Multiple fish casualties

Byron said:

The fuzzy algae on the plant leaves is black brush algae. This is what I term a "problem" algae, and like all problem algae, when it appears in a planted tank it means the natural balance of light and nutrients is not in sync, so the balance has to be restored (or established). The intensity and the spectrum of the light factor in, and then duration. You have not answered many of the questions asked, we need all this data to bee able to logically provide help. And nitrites can be present with zero ammonia, and very low nitrate. All tests are necessary so we have all the facts. And I see nothing about nitra zorb.

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Okay ill remove it, I usually keep the lights on from 8am-9pm I use a 3ft t8 bulb and it's pretty intense, I can't give you an accurate reading on nitrite as since I've done a 75% water change but I'll keep an eye on that.

My tap water is 30ppm of Nitrate so I use a filter process to remove them

Characf said:

I usually keep the lights on from 8am-9pm I use a 3ft t8 bulb and it's pretty intense,

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First, reduce the photoperiod. Thirteen hours is going to cause problems, and already is. After a cople years of tweaking, I got my tanks down to 7 hours each day, and this algae stopped increasing and never reappears for the following 7 years. The photoperiod has to be consistent each day, so use a timer. The "daylight" is when the tanklight is on, and this can be any continuous period, preferably when you are usually home to enjoy the aquarium. Are you using any plant additives or fertilizers?

The spectrum of the T8 tube...is this printed at one end, or can you find it from the manufacturer's website?

simple...remove the plants or add fish to eat it...
which some people are against but works...shrimp (neo/amanos), otos, bn plecos, hillstream loaches, snails
short of treating the plants with hydrogen peroxide/chlorine/bleach and gravel vac nothing works unless you have fish for it which to me means free food xD
after...
reduce flow...reduce light times to 6h...you can increase it again later..myself I do 10h/day
stop adding chemicals for whatever removal...just keep up with your water changes
and what "process" do you use for removal of anything?!?!?
and what are all the chemicals you're adding for everything...? water treatment...nitrates ferts etc....?
reasons for this happening...imbalance in your tank...fluctuation in water parameters which could be the reason your fish died
most likely caused by big water change and the chemicals you're adding
do you clean a whole 3 floor house when the dog craps in one of the washrooms? same principle with water changes...
2nd...flow...more flow promotes algae in general...many people are crazy about lots of flow...
I find a 1:2 (2x) turnover ratio works great for my tanks or lots of flow with low surface agitation...
think of it this way...many fish want a higher flow but surface agitation will cause oxygen/co2 exchange which will in turn promote algae growth
you can have lots of flow with near zero surface agitation and a wave maker for like 30mins/day to break any surface scum
an internal sump with a 'grid' intake will also break surface scum...
good luck

More pics, can lead plant holders leech nitrate?

Byron said:

First, reduce the photoperiod. Thirteen hours is going to cause problems, and already is. After a cople years of tweaking, I got my tanks down to 7 hours each day, and this algae stopped increasing and never reappears for the following 7 years. The photoperiod has to be consistent each day, so use a timer. The "daylight" is when the tanklight is on, and this can be any continuous period, preferably when you are usually home to enjoy the aquarium. Are you using any plant additives or fertilizers?

The spectrum of the T8 tube...is this printed at one end, or can you find it from the manufacturer's website?

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T8 3Ft 30Watt Colour 840... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00WU8ZLYK/?tag=

kiko said:

simple...remove the plants or add fish to eat it...
which some people are against but works...shrimp (neo/amanos), otos, bn plecos, hillstream loaches, snails
short of treating the plants with hydrogen peroxide/chlorine/bleach and gravel vac nothing works unless you have fish for it which to me means free food xD
after...
reduce flow...reduce light times to 6h...you can increase it again later..myself I do 10h/day
stop adding chemicals for whatever removal...just keep up with your water changes
and what "process" do you use for removal of anything?!?!?
and what are all the chemicals you're adding for everything...? water treatment...nitrates ferts etc....?
reasons for this happening...imbalance in your tank...fluctuation in water parameters which could be the reason your fish died
most likely caused by big water change and the chemicals you're adding
do you clean a whole 3 floor house when the dog craps in one of the washrooms? same principle with water changes...
2nd...flow...more flow promotes algae in general...many people are crazy about lots of flow...
I find a 1:2 (2x) turnover ratio works great for my tanks or lots of flow with low surface agitation...
think of it this way...many fish want a higher flow but surface agitation will cause oxygen/co2 exchange which will in turn promote algae growth
you can have lots of flow with near zero surface agitation and a wave maker for like 30mins/day to break any surface scum
an internal sump with a 'grid' intake will also break surface scum...
good luck

Click to expand...

I can't get shrimp because my water is very hard, I'm toying with getting a nano plec. Also the only chemicals I add is tetra aqua safe to filter chlorine etc out my tap water.

Characf said:

can lead plant holders leech nitrate?

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No. Some question they might leech lead, I always remove these before planting to be safe. But nothing to do with nitrates.

Light should be OK, but not on so long as already noted. I would like to have the Kelvin, Sylvannia usually provide this, but they do give the CRI which is 80 so that is not bad at all.

Characf said:

I can't get shrimp because my water is very hard, I'm toying with getting a nano plec. Also the only chemicals I add is tetra aqua safe to filter chlorine etc out my tap water.

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well with shrimp the best thing would be for you to have an actual shrimp tank...
I live in Toronto where water is hard and specially with shrimp I always had problems until I made a tank just for them...
I pretty much used to mix a 1gal of water with the tank water about once a month..(it's a 10gal)
and do water changes about twice a month...now the issue was that every time I put them in my main tank they wouldn't last...
eventually with time through multiple generations my shrimp survive both in my main tank and the shrimp tank
I would literally move all my shrimp into the main tank...let them die off to the point I had maybe 20/30 leftover and just move them back to the shrimp tank
and just do it over and over and over whenever my shrimp population was big enough (you can get thousands in a matter of 3 months)
my suggestion to you specially with shrimp...look for local breeders that breed them in tap-water so you don't have to go through this which can last 1 to 2 years
and multiple generations of shrimp where 3 live out of 30
or 40 were born but you went to cull the bad looking ones and 60 were culled...I tried giving them away but nobody wants culls even for free!
so i just put them in a container grab the tweezers and just kind of squish them a bit to the point they're still alive but very crippled...and throw them in my main tank
free fish food ^^
I saw in www.gumtree.com albino bn plecos being listed as low as 1£/each I would probably message some of them to ask RO or tap?
ps: my ph is 7.05 (ph/co2 controller) and water changes are based on tds of water whenever it reaches 400 (tds controller)

I've had two more deaths after the water change, I'm starting to suspect it's an illness?

Two more deaths, I've tested my water after last week's water change it's reading
0PPM - Ammonia
0PPM - Nitrite
15PPM - Nitrate

Yes I know Nitrate isn't perfect but wouldn't be killing fish at this rate? I don't think I have any aggressive fish and I feed fish a pinch every couple of days

I think it might be helpful to re-state what the problem is and when events occur, then we should focus only on what might be causing the issue and leave the less than desirable but not likely to kill the fish soon discussion afterwards.

Current Tank Status:
0 - Ammonia
0 - Nitrite
15ppm - Nitrate

(None of these will kill your fish, or at least the fish you have now)

Description of Problem (this is based on what I have read and may be incorrect):

1. Fish are dying
2. Fish appear to be dying sometime after a water change
3. Water might have nitrate in it from the start?

Questions and Clarifications:

1. What are the Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate values of the water you use for your replacement water.
2. What is the source of your water, city, well, other
3. Describe again how the fish behave before they die, ie are there any symptoms.
4. Describe the rock, and substrate you are using
5. Are you doing any treatment to the water:
   1. For Chlorine or Chloramine
   2. For other reasons, you mention hard water is your water softened in some fashion

Finally we might need to look even further, for example an electrical problem that is leaking current into the tank.

Uberhoust said:

I think it might be helpful to re-state what the problem is and when events occur, then we should focus only on what might be causing the issue and leave the less than desirable but not likely to kill the fish soon discussion afterwards.

Current Tank Status:
0 - Ammonia
0 - Nitrite
15ppm - Nitrate

(None of these will kill your fish, or at least the fish you have now)

Description of Problem (this is based on what I have read and may be incorrect):

1. Fish are dying
2. Fish appear to be dying sometime after a water change
3. Water might have nitrate in it from the start?

Questions and Clarifications:

1. What are the Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate values of the water you use for your replacement water.
2. What is the source of your water, city, well, other
3. Describe again how the fish behave before they die, ie are there any symptoms.
4. Describe the rock, and substrate you are using
5. Are you doing any treatment to the water:
   1. For Chlorine or Chloramine
   2. For other reasons, you mention hard water is your water softened in some fashion

Finally we might need to look even further, for example an electrical problem that is leaking current into the tank.

Click to expand...

It's not after a water change, and my tap water is 0-ammonia 0-nitrite 30ppm-Nitrate straight from the tap, i try use nitrazorb filtering process to remove nitrates from tap water prior to water changes but its a slow process so had to use 50% filtered and 50% tap water in my last 75% water change (last week) and the source is typical UK mains water and I haven't witnessed any strange behaviour one minute they're fine the next they're dead, I have 90% black gravel and 10% plant stratum for my substrate and had no issues for a month prior to these deaths and the only chemicals I'm using are tetra aquasafe when doing water changes

The only thing I can think of recently changing is buying some floating plants off ebay and somehow duck weed establishing itself not long after, but I was fairly happy with that as it'll only add to the cycling process

Video of tank here

Characf said:

so had to use 50% filtered and 50% tap water in my last 75% water change (last week) and the source is typical UK mains water and I haven't witnessed any strange behaviour one minute they're fine the next they're dead

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I wonder if filtering the water changed the parameters? What did you use to filter it?
@Essjay would know if this could change the pH/GH/KH or otherwise upset the balance?