Newbie with a question

[Cindy0301]

Hello everyone, I'm Cindy and I'm from NY. I also kept finding your forums every time I had a question so I finally joined!

I think I messed up my bio system when I did my last water change and ended up losing my beta and two of my goldfish. I think I pretty much have it back to normal but my nitrates are extremely high! My amonia and nitrite levels are both 0 but the nitrate level is up to around 80ppm or higher . My pH is about 7.4. I did a pwc today using store bought bottles of spring water and used a dechlorinator and it made no difference in the nitrate level.

I went and bought a couple of plants and a bottle of prime and put both into the tank (it's a 20gal tank). I changed 8 gallons today. What else do I need to do?

Thank you for the help!

 

[serena00]

Can you tell us the fish you had/ still have in this tank?


36g semi-aggressive
20g community
5.5g betta/ghost shrimp
3g betta
2g fry

 

[Cindy0301]

Two mollies, two bottom feeders (don't know what they're called) and a female Beta.

 

[serena00]

Wait what about the goldfish you mentioned before?


36g semi-aggressive
20g community
5.5g betta/ghost shrimp
3g betta
2g fry

 

[serena00]

Also can you show pictures of these bottom feeders? They could potentially be harmful to your other fish if you're having random deaths...


36g semi-aggressive
20g community
5.5g betta/ghost shrimp
3g betta
2g fry

 

[Cindy0301]

I had two goldfish (both 7 yrs old) and a male beta that all ended up with distended stomachs and just laid on the bottom and died. This happened slowly over a 2week period from when I did a major water change. thought perhaps it was swim bladder and tried giving them peas but than checked my pH which was really off so the aquarium owner had me add a small amount of baking soda to regulate that. I didn't have the kit at that time to check ammonia, nitrites and nitrates so I went and picked one up.

 

[Mattfinn]

Wait what about the goldfish you mentioned before?


36g semi-aggressive
20g community
5.5g betta/ghost shrimp
3g betta
2g fry

She said she lost them...

You're keeping both tropical and cold water fish, I think you should decide on which one to go with and stick to it. Most likely tropical as that's what you have left. By bottom feeders I'll assume a Cory or loach these should be in groups of 5or 6 which is fine for a 20gal.

 

[serena00]

Exactly my concern... Goldfish should not be in a heated tank...

I would advise not buying any fish until all of your levels are perfect. Do you have a testing kit? API master is what I use.


36g semi-aggressive
20g community
5.5g betta/ghost shrimp
3g betta
2g fry

 

[Cindy0301]

I googled them, they're Cory catfish and they were all together in this tank for over a year

 

[Cindy0301]

Yes, I bought the API kit the other day and did a water change today because of the nitrate reading.

The goldfish were won by my daughter at a fair and grew to big for the little tank that she had them in and that's why we went with a bigger tank. They were all doing fine until I did a water change and really cleaned the gravel good, rinsed all the decorations and cleaned the filter. That's why I assumed I messed up the bio system.

I also noticed a lot of algae out of no where and upon reading up on it, fits with my nitrate level being so high.

 

[serena00]

Okay now I understand what happened. Yes you're correct. You probably rinsed out your beneficial bacterias. You shouldn't really deep clean filters all that much or ever. If you do it should be in treated water not tap.

When I clean my filter media I just give them a quick dip in treated water.


36g semi-aggressive
20g community
5.5g betta/ghost shrimp
3g betta
2g fry