Help Everything Dieing O_O

[edwardk]

i have a 37 gallon hexagon tank. which up until yesterday had. 2 lemon tetras a upside down catfish. a balloon mollie and a draw groumie. well woke up today and my 2 lemon tetras are dead and so is the groumie. and my cat fish looks sickly lost most of his color. i tested the water and had a ph of 7.4. so i did a 50% water change changed out the new filter and treated the water. hoping it would help. my ph lvl is usually right around 4.5-5.6. any other suggestions that can help ?

 

[AmazonFTW]

What are the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels? Did you cycle the tank?

 

[KittyKat]

Do you lower the pH in any artificial way?

Ammonia? Nitrite? Nitrate? KH (carbonate hardness)? Temperature readings? How long has the tank been set up for? Any new equipment or stock, added when? How do you clean the filter media? How do you treat new water? Tap water or rainwater?

 

[AmazonFTW]

Oh.. Mollies do a lot better in higher pH and harder water, 4.5 - 5.6 is also very wide and wouldn't suit them. I think gouramies are adaptable but that low seems very extreme to me. Lemon Tetras should be kept in groups of 6+.

Your pH may have raised due to a rock or coral sand substrate - if that's what you use. I keep my fish in 7.4 and they're fine, but did it all of a sudden rise or slowly rise?

AmazonFTW

 

[micko]

You say you changed the filter, did you add established media from your old filter in the new one?

 

[edwardk]

it was a sudden rise. ill have to do another water test with all the levels. i use treated tap water. and the tank has been fully established for about 4+ years now. i did introduce the groumie about a week ago and he died 2 days later. could it have just been the bad stock that is causing all this. i try not to clean the filter to much i do rinse it out every once in a while. but it is a bio wheel so for the most part i leave it be. the filter is designed for a 50-80 gallon tank. it is a penguine

 

[bristlenoseitplecoman]

your ph level is way too low for any tank. it is acidic. if you could have caught it earlier the rise of ph could have been slowed. I think it is that your tank has little alkanity. this would cause your tanks ph to become shifty and unstable. Check with your local pet store to add some alkanity to your water.

 

[edwardk]

i will give it a shot thanks........Ok i just got back from my lfs and have the test results

nitrate lvl is 40 ppm

nitrite 0 ppm

alkalinity 180 ppm to 300 pmm

p.h is now 8.0 after 50% water change. will check the water again tomorrow and hope for the best :\

 

[KittyKat]

your ph level is way too low for any tank. it is acidic. if you could have caught it earlier the rise of ph could have been slowed. I think it is that your tank has little alkanity. this would cause your tanks ph to become shifty and unstable. Check with your local pet store to add some alkanity to your water.

Not too low for any tank, but definitely too low for mollies and a generic community. Adding any buffers now would only make the problem worse, unless the buffers were to keep the pH low or at neutral, but then they would still be used up and the problem would keep happening.

p.h is now 8.0 after 50% water change. will check the water again tomorrow and hope for the best :\

What's your tap water pH after it has stood for 24 hours in a clean and rinsed glass?

For the moment, I think the best option may be to add something like new bogwood to the tank to just try and stabilise the pH at a value which is not too high, especially given that the fish were used to an unusually low one.

 

[AmazonFTW]

If it was a Dwarf Gourami it could be weakness for that, they've been inbred so much that their immune system is now almost non-existant. Lemon Tetras and (I think) upsidedown catfish should be kept in a max pH of 7.4 with lower being prefered (around 6.8).

Also - what's the ammonia at, ammonia is probably the worst one for killing fish.

AmazonFTW

 

[bullit]

you need to get a test kit. Your nitrate is too high and you need an ammonia reading.

 

[edwardk]

Yes i had one went out and bought it last night. Tested the water brought the nitrates in check and when i woke up this morning the last of the fish we re dead the guy at my lfs thinks it was a fungus that came in on the drawf groumie. He suggested that i run some vineger threw the tank then do a 100% water change then re cycle the tank on a fishless cycle. Thanks for all your help guys

 

[KittyKat]

It would be a wise thing to do, although I'm not sure how effective vinegar will be. Do you really want to fishless cycle from scratch? See if the same guy at the LFS will give you some media to get you started quicker? Otherwise, see if there is anyone on the donors list, who is in your area.