Glofish Keep Dying New Aquarium

[Reygan2]

I secured the ammonia yesterday.
Good!

I will be transporting my fish and snails to my mom's aquarium tomorrow. You mentioned to use a bucket. Once I get to her aquarium, do I just plop my fish in? How can I match the temperature? Should I put the fish in a bag and float it?
That would be a good idea. Just use a clean, ziplock. Rinse it in some tank water first.

Would it be worth putting a product like Stability in my mom's tank after switching her filter and taking some gravel?
No. Not needed. Like I said, she should do an extra partial water change per week. She needs to do at least two per week, removing at least 30% each time.

I also ordered the Aqua Clear 30 filter from Amazon.
AWESOME!

It should be here Thursday. Anything else I need to get the tank going?
You're good.

I read heat increases bacteria growth. Is it worth getting another heater to add to the tank?
If your current heater can get you up to around 78 or 80F, you don't need an extra.

Thanks again for the help!
You're very welcome!

 

[bekershpd]

I secured the ammonia yesterday.
Good!

I will be transporting my fish and snails to my mom's aquarium tomorrow. You mentioned to use a bucket. Once I get to her aquarium, do I just plop my fish in? How can I match the temperature? Should I put the fish in a bag and float it?
That would be a good idea. Just use a clean, ziplock. Rinse it in some tank water first.

Would it be worth putting a product like Stability in my mom's tank after switching her filter and taking some gravel?
No. Not needed. Like I said, she should do an extra partial water change per week. She needs to do at least two per week, removing at least 30% each time.

I also ordered the Aqua Clear 30 filter from Amazon.
AWESOME!

It should be here Thursday. Anything else I need to get the tank going?
You're good.

I read heat increases bacteria growth. Is it worth getting another heater to add to the tank?
If your current heater can get you up to around 78 or 80F, you don't need an extra.

Thanks again for the help!
You're very welcome!

Okay, a couple more things:

I should wait until the new filter comes to put in the media from mom's tank, right? If so, should I keep the filter and gravel in a bag of tank water before putting it in my tank?

Also, is it ok to do a total water change in my tank before we start, or does it matter?

 

[Reygan2]

No. You can put in in the filter you have now and move it over when the AC arrives.
It may not be a bad idea to change the water since we really don't know what the issue was. Couldn't hurt.
You can just dump the gravel in your tank.

 

[bekershpd]

Ok, fish successfully transported. Gravel and filter from my mom's tank have been put in my tank after a total water change.

Now what?!

 

[nirbhao]

Add ammonia. There are calculators out there that tell you how much you need to get 4ppm. Keep it there to build up the nitrifying bacteria. Once the bacteria can turn ammonia to nitrAtes in 24 hours, your tank is cycled!

 

[bekershpd]

Add ammonia. There are calculators out there that tell you how much you need to get 4ppm. Keep it there to build up the nitrifying bacteria. Once the bacteria can turn ammonia to nitrAtes in 24 hours, your tank is cycled!

Right before I got this message, I added 4 drops of ammonia because I was afraid the bacteria would die off.

Would testing the water with the master kit give me an accurate reading to make sure I added enough ammonia?

 

[nirbhao]

Yes, it would.

 

[bekershpd]

Should iI add more ammonia?

 

[nirbhao]

Yep. You want that dark green.

 

[bekershpd]

Yep. You want that dark green.

Ok, I think I'm there. Now what?

 

[OnTheFly]

The hard part comes now. You have to be patient. Check your ammonia after about 24hrs. They'll tell you how much ammonia to dose and when based on your test results. You'll continue to dose ammonia to feed the bacteria. Over time it will consume it faster. Log what you are doing as you go. Date-Dose-Water test results. It might make it easier to see how it is proceeding. With seeded media and substrate it may go fast. You want to see nitrites appear as your next milestone. I started a similar cycle in a 20G yesterday and had nitrites and nitrates when I tested 20hrs later. It may or may not go that fast for you.

 

[bekershpd]

The hard part comes now. You have to be patient. Check your ammonia after about 24hrs. They'll tell you how much ammonia to dose and when based on your test results. You'll continue to dose ammonia to feed the bacteria. Over time it will consume it faster. Log what you are doing as you go. Date-Dose-Water test results. It might make it easier to see how it is proceeding. With seeded media and substrate it may go fast. You want to see nitrites appear as your next milestone. I started a similar cycle in a 20G yesterday and had nitrites and nitrates when I tested 20hrs later. It may or may not go that fast for you.

Alrighty. I will try to patiently wait! I will post results later tonight (probably around 8pm EST, for those who wish to tune in)!

Just so I'm clear on what happens next, am I going to dose with ammonia back up to 4 ppm tonight (assuming ammonia drops)?

 

[Reygan2]

It will probably take some time to drop initially. Keep an eye on it. As mentioned, this is the hard part, but well worth the wait!

 

[Tyrsdottir]

I have read this entire thread.
While I agree that the cycle is a big concern, and the advice you are being given on that is great, I don't think that's what's killing your fish.

You mentioned that a regular pH test tops out, and a high range shows 8.8. I think the problem is the pH being too high for the fish. There's no reason to think the high test is wrong. If your pH was 7.6, the high test would agree. Having shells in your tank supports the test reading.

Glofish come, currently, in 3 species; danios, tetras, and barbs. We don't know which you have, but I suspect it's the tetra. Tetras don't do well in high pH, especially if the swing isn't gradual over the course of hours. So two factors are probably killing these fish... The acclimation from a presumed store on of 6.5-7.0 or so to 8.8 is too fast, and the pH of 8.8 is too high.

You have removed the shells.
You need to be really careful in moving the remaining fish to a new pH, especially if it is lower. Down swings are even more risky for fish than up swings. You might lose that fish.
I'd keep the snails where they are. They've survived thus far, so they'll probably do fine.

Having removed the shells, which are most likely the cause of your high pH, the pH *should* gradually come down to where water changes won't cause such a huge swing (you said 8.8 came down to 7.8).

If it doesn't come down, then something else is keeping your buffer high. If you can't find the source and don't do anything to lower the buffer, pH swings will continue to be a problem that will stress any fish you put in there. You would need to get fish that can handle a higher pH, and do smaller water changes to reduce swings.

To lower the buffer, you could add driftwood.
But I'd wait to see if it lowers on its own due to removal of the shells. I think that mostly likely will happen.

 

[bekershpd]

I have read this entire thread.

While I agree that the cycle is a big concern, and the advice you are being given on that is great, I don't think that's what's killing your fish.



You mentioned that a regular pH test tops out, and a high range shows 8.8. I think the problem is the pH being too high for the fish. There's no reason to think the high test is wrong. If your pH was 7.6, the high test would agree. Having shells in your tank supports the test reading.



Glofish come, currently, in 3 species; danios, tetras, and barbs. We don't know which you have, but I suspect it's the tetra. Tetras don't do well in high pH, especially if the swing isn't gradual over the course of hours. So two factors are probably killing these fish... The acclimation from a presumed store on of 6.5-7.0 or so to 8.8 is too fast, and the pH of 8.8 is too high.



You have removed the shells.

You need to be really careful in moving the remaining fish to a new pH, especially if it is lower. Down swings are even more risky for fish than up swings. You might lose that fish.

I'd keep the snails where they are. They've survived thus far, so they'll probably do fine.



Having removed the shells, which are most likely the cause of your high pH, the pH *should* gradually come down to where water changes won't cause such a huge swing (you said 8.8 came down to 7.8).



If it doesn't come down, then something else is keeping your buffer high. If you can't find the source and don't do anything to lower the buffer, pH swings will continue to be a problem that will stress any fish you put in there. You would need to get fish that can handle a higher pH, and do smaller water changes to reduce swings.



To lower the buffer, you could add driftwood.

But I'd wait to see if it lowers on its own due to removal of the shells. I think that mostly likely will happen.

Thank you so much for your thoughts! My lone fish is a Glofish Tetra. I successfully moved him to my mom's tank with her Glofish Tetras. He made it through the night and is showing no signs of stress.

I did worry about the pH, but a lot of the advice I was given didn't seem to take the high pH reading into account. Either way, I have removed the shells and a fair amount of fake plant decoration. I did a complete water change just to be safe. I have not tested the pH since changing the water, but I will check that when I get home.

Thanks again. I appreciate any thoughts on my problem(s).

 

[Reygan2]

Hopefully removing the shells will lower your ph. If you get a chance, test your water right out of the tap, then leave a sample out overnight and test it. Those results would be interesting. I only used the high range on my saltwater setup. I just assumed that my ph was 7.6 in my freshwater tanks. Maybe it is actually higher. Even if it is I've kept all types of fish, so it shouldn't be too much of an issue with proper acclimation.
Glad to hear your survivor is doing well so far in your mom's tank.

 

[bekershpd]

Hopefully removing the shells will lower your ph. If you get a chance, test your water right out of the tap, then leave a sample out overnight and test it. Those results would be interesting. I only used the high range on my saltwater setup. I just assumed that my ph was 7.6 in my freshwater tanks. Maybe it is actually higher. Even if it is I've kept all types of fish, so it shouldn't be too much of an issue with proper acclimation.
Glad to hear your survivor is doing well so far in your mom's tank.

I tested the pH of my tap water last night and it was 7.4. I will try leaving some out overnight.

Will I be dosing the ammonia back to 4 ppm if it has come down when I test it tonight?

 

[Tyrsdottir]

Thank you so much for your thoughts! My lone fish is a Glofish Tetra. I successfully moved him to my mom's tank with her Glofish Tetras. He made it through the night and is showing no signs of stress.

I did worry about the pH, but a lot of the advice I was given didn't seem to take the high pH reading into account. Either way, I have removed the shells and a fair amount of fake plant decoration. I did a complete water change just to be safe. I have not tested the pH since changing the water, but I will check that when I get home.

Thanks again. I appreciate any thoughts on my problem(s).

My pleasure. Glad to hear your tetra is doing well.
Yes, I read the whole thing because I didn't want to post advice you'd already been given. The two things not addressed were the pH, and the fact that we didn't know what species your fish were. Glofish is a color label, not a species label, and actually pretty irrelevant when discussing the health of your tank. ☺

I recommend monitoring the ph along with everything else. Please keep us posted on how it all goes!

 

[Tyrsdottir]

I only used the high range on my saltwater setup. I just assumed that my ph was 7.6 in my freshwater tanks. Maybe it is actually higher. Even if it is I've kept all types of fish, so it shouldn't be too much of an issue with proper acclimation.

It could possibly be higher, yes.
How much of an issue it is depends on how big the pH change is. If it's really big, "proper acclimation" could take hours, especially with tetras, since they are so sensitive to high pH.
If the OP wants to keep tetras, he's better off with a much lower pH that won't take so long to adjust new fish to.

I read somewhere (can't seem to find it now) that pH changes should be no more than .2 degrees per hour. That could be wrong, or I could be recalling it incorrectly. Regardless, I think checking the store water in the bag and comparing it to tank water before starting acclimation is always a good idea. I use a 5 in 1.

 

[Reygan2]

I tested the pH of my tap water last night and it was 7.4. I will try leaving some out overnight.

Will I be dosing the ammonia back to 4 ppm if it has come down when I test it tonight?

If it's been 24 hrs since you dosed, yes.