Dying Tank

[Jacob Da Jew]

hey everyone,

its been a while since I posted. Not much to report, my betta Ceasar is doing great.

The playgroup that I send my daughter to has a 20 gallon tank that the fish keep dying. I conducted a API water test, just on the ammonia (didnt have time for others ) and it was very very high, maybe 1.5 ppm.

Currently, she has a large black catfish and 2 little neon tetras (i think).

Whats my best plan of action?

Should I place the 3 fish in another tank, transfer some mature filter and preform freq water changes? I have another tank 10 g there that has 6 black tetras and 2 danios in it, migth get crowded if i add them to it, even temporarly.

Shoudl i just add mature filter and freq water changes?

Please advise.

Thanks!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

if you have another tank running well then you should add some media to the troubled tank

You need to effectivley treat the tank now as if it is cycling, so daily water changes and testing to keep ammonia and nitrite below 0.25ppm at all times.

 

[Jacob Da Jew]

if you have another tank running well then you should add some media to the troubled tank

You need to effectivley treat the tank now as if it is cycling, so daily water changes and testing to keep ammonia and nitrite below 0.25ppm at all times.

OK, Thanks!

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, agree with MW, you're in a difficult place, needing to do frequent water changes on the 20g even though it is not in your home - doing water changes somewhere else has a very time consuming feel to it. But there you have it - getting ammonia and nitrite down between zero & 0.25ppm is really the only choice I think. Will you have a python to help the water changes?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Jacob Da Jew]

Yes, agree with MW, you're in a difficult place, needing to do frequent water changes on the 20g even though it is not in your home - doing water changes somewhere else has a very time consuming feel to it. But there you have it - getting ammonia and nitrite down between zero & 0.25ppm is really the only choice I think. Will you have a python to help the water changes?

~~waterdrop~~

if you mean a gravel cac, I do. Should I remove thte fish, would that speed up things or just leave em?

 

[OldMan47]

Fish in or out won't matter as long as you treat the water with dechlorinator before it goes into the tank. To get the most response from water changes, 2 50% water changes will do a lot more than 5 20% changes. I would be thinking along the lines of 2 of the 50% changes maybe an hour or two apart to get the 1.5ppm under 0.25 more quickly.