Help?...Advice?..Opinions?...for a Newbie

[mwojcik75]

Sorry my 1st post is so long, but I can't seem to get any sound advice from my local store, and the couple of books I've purchased are limited.
Thanks in advance for reading this.

I've got a standard long,rectangular 55 gal. tank. No live plants. I've had
the tank for just over 1 month.

I started the tank with 1 Whisper Power Filter 60 and 1 heater. I let the
tank run for 2 weeks, using a product called Biozyme. I did daily testing
(my water stats:NO3:0/NO2:0/GH:200+/KH:200-250/pH:8.0+/Temp:75) for those 2 weeks.

I then added my 1st fish; 2 Sailfin Mollies, 2 Julii Cories and 2 Glass Suckers(I can't remember the real name! Flat Head,single horizontal
black srtipe the length of the body and grow 3-4"..). I did tests for another 2 weeks, with my water holding steady= 0 Ammonia, 0 NO3 and
0 NO2....I did a 50% water change each week.

On Friday I added my second batch of fish; 2 Dalmatian Mollies, 2 Teddy Cories(that's what the store named them..Brand new, no info at the store.. An Orange Color with a vertical black stripe behind the eye and another towards the back) and 2 more Glass Suckers. I also purchased another Whisper Power Filter 60 and small heater to maintain a Temp of 79-80. My fiancee and I did another 50% water change before adding the new fish, I changed the filter packs on the 1st filter(the instructions said once per month..) and started up the 2nd filter. More water tests after 2 hours with the new fish, resulted in a
0.25 Ammonia level and about 20 NO3(still safe, but troublesome..)I decided to wait til the next morning to test again.

When I got up Saturday morning, I found the smallest fish- one of my original Juliis-had died(he was very young, and had not been very active, compared to the other Julii, since I had brought him home..)I thought maybe his was sick before, and so I did the usual Flush Funeral with my 3 year old son. I tested the water and found the same levels of everything.
All the other fish seemed to be in good spirits.

Today, I found a dead Teddy Cory and Glass Sucker-one of the new ones.
Tests yielded the same results(still .25 Ammonia & 20 NO3), so my fiancee and I did an emergency water change=80%. We've used the same Tap Water conditioners from the get-go.The Ammonia level decreased slightly and the NO3 was about the same. The Mollies, Julii Cory and original Glass Sucker all same fine(still very active..).The remaining Teddy Cory and new Glass Sucker seem sluggish and not very happy.

I trying to build a community tank, we would like Neons and Platys, so I need to get this under control now.

Thank you again for reading this.

My Questions:

A. Could I have ruined the cycle of the tank by changing the filter packs on the established filter, thus removing the bacteria from the bio filter?
In the future should I alternate the changing of the packs between the 2 filters? Each filter contains 2 packs-should I only change 1 at a time?

B. Is my pH level to high(8.0+)? If it is, how do I lower it closer to 7.5 without buying another filter system? How do I control how much it drops? I would like to add Neons if possible.

C. My fiancee accidently added some of the store water when adding the second batch of fish, could this have altered our tank?

D. Anybody know of a good fish store in Minnesota? south of Minneapolis.

E. Any other advice?

 

[BrianNY]

Hi mwojcik. I expect you're going to get lots of good advice here. You ask some great questions and with a bit of patience you're going to have a successfl aquarium.

1. It is always better to stagger the filter cleaning/schedule when running multiple filters.

2. Once the tank is cycled, you may find that your ph will lower naturally.

3. Yes, it's entirely possible that a pathogen could have come in with water from the lfs. The likelihood is that that is not the cause of your Cory deaths as it happened too rapidly. I don't know why they died, but stress (even from changing tanks), can trigger all sorts of probs.

4. I live in NY

5. Never change more than 50% of the water in a 24 hour period. That could be very stressful to the fish. Also, are you using a dechlorinator with the water changes?

HTH, and I'm sure Alli will give you some more input on cycling.

 

[Allivymar]

Hiya mwojcik75 and welcome to Aquariumadvice!

Lets see...where to begin.

First off yes, you're correct. Removing filter media removes good bacteria as well; thats likely part of the source of your ammonia spike. Adding new fish also will sometimes spike ammonia, especially in newly established tanks as the bacterial colonies catch up with the higher load of ammonia. Many of us simply rinse out media in the removed tank water when doing water changes to remove the bit of detritus, but keeping the bacteria.

I don't see test results for nitrites. Very important! Nitrites are the inbetween step between ammonia and nitrates and are just as deadly as ammonia although in a different way.

I'm guessing the new guys were not QT. Quarantining new fish is really important; even if a fish looks healthy there is no guarantee they are not harboring disease or parasites. QTing new fish for 2 weeks or more gives you a chance to observe them for problems and treat without messing up the main tank. I would isolate the sluggish fish for now and observe them; they may be ill.

Your pH is sorta high; do you know the hardness of your water? Without having that info, changing pH can be dangerous. Take a peek here for an explanation of how pH, gH and kH intertwine: http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-chem.html

Sorry...I'm in NY; no idea about good places over in Minnesota LOL

 

[Allivymar]

LOL Heya Bri- simulpost!

 

[fearlessfisch]

welcome to the forum...i see you're already getting some great advice. i learned more when i started coming here than in three attempted years of fishkeeping before.

in way south minneapolis, there's a store called "world of fish."

http://worldoffish.com/

they have a fantastic selection and a fish club that saves you money. my only gripe with them was that they sold me horseface loaches without warning me that they get nine inches long. to be fair, i was stupid and didn't ask. other than that, the people i've dealt with there have been very helpful and seemed to know what they're doing.

good luck...i hope the rest of your little guys survive.

 

[mwojcik75]

Alli,

Thank you.

My Nitrite level has remained at 0.
Hardness is at 200+

Since my Alkalinity is so high, will I have a problem lowering my pH?
Should I use chemicals or see if it happens naturally?
Anything I should do about the Ammonia right now, or should I let the filters do their work?

 

[Allivymar]

Wheee! Yep; thats hard (although not liquid rock LOL).

Neons will likely not be too happy in water that hard; plus lowering pH can be a pain. Its easier to add things to water to make it hard then to remove it and make water softer. It can be done tho; peat for example, can be used to soften water. We don't recommend the use of chemicals like pH Down; they tend to mess up water parameters.

As Brian said, as a tank ages the pH will drop somewhat as well. That will also help.

I've never had to lower my pH; my water is very soft and comes out 7.0 from the tap. Hopefully one of the folks who have done this will come and share their experiences.

Keep the ammonia levels below .5pmm. Any higher and a partial water change is in order.

HTH!

 

[mwojcik75]

fearless,

Thank you for the heads-up on A World of Fish. I'm going to check it out
this week....

 

[mwojcik75]

BrianNY,

Thanks for the words of encouragement and advice...

Yes, I do use dechlorinators on my water....

 

[mwojcik75]

Alli,

I knew you were going to say that...I read that Neons wouldn't like it!

What is this Bio-Spira stuff everyone is talking about? Why does it sound like they found a treasure when they discover a store that carries it? Would it help my situation at all?

How do you use peat-do you just add it to the water after every change?

 

[fearlessfisch]

Hey Alli?
Sorry to break in here, but I'm curious....you mention above that you just rinse the filter media and reuse. I have two cartridges on the Emperor....one with floss and one with carbon--I have been rinsing and reusing the floss almost since I started this tank, but I always put in new carbon about once a month. Is that right?.....How often is necessary for replacing the carbon one?

 

[fearlessfisch]

mwojcik,
Enjoy the store, and please say hi to all the wonderful fish for me. I'm in withdrawal.... haven't been out there since the buses went on strike. Pretty soon I'm gonna have to break down and buy another car.

 

[Allivymar]

Carbon is tough to judge.

If there are a lot of DOCs, the carbon can be "full" in less then a week. If there isn't much in the way of DOCs, then a month is fine. Interesting article on it here: http://www.tomgriffin.com/aquamag/filterbasics2.html

 

[fearlessfisch]

Hmm...very interesting. This seems to suggest that carbon *could* even be optional as long as regular water changes are done...

"...If carbon is so great, I must use lots of it, right? In fact, no, I seldom to rarely use it, and only for specific aim (usually to get tannins out). I do not use it as a tank routine maintenance item. Why? Simple water changes will perform the majority (but not all) of the functions covered by carbon, and I do perform water changes regularly...."

Thanks, Alli.

 

[Menagerie]

What is this Bio-Spira stuff everyone is talking about? Why does it sound like they found a treasure when they discover a store that carries it? Would it help my situation at all?

How do you use peat-do you just add it to the water after every change?

Bio-Spira is good to cycle the tank when you first add fish. I am not sure it will help at this point.
From what I know about peat--you use it in your filter.
I have driftwood in my tank to help soften the water and bring the pH down. The tank with driftwood has a pH of 7.2 (compared to my other tanks 7.7). FYI--the tank is only a month old--I am awaiting lower pH as the tank ages.

Another thing I wanted to mention--what is your LFS' "stay alive" guarantee. My LFS will credit my purchase price within 15 days and half credit up to 30 days (with the body and separate water sample). I also know that once my ammonia level was slightly elevated and I still got the credit. Sometimes, you bring home sick fish. Alli is right--"Quarantining new fish is really important." I have recently started after bringing home VERY ill fish a couple of months ago.

Also, have you considered getting fish that would LOVE your water as it is??

 

[mwojcik75]

Menagerie,

I have thought about having fish that "like" my water, but I really did want
to have a school of Neons...
I just have to go to a better store and see what kind of variety I'm missing
out on..

 

[mwojcik75]

P.S. too anyone reading...

I lost the other 2 Glass Suckers(the new ones) today...

All the other fish still seem happy...

I wish I knew for sure what is going on..

 

[Allivymar]

Bummer. I tend to suspect disease unfortunately. You have some nitrogenous waste in the tank, but I don't know if its quite enough to cause that many deaths - double check your water parameters tonite to be sure, and water change if you find ammonia or nitrites above .5ppm.

I don't think you need to go with fish which need "liquid rock" as your water hardness is not at the end of the scale. Many of the livebearers would do well in your type of water, although I don't know if you want to deal with the resultant fry. Theres a nice list of good starter fish here that you may want to peruse: http://faq.thekrib.com/fish-popular.html

 

[Menagerie]

To add to Alli's advice, if you like livebearers, get all males--no fry ever. (Females can store sperm, so you never know.)

 

[snarles]

15 gallon tank w/heater and lights and undergravel filter. Fake plants too. Tank has been sitting full for 2 weeks. What should I do next and what fish should I get?

p.s. Freshwater.