0morrokh

Sorry, I hadn't seen before that you hadn't tested your water. Always the best first thing to do. If possible try to get a liquid kit. Those are cheaper in the long run anyway.

Are you positive the nitrite test says 10, not .10? I'm questioning the accuracy of that test...just because I don't see how they could possibly get that high. Although, it's possible they're in your water source. Once you get a liquid kit I'd retest your tank and also test your water. If your nitrites truely were 10 then for sure that's why your fish are dying.

Keep up the daily water changes and hopefully your last fish will make it.

mlinden84

You could also take the water in to a fish store and have them test it for you if you want to know what it is right now without having to buy the liquid test right way.
Although... I wouldn't COMPLETELY trust their results ... but you could compare them to what your results were.

HatchetHaven

Again, I suspect her fish are 'surviving' with the ammonia and toxins that must be in her system... That's why they are still alive - they have adapted, even though they hate it.

Your right about the tank. Keep the algae eater in the tank! And get the API as soon as possible.

I have heard of Nitrates in high levels in tap water in my area - although I have almost none coming out of my tap.

The pet shop will likely say "Oh, your pH is off, buy this product to deal with it" which will just kill more fish, because fish don't like changes. They probably won't tell you about the ammonia and that, I've heard of pet stores telling them the water is fine whilst it is as toxic as a bucket full of... toxin!

dancerhas

I tested our tap water and it showed negative for chlorine, Nitrate, and Nitrite. Not too surprising considering we live in the mountains with no public water or contaminant sources.

Our little algae eater is still alive, and has really perked up since we started changing 50% per day.

We've begun keeping a log of our test results. They seem promising so far, here's the results of the last 3 days (and yes, it definitely says 10.0 ppm):

-------PH Ammonia Nitrite Nitrate Chlorine
Day 1: 7.5---0------10----20-----0
Day 2: 7.2---0-------8----15-----0
Day 3: 7.2---0-------5----10-----0


I intend to invest in the API master kit as soon as is financially prudent. Thank you all for your advice.

0morrokh

Looks like you're on your way to being cycled. I'm not sure what to think of that pH drop though. Was that a typo?

dancerhas

the PH inconsistency was probably just due to the light I was viewing the test under. All the tests after that one were viewed under the exact same lighting.

Here's our 8 day results:

Water Temp.-PH---Ammonia---Nitrite----Nitrate----Chlorine
Day 1--78 ---7.5 ---0 ---------10 ---------20 ---------0
Day 2-- 82 ---7.2 ---0 ---------8 ---------15 ---------0
Day 3 --78 ---7.2 ---0 ---------5 ---------10 ---------0
Day 4 --80 ---7.2 ---0 ---------4 ---------10 ---------0
Day 5 --78 ---7.2 ---0 ---------4 ---------10 ---------0
Day 6 --78 ---7.2 ---0 ---------1 ---------7 ---------0
Day 7 --80 ---7.2 ---0 ---------1 ---------4 ---------0
Day 8 --78 ---7.2 ---0 ---------1 ---------2 ---------0

0morrokh

Looks like you're almost finished cycling. The temp fluctuation is a bit strange though, and could be stressful to your fish. What brand of heater are you using? And did you check the temp at the same time of day each time?