Losing Many Plants And Fish Recently!

I have had a 50 gallon fish tank for about 8 months now. Original inhabitants were 24 neon tetras, 6 kubotaI rasboras, blue dream shrimp, malaysian trumpet snails, 6 panda cories, and a siamese algae eater. I have many plants such as madagascar lace plant, java fern, java fern windelov, java moss, crypts, alternanthera reineckii, jungle cal, and rotala indica. I fertilize with flourish root tans and liquid which I dose liquid once per week. Root tabs every few months. Aquarium temp is 77°F, and stays constant the whole year. pH is 7.8, ammonia .25 ppm, nitrite 0 ppm, nitrate 20 ppm.

The only plant that has actually taken off and grown lots is my crypt (unknown which crypt). Every other plant has struggled but managed to stay alive or just died. Madagascar lace plant has struggled the most, with all leaves dying but eventually growing back multiple times. I figured it’s because it is a harder to grow plant. Then the past 6 months or so, I’ve had trouble with my java fern, java fern windelov, and jungle val dying off. Luckily I cut all leaves off the ferns which survived and grew back, but the jungle val just keeps dying. Now, I’ve gotten to the point where my alternanthera reickeckiI has starting dying and I have no idea what to do.

NOW FOR FISH
My neons started at a large school of 24. I am currently at 9. Also, 1 kubotaI rasbora and 2 panda cories have died. No seeable issues with the dead ones they just looked like they dropped dead. Some of the neon tetras that died looked severealy malnourished.

I know it is normal for some neons to die and for some harder to grown plants to die, but why is literally everything I put in my tank dying? I have no idea what to do anymore. Please help!

 

Ammonia would suggest an uncycled tank, though could also be from all the deaths.

 

If you have ammonia, it doesn't seem that your tank is cycled. Do you know about the nitrogen cycle?

Can you turn the temp down? Those fish like temps closer to 72-74

 

If you have ammonia, it doesn't seem that your tank is cycled. Do you know about the nitrogen cycle?

Can you turn the temp down? Those fish like temps closer to 72-74

Temp cannot go down any more because I live where it is hot and the tank stays in a darker corner at room temp unless it’s winter when I heat it.

Shouldn’t the tank be cycled at 8 months in now anyways? Also, on my ammonia reading, the color looked closer to .25 ppm instead of 0 which it has been recently, but it could have just been a misread.

 

What filter? You may be underfilteered. It seems the ammonia is killing your fish? They are hardy fish, though. How often do you do water changes?

 

Temp cannot go down any more because I live where it is hot and the tank stays in a darker corner at room temp unless it’s winter when I heat it.

Shouldn’t the tank be cycled at 8 months in now anyways? Also, on my ammonia reading, the color looked closer to .25 ppm instead of 0 which it has been recently, but it could have just been a misread.

What are you using to test your parameters? Have you changed your filter media? Have you tested your tap water?

 

What are you using to test your parameters? Have you changed your filter media? Have you tested your tap water?

apI freshwater master test kit

I clean out my filter and media every few months.

How would I test tap water?

What filter? You may be underfilteered. It seems the ammonia is killing your fish? They are hardy fish, though. How often do you do water changes?

I use a cascade 700 canister filter.
I try to change water every weekend if not every other weekend.

 

apI freshwater master test kit

I clean out my filter and media every few months.

How would I test tap water?

How are you cleaning your filter and media? I'm guessing you're killing your cycle each time you do this and restarting it.

You test your tap just how you would with the tank water and the apI master kit.

 

How are you cleaning your filter and media? I'm guessing you're killing your cycle each time you do this and restarting it.

You test your tap just how you would with the tank water and the apI master kit.

I’ve just been rinsing out all the gunk from the filter and media, and then putting it all back. Would this be the issue even though bacteria and stuff can live in the gravel?

 

That's the problem. You reset your cycle everytime.

 

I’ve just been rinsing out all the gunk from the filter and media, and then putting it all back. Would this be the issue even though bacteria and stuff can live in the gravel?

Are you rinsing it in tap water or old tank water? Most of the bacteria lives in the filter, not gravel

 

Often, people look for a 'silver bullet', a single problem which, if identified and corrected, will fix everything that's wrong in their tank. Or the world. sigh.
But I don't think that's the case here. I suspect you have multiple issues.

Re your fish:
- Re concern above about killing your cycle, do you clean filter media in tank water, treated tap water, or untreated tap water?
- Do you use tap water for your water changes (or spring, well, RO, etc)?
- Do you condition your new water to neutralize any chloramines/chlorine?
- Have the deaths been regular and progressive since you started the tank 8 months ago? Or only more recent?

Re your plants:
- Do you fertilize (tabs in substrate, liquid in water...)?
- Do you add salt to your tank?

 

Often, people look for a 'silver bullet', a single problem which, if identified and corrected, will fix everything that's wrong in their tank. Or the world. sigh.
But I don't think that's the case here. I suspect you have multiple issues.

Re your fish:
- Re concern above about killing your cycle, do you clean filter media in tank water, treated tap water, or untreated tap water?
- Do you use tap water for your water changes (or spring, well, RO, etc)?
- Do you condition your new water to neutralize any chloramines/chlorine?
- Have the deaths been regular and progressive since you started the tank 8 months ago? Or only more recent?

Re your plants:
- Do you fertilize (tabs in substrate, liquid in water...)?
- Do you add salt to your tank?

I clean filter and media in untreated tap water, refill tank with treated/conditioned tap water, and the deaths have been progressive they stated about 6 months ago and went until today when I found 1 kubotaI rasbora and 1 neon tetras dead. I fertilize weekly with flourish and root tabs ever 3 months also flourish. I do not add salt.

 

Cleaning your filter media in untreated tap water kills any good bacteria in your media. That Beneficial Bacteria basically is your powerhouse for the cycle. So your tank is being uncycled weekly.
It sounds like your fish are constantly being exposed to Ammonia and Nitrite possibly

 

As said above, you're killing off any bacteria in your filter media every time you rinse it in tap water. When that happens, your cycle has to restart.
However, yes there is some beneficial bacteria in your tank, eg in the substrate, on plant/wood/ornament surfaces, etc, and even a tiny amount in the water column. I suspect that these bact colonies are more robust than usual as a result of your constant filter media resets. Which is why you have nitrates, indicating some cycle, but still see ammonia.
So let's start a to-do list, and see how things improve over time.
1. ONLY clean filter media in tank water you've just removed from the tank.
2. Keep the same weekly water change schedule, but leave the filter media alone for a month or so. It shouldn't need cleaning so often, especially with your unfortunately light bioload.

Edit: Oops I just saw that my fert questions were addressed in your original post.

 

As said above, you're killing off any bacteria in your filter media every time you rinse it in tap water. When that happens, your cycle has to restart.
However, yes there is some beneficial bacteria in your tank, eg in the substrate, on plant/wood/ornament surfaces, etc, and even a tiny amount in the water column. I suspect that these bact colonies are more robust than usual as a result of your constant filter media resets. Which is why you have nitrates, indicating some cycle, but still see ammonia.
So let's start a to-do list, and see how things improve over time.
1. ONLY clean filter media in tank water you've just removed from the tank.
2. Keep the same weekly water change schedule, but leave the filter media alone for a month or so. It shouldn't need cleaning so often, especially with your unfortunately light bioload.

Edit: Oops I just saw that my fert questions were addressed in your original post.

Thank you so much everyone for your help! I have one last question. Should I do a water change and then just rinse the filter media out in the water I just removed from the tank? Also how often should I be doing this? And when, if ever, should I replace the current filter contents such as floss pads and clay media?

 

Yes, just do it whenever it looks really dirty.
You should change it only when it's falling apart basically. When you do that, you put the new one in for awhile so the bb transfers to it first.

 

Yes, just rinse filter in tank water to be discarded. I never replace filter media unless there's a reason.

I would just add that your pH of 7.8 suggests water that is too hard for neons (and most plants don't exactly thrive either). The higher your pH, the more toxic ammonia will be, so even a low level can be lethal.