Here's a little light, personal story for my blog, though at the time, it was infuriating.
And I'm sure the fish hated it, of course.
September 11,
2013 - Wednesday
I killed my fish!
I’ve had that aquarium for how many
years now? I've never had a problem like this! I used to clean the tank every three months by taking the fish out and completely changing the water, and they could handle it. Hell, one of them jumped into the disposal once and I ran water to keep him alive while I felt around for him, and he survived for at least another year after I rescued him! Not so any more! I heard those complete water changes were way too stessful for the fish, so I haven't been doing that at all anymore. And yet I happened to let it go too
long without a water change recently, and it was starting to look rank, and so I felt that I had to do a larger water change when I cleaned it at the
beginning of the month. What could go wrong? I mean, I used to completely change all the water every three months and the fish adapted fine! Imagine my shock
when almost all the fish started floating upside down! “I killed my fish!” I exclaimed to Mom.
“You what?” was Mom’s shocked reply.
Out of two guppies and three neon
tetras, only one neon tetra survived. I
took a sample of the water in to Petsmart to see what was going on, and the
clerk tested the water and told me I replaced too much water at one time, and
that the water he tested was too clean!
Huh? So how about all those times I put the fish in a bucket and did a 100% water change with no problem?
Oh well, I guess I’ll know for next
time! Even if I happen to let it go too long between cleanings, only do small water changes, even if it's rank. The fish, they tell me, need some of that utter filth! Who'd have ever thought I'd kill my fish by being too clean?
In the meantime, I have to restock the
tank now, and I think I’m going to go with all neon tetras and zebra danio glowfish,
and no guppies for the time being.
However, it’s not quite that simple.
I got two more neon tetras immediately following this tank fiasco, but
when I went to breakfast with Mom earlier today at Le Peep’s and then out to
the pet store for two more neon tetras, one of them barely survived the trip
home and the acclimation process, and then died shortly thereafter, so now I
have to return him tomorrow.
September 21,
2013 – Saturday
I’m still killing fish!
The other neon tetra didn’t survive long
either, leaving only one neon tetra. I
took the dead one back to the store and replaced him with two others, and they
both died! Thinking it was probably the
stock at Petsmart, I tried danios. I got
three of them, and they survived for exactly one week along with the last
remaining tetra (poor schooling fish has been all alone!)
For days, the yellow danio has been hiding,
which is usually an indication of sickness.
I tried medicating the tank. Two
days ago, he wouldn’t eat, and then died, and now the large purple one is
acting weird. He’s sluggish and swimming
in circles at the corner of the tank.
I’ve been doing my best to keep up on additives – the Tetra AquaSafe to
de-chlorinate the tap water and the Tetra EasyBalance to balance the amount of
ammonia and ph in the tank, along with one of those large anti-fungus
tablets. I’ve also been trying to
regulate the heat, even unplugging the heater completely and finding the tank
water is still at 80°, which is a little high, especially for the danios. My brother questioned me about the heater, which he thought must be defective, until I told them I had
completely unplugged it for a day and the water was still too hot. The temperature has finally come down a bit,
but I don’t think that’s what killed the fish anyway. I mean, the last remaining tetra and the pink
danio seem to be doing just fine. I
guess that’s what’s really infuriating. I used to do complete water changes with no problems, and I’m at a point where some fish are surviving for longer than others, and
not acting sick at all. This doesn’t
always last however, but at least it shows a variation between some of the
fish, bought at the same time from the same batch. What does that say about my tank?
Anyway, I took the dead yellow one in to
Petsmart this morning, along with a water sample. The girl said everything looks good, except
the nitrate. It’s been a month since I
did that thorough cleaning on that tank that apparently removed too much of the good
bacteria, and they’re still telling me the nitrate (or “good bacteria” from an
established tank) is a little on the low side. I've been adding the proper chemicals and I even bought some that you can add to a new tank, just in case, and have continued the recommended water changes. Why are my fish still dying? They're still telling me my tank is too clean! What do I have to do to get some nitrate in there? I'm beginning to think I need to take a dump in there to get some waste going to convert into some nitrate for them!
So I still exchanged the yellow danio for another yellow danio, and
bought another neon tetra. I figured if
the tank needs nitrate/good bacteria, which is converted from fish waste, then
the more fish I have in the tank, than the more nitrate will be created. And I usually don’t add the water from the
pet store, but I did this time. I
figured if the tank is low on nitrate, and the tanks at the pet store are well
regulated for ammonia, ph, and nitrate, adding it this time could only be beneficial,
right?
So the two neon tetras are now swimming
around like the best of friends, and it’s the same for the pink and yellow
danios. Only time will tell how long
this might last. I hope they live. The purple danio is still sluggish and isolated,
hanging around at the top swimming in circles, but has showed a few signs of
normalcy. The clerks at the pet store
said his symptoms seemed to be more indicative of trauma than illness. If the tank gets the nitrate levels it needs,
than this, along with the third danio (since danios are a schooling fish),
might be enough to revive him. I hope
so, but I’m not holding my breath.
The guys and gals at work know I’ve been
struggling with this. I told them that my surviving fish have started wearing tiny little T-Shirts that
read “I Survived the Van Buren Death Tank of 2013!”
October 1, 2013
– Tuesday
I don’t want to dwell on my fish tank,
but I did want to say I finally have 5 lively fish in the tank and I plan to
add, slowly, a few more… and that those Petsmart clerks don’t always know everything,
and are starting to give me conflicting information. About a week ago, one clerk told me my nitrate is low, which is bad.
I need more waste, which converts to nitrate and good bacteria. No, that's not true another one tells me this week; nitrate is
bad, she says. I know too much nitrate is bad, but some of it is needed for good bacteria. But she's telling me I don’t want ANY nitrate in the
tank! Maybe she was thinking "Nitrite" instead. However, she also says my PH is way too high,
especially for tetras. But I just put in
a product that you sell at this store, I tell her, and it states that it maintains chemical and PH
levels in fish tanks. Well, the clerk
explains, they have "good", "better" and "best" products, on three different shelves. I was using one of the “good” products, and
the "best" product comes in this huge size and costs at least twice as much as the
“good” product. The product I used,
I’m told, probably just increased the PH rather than maintain it,
which is bad. I didn't know what to think, or what to say, but I wasn't going to buy the huge, expensive bottle! The cheaper one I already bought states that it regulates PH! Later, after I left the store, what she said really bothered me. Why are they selling me a product that says on the front and the back of
the bottle that it will regulate, not increase, PH levels, yet this clerk was telling me the product was not doing what it says it will do? If that’s the case, perhaps I could sue them for
false advertising and killing my fish! I
don’t think the company Tetra that sells this product, called EasyBalance Plus,
would be able to mark on the label that the product regulates PH levels unless
it actually regulated PH levels.... even if the quality is only just "good". That
stuff still has to go through all kinds of testing and rigid marketing, even if it's just the "cheap" stuff. It is much
more likely that the clerk is just misinformed, or is being pressured to sell
the more expensive product. Did she even know the difference between nitrate and nitrite?
October 11, 2013
– Friday
The fish are doing better. That's good. It was getting embarrassing. The clerks were starting to treat me like the "Ted Bundy" of fish enthusiasts! Even though the PH is still a little on the
high side, I now have 4 danios and 4 neon tetras, though there was one danio
death over the last few weeks. I have
the tank decorated for Halloween now, and even bought blue light bulbs. For a little 10 gallon tank, they're not very bright.
November 7, 2013
– Thursday
So now it's time to think about possibly adding a few small Corydoras catfish...
These "Laser Green" ones look colorful!
And the saga continues.
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