Loosing Fish

[mrjmpsr]

I haver a 55 gallon tank that had about 25 guppies, algie eater and a catfish. My daughter graduated and brought home about 10 more guppies, 2 zebra tetra's and a ghost shrimp.

I am down to 17 guppies, 1 ghost shimp and the 2 zebra tetras. I have been doing regular water changes and checking the water for amnoia, nitrates, nitrites, ph and ph high and have been fine up to the time she added the new fish. Now my nitrates spiked up to between 40 and 60. Everythis else is still normal. I had the water checked at 2 other aquarium stores and everything on their tests were all fine. The test kit is only 2 months old and have never had this high nitrate reading until last week (maybe bad test kit which is the API master test kit.).

I do the regular water changes and replace the filter packs. I heard this weekend that the charcol filters are really not that good and to use another product (don't recall now what it was but was a white hard ball) which I was told would keep the cycle in better shape. Also putting a lava rock would help control the cycle.

I treated the tank for bateria and fungus based on the suggestion from the aquarium store where I had the water tested.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[Bbush]

That is disappointing. So the fish just suddenly die?

 

[RussellC]

Sorry I can't be terribly helpful in pinpointing why you are losing fish.

That said, adding stock can, in and of itself, cause nitrates to spike. Higher bioload = higher ammonia which leads to higher nitrates in a cycled tank.

Also, the API liquid nitrate test, while accurate, is tricky. You really do have to follow the directions closely on that one and shake bottle #2 and the capped tube vigorously for the length of time indicated in the directions.

Good luck!

 

[Bbush]

I have heard the nitrate test is a ball park not exact test. I think the chart that comes w the master test is confusing. I looked online and found the same chart. I hear the one that comes w the individual nitrate test is better.

 

[mrjmpsr]

Yes the fish just suddenly died. Today they look better the ones that are left. I think I could loose 4 more. I now have 5 brand new babies so I hope those are unaffected. I have put some floating artifical plants for them to hide. I changed 10 Gallons + today and the nitrates came down a bit maybe just over 40 on master API test kit everything else is good. Bought a new test kit to compare results, this one is a dip strip. On the new test strip test kit ph, amonia, nitrites, cholorine, ackline, nitrtites and nitrates are all safe, so maybe the solution on the master kit is bad.

Been doing aquariums since I was 12 and never heard anything about using lava rock in the tank to control good bacteria which is suppposed to keep all your amonia, nitrates, nitrites etc. in control. Anyone heard this?

 

[Alyxx]

Yes the fish just suddenly died. Today they look better the ones that are left. I think I could loose 4 more. I now have 5 brand new babies so I hope those are unaffected. I have put some floating artifical plants for them to hide. I changed 10 Gallons + today and the nitrates came down a bit maybe just over 40 on master API test kit everything else is good. Bought a new test kit to compare results, this one is a dip strip. On the new test strip test kit ph, amonia, nitrites, cholorine, ackline, nitrtites and nitrates are all safe, so maybe the solution on the master kit is bad.

Been doing aquariums since I was 12 and never heard anything about using lava rock in the tank to control good bacteria which is suppposed to keep all your amonia, nitrates, nitrites etc. in control. Anyone heard this?

The lava rock just gives bacteria another place to colonize because it's porous. Kind of like how live rock works in a saltwater tank. It will help with nitrite and ammonia, but the denitrifying bacteria don't eat nitrate. The bacteria that eats nitrate are anaerobic, which is why some reef keepers use a deep sand bed to give the tank an anaerobic environment in the sand bed.

 

[Lifeoffroad]

Yes the fish just suddenly died. Today they look better the ones that are left. I think I could loose 4 more. I now have 5 brand new babies so I hope those are unaffected. I have put some floating artifical plants for them to hide. I changed 10 Gallons + today and the nitrates came down a bit maybe just over 40 on master API test kit everything else is good. Bought a new test kit to compare results, this one is a dip strip. On the new test strip test kit ph, amonia, nitrites, cholorine, ackline, nitrtites and nitrates are all safe, so maybe the solution on the master kit is bad.

Been doing aquariums since I was 12 and never heard anything about using lava rock in the tank to control good bacteria which is suppposed to keep all your amonia, nitrates, nitrites etc. in control. Anyone heard this?

Lava rock is used to control nitrates. People typically put them in a canister filter. I personally don't like them in the tank as i worry about the possible injury a lava rock could produce. You might try a nitrate remover or controller like tetra easy balance. You can add a little of that with every water change. This will help keep the good bacteria in control.

 

[tamtam]

I'd keep doing water changes until you get your nitrates down to about 20 and see what happens. May take a few larger changes over a few days but hopefully they will stay where they belong.
If you are lucky maybe adding the new fish just through things off a bit.

Also with your nitrite and nitrate bottles, make sure you give them some good bangs on the table and shake them really well before using them. Some people can have problems with things settling or crystallizing in the bottom of the bottles

 

[tamtam]

Also don't remove filter media until it is falling apart. Most of your BB are housed in there and if you remove it you can throw yourself into a mini cycle(or worse) If you need to change it it's a good idea to add the new media before removing the old and giving some time to let some BB grow on the new stuff.