They all died!!! Help! (and PH questions)

[stayceemarie]

I just set up my father's 29 gallon with the proper filter, heater, etc. I let the tank run for about a week and added 3 guppies plus a filter pad including bacteria from the fish store owner where my dad always goes. The first guppie died the 2nd day with no problems, the 2nd one died two days later with white cotton-ish fuzz on him, and the last one died with fuzz and some little black dots on the fuzz two days after that. I checked the tank - the ph is acidic - I added some of the ph increaser powder - is that the best way or is there something better out there? The nitrates are fine, but the nitirites are at a "stress" level. What should I do? When is it safe to add more fish?

on a separate note - what are the general feelings out there about adding aquarium salt to a freshwater tank? I know some do and some don't - why or why not???

Thanks!

 

[rich311k]

Your tank needs to cycle. Instead of adding new fish you can do it fishlessly. Please read this article. Ignore the saltwater part, works for fresh as well. You can also use pure ammonia or fish food instead of the shrimp. Since you have some seeded media the cycle should not take that long. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=15

I have never added salt except as a medicine.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

What is the exact pH? Generally you should not mess with the pH because fluctuations will cause fish deaths. If the Nitrites are high, that is probably the reason for the first death. The second deaths sound like they were diseased when purchased. It is safe to add more fish once the tank has cycled. An ammonia source is needed to cycle the tank. You can either use pure ammonia or a decaying shrimp or food. The shrimp and food take longer than the pure ammonia. You can add more fish when your tank tests 0 ammonia and nitrites, and at least 10 nitrates.

Adding salt is very debatable. I do not use it because I have never seen any advantages to using it. Just an added expense. Some fish can not tolerate the salt at all.

 

[Jchillin]

I'm sorry to hear about your losses. The problem you most likely encountered were madly fluctuating water parameters including your ph. I would recommend obtaining test kits for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and ph.

Using chemicals to alter the water's ph is not a good idea as they do not last. After a couple of days, the artificial buffer in the chemicals dissipates and the water returns immediately to the original ph.

If you can find out the ph of your tap water, there are natural ways to alter it. The fact is, in most cases, if your tap water has enough natural buffers (Carbonate Hardness) in it, you do not need anything to change it. A good way to test the actual ph of your tap water is to sit a glass of tap water out overnight and test it the next day.

 

[RoK]

Did you look at all the other fish in the tank you got them from? Did any look sick or were any dead?
If you can test the pH, hardness, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels of your water and let us know the results, it would help greatly.