My Boys Fish Are Dying

[mell433]

Okay, that sounds good we will do that. Umm is there a special type of food that they eat or is it the same as our tropical fish?

 

[LyraGuppi]

They'll usually catch any spare food that goes to the bottom, or you can buy sinking food for them.

 

[Byron]

Okay, that sounds good we will do that. Umm is there a special type of food that they eat or is it the same as our tropical fish?

 
They will not survive on flake food that happens to fall to the substrate.  They must have sinking foods as these have the nutritional requirements met.  There are several available, and I prefer a variety (I use three, alternating each day).  Shrimp pellets are relished by all corys, Omega One is a good brand.  I also use the Omega One Veggie Rounds.  Mine also really like the Nutrafin sinking tabs.  Frozen bloodworms are a nice treat but should only be fed once a week as they are high in fat.  The New Life Spectrum pellet foods will sink, and these are good.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I'd suggest sinking pellets for them. Hakari makes a very good sinking mini pellet for cories. They are scavengers, and require meaty foods, not algae pellets. They are not a 'clean up crew'.

 

[mell433]

Hello agian, uhm the two juli cory fish that we got one of them died and i was wondering ,if the live one should be left alone in the quary tank or put in with the other fish?

 

[attibones]

Do not introduce the cory yet. Do a large water change in the QT. Really it would be less stressful for you if you could return the cory, because you need to monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels of the QT as well as the display tank. Can you do a water test on the QT before you do a water change? And do you know if the store's pH varies from your own? Improper acclimation can kill a fish too.

 

[mell433]

Good morning, just checking give ya an update. So i have still been changing water everyday because of the ammonia, which has been steady @ .25 ppm. I cant seem to keep it @ zero. Im doing anywhere from a 50% - 75% water change every morning after testing. Is there something Im doing wrong, and how long does it usually take for a tank to cycle? Ive noticed the plants and coral are starting to grow fuzzies on it. This morning however one of our guppies, seems to b sitting @ the bottom of the tank and taking big breaths, what now? Our cory seems to b doing fine by himself since his friend past away, we still have him qt'd. He's more active in the last couple of days.

 

[Akasha72]

have you done a water test on the tap water? It's not the first time I've heard of ammonia being in the tap water in countries outside of the U.K

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Depending on the dechlorinators you are using, you can also get a false reading at 0.25ppm. So, I'd suggest letting the ammonia go a bit and see if it's actually rising or not. 0.25 ppm at your temp and pH isn't really much free ammonia, it's mostly ammonium, if it's even there.

 

[mell433]

We are using spring water. Not our tap water I havent found our test yet. So im not sure if the water is good. I dont think so however. Mr.eaglesaquarium what did u mean about the ammonia and the ammonium?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Hi mell.

Yeah, I suppose that is confusing. "Ammonia" comes in two forms. 1 - 'Free ammonia' which is chemically NH3, and is the highly toxic form. 2 - 'Ammonium' which is chemically an ion NH4, this isn't as big a concern for the fish.



Ammonia & ammonium will be present in the tank whenever you have the fish... they release it through respiration through their gills constantly. There is a set ratio for how much is in each form, and the ratio is set by the salinity (nil in your case), temperature and pH. The lower the pH the more ammonium and the less ammonia... so its a safer way for the cycle to proceed. The higher the pH the more ammonia and it becomes more dangerous to the fish... of course, the interesting part is that the bacteria generally reproduce better at those higher pHs, and less so at the lower pHs.


Anyway, there is a calculator you can use to determine what your value for free ammonia actually is, as you test kit actually tests for BOTH forms, not one or the other. http/www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/FreeAmmonia.php


You can use this link to see where the toxicity levels are for your fish, in general.
http/www.thekrib.com/Chemistry/ammonia-toxicity.html

Ultimately, the levels you have and the temp, your fish are 'safe' at the ammonia level you are reading, with your pH and temp.
The problems are the levels from before have taken their toll... But, I don't believe you are still getting a true ammonia reading. Be sure to take your reading in natural light.


Let the tank sit for two days and test. If you get the same reading, then its likely it is just how you are interpreting the color. Then, begin to monitor for nitrite, as that is the next big concern.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

BTW...

Please feel free to call me either "EA", "Eagles", or just "JD"...

eaglesaquarium is far too formal for me!

 

[mell433]

Good morning once again, according to the calculator u linked us. The NH3+NH4 is .5 ppm and the NH3 is @ .0067 ppm. So now what is this telling me? Lol

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Good morning once again, according to the calculator u linked us. The NH3+NH4 is .5 ppm and the NH3 is @ .0067 ppm. So now what is this telling me? Lol

 
 
Two things:
 
1 - Its telling you that the ammonia levels are indeed increasing at roughly 0.25ppm daily.  So, its not an anomaly of a false reading.  Which means that your cycle is not completed phase 1 (converting ammonia to nitrite) yet.
 
2 - It also is telling you that the amount of ammonia that is present, while certainly not ideal, is actually not at a toxic level for the time being.
 
 
 
Having allowed the tank to sit for an extra day, have you tested the nitrite?  If you see nitrite showing up, that's a good sign... as it indicates that phase 1 is close to finishing and that phase 2 (nitrite conversion to nitrate) is going to start to ramp up soon.  
 
 
I'd give this one more day at this level, and then do a big water change if the ammonia climbs up again tomorrow.  If it stays at that level or even drops, then just keep an eye on the nitrite.  Nitrite can be dealt with using salt, rather than water changes.  BUT, it cannot be done with salt if you have cories (or other similar scaleless fish) as they don't tolerate the salt.  In that case, water changes would be the best solution.
 
 
 
In a fish-in cycle, you want the ammonia to get to as high a level as possible (as this will promote bacterial growth) while having it low enough as to keep the fish safe.  This is a delicate balance (and generally an advanced process, which is why we always encourage fishless cycles... where you can just worry about the bacterial needs and forget about fish).  Letting the ammonia rise to where it is currently, while it may be a bit unnerving, is actually safe for the fish at this level, and you can encourage the bacteria to grow a bit with the slightly higher ammonia levels.

 

[mell433]

K guys, i think we have achieved the ending of phase one and the beginning of phase two! Yay! Man u people have been such a blessing of help, thank you!!!

The reason I believe we have reached phase two is because. I did as was suggested. On Sunday we did a big water change and cleaning of the tank. We left it for two days , now this morning i did the testing and here are the results; ammonina -.25ppm, nitrite - .25 ppm and the nitrate is 5. ppm.
As we have never seen nitrite or nitrate in the results before Im taking this a sign of a cycling. K so whats next? Im am ready and listening!
Thank you again and have a great day!!