Having trouble keeping fish alive.

[lrussell]

I started my 55 gallon tank with a few fish before fully understanding a cycled tank.

So I stuck with guppies for cycling. Since 2/21 I have only seen ammonia levels get to .5 but usually staying 0-.25. I've done a few 1/4 water changes but since the ammonia hasn't gotten high I haven't done many. Never seen any nitrites or nitrates. I've read that it's still possible that my tank is cycled even though I'm not seeing nitrates. I've tested with strips and API master test kit plus the hang on type for ammonia and ph. Ph stays between 6 and 7.

My current stock is:
1 angelfish
5 guppies
5 neon tetras
4 rasbora heterotropha

Before yesterday I had 1 angelfish and 3 guppies. Yesterday I added the 6 tetras, 3 new guppies, and 5 rasboras. Lost 1 of each since yesterday. Last week I purchased 2 Chinese algae eaters and lost both of them within a few days. I also lost my red tailed shark this past weekend which was the only fish I've had since the beginning (2.5 months). No fish have shown any signs of distress until they are completely dead.

I have some brown algae throughout that I can't seem to get completely rid of. I've tested everything I can think of. I did notice today that GH tested 60 on the test strips.

Any ideas what could be killing my fish and keeping the water murky? I'm thinking of giving up on a community aquarium and going with goldfish...

 

[venymae]

Well you most likely were NOT cycled. Adding a large number a fish probably cause a good old spike in ammonia. The murkyness is probably a bacterial bloom in response to all that ammonia. Test you water, do a WC and don't get any more fish till you figure out what's going on. Even if you switch to goldfish this problem will affect them too. Here is a link to help you. I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice

 

[lrussell]

But I continue testing the ammonia with multiple different tests and never see it above .5. When I've seen it at .5 I do a partial water change and it stays at 0 for a good while longer. Over the past 4 days it's still been at 0 on all tests. Should I be doing partial change at .25 and even more when it's at .5? Maybe I'm not changing enough out...

 

[venymae]

That sounds really odd. I don't know of much besides bacterial blooms and algae blooms that cause murky water (well, besides really dirty nasty tanks) and neither should kill fish, and both are caused by excess nutrients. Hopefully someone else can help you more than I

 

[treemanone2003]

+1 with what v says. And definitely don't get anymore fish for a while. You need to settle the tank down first. Also, I would suggest a better routine of WC's and not waiting for levels to increase. IME/O, WC's never hurt anything.

 

[lrussell]

Thank you both. I think I will start with more frequent water changes. What schedule would you recommend to get the tank stable?

 

[treemanone2003]

I'd say at least 50% twice weekly. But then again your talking with someone that does 50-80% daily on 3 tanks and 100%, fish flopping on the bottom, weekly.

 

[Tank Girl]

Definitely don't add anymore fish until you have a real handle on your tank. And don't move on to goldfish - the problems you're having now will only be magnified. I would suggest that you get a really good bacterial starter, such as Dr. Tim's, and follow the directions to the letter. Once you have it fully cycled, set up a weekly maintenance schedule and stick to it. So many problems can be avoided by frequent, generous water changes. Good luck!

 

[venymae]

I personally do one 30-50% WC weekly, with a good gravel vacuum, for my mature tanks. If I am having problems, I do them twice a week. I've done a 98% (the fish were barely covered) WC only once, and it was when my son dumped the whole bottle of fish food in the tank. I feel huge WC stress my fish out if I do them too often, so I stick with 30-50%.

Really the amount of WC you do should be dictated by what your water tests say, although 30% weekly is probably a good average.

 

[lrussell]

Everything is going good so far. Still have an algae bloom making cloudy water. My filters look extremely dirty but since it's still not cycled should I change one of them or leave them alone?

 

[venymae]

You want them to look dirty! As long as the water still flows through, you're ok. They will be brown and gunky looking in the end, and that's good. Bacteria don't look pretty. After you are cycled or if they start getting clogged, you can swish them gently in used tank water to clean particulates out, and not ruin your bacterial colony.