Okay, here goes...
I purchased a ten gallon "starter" kit aquarium for my son. I have not had a tank for years, but I never had issues like I am seeing here.
The setup is three weeks old. We have had fish in it for a little over two weeks. After letting the tank normalize over a four day period, We started with two guppies and a Corey. Both guppies died after two or three days and we replaced them. One of those guppies died, and we replaced it with a gold twin barb. Then the other guppie died and we replaced it with a cherry barb. Lost the cherry barb last night. The Corey and the other barb seem fine.
My ammonia levels are high (4.0-8.0 ppm) and my Nitrite levels are zero. This makes me think the biological filter isn't kicking in. I have been doing 25% water changes every three or four days. After each change, my ammonia readings are around 0.5 -1.0 ppm. After two or three days, it is back to 4.0 ppm. I have been using an ammonia detoxifier in the meantime, while waiting for the biofilter to kick in. Also, tested my PH for the first time tonight only to discover that it is 6.0 or lower (test is only good down to 6.0). Tank temp is around 74 deg.
My main assumption is that I am overfeeding them. I am only putting a small pinch of food in the tank twice a day. On advise from the petstore, I did supplement this with a couple of bottom feeder pellets each feeding for the first few days.
All input and advice is welcome!
Thanks,
Scott
I purchased a ten gallon "starter" kit aquarium for my son. I have not had a tank for years, but I never had issues like I am seeing here.
The setup is three weeks old. We have had fish in it for a little over two weeks. After letting the tank normalize over a four day period, We started with two guppies and a Corey. Both guppies died after two or three days and we replaced them. One of those guppies died, and we replaced it with a gold twin barb. Then the other guppie died and we replaced it with a cherry barb. Lost the cherry barb last night. The Corey and the other barb seem fine.
My ammonia levels are high (4.0-8.0 ppm) and my Nitrite levels are zero. This makes me think the biological filter isn't kicking in. I have been doing 25% water changes every three or four days. After each change, my ammonia readings are around 0.5 -1.0 ppm. After two or three days, it is back to 4.0 ppm. I have been using an ammonia detoxifier in the meantime, while waiting for the biofilter to kick in. Also, tested my PH for the first time tonight only to discover that it is 6.0 or lower (test is only good down to 6.0). Tank temp is around 74 deg.
My main assumption is that I am overfeeding them. I am only putting a small pinch of food in the tank twice a day. On advise from the petstore, I did supplement this with a couple of bottom feeder pellets each feeding for the first few days.
All input and advice is welcome!
Thanks,
Scott