Fish dying

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Oakley19

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jul 30, 2020
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I have cycled my tank, and ph is always high. I have had my tank since June of this year, and I have always had fish in the tank. I didn’t correctly cycle it. But I think it is a cycle since I have regular water readings. Like 8.2, I have one angelfish, and I just bought seven barbs. My water is always a bit cloudy, and I clean my tank once a week. I am new to fish keeping, and I have a 29-gallon tank.

Any time I buy fish, they typically last one to two weeks and then die. My ammonia levels are at zero, and my nitrates normal, and my nitrate is minimal.

On a second note, I love my Gourami, and I wondered how many I could have in my tank. I was told only one with the angel.

I so badly want to have fish, but I can’t keep anything alive other than my betta and my angelfish, which I have had for six months. I have tried guppies, Cory’s, danios, tetras, plecos, rainbow shark, mollies, and I even tried ADF. For the hardiest of fish, they never seem to last.

The other thing that worries me is how often I am changing the filter. Which is like every other day. I changed my filter to include filter media and a sponge but place some of my old filters within the filter to help keep the bacteria.

Any suggestions are much appreciated!
 
It's not fully cycled yet. You should have 0 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrites and below 40 ppm nitrates. The cloudiness will clear as it becomes more cycled. That's prob why the new ones are dying. 1 gourami per tank is usually about it, they don't like each other (males) and they're hard to sex when young. Betta are gourami and ev1 knows how they are with conspecific aggression
 
So I just tested the water again. I have currently two dead fish meaning the ammonia will be slightly high.

Ph-8.2
Ammonia 1ppm
Nitrate-0
nitrate- 20 ppm

Cleaning tank wise, I siphon the gravel and clean the glass.

The filter always indicated that it need to be changed. The red marker was up.

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Oh OK, sometimes cloudiness can be from an uncycled tank. Maybe cut down on the amount you feed and change the filter cartridge less. That builds up good bacteria too.
 
I have had blue gouramis and pearl gouramis in shoals of 6-10 and found little aggression except that males do chase females a lot. Dwarf gouramis tend to be a bit aggressive. Never put bettas and gouramis together.

BTW, bettas and gouramis are not conspecifics; they are in the same family but not the same genus or species.
 
I have had blue gouramis and pearl gouramis in shoals of 6-10 and found little aggression except that males do chase females a lot. Dwarf gouramis tend to be a bit aggressive. Never put bettas and gouramis together.



BTW, bettas and gouramis are not conspecifics; they are in the same family but not the same genus or species.
OK cool, good to know
 
I have had blue gouramis and pearl gouramis in shoals of 6-10 and found little aggression except that males do chase females a lot. Dwarf gouramis tend to be a bit aggressive. Never put bettas and gouramis together.



BTW, bettas and gouramis are not conspecifics; they are in the same family but not the same genus or species.
Btw, just to clarify, I didn't say betta and gourami were conspecific. I said ev1 knows how betta are with conspecific aggression. And like you said, betta are gourami. I'm only relating my experience with gourami, and 2 in a tank will lead to fighting ime. A shoal of 6 or more it's probably not the same.
 
"Because the males may be territorial, keep only one male Gourami in a tank. If space is large enough to allow each to claim its own territory, two may be tried."- The Spruce Pets
 
I change my media monthly, or rinse out the sponges in a bucket of tank water monthly.

Don't change the media, that's where the bacteria is held! You're probably re-cycling the tank often.

When you're doing a water change put the filter sponge in the old water and squeeze it until it looks clean. That'll keep the bacteria, but not the gunk. That's all you should need to do.
*AND THEN WASH YOUR FILTHY HANDS* :p
 
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