Another one bites the dust :(

[Underthesea]

Hi all, I’m new here and am hoping some might be able to help.

Over the past month we have lost 3 guppies, and all 6 tetras - the last one tonight

The other fish seem healthy, and happy but I’m concerned it’s only a matter of time and I don’t know where we went wrong.

here is our set up:
We have a 65 litre tank which we purchased in March of this year. We cycled it for a week and then added two glow light terras. Over the course of the next 5 months we added a male betta, 4 albino corydoras, 6 guppies a further 4 glow light tetras and a clown loche as we picked up snails from one of the fish/plants. Always leaving a few weeks between each addition.

We do a 25/30% water change at least weekly. We have an air stone and two live plants. I’m using the fluval u2 filter. Gravel and sand substrate (I make sure to disturb the sand when cleaning to prevent air bubbles) Our water is hard but always has been. The pH is between 6.5 and 7 the nitrite is 0 and nitrate between 0 and 20. I’m using the api 5 in 1 test strips.

I can’t see any ich or velvet or obvious problems at all. One of the tetras looked to have quite a bloated belly before he died, another was nibbled on but I think this happened over night after he died. I’ve posted a picture of the last little guy we just took out. Also of the betta and corydoras which seem ok at the moment incase you can see anything I can’t.
I’m thinking of setting up another tank, letting it cycle and starting from fresh for these guys. We’ve grown really attached to our betta and corys and I really don’t want the same to happen to them!
Any ideas greatly appreciated

 

[Sylvan]

You're going to need another tank anyway if you have a clown loach. They get big, far too big for a 65 litre tank.

 

[Retired Viking]

I would advise you to move the betta to it's own tank. Betta are generally not community fish and can kill other fish or become very stresses by their presence. I would start by doing a 75% water change to flush out the tank to be safe.

 

[squidneh]

You have a lot of problems in this tank, all related to beginner mistakes and likely being ill advised by pet store employees.

Start by doing a 75% water change in your tank. Make sure you treat the new water you put in with dechlorinator and match the temperature as best you can. Then go read about how to properly cycle a tank. On this forum in the bottom right, there is a "Useful links" section that has a tab for info on cycling a tank. There is a lot more to it than just letting the tank sit and it really can't be rushed, unless you add live plants and/or get filter media from a healthy, established tank to add to your filter.

If I were you I would get live plants and a proper light for them ASAP as the plants will take up a lot of the harmful repercussions of putting a lot of fish into an uncycled tank.

Return the clown loach, they need to be kept in groups of at least 5 and get extremely big, needing at least a 150 gallon tank to be kept properly. The betta could potentially be okay with cories in a 65l, but it would probably be easiest to get him a 5 gallon (at least) of his own unless you want to return all the other fish as well. Bettas are not community fish.

 

[Salty&Onion]

I agree with others, bettas are not community fish, clown loaches need way bigger tank than you are offering.
Guppies need hard water as in soft water they don't get enough minerals and so they die.
Neon tetras, tetras in general need softer water and acidic pH to thrive as they don't need as much minerals as guppies, though its opposite as the excess minerals are stored in them and they can't get rid of them and so residue is made and stored in their kidneys reducing their life span.
You have too small shoal of cories and too small tank for them, they need a 20 gallon tank, a sand substrate as gravel will damage their barbels and they need a shoal of 6 or more.
How long is the tank running? Is it fully cycled?
What are parameters? We will need exact number for ammonia.
Your nitrates are too high, they should be kept below 20ppm.
What is your exact pH, KH and GH?

GH = General Hardness
KH = Carbonate Hardness
(This can be found on your water providers page)

I just read that you have apparently cycled the tank for a week?
A week is not enough, the cycle takes up to 6 weeks ish.

 

[Retired Viking]

We do not mean to be coming down on you so sorry if it seems that way. We want to help you save your fish and give you important information about your fish to help you take care of them properly.