Glo fish die. Ammonia is 0.25

Glo fish die. Ammonia is 0.25. Should I do a 25 percent WC. I already had 3 guppies die on me, that was a while ago. I used ammonia blocker as well. What kind of wc should I do? Why do my fish keep dying on me? My ammonia was 0 but not today. My Ph is high. can I buy something to lower the ph levels in my tank?

 

Yes, please do a water change. Maybe 50% rather than 25%. The first step is getting that ammonia out of your tank so that the remaining fish have a possibility of survival. Is your tank cycled?

 

Yes, please do a water change. Maybe 50% rather than 25%. The first step is getting that ammonia out of your tank so that the remaining fish have a possibility of survival. Is your tank cycled?

I did a 50 wc today. My tank should be cycled by now. I had the tank for a few months now. The LFS gave me a filter that was already used to help cycle my tank. when I first bought my tank.
Here is update on my Betta Fish.

 

I did a 50 percent wc yesterday and My ammonia is still 0.25. I know the strips can be off. I need something besides the strips. Should I do another 50 wc? I have ammonia blocker. Should I add that to my tank?

 

While it isn't great, 0.25 ppm ammonia shouldn't kill fish, but I agree that doing a 50% water change can't hurt and may help.

You said your pH was high. Please define high. And is that an abnormal level, or has it always been the same?

 

While it isn't great, 0.25 ppm ammonia shouldn't kill fish, but I agree that doing a 50% water change can't hurt and may help.

You said your pH was high. Please define high. And is that an abnormal level, or has it always been the same?

My ph has always been high, like around 8.0 ..I know on Amazon they sell stuff to bring the ph down, should I buy it? or not?

 

My ph has always been high, like around 8.0 ..I know on Amazon they sell stuff to bring the ph down, should I buy it? or not?

I would strongly recommend leaving it alone. I have a wide variety of plants, fish, and invertebrates doing just fine in 8.2 pH water.

 

I would strongly recommend leaving it alone. I have a wide variety of plants, fish, and invertebrates doing just fine in 8.2 pH water.

I did another ammonia check an it's 0.5... I think it's anyways. Is that too high? I will leave my ph alone. However, do I need to do a wc? I just did a 50 percent wc yesterday
i'm doing a 40 percent wc, hopefully that helps.
I just did a 40 percent water change and my ammonia is still the same 0.5. I wounder if the test strip is off.

 

Does your tap water have ammonia it?

 

Does your tap water have ammonia it?

yes it does. 0.5 is the ammonia coming out my my tap water. Do I need to use ammonia lock for ammonia.

 

Did you notice the ammonia reading after a water change? If it was 0 and you replaced some of the water with your tap water that would explain it. Big water changes are not good in this situation.

What kind filter do you have? More biofiltration would help your tank process the ammonia from a water change faster.

Ammo lock is probably a good idea.

I don't know how well your strips work but if you are not confident a liquid test kit would be better.

 

Did you notice the ammonia reading after a water change? If it was 0 and you replaced some of the water with your tap water that would explain it. Big water changes are not good in this situation.

What kind filter do you have? More biofiltration would help your tank process the ammonia from a water change faster.

Ammo lock is probably a good idea.

I don't know how well your strips work but if you are not confident a liquid test kit would be better.

I have a whisper filter made for my 20 gallon tank. I just ordered ammo lock from amazon. What is biofiltration? I never heard of that before. I notice after the water change before and after. the water change, with the ammonia.

 

I suspect part of the problem continues to be that the tank is overstocked with incompatible species that are not quarantined before being added to the tank.

You do a good job with regular water changes so I doubt ammonia is the problem, nor your cycle unless you threw out & replaced your filter cartridges or rinsed them in tap water. If all is the same with the filter, it seems your tank remains cycled with a consistent pH. Don't worry about the master test kit or ammonia blocker or pH down so long as you're doing the regular twice+ weekly water changes you said you liked to do. It's hard to get the drops in the tiny vials with a steady hand; maybe impossible with shaky hands.

Can you describe what the glo tetra looked like when found? My first thought is that as anticipated, the betta is killing the tetra. Do the rest of the guppies & tetra look ill or do any have nipped fins? Injuries anywhere? If they look ill - bloated, developing white spots, fuzzy bits - an illness may have been brought into the tank by one of the new guppies or the betta himself. Otherwise, I'd think the betta is doing what fancy betta (siamese fighting fish) generally do when housed with other fish; attacking & killing them.

Sorry donnabright2002. Hope that new tank for the betta arrives tomorrow.

 

Yes, my fish look fine. When I found the tetra he was on his side. He didn't seem to have any fin nipping issues, not that I could see. I do keep a close eye on my Betta and he seems to keep to himself. The tetras like to fin nip the other tetras in the tank. The betta is not bothering my other fish.

 

What water conditioner are you using? If your tap is coming out at .5 ammonia, then you should make sure that you have a conditioner that detoxifies ammonia while your filter is trying to get rid of it. If your tank is established then the ammonia should clear up the next day, provided that your stocking level is not too crazy. Hold off on feeding after the water change until the water is stabilized.

 

What water conditioner are you using? If your tap is coming out at .5 ammonia, then you should make sure that you have a conditioner that detoxifies ammonia while your filter is trying to get rid of it. If your tank is established then the ammonia should clear up the next day, provided that your stocking level is not too crazy. Hold off on feeding after the water change until the water is stabilized.

I do have water conditioner, that takes out ammonia, I just check my ammonia and its at 0 .
Is my 20 gallon tank over stocked? I have 9 Glo tetra fish, 3 red eyed tetras, 6 guppies, and 1 betta fish.

I suspect part of the problem continues to be that the tank is overstocked with incompatible species that are not quarantined before being added to the tank.

You do a good job with regular water changes so I doubt ammonia is the problem, nor your cycle unless you threw out & replaced your filter cartridges or rinsed them in tap water. If all is the same with the filter, it seems your tank remains cycled with a consistent pH. Don't worry about the master test kit or ammonia blocker or pH down so long as you're doing the regular twice+ weekly water changes you said you liked to do. It's hard to get the drops in the tiny vials with a steady hand; maybe impossible with shaky hands.

Can you describe what the glo tetra looked like when found? My first thought is that as anticipated, the betta is killing the tetra. Do the rest of the guppies & tetra look ill or do any have nipped fins? Injuries anywhere? If they look ill - bloated, developing white spots, fuzzy bits - an illness may have been brought into the tank by one of the new guppies or the betta himself. Otherwise, I'd think the betta is doing what fancy betta (siamese fighting fish) generally do when housed with other fish; attacking & killing them.

Sorry donnabright2002. Hope that new tank for the betta arrives tomorrow.

See this video, My betta does not mess with the other fish,

 

I do have water conditioner, that takes out ammonia, I just check my ammonia and its at 0 .
Is my 20 gallon tank over stocked? I have 9 Glo tetra fish, 3 red eyed tetras, 6 guppies, and 1 betta fish.

See this video, My betta does not mess with the other fish,

Biologically, I'd say your tank is not overstocked. But there appears to be some incompatibility issues with the fish you have which you are working on.

My advice is to slow down. No big changes. No ammo lock. (your ammonia is zero) No messing with filters. No medications. No LARGE water changes, especially every day. Since your tap water has .5 ammonia then it's better to do smaller water changes. 25-30 percent weekly should be plenty. Make sure you are not overfeeding. (there should never be left over food after a few minutes) Allow the tank to establish itself and reach a state of equilibrium. Relax, you're doing well!

 

Biologically, I'd say your tank is not overstocked. But there appears to be some incompatibility issues with the fish you have which you are working on.

My advice is to slow down. No big changes. No ammo lock. (your ammonia is zero) No messing with filters. No medications. No LARGE water changes, especially every day. Since your tap water has .5 ammonia then it's better to do smaller water changes. 25-30 percent weekly should be plenty. Make sure you are not overfeeding. (there should never be left over food after a few minutes) Allow the tank to establish itself and reach a state of equilibrium. Relax, you're doing well!

Tank you for your advice. I will slow down on the water changes. I feed my fish very little, even thoe, they are pigs. lol. I do watch how much I feed my fish. My question is why do my fish keep dying? I lost 1 tetra and 3 guppies. My tetras like to fin nip other tetras.

 

Tank you for your advice. I will slow down on the water changes. I feed my fish very little, even thoe, they are pigs. lol. I do watch how much I feed my fish. My question is why do my fish keep dying? I lost 1 tetra and 3 guppies. My tetras like to fin nip other tetras.

Hi DonnaBright:
KingOscar is right about slowing down & also that you're doing well at this point. Your nitrogen cycle is established & you're keeping the water clean. That's all good.

The thing about fishkeeping is that there are lots of things that matter a lot all at once. Fish are stuck in that one place we put them, an aquarium & we have to *make* every bit of their world for them. It would be like if a creature picked us up & put us in a glass box on the moon. They'd have to know everything we need to not just make us survive but to be happy & healthy too.

That would mean knowing how we breathe & how to make the air exactly right, what & how much we eat, the temperature we need & what kind of shelter is needed & how to make it. That's just a little bit for surviving. For happy & healthy, we'd need more than that wouldn't we? We'd need others we felt safe with, safe places to be alone, things we like to do & much more. If any one of those things goes wrong we might get sick or die & it's the same for our fish.

Fortunately, people have learned a lot about keeping certain kinds of fish. Not everything, but a lot, so fishkeepers try to learn those things & try to do them for our fish. Kind of like 'rules' of fishkeeping. And we're learning all this stuff all the time - every one of us. You've learned about clean water & are learning about the nitrogen cycle right? There's more to learn to keep your animals safe, healthy & happy. There's even more than that to keep us safe around the things we use for our fish like the electrical filters & heaters we stick into the water for them!

What I'm saying is that with fish there are tons of things that need to be done all at once & if we don't know all those things or if we do any of them wrong, our animals can die. It's a lot more complicated than just putting a fish in a box of water & hoping they live. We don't know exactly why your fish are dying, but those of us who have kept fish for a long time can make good guesses & tell you the 'rules' to help you keep your fish alive, healthy & happy. If you follow those suggestions, it would help your fish stay alive.

So right now your tank is cycled. You keep the water clean, conditioned & warm. You have tetra & guppies in your 20g tank & a 6 g tank with heater & filter coming for your betta to live alone in. Slowing down as KingOscar said, would be to get no more new fish at all. Keep the 20g going as you are & set up the new tank for the betta. Then don't buy anything new or change anything in your tanks until you've learned all you can about the animals you already have.

Think about learning on one thing at a time. Like your tetra. Do you know how they like to play? They chase & nip. Did you know they like to hide behind tall plants & swim in & out of them? Or how about your betta? Betta like to rest near the surface of the water on soft leaves & hide in caves or hollow logs. Betta love to hunt alone & tetra love to hang out with friends in groups. Ask us, we'll help you get to know your fish.

We can't tell you exactly why your fish are dying DonnaBright. I know it must seem like you're always being told something different that may have been done wrong & you're discouraged because you've tried fishkeeping before & similar things went wrong. The best you can do at this point is focus on learning what the fish you have now need & doing it with nothing else new.

I hope you succeed this time & I know everyone here wants you to succeed. We'll keep answering questions as you get to know the fish you have.

 

I had another guppy die. I actually had 4 guppies die on me. My ammonia is at 0. I have hard water which guppies like. I also had 1 glo fish die on me. Does anyone know why my fish keep dying?

 

Where are you getting your guppies? While it isn't true for everyone, many people struggle keeping commercially raised guppies alive longer than a few weeks.

If you bought yours from one of the chain pet stores I'd suggest trying to find some that were bred by a hobbyist. If you have a locally owned fish/aquarium store they might buy from local breeders.

 

PP is correct, but to avoid compounding your ongoing issues I'd suggest no new fish for a while. Roll with the plenty that you already have.

 

Where are you getting your guppies? While it isn't true for everyone, many people struggle keeping commercially raised guppies alive longer than a few weeks.

If you bought yours from one of the chain pet stores I'd suggest trying to find some that were bred by a hobbyist. If you have a locally owned fish/aquarium store they might buy from local breeders

I bought my guppies from Ebay from a breeder. I still have 3 dragon guppies.
is a Is this 3 gallon big enough for my betta?

 

I'm sorry about your guppies & tetra!

I don't know about that exact aquarium but I know fishkeeping can be an expensive hobby!
Do you have access to a 2nd hand site where you could maybe find a used 5 g glass aquarium & used filter/heater? They can often be had for very little money. There's even Freecycle.org where such things are given away free if you can meet to pick them up.

If you're limited to new things that can be ordered online & delivered, you might try looking where you can order from rather than at reviews. What you need is a standard 5 g aquarium that is NOT tall. Sometimes the kits come with filters but they're often not very good & weekly water changes are a must. 5 g is the minimum humane permanent housing recommended for a betta. However, if there is absolutely no other choice, 3.5 g will have to do. It's painful to watch a betta in anything smaller than that tho. You'll still need a heater, plants & a hide. I believe Fluval makes an inexpensive 78F preset heater, the plants need to be soft, not hard plastic & there are betta hides that can go on the bottom or floating.

As for why the guppies & tetra died, I'm sorry that they did. A few messages ago I wrote about how complicated keeping fish can be. We don't know why the guppies died - anything could have gone wrong. The most obvious reasons include the betta & poor health. Betta are well known for harassing & attacking other fish to death. Too, the guppies went straight into the tank without quarantine & one was dead in the bag at delivery I believe you said. They could have brought disease in with them.

The 8-8.2 pH won't have been the problem, nor would ammonia or high nitrates if you're changing & conditioning the water weekly.

 

Where are you getting your guppies? While it isn't true for everyone, many people struggle keeping commercially raised guppies alive longer than a few weeks.

If you bought yours from one of the chain pet stores I'd suggest trying to find some that were bred by a hobbyist. If you have a locally owned fish/aquarium store they might buy from local breeders.

This is so true. I bought some beautiful looking guppies a while back from petsmart . My tank was well established, no issues with any other fish. Couple of weeks pass, suddenly all of them drop like flies. I isolate them, they all die within days. No idea what happened. Tested water every day, even brought a sample into my LFS to make sure my test kit was working- water was perfect. I will never buy guppies again it was upsetting

 

I bought my guppies from a breeder on Ebay,

 

This is so true. I bought some beautiful looking guppies a while back from petsmart . My tank was well established, no issues with any other fish. Couple of weeks pass, suddenly all of them drop like flies. I isolate them, they all die within days. No idea what happened. Tested water every day, even brought a sample into my LFS to make sure my test kit was working- water was perfect. I will never buy guppies again it was upsetting

Sadly, I've never had a fish of any kind from that chain survive for any length of time. In general, I've had the most success with animals from specialty aquaria rather than pet stores & even then, only ones that limit the number of tanks on a single filtration system. If there are any local to you & you want guppies, you might find them well bred & cared for from a guppy hobbyist.

 

Sadly, I've never had a fish of any kind from that chain survive for any length of time. In general, I've had the most success with animals from specialty aquaria rather than pet stores & even then, only ones that limit the number of tanks on a single filtration system. If there are any local to you & you want guppies, you might find them well bred & cared for from a guppy hobbyist.

Unfortunately all local pet stores near me are not the greatest even the family owned fish store. They’re really nice there but lots of dead fish and all their goldfish have such obvious swim bladder disease. I take a big gamble on any fish I buy sadly lots of time in quarantine tanks now

 

Unfortunately all local pet stores near me are not the greatest even the family owned fish store. They’re really nice there but lots of dead fish and all their goldfish have such obvious swim bladder disease. I take a big gamble on any fish I buy sadly lots of time in quarantine tanks now

Yeah - good to avoid places like that entirely. A local hobbyist may do you better. I drive 4 hours round trip for my own animals or pay the steep shipping charges for animals from an online source I know personally from previous visits. The animals surrendered to me for treatment are inevitably from chains, family pet stores & online retailers like ebay.

 

Yeah - good to avoid places like that entirely. A local hobbyist may do you better. I drive 4 hours round trip for my own animals or pay the steep shipping charges for animals from an online source I know personally from previous visits. The animals surrendered to me for treatment are inevitably from chains, family pet stores & online retailers like ebay.

Yeah I’m looking into ordering my next fish- a betta for one of my planted tanks. Hopefully it works out

 

You said it was a Glo fish? That might of been the problem. I am not an expert and I'm not sure how true this is but, I have been told that glo fish are known for having diseases and being weak and very very very sensitive to water conditions. So if all of the fish that are dying are glo fish i would think that its not your fault, just where you bought them.