CrustyOnEastCoast
Fish Fanatic
Not sure anyone can help with this .. well at the very least it will be an anecdotal experience.
I performed a fishless cycle (using Ace Hardware ammonia -- 10%, no surfactants, etc) on my 35 US Gallon aquarium with thoroughly washed play sand and fake plants for 8 weeks. After that point my tank was processing 4ppm worth of ammonia and nitrites every 24 hours without fail. However, I could never make further headway. (I tried all the tricks to jump start the stalled cycle -- large water changes and adding sodium bicarbonate to keep Ph at 8.0).
So, I figured my cycle was in pretty good shape, so I "half" stocked my tank -- 6 very small panda corydoras, 4 guppies -- 2 of which are very small.
Never since adding fish have I ever seen ammonia or nitrites above 0ppm, after regular, multiple tests.
For the first week and a half everything was running wonderfully. Then 2 days ago, I did 3 things.
1. 10% water change, vacuum up poo, replace with dechlorinated (Seachem Prime) water matching tank water temp from tap
2. Stuck my clean arm all the way down to the bottom of the tank and re-arranged a plant
3. Added a full does of Seachem Clarity since the water was clowdy.
Yesterday night I noticed one guppy and one catfish .. dead. No marks or anything on the fish to help me know what is wrong.
Since then I have been watching fish carefully. No weird behavior in fish .. if anyting they are more hyper than usual .. no gasping at surface, no red gills. This morning I noticed another catfish "slowing down". Not as active as the others..
resting too long. A little later he was on his side .. then he jerked upright, but died. Again, no marks, etc.
I have been cleaning out my Aqua Clear 50 filter about 2 or 3 times now since the first fish died .. since I think this might be related to the water clarifier (what else could it be). A lot of dark water, and particles in the filter container and the sponge after each cleaning. Water still cloudy, but who cares (I should have left well enough alone).
So far, no more fish deaths, just the three, and the other fish seem to be very active and swimming. Throughout all this, all fish were eating .. I did my best not to overfeed, again ammonia, nitrites always 0.
Dumb question: Does overfeeding just produce too much waste (and resulting ammonia) in the tank, or are the fish not too bright and can kill themselves from overeating. I don't think I overfed them anyway, but wondering, thinking, etc.
Please let me know if you need more info, I am not sure there is an easy answer, anyway. Thanks!
I performed a fishless cycle (using Ace Hardware ammonia -- 10%, no surfactants, etc) on my 35 US Gallon aquarium with thoroughly washed play sand and fake plants for 8 weeks. After that point my tank was processing 4ppm worth of ammonia and nitrites every 24 hours without fail. However, I could never make further headway. (I tried all the tricks to jump start the stalled cycle -- large water changes and adding sodium bicarbonate to keep Ph at 8.0).
So, I figured my cycle was in pretty good shape, so I "half" stocked my tank -- 6 very small panda corydoras, 4 guppies -- 2 of which are very small.
Never since adding fish have I ever seen ammonia or nitrites above 0ppm, after regular, multiple tests.
For the first week and a half everything was running wonderfully. Then 2 days ago, I did 3 things.
1. 10% water change, vacuum up poo, replace with dechlorinated (Seachem Prime) water matching tank water temp from tap
2. Stuck my clean arm all the way down to the bottom of the tank and re-arranged a plant
3. Added a full does of Seachem Clarity since the water was clowdy.
Yesterday night I noticed one guppy and one catfish .. dead. No marks or anything on the fish to help me know what is wrong.
Since then I have been watching fish carefully. No weird behavior in fish .. if anyting they are more hyper than usual .. no gasping at surface, no red gills. This morning I noticed another catfish "slowing down". Not as active as the others..
resting too long. A little later he was on his side .. then he jerked upright, but died. Again, no marks, etc.
I have been cleaning out my Aqua Clear 50 filter about 2 or 3 times now since the first fish died .. since I think this might be related to the water clarifier (what else could it be). A lot of dark water, and particles in the filter container and the sponge after each cleaning. Water still cloudy, but who cares (I should have left well enough alone).
So far, no more fish deaths, just the three, and the other fish seem to be very active and swimming. Throughout all this, all fish were eating .. I did my best not to overfeed, again ammonia, nitrites always 0.
Dumb question: Does overfeeding just produce too much waste (and resulting ammonia) in the tank, or are the fish not too bright and can kill themselves from overeating. I don't think I overfed them anyway, but wondering, thinking, etc.
Please let me know if you need more info, I am not sure there is an easy answer, anyway. Thanks!
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