Massacre!!!

[Koppriecht]

Hey all

Well I lost 16 fish over the last 2 weeks. I lost 3 Danios, 1 Gouramis (my favorite), 1 Loach, 1 Cherry barb, 5 Neon Tetras, 2 Minnows, 3 Guppies. They were all in my community tank and I have second tank for Cichlids. At the height of the slaughter my tank temperature was at 85 k and I had an ammonia reading of .5 ppm. Now it is as follows:

Temp = 79
ph = 8.3
Ammonia = .25
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 20
GH = 11
KH = 15

The Gouramis had missing pieces from his tail which I thought might be other fish nipping him. Is it possible I have a fish disease in the tank or do you think it was the temperature and ammonia being off? All that is left in the tank is 3 Guppies, 1 Danio, 1 minnow, and a pleco. All of them seem fine. I would have done more readings during this but I was busy with work. Also, these readings are after a 50% water change.

 

[lilme]

Try getting no ammonia
Is it fin. Rot

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[dragon14]

Ammonia at any level can make fish sick and can kill them if high enough and/or if they are already weaker and such. Do you have any idea how long the ammonia was at .50 ppm? You definitely want 0 ammonia!

I am so sorry for your loss, that's terrible

 

[Koppriecht]

Not sure how long the ammonia was high. I put some prime in the tank and will change the water on Saturday. Looking into fin rot, could it kill multiple fish?


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[PNWaquarist]

The API freshwater kit will often show a slight hint of ammonia (a very faint green color) when no ammonia is present. If your tank is cycled and you're getting a slight ammonia reading but no nitrites, my guess is that you don't have an appreciable amount of ammonia in the tank.

 

[dragon14]

The API freshwater kit will often show a slight hint of ammonia (a very faint green color) when no ammonia is present. If your tank is cycled and you're getting a slight ammonia reading but no nitrites, my guess is that you don't have an appreciable amount of ammonia in the tank.

Oh that's good to know, I didn't know that. Do you know why that is?

 

[PNWaquarist]

Not sure why, but I've witnessed it and have heard others comment on it as well.

If you saw a definite green color, you probably do have an ammonia spike. But if it just barely looked green when the test tube is held against a white background in a well-lit room, it very well may be a false positive. Especially when you have zero nitrites. It's very easy to detect low levels of nitrites with the API kit.

 

[dragon14]

Not sure why, but I've witnessed it and have heard others comment on it as well.

If you saw a definite green color, you probably do have an ammonia spike. But if it just barely looked green when the test tube is held against a white background in a well-lit room, it very well may be a false positive. Especially when you have zero nitrites. It's very easy to detect low levels of nitrites with the API kit.

Thanks Makes sense.