to crash, then made it worse by trying to add magical chemicals to fix it. If you haven’t allready done so it’s time to start adding some stability to your tank to help your bb repopulate. If you can get a hold of some old filter media form a friend or lfs to help get you back on track that will really speed up your cycle. Definitely don’t feed the fish for a few days and keep testing you water and change as needed... don’t just keep changing water if your test kit does not say so, or you could move backwards in the cycle again. I would feed twice a week sparingly until your reading zero ammonia and have measurable nitrates.
Small fish like cardinal tetras etc are not particularly hardy. In a tank which is still not established (I know you cycled and then caused another cycle- tank was never let properly establish) it's to be expected that you are losing fish. When you feed, do the fish come up and eat? What are you feeding?
Also, where did you get the fish? From working in a big box pet retailer, I can tell you that a lot of the fish they get, especially the small ones like the tetras, tend to be pretty weak even in the store; we are always losing neons, platys, small livebearers, even if there isn't a disease at play. My theory is that they aren't genetically the strongest fish in the first place, and the stress of shipping, acclimating to new system, and then being in a store tank with lots of other fish, is too much for them. This is probably true of this type of fish from most LFS's, big boxes especially.
My advice would be don't give up! It hasn't been that long, it's your first go. It took most of us years to really have a thorough grasp of the nitrogen cycle, you've got a big headstart because your doing the right thing; reading and asking questions.
As far as the fish, I would do a big water change andadd some Dr. Tim's one-and-only. If this batch of fish doesn't make it, I would try with some larger hardier fish. You've got the room for it!
Also, where did you get the fish? From working in a big box pet retailer, I can tell you that a lot of the fish they get, especially the small ones like the tetras, tend to be pretty weak even in the store; we are always losing neons, platys, small livebearers, even if there isn't a disease at play. My theory is that they aren't genetically the strongest fish in the first place, and the stress of shipping, acclimating to new system, and then being in a store tank with lots of other fish, is too much for them. This is probably true of this type of fish from most LFS's, big boxes especially.
My advice would be don't give up! It hasn't been that long, it's your first go. It took most of us years to really have a thorough grasp of the nitrogen cycle, you've got a big headstart because your doing the right thing; reading and asking questions.
As far as the fish, I would do a big water change andadd some Dr. Tim's one-and-only. If this batch of fish doesn't make it, I would try with some larger hardier fish. You've got the room for it!
I agree with GS and would like to add a little of my 2 cents, and cut thru some of the BS in this thread.
There are a number of mistakes that have been made here.
1st, as GS said, you added over 60 fish to a newly cycled tank, and many, as he said, are sensitive.
Adding even half of that number even though its a 200 gallon is risky.I would have added the guppes, and Plecos, and waited a few weeks to a month before adding more.
Maybe my comments are not in sequence, but you also had an algae bloom, and instead of waiting it out, you added an algacide, compromising the beneficial bacteria even more. (the algae was actually good for the tank) Although algae doesn't look pleasant, it helps with an overload of nutrients, from 60+ fish, and by killing it you added more deleterious chemicals.
The cloudy water (bacterial bloom) is also normal in newly set up tanks, especially in an overloaded one.
Then you (as you know) "super' cleaned the substrate and filter, another no no, killing off your good bacteria. This can be bad in even well established tanks.
Going beyond this, what is the pH and hardness of your water?
The tetras you mention are all soft water species that thrive in low pH water (4-6 pH), so if your water is high pH, and hard, this may have contributed to the above problems, and deaths.
Many LFSs have RO units that reduce hardness and even pH, to allow certain species to "exist" temporarily in their tanks until sold to aquarists that want a certain species, but have the wrong tap water to keep it healthy.
There are a number of mistakes that have been made here.
1st, as GS said, you added over 60 fish to a newly cycled tank, and many, as he said, are sensitive.
Adding even half of that number even though its a 200 gallon is risky.I would have added the guppes, and Plecos, and waited a few weeks to a month before adding more.
Maybe my comments are not in sequence, but you also had an algae bloom, and instead of waiting it out, you added an algacide, compromising the beneficial bacteria even more. (the algae was actually good for the tank) Although algae doesn't look pleasant, it helps with an overload of nutrients, from 60+ fish, and by killing it you added more deleterious chemicals.
The cloudy water (bacterial bloom) is also normal in newly set up tanks, especially in an overloaded one.
Then you (as you know) "super' cleaned the substrate and filter, another no no, killing off your good bacteria. This can be bad in even well established tanks.
Going beyond this, what is the pH and hardness of your water?
The tetras you mention are all soft water species that thrive in low pH water (4-6 pH), so if your water is high pH, and hard, this may have contributed to the above problems, and deaths.
Many LFSs have RO units that reduce hardness and even pH, to allow certain species to "exist" temporarily in their tanks until sold to aquarists that want a certain species, but have the wrong tap water to keep it healthy.
Plants consume ammonium first before nitrates so you have to dose the tank water with Prime to convert ammonia to ammonium every day or so.
People are making this too complicated. Keeping fish is easy. That is not a lot of bioload for a huge tank so cycled or not the fish should be fine for longer than a few days even if it was totally uncycled. The first problem could be temperature since cardinal tetras need to be at 80 degrees Fahrenheit at least. The bigger problem is that you should only dose prime to the water you are changing and not the whole tank. If you are adding tap water directly to the tank and then dosing prime than that is likely the problem as the fish are probably still getting exposed to chlorine or chloramine or too much of whatever additives seachem puts in it.
Also formalin is a dangerous chemical to both fish and humans as it is really just a four percent solution of formaldehyde. This makes it easy to overdose on fish and dangerous to store in the home. There is no use for this substance in fishkeeping.
Wrong, you are supposed to dose Prime for the whole tank volume if refilling the tank directly from the tap. Putting enough Prime for the water changed increases the likelihood the fish are exposed to chlorine or chloramine. At least part of the full dosage of Prime should be added before filling directly into the tank.
