Hi there.
I'm new in this forum, and quite enthusiastic about it!!
Okay, this is the situation: I have a small 20-liter tank. I purchased some gravel, a piece of wood and a nice plant at my local store and decorated the whole thing. As advised, I filled the tank with water (50% distilled, 50% tap) and let the filter and heating run for a week. After that, I measured pH, gH, kH, NO2, NO3. All parameters were OK, almost perfect.
And this where the drama begins. The same story, three times: I buy a few unexpensive and resistant fish, put them in the tank (all possible precautions taken). The next day, half of them are dead and the other half are behaving in a strange way: sudden movements, fast breathing (at the bottom, not at the top of the tank). The second day, only one or two survive. I've killed two corydoras, two barbus tetrazona and even one male guppy!!
I've read a lot about the subject since I introduced the first fish, and I've come to the conclusion that something is contaminating my water. Yesterday, I changed around 30% of the water; I filled the tank with distilled water, because I was afraid of tap water -even conditioned-. My plecostomus -the only survivor since day one-, that had started to behave strangely, seemed to feel better, but who knows!
Can anyone tell me if my diagnosis is right? If so, what can be intoxicating my fish? Can it be the wood? Is it possible that the liquid that I am adding to tap water is not neutralizing all of its hazardous components? Is there any additional test that I can perform on the water in the tank?
This is a hard start for a beginner, you know.
Thanks a lot for your attention. Greetings from Barcelona.
I'm new in this forum, and quite enthusiastic about it!!
Okay, this is the situation: I have a small 20-liter tank. I purchased some gravel, a piece of wood and a nice plant at my local store and decorated the whole thing. As advised, I filled the tank with water (50% distilled, 50% tap) and let the filter and heating run for a week. After that, I measured pH, gH, kH, NO2, NO3. All parameters were OK, almost perfect.
And this where the drama begins. The same story, three times: I buy a few unexpensive and resistant fish, put them in the tank (all possible precautions taken). The next day, half of them are dead and the other half are behaving in a strange way: sudden movements, fast breathing (at the bottom, not at the top of the tank). The second day, only one or two survive. I've killed two corydoras, two barbus tetrazona and even one male guppy!!
I've read a lot about the subject since I introduced the first fish, and I've come to the conclusion that something is contaminating my water. Yesterday, I changed around 30% of the water; I filled the tank with distilled water, because I was afraid of tap water -even conditioned-. My plecostomus -the only survivor since day one-, that had started to behave strangely, seemed to feel better, but who knows!
Can anyone tell me if my diagnosis is right? If so, what can be intoxicating my fish? Can it be the wood? Is it possible that the liquid that I am adding to tap water is not neutralizing all of its hazardous components? Is there any additional test that I can perform on the water in the tank?
This is a hard start for a beginner, you know.
Thanks a lot for your attention. Greetings from Barcelona.
