Fish keep dying

[charlottes]

Hello! I have had my 15 gallon planted tank for about 3 weeks. The ammonia level is good my ph is good too. However, when I added new ember tetras they all slowly died except two (the biggest ones). This happened again when I added some celestial pearl danios. When I woke up this morning, two were dead. Would the embers be killing them or what else could be the problem? It's getting quite frustrating.


Ammonia is at 0ppm
Nitrite is 0 ppm
Nitrate is 0ppm
Ph is 6.8 - 7
Temperature is 78°
It is a cycled tank.
I change about 4-5 gallons every week.
I use Aqueon water conditioner
I also have a lot of tannins is my water due to my driftwood. I did this because at the time my ph was high and I read that it could help lower the ph. I also read that it isn't harmful to fish. My currents embers (the two of them) are doing fine so I don't think it could be that. I would really appreciate your help. Thanks!

 

[coralbandit]

Your nitrate reading says you are not cycled or doing the test wrong?
Are you using liquid test? Are you shaking the living daylights out of #2 reagent before adding drops ?
I don't think the embers killed the CPDs.
IMO CPDs ship horrible and usually are all stressed out.
Your pH is all good ,don't mess with it at all.You are lucky it appears...
How are you acclimating/introducing the new fish to your tank?

 

[charlottes]

Your nitrate reading says you are not cycled or doing the test wrong?
Are you using liquid test? Are you shaking the living daylights out of #2 reagent before adding drops ?
I don't think the embers killed the CPDs.
IMO CPDs ship horrible and usually are all stressed out.
Your pH is all good ,don't mess with it at all.You are lucky it appears...
How are you acclimating/introducing the new fish to your tank?

Hello! Thank you so much for your reply! However, I'm a bit confused because this tank has been running for 3 weeks. When I first set it up I used "Quick Start." I thought that this product would help with the cycling of my tank. Also, don't I need ammonia to get nitrite and then finally nitrate? How will I get a higher nitrate without higher ammonia? What are the ideal levels of nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia? Sorry for the bombardment of questions!
I use liquid tester and I did shake it ALOT. Still the same reading! Ugh!
Thank you for your advice and help.