Hi all, I have a two part question. In order to keep clarification requests low I'll be as detailed as possible.
I have had two glo-fish danio deaths in the last week (I'd rather not hear opinions on these fish, I know they are controversial). For a couple of months I've kept a 36 gallon bowfront tank (Penguin BioWheel 200 filter, suitable heating element) containing four five-band barbs, and four of these danios plus a clown pleco. The barbs all contracted ich which I treated via salt and heat for a week and a half which cleared it up nicely. After several weeks so my biofilter could adjust, I added two more danios. After about a week and a half one new danio begin acting sluggishly and hiding out in one corner of the aquarium. After several days he surfaced for 1/2 a day and finally died. Several days later this same phenomenon occurred with one of my old danios. Now I have a third danio in the initial stages of the described behavior. I can't for the life of me figure out what is going on. Other than the sluggish behavior there is no other symptoms such as bloat or signs of bacterial or fungal infection. Oh and just FYI, I established my tank in Feb with a fishless cycle.
I change the water 5-10 gals every week making sure to vacuum debris from the sand substrate. My water parameters are stable from week to week and are as follows:
pH = 8.2 (pet store pH was 8.0 so pH shock is unlikely)
ammonia = 0
nitrite = 0
nitrate = 20-40 (crappy API tester so hard to tell. seems closer to the 20 value)
KH = 8 drops
GH = 15 drops
temp = 79 degs
I feed Tetracolor in the mornings and HBH 8 veggie in the evenings. I keep my light on from 3-10 pm
Anyone have a clue as to the deaths? Could low O2 levels be the prob? Seems unlikely since my tank doesn't have that high of a bioload.
Also my second question regards keeping nitrates low. I'd prefer my nitrates be between 5-10 but this is proving hard even with regular water changes. My tap water shows 0 nitrates. Once I treat with API Tap Water Conditioner (1mL/5 gals to remove chloramines). Once I do this my nitrates climb to around 10, most likely from ammonia release from chloramine destruction. With this high of nitrate levels I'll never get my tank levels down without a large water change (and thus disturbing my bacterial ecosystem and risking killing my fish).
I've gone to the local store and picked up a gallon of distilled water, purified drinking water (supplemented with carbonates, etc) and spring water. The purified drinking water has 0 nitrates and a pH of 7.2. The spring water has a pH of 6.4 and high nitrates. The distilled water had pH of 6.4 and I never checked the nitrates. Anyway I can't really change with these water sources for risk of pH shock to my aquarium. anyone have any creative advice on how I can lower my nitrates from my treated tap water before I add it to my tank?
Sorry for the length but I thought it would be easier to lay it all out now rather than have to reply.
I have had two glo-fish danio deaths in the last week (I'd rather not hear opinions on these fish, I know they are controversial). For a couple of months I've kept a 36 gallon bowfront tank (Penguin BioWheel 200 filter, suitable heating element) containing four five-band barbs, and four of these danios plus a clown pleco. The barbs all contracted ich which I treated via salt and heat for a week and a half which cleared it up nicely. After several weeks so my biofilter could adjust, I added two more danios. After about a week and a half one new danio begin acting sluggishly and hiding out in one corner of the aquarium. After several days he surfaced for 1/2 a day and finally died. Several days later this same phenomenon occurred with one of my old danios. Now I have a third danio in the initial stages of the described behavior. I can't for the life of me figure out what is going on. Other than the sluggish behavior there is no other symptoms such as bloat or signs of bacterial or fungal infection. Oh and just FYI, I established my tank in Feb with a fishless cycle.
I change the water 5-10 gals every week making sure to vacuum debris from the sand substrate. My water parameters are stable from week to week and are as follows:
pH = 8.2 (pet store pH was 8.0 so pH shock is unlikely)
ammonia = 0
nitrite = 0
nitrate = 20-40 (crappy API tester so hard to tell. seems closer to the 20 value)
KH = 8 drops
GH = 15 drops
temp = 79 degs
I feed Tetracolor in the mornings and HBH 8 veggie in the evenings. I keep my light on from 3-10 pm
Anyone have a clue as to the deaths? Could low O2 levels be the prob? Seems unlikely since my tank doesn't have that high of a bioload.
Also my second question regards keeping nitrates low. I'd prefer my nitrates be between 5-10 but this is proving hard even with regular water changes. My tap water shows 0 nitrates. Once I treat with API Tap Water Conditioner (1mL/5 gals to remove chloramines). Once I do this my nitrates climb to around 10, most likely from ammonia release from chloramine destruction. With this high of nitrate levels I'll never get my tank levels down without a large water change (and thus disturbing my bacterial ecosystem and risking killing my fish).
I've gone to the local store and picked up a gallon of distilled water, purified drinking water (supplemented with carbonates, etc) and spring water. The purified drinking water has 0 nitrates and a pH of 7.2. The spring water has a pH of 6.4 and high nitrates. The distilled water had pH of 6.4 and I never checked the nitrates. Anyway I can't really change with these water sources for risk of pH shock to my aquarium. anyone have any creative advice on how I can lower my nitrates from my treated tap water before I add it to my tank?
Sorry for the length but I thought it would be easier to lay it all out now rather than have to reply.
/www.novalek.com/kordon/amquel+/index.htm
