Hey guys, I've been running a 55 gallon live plant/fish tank for almost a year now. It has been one heck of a bumpy ride to get to the point I'm at currently with the tank.
My set up is:
55gal tank
2 heaters on opposite ends (both set to turn off at 78 degrees)
70 gal fluval filter set to low
2 air stones on opp end of filter for circulation
fine gravel substrate
plastic line to keep the frogbit from drowning under the filter's waterfall
2 driftwood (both soaked and rinsed before put in)
2 coconut bridge shaped hides
1 coconut dome hide
over 10+ species of plants (including java moss, amazon swords, amazon frogbit, java fern, and others)
The inhabitants:
a plethora of snails that hitchhiked on some plants
cherry shrimp (~10)
albino corydora (5 down from 6)
panda corydora (6 down from 9: had a successful breeding at one point)
julii corydora (1 down from 5)
ember tetra (14 down from 15)
I lost an albino corydora months ago to a red bacteria, but was able to cure and save the others with quarantine and antibiotics.
I lost two panda to some whisker shrimp that were sold to me as juvi ghost shrimp months ago. (said whisker shrimp have been passed on). I lost one panda corydora yesterday with no symptoms of anything.
About every 2-4 weeks I have lost a julii corydora with little to no symptoms of anything. Two of them had a yellow-ish spot on their underside, while the other 2 had no marks of any sort.
My routine is to rinse the filter with tap water (squeezing the sponge and lightly rubbing the other 2 media) every Tuesday. Every thursday I do a gravel vacuum/water change of about 1/4-1/3 of the tank. I feed the tank 2 algae wafers (nickel size), about 6-8 sinking pellets, and a super small pinch of flakes every Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
My "API freshwater master test kit" has found my water parameters to be as follows (2 days after a mechanical filter change and 1 week after a 10 gallon water change):
pH (used high range pH to read): 8.2
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 5ppm
Ammonia: 0ppm
I realize my PH is high, but that is because of my tap water, which remains 8.0-8.2 pH and because of such, I believe my fish have mostly adapted to its alkalinity.
During the water changes, I use:
API Stresscoat+ 25ml
Tetra AquaSafe 50ml
Tetra AquaSafe+ 25ml
Tetra EasyBalance+ 50ml
Seachem AmGuard 5ml
Salt&Fresh Microbe-Life Nite-out 2 starter bacteria 25ml
I make sure to not use lotion or soap the morning before doing the water change, only rigorously rinsing my hands in tap water to keep contaminates out of the waters.
My fish show no signs of stress: my shrimp graze on the plants, my snails proliferate like wild rabbits, my tetras swim in a school everywhere around the tank, and my corys sift the gravel together and occasionally rush to the top for a bubble before swimming around again (I like to call it their zoomies). There is no gasping for air, no bloating, no floating on their sides (til death), and no weird markings, cuts, scrapes, or rot.
Attached are two pics of the aquarium as of today, and two pics of the julii corydora that showed symptoms of its death 2 months ago.
Please help me figure out what's killing my fish before my community falls apart!
My set up is:
55gal tank
2 heaters on opposite ends (both set to turn off at 78 degrees)
70 gal fluval filter set to low
2 air stones on opp end of filter for circulation
fine gravel substrate
plastic line to keep the frogbit from drowning under the filter's waterfall
2 driftwood (both soaked and rinsed before put in)
2 coconut bridge shaped hides
1 coconut dome hide
over 10+ species of plants (including java moss, amazon swords, amazon frogbit, java fern, and others)
The inhabitants:
a plethora of snails that hitchhiked on some plants
cherry shrimp (~10)
albino corydora (5 down from 6)
panda corydora (6 down from 9: had a successful breeding at one point)
julii corydora (1 down from 5)
ember tetra (14 down from 15)
I lost an albino corydora months ago to a red bacteria, but was able to cure and save the others with quarantine and antibiotics.
I lost two panda to some whisker shrimp that were sold to me as juvi ghost shrimp months ago. (said whisker shrimp have been passed on). I lost one panda corydora yesterday with no symptoms of anything.
About every 2-4 weeks I have lost a julii corydora with little to no symptoms of anything. Two of them had a yellow-ish spot on their underside, while the other 2 had no marks of any sort.
My routine is to rinse the filter with tap water (squeezing the sponge and lightly rubbing the other 2 media) every Tuesday. Every thursday I do a gravel vacuum/water change of about 1/4-1/3 of the tank. I feed the tank 2 algae wafers (nickel size), about 6-8 sinking pellets, and a super small pinch of flakes every Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
My "API freshwater master test kit" has found my water parameters to be as follows (2 days after a mechanical filter change and 1 week after a 10 gallon water change):
pH (used high range pH to read): 8.2
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 5ppm
Ammonia: 0ppm
I realize my PH is high, but that is because of my tap water, which remains 8.0-8.2 pH and because of such, I believe my fish have mostly adapted to its alkalinity.
During the water changes, I use:
API Stresscoat+ 25ml
Tetra AquaSafe 50ml
Tetra AquaSafe+ 25ml
Tetra EasyBalance+ 50ml
Seachem AmGuard 5ml
Salt&Fresh Microbe-Life Nite-out 2 starter bacteria 25ml
I make sure to not use lotion or soap the morning before doing the water change, only rigorously rinsing my hands in tap water to keep contaminates out of the waters.
My fish show no signs of stress: my shrimp graze on the plants, my snails proliferate like wild rabbits, my tetras swim in a school everywhere around the tank, and my corys sift the gravel together and occasionally rush to the top for a bubble before swimming around again (I like to call it their zoomies). There is no gasping for air, no bloating, no floating on their sides (til death), and no weird markings, cuts, scrapes, or rot.
Attached are two pics of the aquarium as of today, and two pics of the julii corydora that showed symptoms of its death 2 months ago.
Please help me figure out what's killing my fish before my community falls apart!