Hey all. I've been having a recent problem of my daughter's glo fish dying off one by one.
*Effected fish have mainly been the Glo Fish, we have lost 2 so far. However, 3 days ago our ghost shrimp died, and this morning I found our albino sucker fish dead. I didn't notice any abnormal behavior with the sucker fish or shrimp, they both had healthy appetites and looked healthy. The glo fish however, have not been eating and I have noticed a few hours before they expire they start to act very strange. Swimming erratically and rubbing up against the artificial plants.
*Nitrate 20, Nitrite 0, pH 8.0-8.5, KH 180, GH 180. I realize the GH and KH levels are high, as well as pH. But I have read that tetras adapt to higher levels and have no problem living in a pH level as high as 8.2? Correct me if I'm wrong.
*10 gallon tank, been set up for about 2 months now.
*Filtration system is a tetra bio bag filter, which I just replaced today.
*Started off with 9 small fish and 1 shrimp. 4 glo fish, 2 albino tiger barbs, and 2 long-fin zebra danio, 1 albino sucker, and 1 ghost shrimp. Glo fish were about an inch, barbs the same, danios maybe a half inch. Have 2 glo fish left and both danios.
*Changed about 30% of the water 4 days ago, as well as vacuumed gravel. I generally vacuum once or twice a week depending on how dirty it looks. Change the water once every 2 weeks or so.
*Have had all of them since the start of the tank, so about 2 months.
*I feed them blood worms and tetra tropical flakes. And had algae wafers for the sucker fish and shrimp.
Now to explain my problem a little better. This epidemic has just started within the last week and a half I would say. The danios seem to be 100% unaffected as they have a normal appetite and behavior. As I stated previously, I did not notice any erratic behavior in the barbs, sucker fish, or shrimp before they expired. But with the glo fish I did notice their lack of appetite and strange behavior. I have done A LOT of research the last week and have determined it is likely a parasite so I purchased Sentry CopperSafe treatment today to treat and hopefully save the 2 remaining glo fish. This is not my first rodeo, I have had several tank set ups in the past but never had to deal with anything besides Ich and fin rot. My research tells me this is likely "Velvet" since the fish seem to have a golden glow/flake to them.
My questions are, in treating velvet have I taken the correct steps in purchasing and using the CopperSafe OTC medication? Have many of you have experience with this product? Is my pH really that high and something I should worry about? Should I purchase products to lower the KH/pH? And as for the GH, I use Tetra AquaSafe Plus to condition the water with every change, and used it when setting up the tank. I also used Tetra SafeStart to help cycle the tank about a month after set up. Do I need to be doing more than that to help lower the hardness? Oh and, I don't have an air pump.. Is this something I should invest in? I have not used one in the past, I had just assumed the air bubbles the filter creates would suffice.
Sorry for such a long post and thank you to those that take the time to read it! I'm just fed up with throwing money at this tank with no results, and seeing my 3 year old daughter's face every time we have to flush one away.
*Effected fish have mainly been the Glo Fish, we have lost 2 so far. However, 3 days ago our ghost shrimp died, and this morning I found our albino sucker fish dead. I didn't notice any abnormal behavior with the sucker fish or shrimp, they both had healthy appetites and looked healthy. The glo fish however, have not been eating and I have noticed a few hours before they expire they start to act very strange. Swimming erratically and rubbing up against the artificial plants.
*Nitrate 20, Nitrite 0, pH 8.0-8.5, KH 180, GH 180. I realize the GH and KH levels are high, as well as pH. But I have read that tetras adapt to higher levels and have no problem living in a pH level as high as 8.2? Correct me if I'm wrong.
*10 gallon tank, been set up for about 2 months now.
*Filtration system is a tetra bio bag filter, which I just replaced today.
*Started off with 9 small fish and 1 shrimp. 4 glo fish, 2 albino tiger barbs, and 2 long-fin zebra danio, 1 albino sucker, and 1 ghost shrimp. Glo fish were about an inch, barbs the same, danios maybe a half inch. Have 2 glo fish left and both danios.
*Changed about 30% of the water 4 days ago, as well as vacuumed gravel. I generally vacuum once or twice a week depending on how dirty it looks. Change the water once every 2 weeks or so.
*Have had all of them since the start of the tank, so about 2 months.
*I feed them blood worms and tetra tropical flakes. And had algae wafers for the sucker fish and shrimp.
Now to explain my problem a little better. This epidemic has just started within the last week and a half I would say. The danios seem to be 100% unaffected as they have a normal appetite and behavior. As I stated previously, I did not notice any erratic behavior in the barbs, sucker fish, or shrimp before they expired. But with the glo fish I did notice their lack of appetite and strange behavior. I have done A LOT of research the last week and have determined it is likely a parasite so I purchased Sentry CopperSafe treatment today to treat and hopefully save the 2 remaining glo fish. This is not my first rodeo, I have had several tank set ups in the past but never had to deal with anything besides Ich and fin rot. My research tells me this is likely "Velvet" since the fish seem to have a golden glow/flake to them.
My questions are, in treating velvet have I taken the correct steps in purchasing and using the CopperSafe OTC medication? Have many of you have experience with this product? Is my pH really that high and something I should worry about? Should I purchase products to lower the KH/pH? And as for the GH, I use Tetra AquaSafe Plus to condition the water with every change, and used it when setting up the tank. I also used Tetra SafeStart to help cycle the tank about a month after set up. Do I need to be doing more than that to help lower the hardness? Oh and, I don't have an air pump.. Is this something I should invest in? I have not used one in the past, I had just assumed the air bubbles the filter creates would suffice.
Sorry for such a long post and thank you to those that take the time to read it! I'm just fed up with throwing money at this tank with no results, and seeing my 3 year old daughter's face every time we have to flush one away.
