Quote:
Originally Posted by Oliver82  Ive had my tank setup for almost 3 weeks now. Although not recommended, I bought 7 fish the first 2 days of having the tank (2 neon tetras, 4 danios, and 1 cory cat). Around 1 week later I added some neon danios, 1 orange Platy, 1 marble Platy, and 3 live plants. When I initially filled the tank with water i used about 6 gallons of tap water, and 4 gallons purified drinking water; all treated with PRIME. Now, about 1.5 weeks ago I noticed that the water surface has become very cloudy, almost looks like when you spill gas into water, but its a light creamy color. The original 6 fish I bought are all alive and seem fine but the others started dying 1 by 1. They started swimming irradically and then just died. I dont know if the cloudy surface water has anything to do with it or what it could be. The water is otherwise clear asides from the surface. I took a picture with my iphone hopefully u can make it out. Also when i had the water checked the readings were a little high but nothing extreme. Please advise!
P.S. i remember i was cooking with the george foreman grill near the fish tank (its on the kitchen counter top) and noticed the steam was going over the fish tank, could this be related? |
Welcome to TFK Oliver!!
Before we start jumping to conclusions about what's ailing your tank, although it sounds to me like your going through a cycle, lets get some more informaiton from you:
Do you have a filter on your tank? If so what kind??
--- no filter could be the reason for the "milky" surface. The oily stuff appears when there is no oxygen being exchanged at the surface of the tank. I have it in my planted tank, and many others do, so I wouldn't be too alarmed. If you working wiht a planted tank, you'll want to limit the amount of oxygen exchange anyways.
When you say you checked the readings and they were 'a little high, but nothing extreme'....could you post the exact readings?
--- Specific numbers will help us to figure out your problem. "Nothing extereme" to you might mean one thing, but to an experienced aquarists, your idea of "nothing extreme" could be deadly to your fish and you might just not be aware of it.
Your selection of starter fished have pros and cons....
PROS - Danios are great fish to cycle an aquarium with....they're very hardy fish and can tolerate a wide range of water parameters. All these fish can be in the same tank, so re-homing them won't be an issue.
CONS - Neons and Corries need to be in groups (shoals) of 6 or more. They are a shoaling fish and feel most comfortable when in groups. Less stress = less likely for disease and death.......You'll want to up the numbers of those fish to five a piece, which is then pushing the capacity of a ten gallon tank....
LIGHTING--
What kind of lighting have you chosen for your tank?? Plants need special lighting, although many plants will flourish in a low-light set-up with bulbs you can buy cheap at walmart.
I would stop buying "purified water" it'll just end up costing your lots of money in the end. Tap water will be just fine, as long as you stick with PRIME(great choice by the way). Could you also post water parameters of your tap water??
Make sure you're using liquid test kits, not the strips....strips can be inaccurate and give off false readings.
Take a read through this to help you understand the cycle:
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/f...m-cycle-38617/
Hope all that helped you!
and again welcome!
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