CrimsonBlayde
Aquarium Advice Regular
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2011
- Messages
- 51
In setting up my current tank, I read tons of books and scoured the web, determined to not lose fish. I carefully and patiently waited for a fishless cycle to complete. I stocked based on compatibility and water parameters. And...I am losing more fish than I would have expected.
My tank is a heavily planted, 30 gallon. I have a Fluval 205 and 65 watts of compact florescent lighting. I change 25% weekly, using Stress Coat. My water parameters have been steady as follows:
pH 7.6
NH3 0
NO2 0
NO3 between 2 and 5 ppm (verified by two different brands of liquid test kits)
My stocking history is as follows (water parameters were steady as above through all additions--tested almost daily):
4/26 added 6 zebra danios and 3 platy
5/8 added female opaline gourami
5/20 added 4 otocinclus...fed algae, wafers and veggies
5/28 added 4 peppered cory cats
6/6 lost zebra danio, it had been hiding and not swimming around
6/10 lost zebra danio, lfs said it looked beat up and recommended increasing school size
6/11 added 6 leopard danios
6/19 lost oto, no symptoms
6/21 lost oto, no symptoms
6/22 lost zebra, again, hiding and not swimming
6/25 lost oto, no symptoms
7/14 lost danio, hiding
7/17 lost last oto
7/21 lost danio, hiding
7/22 lost 2 danios
7/23 put remaining danios in a qt tank...lost them all over the next few days
7/31 after 2 large water changes, added 6 white cloud minnows
8/1 cory cat died, looked beat up
8/4 lost cory cat
8/11 found 2 fry alive and well
8/14 lost minnow
8/16 lost minnow
8/19 lost minnow (all 3 had been staying in place and only swimming to eat)
8/29 lost platy that all the fish had been picking on for a few weeks
8/31 put a cory cat into qt...not looking promising
So, what am I missing? Since the danios and minnows are all cyprinids, I figure I must have brought in a disease specific to cyprinids. Ottos are just plain hard to keep due to their capture and shipment methods? No clue why I lost the peppered cats unless my gourami tortures them at night. No clue why I lost the platy unless it was just old age or something. I have a living fry so something has to be going right in there.
All the LFS have the same distributor, so as far as that goes my only other choice is a big box store. I do drive out of my to go to the cleanest, most knowledgable store.
Am I doing something wrong or are these losses roughly normal?
My tank is a heavily planted, 30 gallon. I have a Fluval 205 and 65 watts of compact florescent lighting. I change 25% weekly, using Stress Coat. My water parameters have been steady as follows:
pH 7.6
NH3 0
NO2 0
NO3 between 2 and 5 ppm (verified by two different brands of liquid test kits)
My stocking history is as follows (water parameters were steady as above through all additions--tested almost daily):
4/26 added 6 zebra danios and 3 platy
5/8 added female opaline gourami
5/20 added 4 otocinclus...fed algae, wafers and veggies
5/28 added 4 peppered cory cats
6/6 lost zebra danio, it had been hiding and not swimming around
6/10 lost zebra danio, lfs said it looked beat up and recommended increasing school size
6/11 added 6 leopard danios
6/19 lost oto, no symptoms
6/21 lost oto, no symptoms
6/22 lost zebra, again, hiding and not swimming
6/25 lost oto, no symptoms
7/14 lost danio, hiding
7/17 lost last oto
7/21 lost danio, hiding
7/22 lost 2 danios
7/23 put remaining danios in a qt tank...lost them all over the next few days
7/31 after 2 large water changes, added 6 white cloud minnows
8/1 cory cat died, looked beat up
8/4 lost cory cat
8/11 found 2 fry alive and well
8/14 lost minnow
8/16 lost minnow
8/19 lost minnow (all 3 had been staying in place and only swimming to eat)
8/29 lost platy that all the fish had been picking on for a few weeks
8/31 put a cory cat into qt...not looking promising
So, what am I missing? Since the danios and minnows are all cyprinids, I figure I must have brought in a disease specific to cyprinids. Ottos are just plain hard to keep due to their capture and shipment methods? No clue why I lost the peppered cats unless my gourami tortures them at night. No clue why I lost the platy unless it was just old age or something. I have a living fry so something has to be going right in there.
All the LFS have the same distributor, so as far as that goes my only other choice is a big box store. I do drive out of my to go to the cleanest, most knowledgable store.
Am I doing something wrong or are these losses roughly normal?