Fish are dying water is unhealthy please advise

[forthe3kids]

We have a fairly new 20 gallon tank, started tank in July added startup kit of chemicals etc that came with tank.
Added first fish end of August then started adding in groups in December 4-5 at a time over 3 weeks. On December 26 many died right after 30% water change on 24th. Reached total of 16 fish.
20-25% water change with water conditioner was done every 2 weeks plus changing carbon cartridge every 3-4 weeks
Water test said we had high ammonia 5 ppm and low ph 6.0
we started adding ammonia reducer and started frequent water changes.
Jan 7th ph still 6 ammonia still 4ppm.
Did 20% water change on 7th
Did 5% water change on 8th,
Did 5% water change morning of 9th.
Did 5% water change evening of 9th.
now Jan 9th more fish are dead ammonia still at 1-2ppm ph still at 6. Nitrate and nitrite are 0, GH is at 180ppm kh is 0
I'm also pretty sure I was over feeding the fish.
We are down to 6 fish. On 8th I took out 1 platty and 1 cory catfish that was looking very bad and put into 1 gallon tank with 50% tap water and 50% aquarium water and now they seem to be okay. Just added frog to 1 gallon because it was also started to become unresponsive..

Any suggestions on how to proceed?

Thanks

 

[Rlavassor86]

We have a fairly new 20 gallon tank, started tank in July added startup kit of chemicals etc that came with tank.
Added first fish end of August then started adding in groups in December 4-5 at a time over 3 weeks. On December 26 many died right after 30% water change on 24th. Reached total of 16 fish.
20-25% water change with water conditioner was done every 2 weeks plus changing carbon cartridge every 3-4 weeks
Water test said we had high ammonia 5 ppm and low ph 6.0
we started adding ammonia reducer and started frequent water changes.
Jan 7th ph still 6 ammonia still 4ppm.
Did 20% water change on 7th
Did 5% water change on 8th,
Did 5% water change morning of 9th.
Did 5% water change evening of 9th.
now Jan 9th more fish are dead ammonia still at 1-2ppm ph still at 6. Nitrate and nitrite are 0, GH is at 180ppm kh is 0
I'm also pretty sure I was over feeding the fish.
We are down to 6 fish. On 8th I took out 1 platty and 1 cory catfish that was looking very bad and put into 1 gallon tank with 50% tap water and 50% aquarium water and now they seem to be okay. Just added frog to 1 gallon because it was also started to become unresponsive..

Any suggestions on how to proceed?

Thanks

First you need to stop replacing your filter media. That's where all your BB grows so every time you replace it your essentially starting over again. Start doing daily 50% water changes until your ammonia is under .25 ppm.

 

[Candiceg]

You need to do daily large water changes. Your fish are dying from the ammonia level. Condition new water with prime. And test everyday until your ammonia is .25 and under. You should do multiple large water changes per day. Good luck

 

[Rlavassor86]

Also what fish do you have?

 

[Convict2161]

Temp? How many fish total were in the tank? You said you "think" you were over feeding right? The tank was cycled right?

I guess we can start there... Also 5% water changes aren't going to do much. You wanna do 25%-50% to bring your ammonia levels down.

If your seeing ammonia all the time my guess would be the tank isn't cycled or maybe went into another cycle phase.

Your pH... You should test your tap water and see what the pH is... Then we can take steps to see what needs to be done.

Hope some of this helps.

 

[Hholly]

Sorry your fish have had such a hard time. Unfortunately those kits, chemicals and filter cartridges are marketed to unsuspecting people who don't realize the companies are only trying to sell stuff. Your tank has been in an incomplete nitrogen cycle. You need beneficial bacteria to process the ammonia your fish produce. Please read this article.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/guide-to-starting-a-freshwater-aquarium/
And this one
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/fishin-cycling-step-dark-side/

Water changes with dechlorinated water are your best friend. Lots of them. The ammonia and nitrite needs to be at or below .25ppm. Please don't clean your filter cartridge for a while. And don't change it out until it's falling apart.
Good luck!

 

[forthe3kids]

more info and attempt to answer questions
We use a marineland penguin power filter which has a biowheel (not to be cleaned or replaced) and carbon filter (to be replaced every 2-4 weeks). Are you sure I should not change this filter?
Aquarium Filters BIO-Wheel Filter Saltwater Filter Freshwater Filter | Marineland
When we did major water change on Dec 24 my estimate should have more like 35-40% not 30%, 8 of 14 fish died 36 hours later. Was told that this major water change caused too much of a ph spike up then fall which probabaly shocked the fish. We did the major water change because the ph was very low and ammonia was very high
Tank water temp: 77, gh of 180 is highest my test records, ph 6.0 lowest my test records
Tap water has ph of 7.6 and 0 ammonia, kh 0, gh 180 highest my test records
Did cycling occur?
My sister bought all supplies as birthday gift for daughter, this included several startup chemicals and baterial startup chemicals. We added water and chemicals turn on filter with biowheel and let run for 2 months before adding single catfish. (bought catfish at petsmart was told it was an algae eater). Did not add any more fish for at least 3 months.
fish:
2 red wag platy - bought this week, 1 died within 12 hours, 1 saved removed from main tank and put in 1 gallon tank
3 cory catfish - 2 died, original August died dec 23, then 2 more added this week, 1 died within 24 hours 1 saved by putting in 1 gallon tank 12 hours after being put in main tank
bushnose plecco - died after big water change
rainbow shark - died after big water change
2 platinum cobra guppy - died after big water change
gold gourami - still alive in tank
serpae tetra - first to die mid December, thought might be that we only bought 1 and shark kept chasing it.
dwarf aquatic frog (currently moved to 1 gallon tank)
clown loach - died died after big water change
fancy angel - still alive in tank not looking that good
mixed fancy guppy - 3/6 dead 2 died after big water change 1 died yesterday
2 Siamese algae eater - died after big water change
2 red wag and 2 cory catfish added this week and 1 wag died within 12 hours, 1 wag and 1 cory pulled out doing okay, 2nd cory died in tank later same day.
According to ammonia toxity charts, with my low ph of 6 and water temp of 77, the ammonia is not toxic even though it is high 1-2ppm.
Local fish store (big als) suggestion is to gradually do water changes to lower ammonia and raise ph which is why I started 5% twice daily.

Thank you for your help