Fish Dying One by One

[Poseidon2.0]

How long did you quarantine the new arrivals for before putting them in your main tank

He didn’t. Got them from a local breeder he trusts and put them in direct.

 

[celebrist]

Another good reason to quarantine


to check for aggression then the more passive fish can be introduced to the display tank first or the hostile one can be rehomed

 

[twentyleagues]

The API Ammonia Test will show total ammonia, which means

total ammonia = ammonia + ammonium (bound ammonia) + chloramine (if you have it in your tap)

I would test at least 3-4 hours after adding water conditioner, preferably before a water change.

When I "worked" at a lfs that specialized in only saltwater I'd go to the airport and pick up shipments and bring them to the store and acclimate and qt new arrivals. Proceedure was to drip, then temp acclimate. We used prime during the drip phase. Tests on the primed water showed 0 ammonia both salfert and api. That was also showed to us by the rep during a visit. I dont remember but I dont think it was a seachem rep I think it was a distributer a&m possibly. So not sure it shows bound...

 

[Coryloach]

Urea is in urine, not ammonia. It may take awhile to generate ammonia from rotting food. Try a dirty litter box or chicken coop.

I was going to say that. The urine needs to go through bacterial decomposition first to release ammonia.

I'd just ignore the tests and do water changes. The fish health is saying water is not up to scratch. It can't be clearer than that.

If I'd test for something right now, it would be pH and KH, check if either has gone down.

 

[Rocksor]

When I "worked" at a lfs that specialized in only saltwater I'd go to the airport and pick up shipments and bring them to the store and acclimate and qt new arrivals. Proceedure was to drip, then temp acclimate. We used prime during the drip phase. Tests on the primed water showed 0 ammonia both salfert and api. That was also showed to us by the rep during a visit. I dont remember but I dont think it was a seachem rep I think it was a distributer a&m possibly. So not sure it shows bound...

Water conditioners like Prime are a reducing agent, so if you test within a certain period of using a water conditioner, it will "destroy" the chemicals being used in the test, hence why you should wait a few hours after a water change before testing. Also, because of this, you shouldn't use medication like malachite green or methylene (plus some others) immediately after a water change since the water conditioner will cause them to lose effectiveness.