I am a new to having a fresh water fish tank. My fish are not acting right and several have died and I’m not sure why. Seeking advice
I have a 20 gallon fresh water tank with a Topfin Silentstream 20 power filter. I have had the tank for about 10 weeks. Up until a couple weeks ago all seemed well. Perimeters within normal limits. At about 6 weeks I changed the filter cartridge and it went down hill from there. I started developing foggy water that then turned green. I tried treating with Tetra algae control but my fish didn’t tolerate it well and it really didn’t seem to help much.
Thinking I disrupted the cycle when I changed the filter I added Tetra start, a prefilter sponge and Fluval biomax filter media to the filter. I knew that wouldn’t help immediately but might prevent it next time I change the filter. I was told I had a little ammonia when I took a sample to the pet store and was told to use ammolock. I’ve done multiple water changed and added stress zyme, stress coat and ammo lock each time. I purchased tetra easy strips to test the water. My ammonia levels have decreased some over the last couple weeks, but is still present. I read that the ammonia level will continue to read high because the ammo lock inactivated it, doesn’t get rid of it. My perimeters are as follows.
Ammonia 0.5-1.0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0-20
pH 7.2
Total alkalinity 80-120
Temp 77-78
Chlorine 0
I have lost 3 Guppies and my red tail shark who has been vertical at the top of the tank for weeks is nearly dead, mostly floating. I have 4 glow fish. None are acting right, but one is worse, mostly lays in the bottom of the tank. I also have a loach who seems fine most of the time. A tiny bottle nose algae eater that mostly hides and 2 African frogs.
I’ve been fighting this for several weeks and do not know what else to do. I’m wondering if they have a sickness or is the ammolock not getting rid of the ammonia? I have been doing water changes and vacuuming my gravel at least 2x per week. I’ve also started keeping the light off except 7-8 hours a day. Still have green water that gets worse between water changes. Do I need a better filter. Am I over treating?
Any advice appreciated. I hate seeing my fish die.
I have a 20 gallon fresh water tank with a Topfin Silentstream 20 power filter. I have had the tank for about 10 weeks. Up until a couple weeks ago all seemed well. Perimeters within normal limits. At about 6 weeks I changed the filter cartridge and it went down hill from there. I started developing foggy water that then turned green. I tried treating with Tetra algae control but my fish didn’t tolerate it well and it really didn’t seem to help much.
Thinking I disrupted the cycle when I changed the filter I added Tetra start, a prefilter sponge and Fluval biomax filter media to the filter. I knew that wouldn’t help immediately but might prevent it next time I change the filter. I was told I had a little ammonia when I took a sample to the pet store and was told to use ammolock. I’ve done multiple water changed and added stress zyme, stress coat and ammo lock each time. I purchased tetra easy strips to test the water. My ammonia levels have decreased some over the last couple weeks, but is still present. I read that the ammonia level will continue to read high because the ammo lock inactivated it, doesn’t get rid of it. My perimeters are as follows.
Ammonia 0.5-1.0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 0-20
pH 7.2
Total alkalinity 80-120
Temp 77-78
Chlorine 0
I have lost 3 Guppies and my red tail shark who has been vertical at the top of the tank for weeks is nearly dead, mostly floating. I have 4 glow fish. None are acting right, but one is worse, mostly lays in the bottom of the tank. I also have a loach who seems fine most of the time. A tiny bottle nose algae eater that mostly hides and 2 African frogs.
I’ve been fighting this for several weeks and do not know what else to do. I’m wondering if they have a sickness or is the ammolock not getting rid of the ammonia? I have been doing water changes and vacuuming my gravel at least 2x per week. I’ve also started keeping the light off except 7-8 hours a day. Still have green water that gets worse between water changes. Do I need a better filter. Am I over treating?
Any advice appreciated. I hate seeing my fish die.
