DCtank
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I'm worried my newish tank is starting to crash. PLEASE ADVISE!
My tank is 8 weeks old. Did "fish in" cycle (with 3 platies) and a big bag of bacteria from a massive tank filter at LFS. Numbers were great after one week so I added 3 zebras. Probably too early but all went well.
With the help of the bacteria bag, and based on water tests (confirmed by two LFS) tank seemed cycled at 5 weeks.
After that, on a weekly basis, I added a few more fish at a time, checking water and doing 10-15% water changes weekly. All the fish seemed great except 1 gold twinbar platy that seemed weak since I got him. (He had a broken dorsal fin and some sort of spot or mass inside his body.) To my surprise, he lasted 3 weeks. He died this morning.
Last week, I found a dead swordtail and a dead zebra on the same day. If it had just been the swordtail I would have chalked it up to a sad accident; he had just been added to the tank 3 days earlier. But finding the 2 month old zebra at the same time puts that theory into question.
To recap: three dead fish in a one week span.
Remaining fish and time in tank:
3 sunset fire platies - 8 wks
4 zebra danios - 7 wks
1 gold twinbar platy - 3 wks
3 pygmy cory cats
2 oto cats - 1 wk (purchased with cories; too much at once?)
3 lamp eye tetras - 1 day
and...
4 tiny sunset fire platy fry - discovered 4 wks ago
Everyone looks healthy but, given the other deaths, I've learned looks can be deceiving.
29 gallon freshwater
plastic plants
penguin 200 filter
weekly 10-15% pwc
NH3 = 0 - .1 (depending on pre- or post-wc)
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 30 or 35 (hard to tell; doesn't match card)
PH = 7.4
Anything else I should be checking? Is this the beginning of the end?
My tank is 8 weeks old. Did "fish in" cycle (with 3 platies) and a big bag of bacteria from a massive tank filter at LFS. Numbers were great after one week so I added 3 zebras. Probably too early but all went well.
With the help of the bacteria bag, and based on water tests (confirmed by two LFS) tank seemed cycled at 5 weeks.
After that, on a weekly basis, I added a few more fish at a time, checking water and doing 10-15% water changes weekly. All the fish seemed great except 1 gold twinbar platy that seemed weak since I got him. (He had a broken dorsal fin and some sort of spot or mass inside his body.) To my surprise, he lasted 3 weeks. He died this morning.
Last week, I found a dead swordtail and a dead zebra on the same day. If it had just been the swordtail I would have chalked it up to a sad accident; he had just been added to the tank 3 days earlier. But finding the 2 month old zebra at the same time puts that theory into question.
To recap: three dead fish in a one week span.
Remaining fish and time in tank:
3 sunset fire platies - 8 wks
4 zebra danios - 7 wks
1 gold twinbar platy - 3 wks
3 pygmy cory cats
2 oto cats - 1 wk (purchased with cories; too much at once?)
3 lamp eye tetras - 1 day
and...
4 tiny sunset fire platy fry - discovered 4 wks ago
Everyone looks healthy but, given the other deaths, I've learned looks can be deceiving.
29 gallon freshwater
plastic plants
penguin 200 filter
weekly 10-15% pwc
NH3 = 0 - .1 (depending on pre- or post-wc)
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 30 or 35 (hard to tell; doesn't match card)
PH = 7.4
Anything else I should be checking? Is this the beginning of the end?
