How Do I Make Sure Is Safe To Return Fish To The Aquarium?

FishForums.net Pet of the Month
🐶 POTM Poll is Open! 🦎 Click here to Vote! 🐰

jerseybabi609

New Member
Joined
Apr 16, 2013
Messages
10
Reaction score
0
Location
Florida
Hi, recently in attemp to cycle a new tank i had mass die off. Initially i had 4 guppies that died within a day and half. From appearance it looked like it could have been the new tank syndrome. Then my lfs recomended putting 3 or 4 glowlites in there which i already have 7 in my other 10 gallon thats been up and running for couple if months now. I added 7 real plants and 4 glowlites to the new tank. About 2 days later my fish developed white film on their body and extreme fin/tail rot and all died one at a time over the next 3 days. I tested the water and so did my lfs and we both came up with fine water parameters. Lfs believed that it was caused by a bacterial infection due to temperture changes since this tank is on my patio. I do have a fan on a timer and a heater at night. What i did notice as well is that my amazon swords have small holes on the leaves with brown spots around them. And my other plants are brital as well. I wonder if the plants may have harmful parasites or was it just the bacteria that killed my fish? Any how my question now is what do i do to ensure the tank is bactefia/parasites free before i attemp to put anyone else in there? The water has normal parameters/safe parameters as far as...no2, no3, and ph.
 
I don't know of a parasite that likes both plants and fish - brown spots on leaves is often diatoms, which are often associated with ammonia in a new tank. Fish in the wild are also subjected to temperature fluctuations, since rivers and lakes don't have thermostatically controlled heaters in them - in fairness, in a small tank, the fluctuations may be greater than in the wild, but it's still a point worth making.
 
In terms of your water tests, your idea of safe, and the LFS' idea of safe, and my idea of safe could all be completely different.
 
My idea of safe is 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrite, and anywhere from 5-60ish ppm nitrate. I notice you don't say NH3 in your list of what's normal at the end of your post - do you not have an ammonia test? Does this mean you are using paper tests (which I have an incredibly low opinion of)?
 
What do your tests actually say in numbers for NH3, NO2, NO3?
 
The reason I say this is that usually when fish die within a few days of a tank being set up, it's down to ammonia poisoning.
 
Yes i use api test strips and my lfs has a luquid test. From what i remember the test numbers for amonia was 0, nitrite was 20, my ph looked like 6.5/7 but lfs said it was 7.5 kh was 40 and gh 120.
 
my test only covered no2 no3 ph kh and gh. I didnt realize i didnt test for nh3 and not sure as far as the store they just said the water was fine.
 
Hopefully it's nitrate that was 20, not nitrite!! I would strongly suggest that you invest in a set of liquid tests yourself, as the paper things are pretty rubbish.
 
If you can see from your own test that ammonia and nitrite are 0, then it's safe to put fish back in. I'm pretty convinced it was ammonia poisoning to be honest.
 
Did you mean to say that your NitrAte was 20? NitrIte at 20 would be toxic! Oh, I just see TLM has covered that!
 
Do you have anything in your tank that is not made for aquariums? I've seen people place things in an aquarium and these things "bleeding" toxic substances into the water.
 
Yes sorry i get confused with nitrite/nitrate all sounds the same but yes its nitrate no3 was 20 and no2 was 0. And yes i will be getting a liquid master test next pay check. As far as the tank i have slate rock in there and fish decorations (skull and a treasure chest bubble stone) 7 plants i did clean the tank with api safe and easy as i got this tank for free when i bought my 60 gallon locally. It had calcium build up prior to cleaning but that was probably close to two months ago.
 

Most reactions

trending

Staff online

Back
Top