Newbie Here and I have a few questions!

[4drum]

Hi i'm Alicia,
I grew up having a tropical community tank. Then when my youngest wanted fish we had a tank for a few years. Then he got sick and we had to take a break.

In March we started a new tank, 20 gallon with a Fluval filter. Here's my problem. We had a ruff start, I thought I cycled my tank. But didn't do that right and loss a few fish.

Now things where going really well, all my water testings at the fish store where good finally. SO we got a few more fish. We loss two in the past three days! No signs of sickness. The black phantom tetra was doing a weird open mouth breathing yesterday morning and then he was dead last night.

I got my own testing kit, everything was good except the ph was a little high at 7.2. Everything else is normal. I've done a 25% water change and earlier this week did filter maintenance.

Any suggestions and help I would really appreciate!

 

[LyraGuppi]

Welcome to the forum! Sorry you've had a rough start, hopefully we can get everything fixed. c:
Do you have the exact test results? How did you maintain the filter?

 

[4drum]

Here are my results:
PH 7.2
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate o ppm

I rinsed the sponge, each month i rinse out one of the components in the filter. I also did my bi-weekly 25% water change with the gravel vacuum.

Now I have another guppy laying on the bottom of the tank. I can't see any sick signs. He looks healthy came up to eat, but went right back to laying in the bottom of the tank

 

[LyraGuppi]

Odd! Are you rinsing the sponge in tap water, or old tank water? Do you add water conditioner? Is the tank heated, and if so, what temperature?
Sorry for all the questions.

 

[Sege]

Hi i'm Alicia,
I grew up having a tropical community tank. Then when my youngest wanted fish we had a tank for a few years. Then he got sick and we had to take a break.

In March we started a new tank, 20 gallon with a Fluval filter. Here's my problem. We had a ruff start, I thought I cycled my tank. But didn't do that right and loss a few fish.

Now things where going really well, all my water testings at the fish store where good finally. SO we got a few more fish. We loss two in the past three days! No signs of sickness. The black phantom tetra was doing a weird open mouth breathing yesterday morning and then he was dead last night.

I got my own testing kit, everything was good except the ph was a little high at 7.2. Everything else is normal. I've done a 25% water change and earlier this week did filter maintenance.

Any suggestions and help I would really appreciate!

From what I'm reading it seems like you don't maybe have enough oxygen for your fish. You have made sure that your filter is working correctly? Another possible problem could be that parasites or harmful bacteria have gotten into the tank. This is most likely not the case but you have live plants in there correct?
I have never had the problem, so I'm not much help, but I wish you the best! Keep doing those water changes and try to lower your pH. Also, the water could be at a too high or too low temperature, so read up on what requirements your fish need there. Hope this helps.

~Sege

 

[LyraGuppi]

Be very careful with your pH, generally messing around with it can cause problems. A stable pH is more important than anything, and there is no wrong pH level.

 

[4drum]

Yes I have a heater, the temp stays between 72-74. I also have a air stone. I just rinse in tap water and yes I use water conditioner when I do water changes or filter maintenance. Should I not be rinsing in tap water? Or should I rinse in the tank?

 

[Essjay]

What are you rinsing under the tap, the air stone or the filter media? If you mean the air stone, that shouldn't cause a problem But rinsing filter media from a tank only 3 to 4 months old is not good. The bacteria live in the biofilm which won't be properly established yet and the chlorine/chloramine in the tap water won't do the bacteria any good. The filter media should be rinsed in tank water that you remove during a water change.

pH 7.2 is not that high. My tank pH is 7.5. Hardness is more important than pH when it comes to choosing fish suitable for your water. My GH is 5 German deg (90 ppm) so even with my pH I can keep fish that like softish water rather than hard water.
You should be able to find out how hard your tap water is from your water supplier's website. Make a note of the unit they use as well as the number as a lot of water companies use units we don't use in fish keeping so it may need converting.


When you said bi-weekly water changes, do you mean two a week, or one every two weeks? If it is the second, I would do a weekly water change, of more than 25%.

 

[4drum]

Okay I went to my utilities website but i can't find the hardness/softness on the water reports. I may need to call them. how will this be listed?

Also now I think I know why I lost the fish with the open mouth breathing, one of my tetras has ich.

I've been reading all the ways to treat, I want to try the heat and salt method before adding chemicals. My questions is it safe to raise the temperature for all my fish, I have guppies, glofish tetras and a mystery snail. Do I slowly raise the temperature?

 

[Essjay]

Okay I went to my utilities website but i can't find the hardness/softness on the water reports. I may need to call them. how will this be listed?

Which country are you in? If it is the UK, can you give the name of your water company and I'll see what I can find. I am not familiar with water companies outside the UK so perhaps other members can help if you are not in the UK.


I'll also leave the ich to someone else as I've only used chemicals to treat this.

 

[4drum]

I'm in the US.