Hi everyone,
Ok so I am super new at this and I think I might have messed up big time.
I bought an 10 gallon aquarium from someone. It had everything in there already: 5 neon tetras and a brisstlenose pleco. It had a carbon filter and rocks and a moss ball. When I got it I checked the ammonia and nitrite and they were zero. Didn't check anything else because it was a super busy time. Also didn't change the water for three weeks, just refilled it with conditioned tap water once a week. Fed the fish once a day, they were fine and swimming around.
Then after three weeks, we decided to change the water, changed a bit over 25% of it. Also tossed the moss ball at this point because it looked gross. Then a couple of days later, we went and bought four more fish - 4 little guppies. Put them in the water without first equilibrating the bag like you were supposed to; also dropped the water from the bag in there. Yes I am really new at this. At this point i also checked the pH: it was 8.2!
Everyone looked fine for a day, and then two of the guppies successively died. I thought maybe they were sick or maybe they did not adjust to the new tank which I now know has high pH. So I bought a pH down (9.2% sulfuric acid) from API and put a few drops in there. pH went down by 0.2 so i thought ok I will keep lowering it a little each day to reach more normal pH. Have been checking ammonia, nitrite and nitrate - they are at 0, 0 and 20 respectively.
But then my pleco died! I have no idea what the heck happened. Then, two days later, 4 of my 5 tetras died also! We found them dead today, and they look really of pale. I don't know what happened but now all we have left is a tetra and two of the guppies. I hope they live.
My current hypothesis is:
- either the new fish had some disease that I introduced in the tank. The fish that are still alive look fine, so no symptoms.
- either the API pH down is somehow bothering these guys
- either my tap water has "something" in it that the fish hate or I did not use enough of the tap water conditioner there.
Does anyone have any ideas as to how the heck we keep killing these guys? My main strategy now is to just leave the darn thing alone. If it's a disease it will slowly kill everyone else, otherwise they should all be fine, I bet they are really stressed.
Ok so I am super new at this and I think I might have messed up big time.
I bought an 10 gallon aquarium from someone. It had everything in there already: 5 neon tetras and a brisstlenose pleco. It had a carbon filter and rocks and a moss ball. When I got it I checked the ammonia and nitrite and they were zero. Didn't check anything else because it was a super busy time. Also didn't change the water for three weeks, just refilled it with conditioned tap water once a week. Fed the fish once a day, they were fine and swimming around.
Then after three weeks, we decided to change the water, changed a bit over 25% of it. Also tossed the moss ball at this point because it looked gross. Then a couple of days later, we went and bought four more fish - 4 little guppies. Put them in the water without first equilibrating the bag like you were supposed to; also dropped the water from the bag in there. Yes I am really new at this. At this point i also checked the pH: it was 8.2!
Everyone looked fine for a day, and then two of the guppies successively died. I thought maybe they were sick or maybe they did not adjust to the new tank which I now know has high pH. So I bought a pH down (9.2% sulfuric acid) from API and put a few drops in there. pH went down by 0.2 so i thought ok I will keep lowering it a little each day to reach more normal pH. Have been checking ammonia, nitrite and nitrate - they are at 0, 0 and 20 respectively.
But then my pleco died! I have no idea what the heck happened. Then, two days later, 4 of my 5 tetras died also! We found them dead today, and they look really of pale. I don't know what happened but now all we have left is a tetra and two of the guppies. I hope they live.
My current hypothesis is:
- either the new fish had some disease that I introduced in the tank. The fish that are still alive look fine, so no symptoms.
- either the API pH down is somehow bothering these guys
- either my tap water has "something" in it that the fish hate or I did not use enough of the tap water conditioner there.
Does anyone have any ideas as to how the heck we keep killing these guys? My main strategy now is to just leave the darn thing alone. If it's a disease it will slowly kill everyone else, otherwise they should all be fine, I bet they are really stressed.