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Could you offer me some advice

Warren

Warren

Member
Joined
23 Sep 2017
Messages
79
Location
Surrey
Could you offer me some advice My tank is almost 2 months old. I have quite a decent stock level of fish my ammonia ams nitrites are zero however i have had a few fish die recently, mostly cardinal tetras.
When I test my nitrates with tetra kit it shows nitrates close to 100mg/l. The tetra nitrate test kit comes with a vial and a silvery powder as well as 3 different bottles labelled one two and three. When I test without the silver powder added nitrates read 12.5mg/l. I tested without the silver powder as when I lived overseas the tetra test kit didn't have the powder included only the three bottles. But when I add the silver powder to the test vial nitrates show 100mg/l.i added alot more plants this week and a floating plant that was told removes nitrates. I also rinsed my filter media in tank water so not sure what else to do. I dose tnc complete. As I have a decent stock level should I just use tnc light instead as my tap water already has nitrate readings around 18.5mg/l.

I have bought seachem pristine and will be adding this to the tank today.

Can cardinals live in relatively hard water.or what can I do to soften the water is ithis reqrequi to keep cardinals. If an RO water filter is needed do you know of any decent brands and prices.
 
What's your water change schedule? TNC complete will be adding <5ppm nitrate per dose. So if your nitrate is that high the problem is probably more that your water changes aren't refreshing the water enough.

If your tap water is 18ppm and your adding TNC complete, it's unlikely the result is 12ppm is accurate either.
 
I change 50 percent warer a week but lately been twice a week and use prime.
 
I'm going to guess that your reading is wrong then, unless you've either been dumping a lot of ferts or a lot of food in. The test kits don't necessarily give the most accurate of readings.
 
I have 20 of them. What is rhe best way to soften the water By buying an ro unit and if so what is a decent but xosc effective make?
 
The best way is an RO unit with a pump if you have low water pressure. I can only recommend what I use and I use Vyair without issue for years.
you don't say how hard your water is, it might not need softening, a few more details about your water params would be good and what size tank you have.
 
I have a 900cm by 45cm by 50cm. I live in Leatherhead Surrey so I believe the water is verv hard
 
You need an ro unit if you want to keep softwater fish or use tapwater and keep hardwater fish.
I only use ro water on my Discus tank, all my other tanks are hard tapwater which is purely for ease of use really so I only keep hardwater fish in those tanks.
So it really depends on what fish you want to keep as to whether you want softwater or not.
 
Can you advise which model number to go for on the Vyair as there are so many ro choose and are rhey quite cost effective to maintain ie the filters.
 
You should be able to get a water report online that will tell you how hard it is. Rainwater is a cheaper alternative if you want to try it out before investing in an RO unit.
 
they come in 50 gallon all the way to 300 gallon per day but this the optimal output, I have a 150 gpd unit and I fill a 300 litre water storage tank in 10 hours, so it depends on how much and how often you change water
 
What is your 'decent' stocking level?
What species, how many, how big?
Commercially bred Cardinals are more adaptable than the original wild-caught ones, within reason. :)
Can you tell us the actual hardness of your tapwater? You can find it online through your water supplier.
What other fish have died?
Do they show any signs that might give us a clue? Change in apperance or behaviour for instance?
 
Could be due to the possibility of the water company may be treating the water with chloramine instead of chlorine ATM with the current heatwave and high temps, chloramine lethal to fish, I have been double dosing prime and filter has be off with valves on filling with water
 
Total dissolved solids reading 352ppm from water company report. A few cardinals but last week one of my ottos died. Fish show no signs of stress They all look happy. I have 20 cardinal tetras, 20 harlequin rasboras, 4 boesmani rainbows 3 dwarf neon rainbows, 12 ottos, 13 shrimp, 6 nerite snails.
 
unless you are a vet and can perform fish autopsies you will probably never know why the fish died, its just one of those things, you only have to look at all forums for 'why did my fish die', if your water is good and no ammonia, nitrites etc it is just one of those things.
I had 8 GBR's about 3 years ago all ok til 6 months, then I lost 3 in the space of a week, never found out why but all other fish was fine and I still have the 5 GBR's going strong today.
 
Assuming 900cm was a slip of the finger and it's 90x45x50cm :) , that's a lot of fish for a newly set-up tank.
I would keep up with as many large water changes as you can, and not add any more fish for a while.
As Zeus says, treat your tapwater for chloramine as well as chlorine.
 
Generally farmed fish including cardinals are absolutely fine in hard water. Cambridge water is GH 26 so pretty hard and kept all manner as do most other keepers near me. I'd suggest there is something else going on causing the die off.... heavy stocking, excessive temps, immature tank, low oxygen, high co2 etc...

Rainwater is a good option if you do want to soften your water.

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