[evonneramsey]

If that is what your tap is popping for test your ammonia in your tank now. If it is above 0.25 do a 20% water change and get to the store and get conditioner and put it directly into your tank based on 10 gallon dosage.


Mallory, I pulled up some products you can get:
1. API Tap Water Conditoner which is just a Dechlorinator that removes ammonia and such plus heavy metals.
2. API Stress Coat plus, it does the same as above and more. I picked this because your fish is probably suffering ammonia poisoning.
3. Tetra AquaSafe Plus Aquarium Dechlorinator Water Conditoner, this similar to the API Stress Coat.

The first product I listed is cheaper and will get your water out of danger. You must act fast. Water changes are not going to help as ammonia is in your tap from the well. Crap, it doesn't even matter if you get cheap Dechlorinator for Bettas. And again, if you can afford it try to the API GH KH Kit. GH & KH are advance Water information test not to be expect to be understood for beginners but they matter and I can explain what they mean when I have the readings. There is not anything else you need for now.

You only need 1 of the 3 options ibgave you. You can get them at Walmart, petsmart or Petco. FYI: Do not buy test strips to analyze your GH and KH. They are not accurate and a waste of money.

 

[Mallory M.]

If that is what your tap is popping for test your ammonia in your tank now. If it is above 0.25 do a 20% water change and get to the store and get conditioner and put it directly into your tank based on 10 gallon dosage.


Mallory, I pulled up some products you can get:
1. API Tap Water Conditoner which is just a Dechlorinator that removes ammonia and such plus heavy metals.
2. API Stress Coat plus, it does the same as above and more. I picked this because your fish is probably suffering ammonia poisoning.
3. Tetra AquaSafe Plus Aquarium Dechlorinator Water Conditoner, this similar to the API Stress Coat.

The first product I listed is cheaper and will get your water out of danger. You must act fast. Water changes are not going to help as ammonia is in your tap from the well. Crap, it doesn't even matter if you get cheap Dechlorinator for Bettas. And again, if you can afford it try to the API GH KH Kit. GH & KH are advance Water information test not to be expect to be understood for beginners but they matter and I can explain what they mean when I have the readings. There is not anything else you need for now.

@FishHoarder14 I live in Louisiana

Unfortunately my last guppy passed away yesterday mornin but I do still have my shrimp for now. Could y’all still help me get empty water so I can have some fish that will ac live in the future.

1. I was keeping my lighting to 3 hours a day because if I did it any longer the algae would get out of control, but I have a feeling ounce I can get my water under control it will help with my algae problem. I was just feeding my guppy tetra tropical fish flakes. He stopped eating about 3 or 4 days after I got him. I am not really sure how long my ammonia and pH has been that high I know when I test the water when my fish were first getting sick it was lower and I think it got higher because of my tap water.

2. I tested my water right before I put fish in it but just for pH. It was a little high but like I said my tap water has always been a little high so I wasn’t worried. I don’t have a test log because I don’t regularly test my water. Only when I see a problem do I test although I probably should test it more regularly. I know the water changes may have been over kill but I wasn’t sure how much water to change. Could you give me like a guide or maybe some rules to go by when it comes to water changes.

3. I do have a the letter with my new heater. My heater is working well and keeping my tank at exactly 78 degrees which is what it is set on.

5. Ok I looked at both pet smart and pet co today and could not find any leaves. So I am going to order them on Amazon.

6. I am glad you told me about this because I was just hoping the shrimp and nature was just doing it’s job. I went and got some tetra cleaning bacteria today.

7. I try to clean my tank about once a week. I take out 10% (should I be doing more). I also scrape the algae off the glass and when I see it. The algae is kind of brown looking you can see it in the picture of my filter.

8. I went and got some Seachem Prime today. Now that you have seen my tap water do you sug my using one of the others water conditioners that you recommended or should Seachem Prime work just fine.

9. I went to day to get the GH and KH test kit. Unfortunately pet-smart and pet co did not have the kit itself but they did have the test strips. I now those aren’t always the best but I though it was better than nothing.
GH= between 0 and 30
KH= 120

Now that I have nearly everything I need and no more fishy’s in my tank how do you suggest I go about fixing my water to prepare for more fish. Should I still do a 20% water change? When should I add the cleaning bacteria. When should I add the conditioner? Again thank y’all so much this has been a lot of help and learning even though I lost my fish. Also @evonneramsey i am glad to hear your guppies are doing well.

 

[Mallory M.]

Another thing I wanted to mention is that guppies like things in there tanks for places to hide. That why a couple of us said your tank setup is kind of bare. I would not try to add more guppies until we can pin point your water condition and see how the last guppy acts. Oh, and thank you for asking, my guppies are doing great. Noconcerns yet. They are a hyper as reputation. Lol.

I definitely will look into getting some more decorations once I get my water under control. Thanks.

 

[evonneramsey]

I am sorry to hear about your last guppy. This is what I would do.
1. Scrap algae if any on glass.
2. Gravel/siphon any gunk in the water.
3. As you are doing step 2, remove 30% of the water (3 gallons).
4. Prepare your replacement water from your tap, the temp needs to match your tank water 78°. Add 1/2 cap of Seachem Prime, each line inside the cap are measurements. Then add back to your tank.
5. Add 2 teaspoons or 10 ml of the Tetra Cleaning Bacteria. Shake bag first.
6. Test your water tomorrow.

Now there is a difference between a water changes and tank cleaning.

Water changes I do weekly 25%. I vacuum. I prep my new water with a small amount of Seachem Prime. And that's it.

Everything thing else is a cleaning. The Tetra Cleaning Bacteria is to be only use monthly when you clean. Be cautious not to remove your natural beneficial bacteria.

There is another problem with your water. Your GH is too low. That means you have very soft water and are lack necessary minerals. GH and KH are recorded in ppm or degrees. Your GH is 0-30 ppm or 0-4 dGH (degrees general hardness) Guppies don't like this. They like a dGH of 8-20 dGH (140-320 ppm). Your KH at 120 ppm is 6-7 dKH. Because you have a tropical, planted tank with shrimp, the general guidelines for KH is 65-135 ppm and a GH of 65-135 ppm. I am going to try to link you some articles that may help.
Algae.
By the way guppies like to eat algae.
GH and KH
Water Changes
Tank Cleaning
Tank Cleaning with algae
Guppy Care Guide
I don't know what type of guppies you had but will give an idea. Guppies need high quality food. I am attaching a photo of my list of foods that I use.

These should help. Be careful to use store products to control algae products, it could kill you shrimp.

If you have any questions. I will here.

 

[evonneramsey]

I definitely will look into getting some more decorations once I get my water under control. Thanks.

I sent you a detailed post by its pending approval before you or anyone can see it.

 

[evonneramsey]

I sent you a detailed post by its pending approval before you or anyone can see it.

It's post number 23. If it broke forum rules then I will find another way to get it to you.

 

[FishHoarder14]

I live in Louisiana

yeah, that makes sense you do get hurricanes. thats a bummer

 

[Mallory M.]

I am sorry to hear about your last guppy. This is what I would do.
1. Scrap algae if any on glass.
2. Gravel/siphon any gunk in the water.
3. As you are doing step 2, remove 30% of the water (3 gallons).
4. Prepare your replacement water from your tap, the temp needs to match your tank water 78°. Add 1/2 cap of Seachem Prime, each line inside the cap are measurements. Then add back to your tank.
5. Add 2 teaspoons or 10 ml of the Tetra Cleaning Bacteria. Shake bag first.
6. Test your water tomorrow.

Now there is a difference between a water changes and tank cleaning.

Water changes I do weekly 25%. I vacuum. I prep my new water with a small amount of Seachem Prime. And that's it.

Everything thing else is a cleaning. The Tetra Cleaning Bacteria is to be only use monthly when you clean. Be cautious not to remove your natural beneficial bacteria.

There is another problem with your water. Your GH is too low. That means you have very soft water and are lack necessary minerals. GH and KH are recorded in ppm or degrees. Your GH is 0-30 ppm or 0-4 dGH (degrees general hardness) Guppies don't like this. They like a dGH of 8-20 dGH (140-320 ppm). Your KH at 120 ppm is 6-7 dKH. Because you have a tropical, planted tank with shrimp, the general guidelines for KH is 65-135 ppm and a GH of 65-135 ppm. I am going to try to link you some articles that may help.
Algae.
By the way guppies like to eat algae.
GH and KH
Water Changes
Tank Cleaning
Tank Cleaning with algae
Guppy Care Guide
I don't know what type of guppies you had but will give an idea. Guppies need high quality food. I am attaching a photo of my list of foods that I use.

These should help. Be careful to use store products to control algae products, it could kill you shrimp.

If you have any questions. I will here. View attachment 844840

Thank you so much. I will do this today and test my water tomorrow. I want to make sure that I don’t any other water conditioner than seachem prime Because of the ammonia in my tap.

 

[Mallory M.]

@evonneramsey
Thank you so much. I will do this today and test my water tomorrow. I want to make sure that I don’t any other water conditioner than seachem prime Because of the ammonia in my tap.

 

[kanbudao]

When PH >7, the water will be converted into non-toxic ammonium. But it seems can not solve your problem at all, there is a potential threat of PH shock, and water changes can only be done as a short-term rapid ammonia reduction method.
Personally, may be you should tank the ammonia out of your tank. But that's a project you can take more for infos from these tips How to take the ammonia out of aquarium? to do it.

 

[Mallory M.]

When PH >7, the water will be converted into non-toxic ammonium. But it seems can not solve your problem at all, there is a potential threat of PH shock, and water changes can only be done as a short-term rapid ammonia reduction method.
Personally, may be you should tank the ammonia out of your tank. But that's a project you can take more for infos from these tips How to take the ammonia out of aquarium? to do it.

Thank you I will definitely look into it.

 

[Mallory M.]

Ok sorry it has taken me so long to come back with some results some things came up, but I am back now. I have looked in to all of your resources @evonneramsey and they were very helpful thank you. I also did what you told me to do and these are the results.

pH- 7.6
High Range pH- 8
Ammonia- I want to say 0ppm but it may be a little higher.
Nitrite- 0ppm
Nitrates- 5ppm

This means that almost everything has stayed the same except my ammonia has gone down a lot which is really good and I think the Nitrates have gone up a little. I am assuming continuing regula water changes will help balance everything out, it what do y’all think? I also don’t understand how my pH is still so high.

I also te tested my GH and KH and got this.
GH- 30
KH-80

So from what I read my GH is a little low but my KH is good. I plan on ordering an actual test kit off of Amazon to make sure I am getting good measurements though. This also may not make a difference but I did test my tap water and I got Pretty much the same as my tank.
GH- 30
KH- 80
Unfortunately though I did not get a picture. Do y’all have any further suggest on how to help me fix my tank.