Toxic Dover
New Member
Hey guys -
Admittedly, this post is probably a bit late, but my schedule has kept me going six different ways at any given time over the past couple of weeks. Anyway, about a week and a half ago or so, I noticed one of my four panda cories kinda keeping to himself. A few days later, I noticed that his once pink/skin-colored body had began to grow darker. A couple days later, I came home and he was dead on the sand in the tank. I do a 40%~ water change a day or so later, then in a few more days I notice another cory following the same suit - body darkening up, but this one wasn't withdrawing from the other two. A couple days later, he was dead. This was Friday of this past week. I did another water change on Saturday of the same volume, and on Sunday I planned to add some more cories to replace the lost ones and to up the numbers a bit more. However, since my LFS was out of the pandas, I decided to get two small (nickle sized) angelfish. I was careful to acclimate them both properly, and for the past week they've both been happy and acting as normal. I come home from work today and find one of them dead, stuck to the filter intake tube in the tank. After the first cory died I tested the water and all parameters looked fine, so I figured it was possibly a bad batch of cories. After the second one died, I did some research on their symptoms and turned up little to nothing. Today after I took the dead angelfish out, I ran some water tests and was kinda shocked...
pH: 7.0~
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0.25 ppm (!)
Nitrate: 30~ ppm
Temperature: Between 78.5 and 80, depending on day and night
I cycled this tank for a month and a half, fishless, with ammonia, and began to add fish probably 2.5 months ago, after my bacteria was processing 5 or so ppm of ammonia and nitrites in 12 hours or less. My current stock is:
(10) Cherry Barbs (Added 5 and 5 more two weeks later)
(2) Panda Cories (Added 4, two weeks after the last 5 Cherry barbs, with a stocking goal total of 8-10)
(1) Angel (Added 2, two weeks after the 4 Panda Cories (5 days ago); one died today)
The tank is a 29 gallon, soon to be upped to a 75 within the next month or so. The current filter is a Whisper 20-40, which after recently doing some research on filters (in plans for the 75 gallon) probably is inadequate for this tank, but considering all the fish are still juveniles, maybe not?
The barbs, two remaining cories and one remaining angel are all acting and seem to be doing just fine. Honestly, I have no idea why my nitrites are showing something other than zero now. Did I add too many fish too quickly? Is 0.25ppm of nitrite enough to kill a small angelfish? And does anybody have any clue what may have happened to my two cories?
Sorry for the long and possibly rambling post, but I'm just kind of confused here, and want to make sure the rest of my fish don't fall ill. Any help is greatly appreciated, and if I left out any vital information (entirely possible), please ask! Thanks guys!
Admittedly, this post is probably a bit late, but my schedule has kept me going six different ways at any given time over the past couple of weeks. Anyway, about a week and a half ago or so, I noticed one of my four panda cories kinda keeping to himself. A few days later, I noticed that his once pink/skin-colored body had began to grow darker. A couple days later, I came home and he was dead on the sand in the tank. I do a 40%~ water change a day or so later, then in a few more days I notice another cory following the same suit - body darkening up, but this one wasn't withdrawing from the other two. A couple days later, he was dead. This was Friday of this past week. I did another water change on Saturday of the same volume, and on Sunday I planned to add some more cories to replace the lost ones and to up the numbers a bit more. However, since my LFS was out of the pandas, I decided to get two small (nickle sized) angelfish. I was careful to acclimate them both properly, and for the past week they've both been happy and acting as normal. I come home from work today and find one of them dead, stuck to the filter intake tube in the tank. After the first cory died I tested the water and all parameters looked fine, so I figured it was possibly a bad batch of cories. After the second one died, I did some research on their symptoms and turned up little to nothing. Today after I took the dead angelfish out, I ran some water tests and was kinda shocked...
pH: 7.0~
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0.25 ppm (!)
Nitrate: 30~ ppm
Temperature: Between 78.5 and 80, depending on day and night
I cycled this tank for a month and a half, fishless, with ammonia, and began to add fish probably 2.5 months ago, after my bacteria was processing 5 or so ppm of ammonia and nitrites in 12 hours or less. My current stock is:
(10) Cherry Barbs (Added 5 and 5 more two weeks later)
(2) Panda Cories (Added 4, two weeks after the last 5 Cherry barbs, with a stocking goal total of 8-10)
(1) Angel (Added 2, two weeks after the 4 Panda Cories (5 days ago); one died today)
The tank is a 29 gallon, soon to be upped to a 75 within the next month or so. The current filter is a Whisper 20-40, which after recently doing some research on filters (in plans for the 75 gallon) probably is inadequate for this tank, but considering all the fish are still juveniles, maybe not?
The barbs, two remaining cories and one remaining angel are all acting and seem to be doing just fine. Honestly, I have no idea why my nitrites are showing something other than zero now. Did I add too many fish too quickly? Is 0.25ppm of nitrite enough to kill a small angelfish? And does anybody have any clue what may have happened to my two cories?
Sorry for the long and possibly rambling post, but I'm just kind of confused here, and want to make sure the rest of my fish don't fall ill. Any help is greatly appreciated, and if I left out any vital information (entirely possible), please ask! Thanks guys!
