Fish dying 1 after another

[Potluck]

No they stunt and die, and you would have your work cut out for you with maintenence

 

[nirbhao]

Goldfish are ammonia factories.

 

[mmcintosh_xo]

How is it possible that she does 100% water changes, uses no product like Prime and they live without issues
I just got done about a 50% water change
Added the last of the conditioner I have here, hoping to get to town to atleast pick up some sort of water treatment for the meantime and the other two rat kits I need.
I'm sticking with the freshwater tropical, they are rather pretty
And the site I found that ships to your house has some really unique ones, pet smart has a pretty limited selection

Last question. I promise hahaha
When I do go to replace the dead fish, pet smart said they would replace them all.
Should I set up a smaller tank with water out if my already established tank (this is when my tank is established, and they will run a test for me to be certain) and leave them there for a week to make sure they have no issues like my last bunch (ich and whatnot)
If so, I'd set the other tank up now so it has some time to run in the meantime

 

[flchamp89]

One she doing a 100 pwc
Two they are in there temporary
Three luck
Four luck will run out as fish grow

 

[Potluck]

How is it possible that she does 100% water changes, uses no product like Prime and they live without issues
I just got done about a 50% water change
Added the last of the conditioner I have here, hoping to get to town to atleast pick up some sort of water treatment for the meantime and the other two rat kits I need.
I'm sticking with the freshwater tropical, they are rather pretty
And the site I found that ships to your house has some really unique ones, pet smart has a pretty limited selection

Last question. I promise hahaha
When I do go to replace the dead fish, pet smart said they would replace them all.
Should I set up a smaller tank with water out if my already established tank (this is when my tank is established, and they will run a test for me to be certain) and leave them there for a week to make sure they have no issues like my last bunch (ich and whatnot)
If so, I'd set the other tank up now so it has some time to run in the meantime

You should not get any fish while you're at pet smart, pet smart should carry prime and api stress zyme+, a quarantine tank is the same as a regular tank it has to be established, if you want to set up a quarantine /hospital tank you need to get a sponge filter and a small heater, put the sponge filter in your main tank to let it grow some bacteria after it does put it in the quarantine tank and let that tank establish, your cheapest route is get the prime /live bacteria don't let them sell you bs that says can add fish immediately, just get prime and liquid bacteria, surprised pet smart doesn't have that kit that's where I got mine, but anyways after you get the test kit do tests, when you see no ammonia no nitrite and nitrate 5+ then it's okay to add fish.

 

[nirbhao]

I don't use an established filter with my quarantine tank, but I do big water changes every day. I bleach everything between uses.

M, what site did you find? I always love looking at pictures of beautiful fish!

 

[Potluck]

Well considering you want to quarantine for at least 2 weeks, an established filter would make it easier so you didn't have to do changes every day, but I'm talking about a tank you just keep running for hospital, quarantine, plants, fry, breeder it can be used for everything so if I had one set up which I don't need as my lfs quarantines their fish for 2-3 weeks before they will sell them, I would keep it running and when not in used by fish I would make a grow out tank

 

[nirbhao]

Hospital tanks *definitely* don't need to be cycled, because many of the medications kill nitrifying bacteria. You should be doing daily water changes on q hospital tank anyway.

Grow out tanks aren't quarantine or hospital tanks. They're tanks where the fry go.

I hope your luck keeps up with your LFS quarantining for you!

 

[nirbhao]

M, quarantine tanks don't have to be fancy. Ours is a 10 gallon tank with a $10 filter and $15 heater. It only needs to be running while fish are in it. You can keep extra filter media in your main tank to put into the quarantine filter while it's running, but bleach it when you're done.

Treating 10 gallons is much easier and cheaper than treating 50. Everything is controlled.

You should be able to get your money back at PetSmart. Use it to buy either Prime, the test kit, or quarantine supplies.

 

[Potluck]

M, quarantine tanks don't have to be fancy. Ours is a 10 gallon tank with a $10 filter and $15 heater. It only needs to be running while fish are in it. You can keep extra filter media in your main tank to put into the quarantine filter while it's running, but bleach it when you're done.

Treating 10 gallons is much easier and cheaper than treating 50. Everything is controlled.

You should be able to get your money back at PetSmart. Use it to buy either Prime, the test kit, or quarantine supplies.

Yeah I actually meant to add that some people keep bags of media in their main tank hidden so they can throw it in a qt/hospital tank, my lfs has always quarantined that's why they are the best in my area. People drive long distances to get their fish, plus they will not slip you anything that you don't need, not compatible etc etc, when I went to get my gravel I had 4 20 lb bags the owners are husband and wife the wife came over and said you won't need 3 let alone 4, I had 4 species if plants they put them back in their grow tank and told me they won't work and got me the right ones, when I got my clown loaches they said bring them back in a year cause they will get to big for the tank. They are amazing man absolutely amazing.

 

[mmcintosh_xo]

PH is showing high, around 7.4
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite is definitely a 0 ppm
Nitrate looks like a 40 ppm but may be a bit higher

Added prime last night, but before test was showing very similar readings
Should I be concerned about my PH and if so how can I safely alter it? I've been reading a bit and I get the idea a stable PH is more important then trying to lower it and that most fish will grow accustom to the PH level they are in

 

[flchamp89]

7.4 is fine

 

[mmcintosh_xo]

Should I Be concerned about my nitrate reading ?
And will Prime help balance that?
A partial water change today?
I added just under a full cap last night when I got home with my Prime
Nitrite is perfectly light blue at 0ppm, any readings high go to a purplish colour

Also picture makes my nitrate colour look a little darker then in person (on my iPhone anyway)

 

[flchamp89]

Yes id do a wc. Different views here but I like mine less 20

 

[coralbandit]

The % of water changed is the amount he nitrate will be reduced..
So if the test says you are at 40 ppm and you change 50% of the water then you end up with 20 ppm nitrates.
Get your tank to the level you want by making water changes.
Get it where you want and then see how much it rises in 1 week.
That will be a good indicator of how much water you should change weekly...

 

[Potluck]

40ppm is fine theres a lot of miss information about nitrates, yes at very high levels i believe they impact fishes immune system to fight off things, I had old tank syndrome ever no matter what i did I could not get mine below 60, I dose ferts a week instead of couple of times a week, every single fish store I called including aquarium adventure said nitrates are not a big deal below 60ppm as planted tanks stay around 30-40, But there are fish that cannot handle nitrates, like rays, discus, I think rams not sure, but you can also shock a fish is you decrease the nitrate to fast, so say you have 40 ppm and you happen to bring that down to 5 it can shock the fish so it's better to bring it down slowly with multiple smaller water changes instead of one big one, but you will always have nitrate creep so make sure you're not over feeding and doing your tank maintenence here's an article
https://www.thespruce.com/nitrate-poisoning-in-aquarium-fish-1381288

 

[mmcintosh_xo]

Ok guys
I've been working relentlessly to get my numbers down but nitrate will not budge.
My husband suggested testing the tap water and sure enough it's reading somewhere between 60 and 80ppm !!!!
We have a well, bought the house about 6years ago, I know before it was purchased the water had to pass certain codes and didn't, so they shocked it twice and finally got a pass (not sure if this is relevant as I don't know what they were testing for)
My PH is showing high too but I read it needs to sit for atleast 24hrs for an accurate reading so I can't do that until tomorrow.
What now?

 

[nirbhao]

A lot of people in that situation cut their water with RO/DI and then remineralize.

 

[mmcintosh_xo]

I wasn't able to go to my mother inlaws and get water and bring it back.
Fish all seem to be hanging lower in the and and acting more normal.
Tested right after and nitrate dropped to somewhere between 20 and 40
I'm thinking that nitrate is getting in my water from the ground being unfrozen this winter and a lot of water running, getting some surface water in our well.
Hopefully it clears up and I can go back to using my own

 

[nemesisil]

Have you taken out your filters when you medicated the tank the filters will make the medicine less effective