Recent content by tmhoskins

how could my fish have a parasite when they have been in the same tank for 2 months solid and they are from a fish store. The vets I have talked to say unless they were exposed to a wild caught fish its most likely not a parasite and the only reason most stores tell you that is to sell you the...

I have a guppie that won't eat anything but brine shrimp and he has been having clear stringy feces which I read is constipation. Definitely not a parasite since the feces is like a long clear string not white and definitely not moving. I have been giving them peas and tropical flake food and he...

I have a guppie that won't eat anything but brine shrimp and he has been having clear stringy feces which I read is constipation. Definitely not a parasite since the feces is like a long clear string not white and definitely not moving. I have been giving them peas and tropical flake food and he...

Update: We purchased 3 guppies 14 days after letting the tank sit. Tested ammonia a few days later and got about 1.5ppm. Did a water change and tested a few days later with it again being 1.5ppm. So we tested the tap water and found out its 1ppm ammonia. So that has definitely been an issue...

Update: We purchased 3 guppies 14 days after letting the tank sit. Tested ammonia a few days later and got about 1.5ppm. Did a water change and tested a few days later with it again being 1.5ppm. So we tested the tap water and found out its 1ppm ammonia. So that has definitely been an issue...

I also forgot to mention we are doing a 2 time a day feeding schedule without the fish as if we did actually have fish to aid in the biological material in the tank.

After all this we ended up talking to the people at the aquarium store and were told to completely start over with our tank. Literally wash everything with tap water including the gravel and let dry for 24 hours, and then start over with no fish. I found out the hard way with the pleco and...

Thanks everyone for the advice. We lost a Pleco last night. He was just swimming around and then it looked like he just short circuited or something and died on the spot. Haven't lost any other fish but my wife is having a hard time dealing with the losses as well as my older son. So we have...

I am using Jungle Ammonia test strips and Tetra 5-in-1 test strips to monitor my levels. I bought them before knowing about all this. I am going to stick with using them. I did test the ammonia after using Prime and it took my levels down, I have seen that it is only supposed to last 48 hours...

Can anyone tell me why I would still see 0.5 ppm ammonia after doing a 25% then a 50% water change because I was still getting .5 ppm ammonia? I added seqchem prime to reduce the ammonia so I am hoping that helps. For awareness I am using seqchem stability once a day, a pH buffer, and a...

So how will we ever get to a cycled tank if we keep changing 25% of the water every time the ammonia and nitrites spike?

So if I am changing 50% of the water about every 3 days how do I know when a cycle is finished? I know I am supposed to measure the nitrates and nitrites but if I am changing the water that much how do you ever complete a cycle. One of my fish was very lethargic today and not moving, so we...

So then how often do I need to do a water change while I am cycling? I bought fish before I knew about all this. I changed about 50% of the water yesterday based on the sticky here and the water got cloudy again, however we did lose some fish so I think the ammonia was high. I got ammonia...

I have seen posts on here advocating for a 50% change every week of tank water once it's established. I have been reading many other posts on different forums and that amount seems extremely high compared to other suggestions. So what is the actual amount you should be replacing each week? I...