Hi folks. As a short (but probably longer than necessary) introduction, here is the situation. 30 years ago as a kid, I decided that I wanted a fish tank. Somehow I got my hands on a used tank, my parents took me to a local store (Meijer's for those in the midwest) and we bought fake plants and fish. I poured everything and everyone into the tank and I kept the tank and its inhabitants all alive for the next 4 - 5 years before I gave it away when I was heading to college. I knew nothing about the nitrogen cycle, proper feeding, monitoring of water chemistry, etc., and ignorance was indeed bliss.
Fast forward 30 years and add in my 6 year old son deciding that he wanted a fish tank in early February 2014. Of course since good old dad kept fish as a kid and remembers how easy it was, no problem. Plus, he could learn about the life cycle, life and death, etc. We went and bought a 26 gallon bow front tank and fish, and for the first time I heard of this thing called the nitrogen cycle, but were told by the LFS don't worry about it, Zebra Danios are essentially indestructible (we don't go to this LFS ever again).
After getting things set up at home, two weeks in, start losing fish to a slow and probably painful death one at a time. For the first time, my wife and I decide to finally try learning more about the nitrogen cycle that we shouldn't have worried about according to our LFS, and I stumble upon this site. Yes, I now know about the fishless cycle, etc., and have said my mea culpas to the spirits of 5 of our original danios that died. So my 6 year old has now learned lots about death, but that lesson is getting OLD!
I buy my API test kit, add Dr. Tim's One and Only, buy my bottle of Seachem Prime, and in late February, 2014, start trying to do things the right way while trying to keep the fish that are left alive. I catch the end of what I believe was the cycle, and see that the now 3 Zebra Danios seem okay. We wait a few weeks and begin slowly adding fish. We add 3 white clouds and a nerite snail. Wait a couple more weeks and add 3 more white clouds and 6 Panda Cory. Everyone seems to be getting along well.
We do weekly 25% WC, feed small amounts of Flake Food (Omega One) nightly, supplementing every other night with either 2 sinking shrimp pellets or 1 seaweed wafer for the Cory's. Check water with API every few nights and everything is steady, steady.
We go on vacation in Mid April for one week and have a neighbor feed. Upon returning home, we have one dead Cory and Nitrates seem high (20 - 40 ppm) so I do a more aggressive WC (about 40 %). Everything normalizes, but we start losing 1 panda cory/week, and each time take our own readings with API and take water sample to supposed experts at deluxe LFS in Dublin, Oh. We are given various bits of advise like use floss instead of carbon filter, change temperature, fish can die for no reason, etc. Purchase replacements Panda Cory each time, as well, and those die out over the next few weeks, but still have 3 left.
Now to the point of the story, and thanks to anyone who has read this far. Get home last night and now one of our white clouds is dead. Throughout all of this, the white clouds have seemed perfect and never saw change in demeanor. Check the water with API and again it looks fine to me, see pictures below. The last two dead fish looked to us like they had bloody mouths, but no other outward issues, but I am no fish doctor. I have never seen signs of ich as I see in pictures at various web sites, nor do we have any ulcers, etc. on any fish.
I read somewhere on here that someone said if the water is fine and fish are dying, it is something else like a disease, etc. Well, if it is "something else", what the heck do we do? Should we medicate or treat with some kind of broad spectrum antibiotic or chemical? I understand that fish die, but I really am getting tired and sad about this slow death march that we are witnessing.
I believe an average of 1 death/week is ridiculous and wonder what we are doing wrong or if our tank has something wrong. Any and all advise is appreciated and welcomed. Thanks in advance for any help!!!!
Fast forward 30 years and add in my 6 year old son deciding that he wanted a fish tank in early February 2014. Of course since good old dad kept fish as a kid and remembers how easy it was, no problem. Plus, he could learn about the life cycle, life and death, etc. We went and bought a 26 gallon bow front tank and fish, and for the first time I heard of this thing called the nitrogen cycle, but were told by the LFS don't worry about it, Zebra Danios are essentially indestructible (we don't go to this LFS ever again).
After getting things set up at home, two weeks in, start losing fish to a slow and probably painful death one at a time. For the first time, my wife and I decide to finally try learning more about the nitrogen cycle that we shouldn't have worried about according to our LFS, and I stumble upon this site. Yes, I now know about the fishless cycle, etc., and have said my mea culpas to the spirits of 5 of our original danios that died. So my 6 year old has now learned lots about death, but that lesson is getting OLD!
I buy my API test kit, add Dr. Tim's One and Only, buy my bottle of Seachem Prime, and in late February, 2014, start trying to do things the right way while trying to keep the fish that are left alive. I catch the end of what I believe was the cycle, and see that the now 3 Zebra Danios seem okay. We wait a few weeks and begin slowly adding fish. We add 3 white clouds and a nerite snail. Wait a couple more weeks and add 3 more white clouds and 6 Panda Cory. Everyone seems to be getting along well.
We do weekly 25% WC, feed small amounts of Flake Food (Omega One) nightly, supplementing every other night with either 2 sinking shrimp pellets or 1 seaweed wafer for the Cory's. Check water with API every few nights and everything is steady, steady.
We go on vacation in Mid April for one week and have a neighbor feed. Upon returning home, we have one dead Cory and Nitrates seem high (20 - 40 ppm) so I do a more aggressive WC (about 40 %). Everything normalizes, but we start losing 1 panda cory/week, and each time take our own readings with API and take water sample to supposed experts at deluxe LFS in Dublin, Oh. We are given various bits of advise like use floss instead of carbon filter, change temperature, fish can die for no reason, etc. Purchase replacements Panda Cory each time, as well, and those die out over the next few weeks, but still have 3 left.
Now to the point of the story, and thanks to anyone who has read this far. Get home last night and now one of our white clouds is dead. Throughout all of this, the white clouds have seemed perfect and never saw change in demeanor. Check the water with API and again it looks fine to me, see pictures below. The last two dead fish looked to us like they had bloody mouths, but no other outward issues, but I am no fish doctor. I have never seen signs of ich as I see in pictures at various web sites, nor do we have any ulcers, etc. on any fish.
I read somewhere on here that someone said if the water is fine and fish are dying, it is something else like a disease, etc. Well, if it is "something else", what the heck do we do? Should we medicate or treat with some kind of broad spectrum antibiotic or chemical? I understand that fish die, but I really am getting tired and sad about this slow death march that we are witnessing.
I believe an average of 1 death/week is ridiculous and wonder what we are doing wrong or if our tank has something wrong. Any and all advise is appreciated and welcomed. Thanks in advance for any help!!!!
