Major tank troubles

[xrenegadex]

to start off...i have a 20 gallon tank. It's been up for about 6 months with nothing major happening except Ich.


My ammonia lvl i cannot keep down no matter what I try, it if almost off the scale. The same goes with the pH, it's very acidic, around 5.0 . The temp is steady at 80. I change the water about every week and take about a quarter of it.

All my fish died except 5 (one coridoris, 5 guppies and a handfull of babies and one algea eater died). I had assumed it was ammonia. But now that i was looking at the remaining fish, they are moving slowly, they look like a human does after getting sunburn (peeling white off the skin). All that are left are two plattes, one irr. shark, a neon, and a albino coridoris (spelling?)

The only chemicals i've been putting in are Wardly Watercare Ick Away, and All Natural MelaFIX.

The shark, which i call Jaws, looks horrible, is swimming somewhat on his side. The plattes mostly stay at the surface but do occasionaly swim around in the tank. The neon hides, and the coridoris just does what it always does....lay there, moving only on occasion



HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Tempestuousfury]

to the forum. Introduce yourself in the newbie section.

Wow, never heard of this before.

Things you should do immediately!!!!!:

Water change 25-50% of water. Do another water test. Add a bubble bar or airstone(s). Get back to us with results.

Test your tap water to see what's in it.

Apparrently you put too many fish in the tank at once, otherwise ammonia shouldn't be too high...

Lethargy might be because of lack of O2, caused by inadequate surface disturbance and water circulation.

Iridescent shark is a no-go, because they get to over 5' in length!

Albino corydora* Weak fish, and will most likely die if not moved to a suitable tank.

I don't think this is the case, but mixing chemicals can have dangerous results. Like stated before, though, this doesn't seem to be the case, though I could be wrong.

Lower the temperature, if possible, to around 74. Gradually, though! Also, feed less and do more water changes.

 

[xrenegadex]

Forgot to mention....i have an undergravel filter which also gives air. As soon as the fish died, i did change 50% of the water.

Lethargy might be because of lack of O2, caused by inadequate surface disturbance and water circulation

what do you mean



and the shark i've had for almost 7 months. He's about 4 inches.


-----------------------------------

i just checked the tank again.....and everything is dead except the neon.

so....

i will be starting my 20 gal. tank over again......any tips to start it off right?? cause i have problems starting it.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

Yeah, scrap everything.

The neon is most likely going to die. Euthanize the moment you deem the problem to be fatal.

I'm not sure how to clean out everything, but I have read about weak bleach solutions.

You might want to get brand new gravel, too.

Have you read up on tank cycling, by the way? If not, there is a pinned article on it in the beginners section.

 

[digital_run]

inadequate filtration is probably the cause of all this.... under gravel filters are a thing of the past. I know some still use them but most have realized the potential of HOB or canister filters. I'd suggest a bio-wheel or an Aqua clear...both are easy to maintain and are fairly cheap.

 

[blue_ram]

I suspect that it's the combination of the medication that wiped out your bio filter. With your bio filter wiped out, the ammonia level goes up rapidly. Try not to mix chemicals. You certainly don't need melafix for ich.

What's the pH of your tap water? If it's above 6.5, then I suspect that the UG filter has something to do with it. When you start your aquarium over, check the UG filter, or better yet, toss the UG filter. It's one of the best bio-filter when it works. When it doesn't, it's a health hazzard for the fish.

 

[ioNightShade]

This is in reply to the original post (part to clarify, part to further my understanding).

IF your ammonia is OFF the scale, AND your pH is VERY acidic (you claim 5.0), it is the ACIDITY killing the fish and NOT the ammonia.

The way I understand it is that once pH drops below 7.0, ammonia is NO longer a factor for fish, because the ammonia gets converted (by the addition of an extra hydronium ion) to ammonium (NH4), which is non-toxic to fish.

The ACIDITY is what is burning the flesh off of those critters. I would DEFINITELY suggest you do what the others have said (I especially agree with the guy/gal that said to scrap everything and start over).

I, too, have NO idea how it got this far, but, in the future, I would also suggest the addition of something like Seachem's Neutral regulator (to neutralize your chlorine, chloramines, and ammonias AND provide some sort of phosphate buffer system, albeit a small one).

JT

 

[xrenegadex]

ok......another thing i didn't tell you is that i have 2 tanks.....the same think happened in both. (10 gal. and 20 gal.) The 10 gal had three gold fish and a cray fish. The cray fish survived. I am taking your advice and starting over. The 10 gal had all the water removed and fresh put back in. I put stuff in to eliminate the clorine and other items. I let the filter run through it for about 4 hours then used a 5 in 1 test strip.

these are the results

Nitrate- aprox. 60 ppm.
Nitrite- 0 ppm
Total hardness- aprox 75 (GH) ppm
Total Alkalinity- 80 (KH) ppm
pH level- chart only when to 6.2 and it's below that. Rough guess would be about 5.5

by my understanding of the above, it doesn't add up right. Since i changed all the water....and cleaned the filter (filter and cartrage)

 

[xrenegadex]

one thing i noticed on the goldfish that died was that one of them had a blood red spot on the outside if his gill (kinda looked like a small sore or something)

 

[ioNightShade]

Um, what is wrong with your water?

Can you test your water WITHOUT treating it (straight from the tap) and post the results?

How old are your strips? Can you go out and buy another brand and type (liquid kind...they're slightly more accurate)?

Does your water have a metallic or sour taste to it? Any blue or green stains around your sink/bathtubs?

Part of me is slightly more worried about YOU than your fish. Don't be TOO scared (some foods you eat limes, lemons, etc. have a lower pH), but I don't think drinking water around pH 5.5 is GREAT for your health.

What are you using to treat your water? Actually...forget that for now.

Awaiting your non-treated water results,

JT

 

[xrenegadex]

Nitrate- aprox. 0 ppm.
Nitrite- 0 ppm
Total hardness- aprox 25 (GH) ppm
Total Alkalinity- 0 (KH) ppm
pH level- aprox. 6.4

strait out of a clean cup. Untreated. so is it good or bad

 

[xrenegadex]

this is water from the tank after 12 hours

Nitrate- aprox. 40 ppm.
Nitrite- 0 ppm
Total hardness- aprox 50 (GH) ppm
Total Alkalinity- 0 (KH) ppm
pH level- aprox. 5.8

i have 10 baby guppies (all under an inch in length, including the tail), the before mentioned neon, and 2 coridoris catfish ( appear to be babies)...i added the catfish and the neon to the tank for now. As i do know that your to put fish in the tanks slowly.....but i just don't know how slowly...

 

[xrenegadex]

although i am a little confused about the chemicals and the cycle of a tank, correct me if i'm wrong....but why is there nitrate in the water.....i thought you need ammonia first, which gets turned into it....i'm so confused

 

[ioNightShade]

Please do not think I've abandoned ya. I'm still keeping up with this thread. It's just that I don't know how to help you anymore. You're going to have to get help from one of the guys who actually knows something (I'm a newbie myself).

Consider this a "bump."

JT

 

[xrenegadex]

well....the base of all understanding comes from the statement, "I don't know.'

thx for the bump