bman
Aquarium Advice Freak
So I recently moved and just now decided to do a pwc. Going from city water to mountain well water, I thought the water would be ok. (I had thrown out my old test kit in the move, and thought I would not need it anymore) Well, the next day all my fish were dead. I found out by my wife calling me at work, and I did not get to scoop them out until late that night. The next day the tank was very cloudy. I went out and bought a new test kit, and checked the water. Ammonia level was slightly elevated, and nitrite level was also up, ph was at 6.5. Tested well water and it was below 5!
Guess the shock killed the fish, although the snails and the plants seem unaffected. I am saddened to see my Yoyo and five others gone. But need to get things back to normal and restock.
I did another pwc due to the elevated levels of NH4 and Nitrite, this time, adding 12ml of ph increaser (which seemed to get the 6.5 range in the tank).
What need to be done now? Since there is almost NO bioload on the tank, I don't know what to do. Long ago when I visited this site regularly, I read threads about fish-less cycling, but I am wondering if that is the route I need to take now, adding ammonia to keep the bioload going, or just wait until the NH4 and nitrite levels drop again to reintroduce new fish?
Current stats:
20 gal long
Moderately planted
fishless for 4-5 days
Guess the shock killed the fish, although the snails and the plants seem unaffected. I am saddened to see my Yoyo and five others gone. But need to get things back to normal and restock.
I did another pwc due to the elevated levels of NH4 and Nitrite, this time, adding 12ml of ph increaser (which seemed to get the 6.5 range in the tank).
What need to be done now? Since there is almost NO bioload on the tank, I don't know what to do. Long ago when I visited this site regularly, I read threads about fish-less cycling, but I am wondering if that is the route I need to take now, adding ammonia to keep the bioload going, or just wait until the NH4 and nitrite levels drop again to reintroduce new fish?
Current stats:
20 gal long
Moderately planted
fishless for 4-5 days