Everything's Dying!

[McQ]

Help!

I thought I'd done everything right. Read, read, read, be patient, and start smart...

Fluval Edge 6 Gal
Replaced stock lights with LED
Added 10W Coralife CFL
DIY CO2 injection
Flourite Excel dosing .5ml/day
Flourite Comprehensive dosing .5ml/wk.

I have a Fluval Edge 6 gal. planted tank. I started the cycle with a sponge from a friend's tank, several plants and some fish food. Everything was good after two days (0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 5 nitrates), so I added some fish - slowly. First in were three harlequin rasboras. Two died the first night. I added two more the next day and they seemed to be thriving. After about a week I added three otocinclus and two more rasboras. Again, everything seemed fine for over a week. Everyone happy. I kept checking my levels (with API master test kit), and consistently had 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites. Nitrates were moving up, but I was doing pretty regular water changes (with conditioner, checking temp) with all the new plants I was adding, and moving.

After two weeks of stability, I added 7 Crystal Red Shrimp. They seemed fine after the first night, but I was concerned about the temperature. I only had a Hydor 15W pre-set heater, and the water was consistently around 79-80 F. So next day I bought a Marineland Stealth Pro 50W heater, and planted some HC I bought with the shrimp. To get the HC planted, I removed around 30-40% of the water, and conditioned the new water going back in with Hagen's product (forget the name). That night, I also removed the chopstick piece that I'd been using in the CO2 tube to diffuse the bubbles (it was whistling, and driving everyone nuts). Next morning, two dead rasboras, and two more in distress. The ottos were swimming to the top and trying to catch a breath. My first thought was CO2 overdose. So I turned off the CO2. I also lowered the water level to allow more surface action from the filter into the tank (to increase O2). That afternoon, the two rasboras in distress were dead. I immediately tested the parameters and found .5 ppm ammonia, 0 nitries, and 20 nitrates. 50% water change followed. Tested again the next morning, .25 ppm ammonia, 0 nitites, 20 nitrates. That night, the last rasbora started showing signs of distress, and died after a couple of hours (still .25 ppm ammonia). Meanwhile, the CRS are still there, although I can only find 5. They seem fine. This morning, one of the ottos was dead, and the other two look very listless. During this time, I've tested the PH and KH to find out my CO2 saturation. It's very low, around 3 - 5 ppm. So I hooked the DIY CO2 back up with the chopstick - trying to get back to where I was before the dying began...

I'm at my wits end. I feel like I did everything right. But obviously I've missed something. Can anyone provide suggestions?

Thanks,
Chris

 

[electropunk06]

i looks like you didnt cycle your tank.
have a read of this and see how to do a proper cycle. a fishless cycle is alot better and kinder on fish. ammonia and nitrite leveles should allways be 0ppm.
hope this helps.
lloyd

 

[Wills]

To be fair it looks like you seeded the filter which is the right thing to do and can bypass the need to do the cycle as you have all the media you need. At the end of the day cycled media in one tank is the same in an other.

But I would have added the fish on the first day because other wise the filter media would have started to die off because it had ammonia source but 2 rasboras wont have bumped it either....

Only thing I can kind of think of is the new plants you added, have any got dead leaves or dead roots? In small tanks the slightest amount of dead plant can bump stuff to the .25 like you said.

Also ottos are quite a weak fish especially in new tanks so I wouldnt base to much off them but rasboras are quite hardy so not sure but if you have ammonia in the water you must have a source of organic rotting materials which again makes me think you might have a dead spot in the plants somewhere.

Also an other point I just thought of, are you using sand? If so have you checked for deadspots?

Wilsl

 

[McQ]

Also an other point I just thought of, are you using sand? If so have you checked for deadspots?

Wilsl

Honestly, the plants seem to be doing very well. Lots of new growth. There's one mini sag. that has one leaf that's been rotting away (but several new leaves coming up fast), so I'll pull that out...

My substrate is flourite, not sand.

Looking back at my post, it may have been the next day that I added the first three rasboras. And as I said I quickly reached 0 ammonia and nitrites, and 5 nitrate. So I did cycle correctly with a seeded sponge. Everything was stable (0,0,5-10) until the fish started to die.

I just went out and bought an O2 test kit to make sure that I have enough in there. It's a Fluval Edge with only a partial opening on the top, so I suppose it could be more difficult to get O2 in there. But I lowered the water level to get more surface area and to increase the drop of the filtered water.

My last thought is some type of disease (parasite, bacteria?). How would I know?

 

[Gvilleguy]

If I counted that correctly - didn't you get up to 15 critters in a 6 gallon? I was wondering if it was overstocked and not enough oxygen, perhaps.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Personally, I am a hater of these Fluval Edge tanks, as an aquarium has to be always about its inhabitants first and its looks are the lowest priority in my opinion.

The RSPCA regard a 45 litre (9.375 imperial gallons) as the minimum size aquarium for any single fish, no to mention toxins like ammonia and nitrite will reach critical levels so so quickly.

The maximum potential oxygen saturation in water is higher in water of a lower temperature down to ~4C, so aim for the lowest common temperature that all inhabitants are regarded as being happy at.

If you have not done so already, it might be worth taking a ~30ml sample of tank water to a trusted fish shop and asking them to verify your readings.