Hello, everyone. This is my first post. I'm posting for the sake of the poor fish I've sent to their maker.
I have a 75 gallon planted tank. I have a cat litter base, covered by a layer of play sand, and in some places, that is covered with river rock. I have several swords, a java fern, anacharis, cabomba, a leafy plant with red leaves (don't know the name offhand), and another plant that doesn't put down roots with stiff spiky leaves that I think is called hornwort, or something like that.
My plants are all VERY healthy, green, and exceedingly happy as far as I can tell. I have 130 watts of light (1/2 of my orbit light fixture), and all seems to be working well plant wise. I don't yet have C02 injection, but am working on getting that set up. I have the tank being shipped, and the regulator and diffusor are here.
It's the fish that have me stumped.
I bought the tank, put in the litter and sand, set up the filter (Emperor 400) and let it sit for a month. I then planted it, set up the light, and let it sit for two or three weeks. After that, I got fish. And the parade of death began. My Ph is high, about 8.2, but every other test I have done seems to be in the normal range.
I still have some of the first fish I put into the tank. I have 2 out of 5 Silver Mollies. I have 2 of 2 Cory cats. I have 5 of 12 danios. I have 4 of 5 giant danios. I have 3 of 4 Chinese algae eaters.
So with those deaths in mind, I let the tank set for two weeks, feeding the holocaust survivors, and waiting for the hand of death to come for the remainder. The remaining fish are healthy, active, show no signs of stress, have clean scales (no ich), eat well, and generally move about the tank as if they are happy. The male mollie relentlessly chases the female, who appears to be bearing youngsters.
So I bought more fish.
10 of 10 cherry barbs died.
6 of 6 black stripe tetras died.
Ok, I waited a few weeks, and thought I'd try again. Different species.
2 of 2 pink gouramis died
1 of 1 midnight gouramis died.
1 upside down catfish died.
I'm stumped, and even worse, I'm reluctant to buy new fish as I feel bad sentencing them to the gulag. I have a 5 gallon tank, same water, with 4 guppies that are doing fine.
I raised fish when I was a kid, from 8 to 18, and honestly I thought you had to shoot a gourami to kill it. But my tank is killing them.
If anyone knows anything, I'd love to hear it. My remaining fish are happy as can be, but I'd like a few fish with color. I know the Ph is high, but I thought Mollies liked high Ph and they suffered 60% casualties.
Any ideas at all. Anything to test for, anything to add to the tank, any music to play, any rhythmic dances to perform, etc.
Do your part to stop the slaughter.
Oh, and as for acclimation, I let the fish sit in the aquarium in the pet shop bags for about an hour, then I release them into the tank. All my fish are pretty small right now, and shouldn't be too much for a 75 gallon tank, I'd think.
I have a 75 gallon planted tank. I have a cat litter base, covered by a layer of play sand, and in some places, that is covered with river rock. I have several swords, a java fern, anacharis, cabomba, a leafy plant with red leaves (don't know the name offhand), and another plant that doesn't put down roots with stiff spiky leaves that I think is called hornwort, or something like that.
My plants are all VERY healthy, green, and exceedingly happy as far as I can tell. I have 130 watts of light (1/2 of my orbit light fixture), and all seems to be working well plant wise. I don't yet have C02 injection, but am working on getting that set up. I have the tank being shipped, and the regulator and diffusor are here.
It's the fish that have me stumped.
I bought the tank, put in the litter and sand, set up the filter (Emperor 400) and let it sit for a month. I then planted it, set up the light, and let it sit for two or three weeks. After that, I got fish. And the parade of death began. My Ph is high, about 8.2, but every other test I have done seems to be in the normal range.
I still have some of the first fish I put into the tank. I have 2 out of 5 Silver Mollies. I have 2 of 2 Cory cats. I have 5 of 12 danios. I have 4 of 5 giant danios. I have 3 of 4 Chinese algae eaters.
So with those deaths in mind, I let the tank set for two weeks, feeding the holocaust survivors, and waiting for the hand of death to come for the remainder. The remaining fish are healthy, active, show no signs of stress, have clean scales (no ich), eat well, and generally move about the tank as if they are happy. The male mollie relentlessly chases the female, who appears to be bearing youngsters.
So I bought more fish.
10 of 10 cherry barbs died.
6 of 6 black stripe tetras died.
Ok, I waited a few weeks, and thought I'd try again. Different species.
2 of 2 pink gouramis died
1 of 1 midnight gouramis died.
1 upside down catfish died.
I'm stumped, and even worse, I'm reluctant to buy new fish as I feel bad sentencing them to the gulag. I have a 5 gallon tank, same water, with 4 guppies that are doing fine.
I raised fish when I was a kid, from 8 to 18, and honestly I thought you had to shoot a gourami to kill it. But my tank is killing them.
If anyone knows anything, I'd love to hear it. My remaining fish are happy as can be, but I'd like a few fish with color. I know the Ph is high, but I thought Mollies liked high Ph and they suffered 60% casualties.
Any ideas at all. Anything to test for, anything to add to the tank, any music to play, any rhythmic dances to perform, etc.
Do your part to stop the slaughter.
Oh, and as for acclimation, I let the fish sit in the aquarium in the pet shop bags for about an hour, then I release them into the tank. All my fish are pretty small right now, and shouldn't be too much for a 75 gallon tank, I'd think.
