New Member!

[Swindes]

Hi everyone! We've had our tank set up since Christmas - and to be honest, don't feel like we're having much luck!

We've got a 70ltr tank and we've had 8 neon tetras, 6 platys, 4 guppies, a sucking loach, 2 snail eating loach and 3 mollies over the 7 months and are left with one Molly, both snail eaters, 4 tetras and the rest have died over the time.

We had one baby platy who sadly died last night at only 4 months old. I don't know where we're going wrong. Water quality on all tests is fine ... Why are my babies dying??? Looking for help and advice xx

[Deckape]

Could you please post your test results? That will enable us to give you good advice. Sorry about the fish deaths. We will help. Thanks

Wayne

[LyndaB]

Originally Posted by Swindes

We've got a 70ltr tank and we've had 8 neon tetras, 6 platys, 4 guppies, a sucking loach, 2 snail eating loach and 3 mollies over the 7 months and are left with one Molly, both snail eaters, 4 tetras and the rest have died over the time.

Welcome to the forum.

Your tank is roughly 18 gallons. That's not very big at all. Your tank, in my opinion, was overstocked and unless you were doing a couple of water changes every week, your fish most likely died from ammonia poisoning.

How did you cycle this tank? Are you familiar with the nitrogen cycle? Do you have a test kit and, if so, which type do you have? If it's the strips, they have a really bad reputation for giving skewed results. Most of us use the API master kit (liquid). This test kit will get you hundreds of accurate test results per kit.

Can you give us the "real" species names of your loaches?

[redsea]

Welcome to aquarium advice!

[rich311k]

Welcome to AA! Start up a thread in the FW section and we will help you out.I think some reading of the fine articles here would get you started on the right path.

[Swindes]

Thank you all so much! Just to say ... All those fish weren't in at the same time. We've only ever had a maximum of 8 fish at one time. I'll upload test types and results when I get home. You're fabulous! Thank you x

[Deckape]

Are you using test strips or the liquid? Most folks trust the API Master Kit, including me, more.

[Swindes]

We're using Tetra 6 in 1 test kit and the results are as follows:

NO3 (mg/l) - 100
NO2 (mg/l) - 1
GH - 16
KH - 3
pH - 6.4
Cl2 (mg/l) - 0

[Deckape]

Ok here are my preliminary thoughts.

You have a tank that is not cycled. That is sure in my mind. A cycled tank will not show NO2. It can be toxic at levels above. 25 ppm. It will be consumed and converted as waste into NO3. NO3 is only removed by doing regular water changes or heavily planted tanks. Nitrates (NO3) can become dangerous to fish at arguably 40 ppm.

These two things, nitrites and nitrates, (NO2 and NO3), are waste by products of bacteria that consume ammonia. Ammonia is introduced to your tank by fish poop and uneaten food. It could also be introduced by dead and decaying plants or even fish. Any amount of NH3 (ammonia) could be deadly. This is a general statement. There are exceptions but as I am not a scientific professional, I will not try to speak on that here.

Your test strips doesnt test for NH3. So I will have to assume there is ammonia present in your tank.

There is an article on here on how to cycle with fish. In my signature is an article written by a member here on fishless cycling.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/articl...now/Page1.html

Wayne