Fish dying again :( I have absolutely no clue why this is happening :(

[chrono1081]

Hi guys,

I have an 8 gallon tank that was cycled and I added fish to it 2 - 3 weeks ago. There were three fancy tail guppies, three ghost shrimp, and a nerite snail.

I am now down to two guppies who are both looking as if they won't last the night and a snail who seems to not be healthy either (its rarely moving now).

The temperature of the water is 78 degrees. There is a water filter and I also added an air stone.

The ammonia will show up in very low quantities every few days so I do a partial water change as soon a I detect it to get it back to zero. The nitrates and nitrites are zero.

Here is possibly the problem: The pH. Out of the tap its 6.6 (after gassing off), within an hour of putting it in the tank its 6.0 or lower. No amount of pH up or water changes work either and there is no local fish stores where I live and absolutely no place to get crushed coral (since I hear that can help but I also read it can make things worse).

The fish are very lethargic and are constantly at the surface of the tank. I read this is because of lack of oxygen hence why I added the airstone, but it makes no difference. They also just lay against the back up against the grates where the water goes in to the filter. I thought maybe the pump was too strong so I lowered it to its lowest setting and pointed it into a plant to diffuse the water stream coming from it but it makes no difference.

This is my aquarium:

Amazon.com: Aqueon Evolve 8 LED Aquarium Kit, 8 gallons: Pet Supplies

In the tank I have real plants (a java fern and some other type of plant and they're dying), and black aquarium sand on the bottom and a few fake plants and fish toys.

There is also no algae in my tank.

Anyone have any suggestions on how I can save my fish?

 

[foster53]

You can use baking soda to TEMPORARILY raise ph. But it it best not to mess with the water(PH) it can do more harm than good. Natural products are best to raise ph , and carbonate hardness slowly( crushed coral, oyster shell, tuffa rock). If you decide to use ph increasers be very careful, and monitor water parameters closely!!

 

[dotswithchemicals]

Is your tank cycled? The NitAtes shouldn't be at zero if it is.

 

[chrono1081]

@Foster Thanks! I'll see if I can find oyster shell and tuffa rock. No place here has crushed coral and the stuff I'm finding online doesn't seem to be real crushed coral but instead stuff with all kinds of additives and things. I really don't know what to buy.

@Dotswithchemicals It appeared to be. Ammonia dropped to zero from between 2 and 4ppm within 24 hours of adding it for almost a week before I added fish.

This tank has been a nightmare. I've never had fish issues ever until now

I do a partial water change every other day and within hours of adding new water the pH gets so low I can't read it

Currently both of my fish are sitting at the bottom of the tank (vertical not horizontal or upside down). This is what the third one did right before he died

 

[aqua_chem]

You need to shake the bejesus out of the nitrate test kits to get a proper reading, especially the second test. Are you doing that?