Tropical Fish Forums

[jacki.r3]

I had posted a new topic called "Need help to tweak my cycle, Fish dying"
Fish died. Most recent water parameters in a 10 gallon tank with a 10-15 gallon Aquatech HOB filter. Also have an airstone for extra aeration and temp stays a steady 78.
Nitrates 30
nitrites .5
pH 6.8
ammonia .30

Been trying to cycle this tank since middle of Dec. Started with some media (scrubbies) from a healthy tank and used Sea Chem Stability to start cycle. I was adding flake food as a source of ammonia.
Last of my starter fish 2 Danio's died last night. He was fine when I went to sleep and dead when I got up.

Should I trhow a shrimp in tank and start to cycle all over. I cleaned tank this am. Didn't touch filter but did add a Whisper 20I filter.
What Next?
Thanks in advance.
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A house is not a home without a dog, some cats and a few fish. Just don't put them altogether.

[diademhill]

I would invest in a camping water container and see if you can find a water source from another supply. Is there a tap at a local business that will allow you to get water for a few pennies?

[jacki.r3]

I'm already buying 5 gallon jugs of Primo drinking water for myself, fish and cats as well is not safe to cosume. I live in country and don't drive due to disabilities, so not easy for me to find other sources of water or be able to go get some.
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A house is not a home without a dog, some cats and a few fish. Just don't put them altogether.

[diademhill]

The water is your problem.


You would need to add Kent R/O right at the between the softwater & medium water fish level as the water already has a limited range of buffers but lacks trace elements.

[jacki.r3]

The water I use has calcium chloride and sodium bicarbonate and is processed by oxygenation, advanced filtration and r/o technologies.
Is that good? What other minerals and such do they need.
Working with a friend about what to stock the 10 and 20 gallons with later on. 10 gallon will be guppies and small Cories and 20 willl have Danio's, A focal fish in a variety of gourami, again a couple of small cories and possibly Platy's or Maybe 3 mollies. But that's a ways down the road.

What do I do with 10 gallon tank, Do I clean it out completely and start over or can I salvage what I got by frequent w/c's or add a shrimp and let it do it's thing and test to see how it's cycling? I just added that whisper internal filter yesterday, so it's got to cycle that filter now.
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A house is not a home without a dog, some cats and a few fish. Just don't put them altogether.

[diademhill]

The water you are using lacks the minerals that the filter and later the fish need.
You need to treat it as if it were R/O water and the Kent R/O right is the simplest way to do this.

[jacki.r3]

I am on a fixed income and when I looked into R/O equipment before, it's pretty pricey. Out of my range any way. Are there supplements or food that could supply what they are not getting from water?
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A house is not a home without a dog, some cats and a few fish. Just don't put them altogether.

[diademhill]

Your bottled water is R/O water. It has some minerals added for taste but not enough to keep fish.
The R/0 right is by far the easiest way to make it safe for aquatic life. I didn't price search and you may find it cheaper or even locally.

[jacki.r3]

in the long run it would be worth it, but I don't have the money to get the equipment to get this started. Other than aquarium shops, where else could I look. I appreciate all your doing to help me, but I am so limited cash wise. I can check e-bay and amazon, but wondering where else I could look locally.
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A house is not a home without a dog, some cats and a few fish. Just don't put them altogether.

[Arctic]

The hyperlink that diademhill provided you was to a chemical solution ($5).