It has been an EXTREMELY SAD Week!!! So many of my fish have died and i have no solid explination why!!
Ok so this is what happened up to the die off
Firstly I have been working on my plants... I have a 29 gallon high, with moderate amount of plants. I am trying the EI method... During the day my room is pretty dark so when i get home i add plant nutrients
DAILY:
5ml of potassium (flourish), 5ml Flourish Excel, 5ml Flourish nutrients
2 times a week
2.5ml Flourish Iron, 5ml Flourish Phosphorous (2times a week)
So around 8pm i turn my T5 bulbs on total 1600k, and a 20 watt bulb (so 3 bulbs) to when i wake up approx 6-7am (just fyi No "algae" growth so for you peeps thinking i must have some crazy algae problem from 10hrs light)
Been doing that routine for about 3 weeks now with no adverse effects... I also have a DIY yeast Co2 reactor about 1-2 bubbles a second.
*** Ok so this is when i feel it started
One day my filter had tilted back and was leaking I probably lost 10-15% of the water so i fixed the problem and i figured, well since im already there i may as well vacuum the sand/gravel/fluval plant substrate while changing about 50% of the water in the process. (The water I use is tap NYC water, which i let sit in a bucket for at least 2 days to a week if not longer with water conditioner and also nov aqua water conditioner, occasionally i add night out as well.) So I changed the water... (i notice no difference in fish behavior)
Halfway through the week one of my cory Jullili die, and maybe one of my German blue rams, and about 2 bamboo shrimp.
The first weekend after the water change i decide im going to add some more Fluval substrate to my tank approx 4 cups (i probably have about 3 inches of black sand mixed with some Fluval plant substrate, but i felt i didn't have a good enough mix.) I did not rinse the fluval substrate before adding it to the tank, however the way i added it i made sure to make very little dust clouding to the tank.
**** The Die Off
about every day after that fish started dying. First about 2 of my other german rams die, next the apistogramma cockatouidie male died, then the apistogramma macmasteri male, then some electric blue rams, then more german rams, then the macmasteri female died, then my hillstream loach died, and finially the 2nd of the cockatouidie females died...
None of the ammano shrimp, or Ataya shrimp died, and some of the bamboos stayed alive, most of the other corys seemed fine, the freshwater flounders seemed unaffected... My electric blue jack dempsy 3inch looks fine, my bachardi looks fine and all the snails look fine...
But about 1/2 of my tank has died off...
I tested the water myself, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 6.6-6.8 Ph
I brought my water to my LFS to be tested by them as well
very little ammonia was found but there was some..., 0 nitrates and nitrites, and ph was about 6.6...
WHAT IS CAUSING MY FISH DEATH!?!??!?
PS> I noticed before the fish started dying every couple days i'd see a fish do a quick rub up against a rock, but they would do it only once and i'd rarely see the same fish doing it. (I have never seen an ICH spot on any of my fish)
I feed my fish a variety from spurlinia pleco discs, HQ flake food, Live black worms (probably more blood worms then any of the other foods), occasionally live brine shrimp
Ok so this is what happened up to the die off
Firstly I have been working on my plants... I have a 29 gallon high, with moderate amount of plants. I am trying the EI method... During the day my room is pretty dark so when i get home i add plant nutrients
DAILY:
5ml of potassium (flourish), 5ml Flourish Excel, 5ml Flourish nutrients
2 times a week
2.5ml Flourish Iron, 5ml Flourish Phosphorous (2times a week)
So around 8pm i turn my T5 bulbs on total 1600k, and a 20 watt bulb (so 3 bulbs) to when i wake up approx 6-7am (just fyi No "algae" growth so for you peeps thinking i must have some crazy algae problem from 10hrs light)
Been doing that routine for about 3 weeks now with no adverse effects... I also have a DIY yeast Co2 reactor about 1-2 bubbles a second.
*** Ok so this is when i feel it started
One day my filter had tilted back and was leaking I probably lost 10-15% of the water so i fixed the problem and i figured, well since im already there i may as well vacuum the sand/gravel/fluval plant substrate while changing about 50% of the water in the process. (The water I use is tap NYC water, which i let sit in a bucket for at least 2 days to a week if not longer with water conditioner and also nov aqua water conditioner, occasionally i add night out as well.) So I changed the water... (i notice no difference in fish behavior)
Halfway through the week one of my cory Jullili die, and maybe one of my German blue rams, and about 2 bamboo shrimp.
The first weekend after the water change i decide im going to add some more Fluval substrate to my tank approx 4 cups (i probably have about 3 inches of black sand mixed with some Fluval plant substrate, but i felt i didn't have a good enough mix.) I did not rinse the fluval substrate before adding it to the tank, however the way i added it i made sure to make very little dust clouding to the tank.
**** The Die Off
about every day after that fish started dying. First about 2 of my other german rams die, next the apistogramma cockatouidie male died, then the apistogramma macmasteri male, then some electric blue rams, then more german rams, then the macmasteri female died, then my hillstream loach died, and finially the 2nd of the cockatouidie females died...
None of the ammano shrimp, or Ataya shrimp died, and some of the bamboos stayed alive, most of the other corys seemed fine, the freshwater flounders seemed unaffected... My electric blue jack dempsy 3inch looks fine, my bachardi looks fine and all the snails look fine...
But about 1/2 of my tank has died off...
I tested the water myself, 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 6.6-6.8 Ph
I brought my water to my LFS to be tested by them as well
very little ammonia was found but there was some..., 0 nitrates and nitrites, and ph was about 6.6...
WHAT IS CAUSING MY FISH DEATH!?!??!?
PS> I noticed before the fish started dying every couple days i'd see a fish do a quick rub up against a rock, but they would do it only once and i'd rarely see the same fish doing it. (I have never seen an ICH spot on any of my fish)
I feed my fish a variety from spurlinia pleco discs, HQ flake food, Live black worms (probably more blood worms then any of the other foods), occasionally live brine shrimp
every time i wake up and come home i look for dead fish now 