schmofam

I am using Fluval Stratum if that answers your question regarding soil.

Hey All, I have a couple of questions regarding PH, KH, and GH. First, my water parameters- Coming out of my tap here in Colorado: PH ~7.6 GH ~ 150 KH ~40 From the aquarium: PH ~7.0 - 72 GH ~ 150 KH ~0 I have recently set up this newly planted 20-gallon tank. I have moved all of the plants over from my previous 10-gallon tank. It has a Fluval Stratum substrait. There are 17 fish total—10 Neon Tetras, 4 Platys, and 3 Guppies with a Narite and a Mystery Snail. I have a sponge filter and a hang-on back filter. The hang-on back is because I put crushed coral as part of the media to raise the Kh. However, perhaps because of how big the tank is or how small the filter is, I do not see any increase. Because the substrate is black I do not want to spread crushed coral and ruin the look. I do a weekly water change of ~10-15%. I believe the pH should slowly be increased from what I have read. Optimally to ~ 7.5. I do know quickly adjusting it can be harmful to the fish. My ideas: more/bigger water changes. Adding different media to the filter besides crushed coral. I do have Ph Up from API that I have been using but don't want to eternally rely on it. My questions: 1. Opinions on my target water param values? 2. Other ideas on how to raise the Kh and Ph given my constraints? Thanks!

My fridge filter does not have reverse osmosis but I just thought to test the water anyway. Not sure how exactly how it filters but it has filtered out the ammonia, I'll be using this water for water changes even though it will be a pain to slowly fill up containers. Image tap vs filtered water.

Update- I added in a new heater - https://www.aquariumcoop.com/products/aquarium-co-op-heater and adjusted the temp to 75 degrees and also started using the small sponge filter - https://www.aquariumcoop.com/products/aquarium-co-op-coarse-sponge-filter. I'm waiting for it to cycle before I take out the other filter. I'm doing weekly 25-30% water changes and have been testing the water. I use Prime to neutralize the ammonia in the water (though in the post it seems that others do not think it does this) so for my last water change I decided to use bottled water for refilling the tank. I'm hoping someone on the forum has dealt with high levels of ammonia in their tap water and how they have dealt with water changes. However... I have lost the fish born in the tank I mentioned at the beginning of this topic and lost another one last night. It was a guppy and didn't show the same signs as the platy did. Instead, it looked like it had a swim bladder issue. Maybe I have been feeding them too much. I'm planning on scaling back the amount of food. Again, my frustration level and confusion - I saw a video on youtube of this guy going into an abandoned house that he learned had some fish left in tanks with no air or filters and he saved several. At the same time, I'm working my butt off and still have fish dying. If it were up to me I would buy a new 20-gallon tank to eliminate the possibility that the old owner of the used tank poisoned the fish and I didn't clean it out well enough. A 20-gallon tank would also give me more forgiveness on any water parameters issues. However, my wife has seen my anxiety, frustration, and sadness and would kill me if I did. At this point, I am going to wait until the last fish eventually dies and then give away my snails and shut the tank down.

I would love love to have a 20-gallon. That's a big regret. If I switched now my wife would literally kill me... haha I also use Seachem Stability when doing a water change. Does anybody have thoughts on that?

Here is what I'm using. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/products/crushed-coral-1-pound-bag As far as the time frame with issues, I added this to hopefully solve what's going on but to no apparent avail.

It came back at 0.

The picture of the ammonia test is from my tap water. I'll be using one of the techniques you all have suggested to add in water that doesn't have it. That will be my next step. Thanks all for the suggestions.

I thought about this before. My hands are clean but my only thought about contamination by me is that the container I use to add water is under the bathroom sink in the cabinet. The container isn’t used for anything else but there are other things in that cabinet like a trash can and a few cleaners. The only other long shot about contamination is that I bought the tank used. She said her roommate left so she let the fish die. I don’t know what chemicals she used to clean the tank afterwards. When I got it I cleaned it with a vinegar solution and rinsed it out well. Maybe something lingering..?

I thought about this before. My hands are clean but my only thought about contamination by me is that the container I use to add water is under the bathroom sink in the cabinet. The container isn’t used for anything else but there are other things in that cabinet like a trash can and a few cleaners. The only other long shot about contamination is that I bought the tank used. She said her roommate left so she let the fish die. I don’t know what chemicals she used to clean the tank afterwards. When I got it I cleaned it with a vinegar solution and rinsed it out well. Maybe something lingering..?

@Mmiller2001 Apologies if I sounded coarse. I appreciated you and all that have responded here with suggestions.

@Mmiller2001 GH is high and KH is low and I added crushed coral for it. I tested the tap today and it's in a safe range for amonia. I also test and treat the tank water upon water changes so that there is no ammonia.

As this is a 10-gallon tank I thought it would be fine for this filter. I'm using foam for the intake and also the manufactures filter. I do notice that the foam intake filter needs to be rinsed out fairly often or the filter will not output much water thus minimal surface agitation. As I said above, I test regularly and if I see levels that are not safe or if the water level is getting too low I change between 25-50% of the water, depending on how much the levels need to be corrected.

Here is a shot with the new pump. I moved the stone to a little more central place and the pump does push out a good amount more of air. Also, I do try to keep my nitrate levels somewhat low. What is confusing is that I have heard a lot of different opinions about how dangerous certain levels of Nitrate are. For example, the fish store that I go to doesn't even test it when you bring your water in. They say that level doesn't matter.

For filtering, I'm using the Tetra Whisper 10. I have foam around the intake for extra filtering. Today I installed a new air pump with a battery backup for our trip as well. It definitely pumps more air than the old one. @nabokovfan87 - I saw that as well, you are correct about the nitrite on the test strip. In one of my attachments in a post above I show the test with the test kit.

I buy my fish from About Fish in Westminster Colorado. Review Here Currently, I have 9 fish, however, I recently had 12. One guppy I have had from the start died a couple of weeks ago, one died shortly after bringing home the new fish and one died in the last 24 hours. The ammonia and PH in the tap water are a bit high so I use Prime and Discus Buffer to bring them down. Yes, I have been using an air stone the whole time.

Yes, I test the water regularly. I use strips and I also use the testing master kit on occasion. As far as water changes, I base it on levels and also how much water has evaporated in the tank. I feed usually once a day and follow the rule that they finish it in under 2ish minutes. I have a mystery snail and drop 2-3 of the algae tablets in a day. I have started transitioning over the pellets from flake as we are going out of town and I bought an automatic feeder.

I am at my wit's end. I've been using my 10-gallon aquarium for about 8 months now. During this time I originally lost some fish and realized I needed to make some level changes but still, after all of my effort, I'm still losing fish. I added plants, and crushed coral up to correct the hardness, and plants to increase oxygen as well as keep down nitrate levels. I keep the temperature in the safe zone, around 78 degrees, and ensure the levels are correct. I also have an air stone. Yet, I still lose fish. I bought this tank used with its associated components. Since then I have spent hundreds to upgrade the tank. I found a dead platy today and another platy that was born in the tank is showing strange signs like not eating a lot and opening and shutting its mouth like it's breathing. The other platys don't show this behavior. The tank is stocked with just guppies and plays. I'm very discouraged and not sure what my next move is here. I have invested so much time, and money, and most importantly have not enjoyed the tank due to constant worry.

I've seen this before. What I did do was use the quarantine trio that I have seen on the Co-Op Youtube channel but I understand that's not optimal compared to an actual tank.

I now have my new fish, all male. Shortly after I put them in I saw that one of the platys wasn't eating. The next day he died. I'm not sure why that was. I double-checked my params they were fine. I took it back to the fish store, and they tested the water and gave me a new one. That one now (from the same tank at the store ) didn't eat this morning. I'm not sure if it's correlated. Besides this, it appears the guppy aggression is under control. I now need to focus my attention on one smaller platy harassing a bigger one. If it continues I'll take that one back and exchange it for a different one.

Quickly for clarification, I have 4 guppies and 4 platys. Here’s my plan then- I’m going to get 2 male guppies and a platy. I’m also going to get some more plants for cover and bio load. I’ll keep checking my levels and see how it goes then go from there. Thanks for the input and I’ll let you know what happens.

I can sell any babies to the fish store. I'm willing to do whatever is best to make a peaceful tank. If All males, what do you think then would be the max amount of fish for this tank?

I bought three Monte Carlos from Aquarium Co-op and they aren't doing great. It appears they are slowly dying. I have added root tabs, Easy Green, and have a full-spectrum light on at least 8 hours a day. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I do have some Mystery Snails but try to feed them well so I'm assuming they aren't going after the plants. I do see them on there occasionally but they climb on everything.

@Odd Duck@nabokovfan87, I have a 10-gallon tank, and now with 8 fish total, it feels like I shouldn't have too many more. I can return some of the fish I just bought and get the ratio of 1 male to 3 females or so for the guppies and platys if that would help things out. That way I could stick to around 8-10 fish instead of adding a lot more males. What do you think? @Torrey - Good idea on the plants. I currently had some but could add others. And per the picture, lots of glass surfing going on, especially from the original all-orange platy that was alone in the tank and didn't previously exhibit such behavior.

*Update* - All levels have been just fine. No issues. Testing every or every other day and have not had any spikes or high levels. 🙂 There is still a ton of chasing around in the tank. It's not a very peaceful place. This wasn't the case when I had two females per male. Having all males seemed to have created a kind of cage-match scenario. 🥊 Any ideas? Should I take back some of the males and get some females instead? I know they will breed, so I must be prepared to give them away to friends or sell them back to the fish store. However, I would prefer that to what looks like constant stress in the tank.