SOS l keep losing fish!

[ZoeNC1]

Hi I haven’t been active in a while but I’m having a bit of an issue and was hoping for some help. In about Feb/Mar of this year I got my first tank a 29 gal I cycled it for over 2 months then had some stocking issues. For the last 5-6 months I’ve only had 8 black neon tetras in the tank and they’d been doing fine. Routine water change 5 gal weekly. Then about a week and a half ago I decided I wanted to try and get some shrimp and a few corys to fill out the space and help with the stubborn excess food and algae that I couldn’t get with a gravel vac. I went to petco and got 4 emerald green corys, 6 cherry shrimp, and a nerite snail; I talked to the aquatics person and they said I had plenty of room and even talked me into getting 2 Amano shrimp as well. Well I got them home and acclimated for about 3 hours. Then the next day amano 1 was dead. Went back and got a refund cause I was **** and continued for a week, a few days ago a cory died. I was annoyed but moved on, today I did my water change (about 7 gal) as usual and that night I found another dead Cory! Note that I haven’t seen amano 2 since the first died so I’m not sure if he’s in hiding or if he also died and was eaten by the corys. I really don’t want to lose anymore fish so what do I do? Any advice will be appreciated (I am about to go to sleep and just noticed the dead Cory so Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate test results will be taken sometime tomorrow) please help I am worried that there is something wrong and I may lose more fish

 

[Ghelfaire]

Let us know the water parameters as soon as you do that.
Did you notice any odd behavior from the corydoras? Do you dose your tank with anything (Salt, Fertilizers or any other chemical additives)?
Did you notice any aggression from the black neons?

 

[Lilthuglet]

I hate to say it at this point but having just been through a disaster myself, quarantining any new stock for at least 4 weeks before adding is a really good idea.

And I mean quarantine. Separate tank, siphon, net, everything.

In terms of what you can do now, water parameter check and water changes are almost never not a good idea. Are you seeing and odd behaviour, marks, spots or discoloration on the fish?

 

[RayClem]

It is not at all unusual to lose fish soon after they arrive. Typically, they have gone through a number of transitions as the move from the breeder to the exporter, to the importer, to the distributor, to the pet store and finally to your home. The water parameters (temperature, hardness, alkalinity, pH, etc.) will be different every step of the way. These changes are very stressful for fish, so it is easy of for them to be exposed to disease. If the fish survive the first two months in your tank, they will normally live a long time unless you add new fish that bring in new diseases. That is why quarantine is so important.

 

[MartinXIX]

Is it possible that you are relying on the corydoras to eat only the excess flake foods to feed them? If that's the case then they are likely competing with the cherry and amano shrimp for those bits and died of starvation.

 

[A201]

Be a good idea to up the volume of the weekly water change. Instead of five gallons, go for fifteen gallons.
IMO, bigger WC's translates into a healthier tank.

 

[RelaxingBettas]

Hi I haven’t been active in a while but I’m having a bit of an issue and was hoping for some help. In about Feb/Mar of this year I got my first tank a 29 gal I cycled it for over 2 months then had some stocking issues. For the last 5-6 months I’ve only had 8 black neon tetras in the tank and they’d been doing fine. Routine water change 5 gal weekly. Then about a week and a half ago I decided I wanted to try and get some shrimp and a few corys to fill out the space and help with the stubborn excess food and algae that I couldn’t get with a gravel vac. I went to petco and got 4 emerald green corys, 6 cherry shrimp, and a nerite snail; I talked to the aquatics person and they said I had plenty of room and even talked me into getting 2 Amano shrimp as well. Well I got them home and acclimated for about 3 hours. Then the next day amano 1 was dead. Went back and got a refund cause I was **** and continued for a week, a few days ago a cory died. I was annoyed but moved on, today I did my water change (about 7 gal) as usual and that night I found another dead Cory! Note that I haven’t seen amano 2 since the first died so I’m not sure if he’s in hiding or if he also died and was eaten by the corys. I really don’t want to lose anymore fish so what do I do? Any advice will be appreciated (I am about to go to sleep and just noticed the dead Cory so Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate test results will be taken sometime tomorrow) please help I am worried that there is something wrong and I may lose more fish

Once I narrowed it down, my best bet for when I kept 'losing' the occasional new cory (and one by one, all the new black neon tetras but one, and all the neons but my original two fatties I've had for ages) after testing and testing and losing sleep (I seldom lose a fish, amazingly enough, and it still distresses me, I expect it always will- let alone the corys and tetras I successfully- somehow- bless the undergravel filters lol- kept when I was seven! IN A DIFFERENT PART OF THE COUNTRY... ), I am thinking my new world newbies (also from other parts of the country) are finding our *extremely* hard water (it's coming through limestone) too much of a shock.
I have been using driftwood, inert substrate, Indian almond etc to try to temper it, I don't really care to dark water up with peat the 29 gallon tank I'm setting up for species that can't tolerate the usual- I do enjoy my cories and hated losing even a few- but that's my best guess (as an equally frustrated fishkeeper).

 

[RayClem]

Once I narrowed it down, my best bet for when I kept 'losing' the occasional new cory (and one by one, all the new black neon tetras but one, and all the neons but my original two fatties I've had for ages) after testing and testing and losing sleep (I seldom lose a fish, amazingly enough, and it still distresses me, I expect it always will- let alone the corys and tetras I successfully- somehow- bless the undergravel filters lol- kept when I was seven! IN A DIFFERENT PART OF THE COUNTRY... ), I am thinking my new world newbies (also from other parts of the country) are finding our *extremely* hard water (it's coming through limestone) too much of a shock.
I have been using driftwood, inert substrate, Indian almond etc to try to temper it, I don't really care to dark water up with peat the 29 gallon tank I'm setting up for species that can't tolerate the usual- I do enjoy my cories and hated losing even a few- but that's my best guess (as an equally frustrated fishkeeper).

Most (but not all) corydorys are tank raised these days and will tolerate water with higher hardness and pH than wild caught specimins. However, they may have difficulty if your water is very hard and your pH is high. I have very hard water, alkaline water (20-29 dGH and pH of 8.2+). I get around that my using an RO system to produce water for my tank and adding minerals to bring the hardness to 6-7 dGH. I then use phosphate buffers and baking soda to achieve a pH of 7.5 and 6 dKH. That works for most common community tank varieties. It might not work for some species wild caught in the blackwater streams of the Amazon basin that like very soft, acidic water or the African Rift Lake cichlids that like very hard, alkaline water, but it will work for guppies, platys, most tetras, barbs, gourami, bettas, corydoras, plecos, and many cichlids.

Adding peat to your tank will lower the pH and alkalinity, but it won't do anything to lower the general hardness of the water. For that you will need to add purified water such as RO, deionized or distilled water.

 

[RelaxingBettas]

Most (but not all) corydorys are tank raised these days and will tolerate water with higher hardness and pH than wild caught specimins. However, they may have difficulty if your water is very hard and your pH is high. I have very hard water, alkaline water (20-29 dGH and pH of 8.2+). I get around that my using an RO system to produce water for my tank and adding minerals to bring the hardness to 6-7 dGH. I then use phosphate buffers and baking soda to achieve a pH of 7.5 and 6 dKH. That works for most common community tank varieties. It might not work for some species wild caught in the blackwater streams of the Amazon basin that like very soft, acidic water or the African Rift Lake cichlids that like very hard, alkaline water, but it will work for guppies, platys, most tetras, barbs, gourami, bettas, corydoras, plecos, and many cichlids.

Adding peat to your tank will lower the pH and alkalinity, but it won't do anything to lower the general hardness of the water. For that you will need to add purified water such as RO, deionized or distilled water.

Thank you, I nearly bought an RO system the other day, and then decided to experiment with various spring waters, having nano tanks, for now- all this testing is still a bit confusing to me. I get nitrates and nitrates and ammonia (and acid-base homeostasis in the body), it's just a lot lol. (Like the switch from third generation nurseryman and master gardener to aquatic flora- .) I am still flummoxed, honestly. But it was all I could think of when all the other parameters seemed fine and the rest of the fish are established and thriving in a seasoned tank.

 

[RayClem]

Thank you, I nearly bought an RO system the other day, and then decided to experiment with various spring waters, having nano tanks, for now- all this testing is still a bit confusing to me. I get nitrates and nitrates and ammonia (and acid-base homeostasis in the body), it's just a lot lol. (Like the switch from third generation nurseryman and master gardener to aquatic flora- .) I am still flummoxed, honestly. But it was all I could think of when all the other parameters seemed fine and the rest of the fish are established and thriving in a seasoned tank.

I understand your confusion. I was trained as a chemical engineer, so have a strong background in chemistry. The problem is that in the hobby, we are trying to reduce a complex assortment of minerals into two categories, hardness and alkalinity.

Water hardness is composed of calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, molybdenum, boron, zinc, copper and many other metallic elements (but not the alkali metals sodium, potassium and lithium and a few less common ones). However, measuring individual concentrations requires expensive test equipment not commonly available in the hobby. There are specific tests for calcium and copper that are used by reefkeepers, but they are not commonly used in the freshwater hobby.

Alkalinity. is determined primarily by the carbonate, bicarbonate, and various phosphate and borate ions in the water. There are tests for orthophosphate concentrations, but we normally lump everything else together as alkalinity. The alkalinity along with the dissolved carbon dioxide concentration determine the pH in the tank. The carbon dioxide concentration is of importance to those who inject carbon dioxide gas into their tanks to stimulate plant growth.

Since you have smaller tanks, I suggest you purchase either RO or distilled water and mix that with your tap water to achieve the hardness you desire. Many grocery stores have RO systems to produce water for sale in 5 gallon jugs. That may be the cheapest way to get it. You can purchase distilled water, but it may be more expensive. Many brands of bottled water are RO water, but avoid those brands that may have added flavors, colors, or minerals,
If you use RO water, either from your own system or purchased, it is best to test it periodically. RO membranes do become less effective over time and need to be replaced. I do not know how diligent grocery stores are about checking the quality of the water and replacing filters and membranes when needed.

 

[RelaxingBettas]

I understand your confusion. I was trained as a chemical engineer, so have a strong background in chemistry. The problem is that in the hobby, we are trying to reduce a complex assortment of minerals into two categories, hardness and alkalinity.

Water hardness is composed of calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, molybdenum, boron, zinc, copper and many other metallic elements (but not the alkali metals sodium, potassium and lithium and a few less common ones). However, measuring individual concentrations requires expensive test equipment not commonly available in the hobby. There are specific tests for calcium and copper that are used by reefkeepers, but they are not commonly used in the freshwater hobby.

Alkalinity. is determined primarily by the carbonate, bicarbonate, and various phosphate and borate ions in the water. There are tests for orthophosphate concentrations, but we normally lump everything else together as alkalinity. The alkalinity along with the dissolved carbon dioxide concentration determine the pH in the tank. The carbon dioxide concentration is of importance to those who inject carbon dioxide gas into their tanks to stimulate plant growth.

Since you have smaller tanks, I suggest you purchase either RO or distilled water and mix that with your tap water to achieve the hardness you desire. Many grocery stores have RO systems to produce water for sale in 5 gallon jugs. That may be the cheapest way to get it. You can purchase distilled water, but it may be more expensive. Many brands of bottled water are RO water, but avoid those brands that may have added flavors, colors, or minerals,
If you use RO water, either from your own system or purchased, it is best to test it periodically. RO membranes do become less effective over time and need to be replaced. I do not know how diligent grocery stores are about checking the quality of the water and replacing filters and membranes when needed.

Oh *thank you*. I need to read and reread (and probably hand it to my husband with a bachelor's of science, lol) but if I wallow in the subject enough, I'm sure I'll gestalt- enough, anyway. (I understand enough to know I'm not ready for that brackish tank build . The parameters are complicated enough!)
That little RO system for like $45 on Amazon is tempting.