Why they keep dying??

[smokey11]

I've had my 15G for 3 months now. The first 1.5 months was very calm, I had 12 neon tetras & 6 shrimps & a bristlenose pleco. No one died in that 1.5 months. Then I did something stupid, I added 4 guppies and I did a big water change just when the weather was getting cold. I didn't know it at the time since I just joined this hobby, but I found out 2 days later mixing cold water to the tank can cause ich.

After that, it's all been downhill. 8 of my tetras, all the shrimps & 2 guppies died within the following week even as I raised the temperature to 86F and administered ich medication & a hint of salt.

3 weeks after the outbreak, I had 4 tetras left and the pleco. I changed water regularly and it seemed like the worst was over.

I was told that shrimps dont get ich, so I decided to re-populate my tank with shrimps first (to help clean the water). I got 4 tiger shrimps, 4 long nosed shrimps, 4 RCS and 10 black shrimps.

I tested the water conditions regularly, i had 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and <20ppm of nitrates. pH 7.8, temperature 80F. But after another week, all but the black shrimps survived.

Even worse, I am noticing my plants are started to die too. Stems breaking off, leaves decaying. I try to remove any decaying, dying plants as prudently as possible to reduce chance of contamination but the dying continues.

So now I am totally lost. I am not planning to add anything to the tank. I need to figure out what I am doing wrong. I don't think my water parameters are that bad:

ammonia:0 // nitrites:0 // nitrates:15ppm // 80F // pH 7.8 // substrate = soil
// CO2 : 2 bubbles per sec for 5 hrs // LED light 7 hours per day

(the pH is a little high but that is the pH of the tap water here, i've been told actively adjusting the pH may bring more pain than good b/c there'll be fluctuation everytime you change water - is this true?)

anyways, I would really appreciate if anyone has noticed what I did wrong and how i can stop my plants from dying.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

I've had my 15G for 3 months now. The first 1.5 months was very calm, I had 12 neon tetras & 6 shrimps & a bristlenose pleco. No one died in that 1.5 months. Then I did something stupid, I added 4 guppies and I did a big water change just when the weather was getting cold. I didn't know it at the time since I just joined this hobby, but I found out 2 days later mixing cold water to the tank can cause ich.

After that, it's all been downhill. 8 of my tetras, all the shrimps & 2 guppies died within the following week even as I raised the temperature to 86F and administered ich medication & a hint of salt.

3 weeks after the outbreak, I had 4 tetras left and the pleco. I changed water regularly and it seemed like the worst was over.

I was told that shrimps dont get ich, so I decided to re-populate my tank with shrimps first (to help clean the water). I got 4 tiger shrimps, 4 long nosed shrimps, 4 RCS and 10 black shrimps.

I tested the water conditions regularly, i had 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and <20ppm of nitrates. pH 7.8, temperature 80F. But after another week, all but the black shrimps survived.

Even worse, I am noticing my plants are started to die too. Stems breaking off, leaves decaying. I try to remove any decaying, dying plants as prudently as possible to reduce chance of contamination but the dying continues.

So now I am totally lost. I am not planning to add anything to the tank. I need to figure out what I am doing wrong. I don't think my water parameters are that bad:

ammonia:0 // nitrites:0 // nitrates:15ppm // 80F // pH 7.8 // substrate = soil
// CO2 : 2 bubbles per sec for 5 hrs // LED light 7 hours per day

(the pH is a little high but that is the pH of the tap water here, i've been told actively adjusting the pH may bring more pain than good b/c there'll be fluctuation everytime you change water - is this true?)

anyways, I would really appreciate if anyone has noticed what I did wrong and how i can stop my plants from dying.

What are you using to test your water with?

 

[MacDracor]

Adding cold water does not cause ich. Ich is a parasite that spends part of its life cycle embedded in a fish's skin. Most likely, one of the new additions was infected. It happens a lot. In the future, it is best to quarantine any new additions.
While it is correct that shrimp cannot contract ich, they can carry it in a different life cycle stage. Of course, another stage is free swimming so pet store water isn't foolproof. When in doubt, quarantine.
As for the shrimp deaths, I'm not super familiar with those specific species but I do know that many shrimp have difficulty surviving in water above 78 F.
Plant deaths are not likely related to excessive nutrients, as you have next to none. My experience with co2 injection tanks is very limited, so all I can guess is that the combination of too-warm water, high ph, and lack of nutrients (fish poop) is a strain on the plants. One factor or even two might not phase the plants at all, but IMO you have a trifecta of minor stressors here.
So, drop the temp to 77-78 F, drop in some fish food (almost as good as fish poop!) and quarantine any new additions.
It's easy to get discouraged. Patience! You'll get past this.

 

[matty2085]

Good advice there. And just to answer one of your questions...messing with the pH is not a good idea. Stability is the key to pH.

 

[Tippytrampoline]

Do you add ich medication while the plants were in there? Also, invertebrates are incredibly sensitive to copper-based medication, so if you used anything copper-based to treat the ich and some of it was left behind after water changes, that could attribute to the loss of shrimp. I'm thinking that could be the cause of the plant death as well, but I'm not experienced in live plants coupled with chemical medications, so more clarification from a more experienced individual would be appreciated.

How big of a water change did you do after the ich treatment? Did you vacuum the gravel?

Also, I've been keeping my ghost shrimp at ~85° and they're troopin along like champs.

 

[Autumnsky]

You may want to buy some liquid plant ferts. Aqueon or Flourish and some root tabs for swords and /or stem plants.

I just ran through a bout of Ick and higher temps 87/88F. I lost soooooo many plants. I just used a little more salt graduated up to 1 tsp p/gal, and gradually upped the temp from 78/79F. I was advised to leave the temp for 10 -14 days after the last Ick spots disappear, at 10 days, I started putting the temp down 2 degrees per day. Didn't use meds. As the shrimp are sensitive.

Also if you are running with the temp up high I would also add another airstone. The fish need more oxygen when the temps are high.

 

[smokey11]

thanks guys for your support & advice. to answer your answers:

1) I used API's test kit (the ones where you put water in a test tube) for ammonia, nitrate, nitrite & pH

2) my plants and shrimps were there when I administered the ich medication. As you mentioned, that is probabaly why my shrimps died. Not sure about plants tho

3) my temperature has beeen reduced to 80F since the ich outbreak

I guess i'll try to use some fertiziler to save the plants. Another question I want to ask is, what is the general guideline for adjusting pH of the tank? the tap water here are quite alkaline (7.8) but I really want to raise some RCS (ideal at 6.8 from what I read). So should I buy something to lower the pH of the water?

Thanks guys

 

[Rivercats]

A couple things about the plants... first salt and plants don't mix. You don't want to use salt in a planted tank. So that hurt your plants to start. Then certain ich meds also can injure or kill plants. Usually there is a plant/invertibrate warning on the package. There are very few ich meds you can use with plants. One that I know is safe is Seachems Paraguard. Anyway besides the WC you need to run carbon in your filter for a week or so to try to pull any chemicals out of the water. Also 80F is beginning to get alittle too high for many plants. I run my main display tank at 77-78F which is a pretty good temp range for most plants. Also since you run CO2 you really need to add ferts to the water column. The use of CO2 helps with plant growth and that means the plants also need a steady supply of ferts also. You might want to check into dry ferts. They are cheap and you can customize your dosing regime to the needs of your tank.

 

[smokey11]

Thanks Rivercats!