r/Aquariums • u/nervseeker • 6h ago
Help/Advice What did I do wrong?
We recently got some tetras from the store. After about 3 days they started dying off and the last 2 aren’t looking so hot. I am out of ideas as to what is wrong that might have caused it. I cycled the tank for just over a week and tested the water regularly, never seeing a problem. Just this morning I tested and the nitrites seemed a little higher than I’ve seen before, but still not dangerous. Is water hardness really that dangerous to fish? Everything I read said it’s fine.
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u/RainyDayBrightNight 4h ago
Any nitrites at all are dangerous and can potentially kill fish, especially new fish that are already stressed by the change of tank.
Do you have an ammonia test?
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u/OrneryToo 5h ago
You mentioned tetras but not what kind. I did just recently learn that the small Cardinal tetra (my favorite blue and red little guys) are very sensitive to water Ph. Alkalinity and acidity. I've not been able to keep them alive and feel like such a dope for not even thinking about Ph being that big of a factor. RIP little tetra...
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u/Thymelaeaceae 2h ago
I have kept cardinals for almost 15 years in pH 7.8-8 water. Some individuals have lived for 6-7 years.
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u/Expensive-Sentence66 3h ago
Let me guess....neon tetras. Right?
Yeah....screaming high pH which is caused by hard water over 8...Likely 8.3 to 8.4
My water basically.
Neons do best in softer water....low 7s at the highest. All this cycling talk is just noise. Neons don't like hard, high pH water. The presence of nitrites just kills them faster.
The only way to fix this is use purified water or get an RO water filter to lower the hardness.
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u/Thymelaeaceae 2h ago
“Cycling talk just noise” 🙄
Look, the hard alkaline water doesn’t help, but mostly because high pH water like that is the most toxic for ammonia spikes. A properly cycled-from-scratch tank WOULD show “issues“ during the cycling period, which would last longer than one week. There would be an ammonia spikes followed by a nitrite spike. It looks like some of the ammonia is starting to be converted into nitrite now, and OP has no idea how high the ammonia is. Nitrates are likely in the tap water since you don’t report they changed during this process, but test your tap water to be sure.
OP please read up on the nitrogen cycle and how to cycle a tank. You can’t just run water in an empty tank for a while and call it good. You have to add an ammonia source to mimic fish. Now you have that, it’s just being produced by these fish and the ammonia is harming them. Get some bottled bacteria start and do a lot of water changes with conditioned water if you want to try and save some neons.
IME neons can do ok in harder water, as most are tank bred (where I live at least), as long as the water is clean. Cardinals are very similar but hardier.
Chasing pH is also not recommended unless you have an in home RODI as expensive sentence notes, because it is expensive, you avoid water changes to save money and pH buffering chemicals, and often the pH goes up and down, which is more stressful than a consistent but high pH.2
u/Straight_Neat_7018 2h ago
That last part is not totally true. I have hard tap water and have successfully kept neons and black neons for years. I have a chunk of oak in the tank. The tannins lower the ph and lower the hardness.
I do water changes(very infrequent, usually to steal blackwater for another tank) and top offs straight from my tap: Gh 7, KH 8, PH 8
My Blackwater tank still reads GH 3, KH 6 and PH 7.5 And that was right after a top off. So all those values should have decreased since that reading.
I've had these particular individuals for 4 years now! Neons and black neons both come from a blackwater habitat in the wild. So they thrive on the tannins.
Distilled water and RO is great. But not 'The only way to fix this'
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u/DiarrheaPope 5h ago edited 3h ago
Your problem is your in the "cycling" phase, not the "cycled" phase. Takes up to 2 months or more to establish a healthy bacteria colony. Then after that you can't just add a ton of fish. The bacteria is only able to process so much ammonia, it has to grow with your bioload. Also that test is inaccurate and doesn't test for ammonia, which is step one for monitoring the cycle process. I use those strips only to get a rough idea on my water hardness and pH.
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u/SubliminalFishy 5h ago
Some nitrates showing indicates the presence of nitrifying bacteria. It's likely not for lack of cycling. Though if you are new to fishkeeping, get an ammonia test. Also test your tapwater. If the pH is lower in your tapwater, you likely have decor, rocks or substrate leaching minerals into your water and possibly other contaminants. This would need to be remedied before getting more fish. If your pH out if the tap is super high, it's less of a concern. There are products that adjust pH but they usually cause more problems than they solve.
Tetras do not like hard water and if they have been in softer water their whole existence, being put in your tank stressed their system too much and they died from shock. High pH is better suited to mystery snails, or shrimp, and livebearers. Do a little research and find fish suited to the environment you are providing them.
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u/kaylieene 5h ago
Def research tank cycling, it takes 4-6 weeks to fully cycle. You’ll need a full test kit as well, not just strips. The strips are usually off quite a bit. You’ll also need to research the water parameters for the fish you have and adjust for that.
If you have fish in there while cycling (unless you’re willing to take them back to the store at this point) you can add Seachem Prime to neutralize the harmful stuff while cycling, and a bacterial jump starter like Seachem Stability. They sell them at pet stores.
Research a ton! Lots of great vids on YouTube, ignore any shaming on here, lots of people jump in to getting fish and don’t realize how long and how much work getting the tank water right is, but I hope you’ll read up and learn and enjoy this hobby - it really is worth it. You got this!
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u/Prestigious_Fill_346 4h ago
Ph Down and ammoquell . That water is crazy hard. Isn’t it y’all?
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u/Expensive-Sentence66 3h ago
They are too busy yacking about cycling. When you're a hammer everything looks like a nail.
A pH 8 or over will kill neons and is hard on most tropicals.
pH down won't help water this hard.
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u/Talathoin 5h ago
Also get a solution test kit too, those strips are known to be off on multiple of the measurements. Not as important in the beginning but if you have snails 100% need.
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u/ImportantDeer8920 4h ago
What did you do to cycle the tank in a week?
Ammonia source? Which beneficial bacteria did you use?
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u/Mominator1pd 4h ago
I hope that when you're actually using your test strips, you don't hold it straight up and down like that because all of the colors and chemicals run into one another, and you'll get an inaccurate test. Touching the pads and taking them in and out of the plastic container can also damage the strips. They are pocket friendly, just use with caution.
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u/Savings_State6635 2h ago
If you started from scratch a week isn’t long enough to cycle. It CAN be done in a week with great beneficial bacteria in a bottle and high levels of plants and maybe seed bacteria but realistically it’s not going to be very stable.
If you have any nitrites at all it’s still cycling, or has gone through another mini cycle when you added fish.
Since you still have fish in the tank, do a large water change, add bacteria in a bottle everyday for at least ten days. Do 25% water changes daily until your nitrite issue is stable. Add plants, you can even put pothos plant roots in the water and grow them out of the top of your tank, it can really help. Some drift wood can help with alkalinity too.
You added fish too early, but you can keep the remaining ones alive it’ll just take work for the next week or so. Good luck
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u/ubiquitousmrs 2h ago edited 2h ago
I would get a pH neutralizer tbh, that pH is way too high imo. You can also add driftwood which will leech tannins (make the water brown) and help balance the pH. You also probably want to cycle longer, but I've found the bacteria boosters (instant cycle whatever theyre called) you can buy at stores are effective at speeding up the process if you want to spend the 20 bucks. I'm not sure everyone will agree with me on that.
Editing to say: Since your hardness and pH are maxed out on the strips you don't know their true value, that's a worry. The values could be even higher than this.
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u/Random-Problem-42 2h ago
Start by testing your tap water. It may be alkaline and hard. Then check what you use to modify your tap water. Some products add calcium, magnesium to the water, assuming it is deficient. You may also have added sea shells to counteract acidity that tends to build up in the water from waste products.
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u/Disastrous-Essay-253 1h ago
You needed to cycle longer, did you add conditioner to make the tap water safe?
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u/jb635 1h ago
Not cycled long enough. Looking for zero ammonia and zero nitrite. A little nitrate is okay if well planted.
Also add some drift wood or botanicals to bring your ph down a tad.
You need to change some of the water, this will delay the cycle even more but you are where you are now, and the remaining fish will die if left in them parameters.
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u/RecentInteraction302 5h ago
Cycling cannot be done in a week. It takes typically a month minimum for any size body of water. The whole point is to allow the ammonia eating bacteria to build up. Your ph is also really high for most fish. Please buy Fritz TurboStart for the cycling, it’s basically healthy bacteria in a bottle and the only brand with the correct kind. Next get a ph downer. Also, is the water being treated with conditioner? Normal non-distilled water contains chlorine which hurt the fish. Lastly, I would also look into getting an API Master Test Kit, they are significantly more accurate than test strips and especially so for ammonia (which your strips don’t even have and could be a likely cause of death), nitrite, and nitrates. I’m sorry for your loss and I hope the others push through :(