Is My Cycle Stalled? Ammonia Never Goes Below 1 Ppm
- Thread starter Stormer
- Start date
The April FOTM Contest Poll is open!
🏆 Click to vote! 🏆
I think you can also feel very confident in the bacteria being able to handle the bioload.
I'm sure this for a different forum but I got my fish on Friday and all was great. Then on Sunday I checked and my Albino Glowlight tetras were all there and then 4 hours later one is missing. Still haven't found it. Looked all over the tank and no fish so I have no clue. Then today I came home from my lunch hour and one of my green Moscow guppies was dead. It was acting fine at 7:45 this morning, swimming and staying with the other 2 and eating. I checked my water conditions on Saturday, Sunday and again just a few minutes ago and it hasn't changed:
0 ammonia
0 nitrite
5-10 nitrate
I only have a Petco in the town I live in and one Mom/Pop store but the Mom/Pop store I don't go to because the owner is not a nice person and is rude to his customers. I observed the remaining tetras and they are all swimming happily and eating and so are my remaining 2 guppies. Just a little bummed!!
0 ammonia
0 nitrite
5-10 nitrate
I only have a Petco in the town I live in and one Mom/Pop store but the Mom/Pop store I don't go to because the owner is not a nice person and is rude to his customers. I observed the remaining tetras and they are all swimming happily and eating and so are my remaining 2 guppies. Just a little bummed!!
Completely understandable to be upset. A lot of stress is involved in moving fish from a store tank to a home aquarium, so it could very easily be related to that. It is clearly not related to your cycle.
Having few LFS options makes it a challenge, because you need as many choices as possible to locate the healthiest fish. My local Petco is not a store that I trust for livestock, but my local Petsmarts are very good. Elsewhere around the country, it could be very different. Each store needs to be evaluated on its own merit.
Having few LFS options makes it a challenge, because you need as many choices as possible to locate the healthiest fish. My local Petco is not a store that I trust for livestock, but my local Petsmarts are very good. Elsewhere around the country, it could be very different. Each store needs to be evaluated on its own merit.
TwoTankAmin
Fish Connoisseur
I learned a long time ago that one is gambling big time when buying fish from box stores be they full scale department type stores or pet store chains.
We are all wired to want to pay less for things and to seek out bargains. This does not apply to buying living things. The problem is magnified when it comes to fish. It is difficult to know the condition of many fish when we get them. If they have no clear external symptoms, if they seem to be doing OK in the store tank we tend to buy. Often problems get chalked up to store tanks being over crowded.
Most stores seek to turn over fish as quickly as possible. They also dislike having to feed them. So they have fish that have journeyed from the wild or from fish farms, often stopping along the way briefly at a wholesaler. The fish are normally starved for a day or two prior to shipping each time as well. So by the tie they reach the store they have been stressed and barely fed. And then the come home into our tanks for one last shot at being stressed. Is it any surprise that many stores are selling fish that may not last?
I have a bit of experience with the sales side of things as I am able to buy some at wholesale or import prices. I know what store markups look like. The difference between what the fish cost when they first arrive in country vs what they ultimately sell for is 3oo - 500% in most cases. This is especially true for the least expensive fish. Bear in mind that those 6 tetras you get are normally sold in a box lot when they first enter the system. That means the first buyer may be receiving from 150 to 300 or 400 fish small corys or rasboras etc. Big sellers get them by the 1,000s.
I buy almost no fish from brick and mortar stores and haven't for a long time. I deal with smaller scale importers whom I know will quarantine fish and medicate them as needed. I buy from breeders when possible too. I am fortunate in that I am a fish nut with 15- 20 tanks running for over a dozen years and I learned who some of the good sellers are. For the average hobbyist the choices are often limited by what is available in their area or whom they know in the hobby. If you have a decent LFS (not LPS) within range, if their fish are healthy and their staff experienced in keeping fish, most people are better off paying them more money and ending up with fish that start off in good shape. That way when they go into appropriate new homes they should do well.
In the end, one live healthy fish has to be worth at least three dead ones.
We are all wired to want to pay less for things and to seek out bargains. This does not apply to buying living things. The problem is magnified when it comes to fish. It is difficult to know the condition of many fish when we get them. If they have no clear external symptoms, if they seem to be doing OK in the store tank we tend to buy. Often problems get chalked up to store tanks being over crowded.
Most stores seek to turn over fish as quickly as possible. They also dislike having to feed them. So they have fish that have journeyed from the wild or from fish farms, often stopping along the way briefly at a wholesaler. The fish are normally starved for a day or two prior to shipping each time as well. So by the tie they reach the store they have been stressed and barely fed. And then the come home into our tanks for one last shot at being stressed. Is it any surprise that many stores are selling fish that may not last?
I have a bit of experience with the sales side of things as I am able to buy some at wholesale or import prices. I know what store markups look like. The difference between what the fish cost when they first arrive in country vs what they ultimately sell for is 3oo - 500% in most cases. This is especially true for the least expensive fish. Bear in mind that those 6 tetras you get are normally sold in a box lot when they first enter the system. That means the first buyer may be receiving from 150 to 300 or 400 fish small corys or rasboras etc. Big sellers get them by the 1,000s.
I buy almost no fish from brick and mortar stores and haven't for a long time. I deal with smaller scale importers whom I know will quarantine fish and medicate them as needed. I buy from breeders when possible too. I am fortunate in that I am a fish nut with 15- 20 tanks running for over a dozen years and I learned who some of the good sellers are. For the average hobbyist the choices are often limited by what is available in their area or whom they know in the hobby. If you have a decent LFS (not LPS) within range, if their fish are healthy and their staff experienced in keeping fish, most people are better off paying them more money and ending up with fish that start off in good shape. That way when they go into appropriate new homes they should do well.
In the end, one live healthy fish has to be worth at least three dead ones.
Thanks for letting me know it wasn't my fault. I did take the one fish back to Petco that died (still can't find the tetra who came up missing) and they gave me my money back. I did do a 25% water change yesterday because I don't know what happened to the tetra and with the other one dead in the tank (for how long I don't know) I thought it would be best to do a small water change. Parameters of the tank are still 0 for ammonia and nitrite and nitrate was between 5-10 ppm.
All of the remaining fish are happy and eating. If I have even more bad luck I guess I will make a trip to the local fish place and hope the owner is not there because he is one rude person!!
All of the remaining fish are happy and eating. If I have even more bad luck I guess I will make a trip to the local fish place and hope the owner is not there because he is one rude person!!
Most reactions
-
262 -
242 -
151 -
141 -
141 -
136 -
109 -
108 -
94 -
91 -
85 -
85 -
78 -
71 -
62
