wow, there is so much information in just this thread alone that I am overwhelmed! I'm still not sure what to do.
I will try to answer a couple of questions other posters have had and maybe that will help me find a clearer answer.
As far as when I cleaned the tank, I had been on a weekly cleaning schedule, vacuuming the gravel every week. The previous week I skipped the gravel cleaning and did a partial water change, maybe 20-25%. So this week, about the time I was thinking I needed to clean it, I noticed the nitrate and nitrate were high. I had lost one black molly a few days prior and then had one other molly that was acting lethargic. So I figured I'd better clean up and change the water quickly. I have a few ornamental things in there...I normally remove them just so I can vacuum the gravel very well. I also used an aquarium wipe to wipe down the inside a little. The filter intake was kind of gunked up so I cleaned it in the water I had removed from the tank. I put fresh water back in, mixing it with Stress Zyme and Stress Coat and salt.
I haven't used any other water conditioner-I thought that's what Stress Coat did....the salt I've used since the beginning because it was recommended for all of my fish. I know the snails may not like it but the one I have is huge and seems to be thriving. I have read that it will help when there's a nitrite problem.
The filter is a Penguin with a bio wheel. I've got maybe 1.5 inches of gravel in the bottom. I've had the tank set up for about 3 months. As far as lighting...I don't know what kind it is....it came with the aquarium and I haven't really thought about lighting being a problem. The room it's in gets some diffused natural sunlight. It's on the opposite side of the room from the window and it's not direct so I don't think it's too much sunlight. I have the aquarium light on about 8 hours in a day.
When I started this problem, Nitrite was at 5.0 and Nitrate was between 10-20. Ammonia was at 0. I use a testing kit where you compare vials of water to a card and it's hard to match them exactly. Today, after two water changes, Nitrite is at 1.0 and Nitrate is at 5, ammonia is still at 0. Do these numbers make sense? Obviously I'm new at this but I thought ammonia would have been higher. Does it seem like I'm on the right track with this?
Even after all this, there is still just the one molly that acts lethargic and the one that died a few days ago. The rest seem fine. This molly is a large black male where as all the other fish in the tank are quite a bit smaller. Do water problems affect larger fish earlier than smaller fish?
I'm not feeding the fish, except for putting crushed food in with the fry. Is it a good idea to hold off on food till I get things back under control?
With this additional information, any comments would be apprecitated.
Mary
|