Inherited an aquarium, tried to add fish, all hell broke loose

[mrmistery]

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.

 

[Mebbid]

The problem seems to most likely be your pH down. It generally causes pretty cray pH swings in an aquarium and 8.2 isn't really bad. You really want to keep the pH from shifting rather than trying to get it at a specific number.

Check your pH right before you turn the lights on and then check it again right before lights out. This will tell you how much the pH changes throughout the day.

 

[philipraposo198]

To much fish for a small tank... Your nitrates are probably through the roof.

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[Mebbid]

To much fish for a small tank... Your nitrates are probably through the roof.

Sent from my SGH-I747M using Aquarium Advice mobile app

That was my first thought but it was stated that nitrates are at 20ppm.

 

[Coursair]

Are you using test strips or liquid test kit ?
Strips aren't very accurate and with liquid tests you need to shake up some of the tests quite a lot for accuracy.

A BN Pleco is not suited to a 10g.

4 Guppies are also a lot for a 10g as they have a big bioload for their size.

A. I'd do a 50% PWC with Prime and make sure temp is matched.

Anytime there is a problem I do a water change.

Did you clean the filter ? Don't. Just rinse out pad in used tank water or tap with Prime.

The Moss Ball could have been rinsed and saved perhaps.

Stop using PH down. You want stable conditions.

To gradually change PH you can add driftwood for natural tannins. Or try mixing distilled with conditioned tap water...gradually increasing distilled over time to achieve the PH you want.

OR just keep up water changes and find fish that don't mind Liquid Rock ( a nickname for High PH tanks ).

Rehome the BN Pleco. Don't add any fish till your tank is stable. Research and decide if you have room for anything else.

Add some easy live plants. Java Ferns are super easy. Just put light on a timer. 6 hours of light a day is all you need.


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[sherlock]

What is the temperature of your aquarium? I recently learned that my tap water has little oxygen dissolved in it and the heat was making it worse. My pleco died because it could not breathe. Did the fish seem to all swim near the surface? If they look like they are gasping for air, I'd recommend getting an air pump and airstone for your tank. You can also try slightly lowering the temperature if you think this might be the problem.

 

[mrmistery]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for all your great replies. Interestingly enough the notification feature of this forum does not seem to work, because I never knew about the replies until just now.

Just to clarify a few things.
I tested the nitrates with liquid solution multiple times, and they always come back in the 20-40 ppm range (it is hard to tell those colors exactly sometimes). I shake the heck out of them vigorously every time. They are not through the roof for sure. Also, to answer another question, the water is at 78 and I do have an air pump with an air stone.

In the meantime I have become pretty convinced that the pH was indeed a problem. I got more fish to replace the dying neons (should have read the replies here, but alas, too late) from Petco because I called and they told me they use pH 8 water from the tap. They all lived no problem, as happy as can be. At the direction of the fish person there, I also bought a clown pleco which they said was appropriate for a 10 gallon tank. So now I have a clown pleco, 2 guppies and 8 neon tetras. However, I think I am going to return the pleco.

After doing some research, I found that not only does a clown pleco prefer a larger than 10 gallon tank, but the little guy likes to eat wood. Plus that this is probably too many fish! Grr. So my current plan is to return the pleco and perhaps get a couple of snails for algae-eating purposes.

What do you guys think? Is this a legitimate plan?

Thanks again everyone for their help.

 

[captaincritical]

I would definitely return the pleco. There isn't a pleco out there that's well-suited to a 10g tank because they carry such large bioloads.

Honestly, what you need at this point is stability. Don't try to alter the pH any further, it'll only make things worse. Keeping it steady is more important than pinpointing a specific level.

8 neons and 2 guppies will probably do okay in your 10g, but I wouldn't add any more fish. A snail or two (nerites are a good choice) or a few amano shrimp should take care of any algae you might have. Do you plan on having live plants at all?

What are you using for filtration? Heating? What do you feed and how often?

 

[Mama Karoti]

Agreed on the ph. I have 8.2 ph and have "low ph" fish in it fine. Just a note--my ph out of my tap is much lower than 8.2 (sometimes 7.6) when we have had a lot of rainfall. I fill a bucket and let it "age" for a day or two. The dissolved carbon dioxide in the water evaporates and stabilizes the ph to 8.2 so I don't shock my fish with the water change.