Sick fish, high Ph, new tank, help!

[moboe]

Greetings,

My 20 gallon tank has been going for just over a week now. I started it off with 2 small zebra danios (very small...less than 1") and live plants. I added 2 long finned leopard danios on the 4th day. I did a 20% water change, and have been monitoring the water quality. On Friday it had ammonia of .5, Ph of 7.6 (actually off the chart...I've added Ph Down 3 times now, and still it reads the highest level, 7.6) and Nitrate 5.0. The tank is in my retail shop, so I lightly fed 2 times on Friday, then not again until Monday morning. I usually fed 1x/day.

So, today, Monday morning, I come in, and see that the tank is a little bit cloudy (hadn't had this before) and that one of the leopard danios seems sick. I fed the fish, and the sick danio perked up and ate a bit, but still seems sick...no changes to his appearance, but he isn't swimming with his usual aplum, isn't swimming with the other fish (who, as danios, are very active) and is just staying near a plant in the tank, and moving toward the surface, then swimming down, then it starts again. I checked the levels again, and they came out the same a on Friday.

My questions:
1. What can I do for this poor danio? Is he a sacrificial fish for starting the tank without cycling first? I knew I was taking a risk, but had had lots of success doing this before. Should I remove him, to protect the other fish from illness?

2. Why is it cloudy?

3. Are my chemical levels a problem/making him sick? Is the high Ph a big problem? I don't know how to get it down, other than the PhDown product. But, from another thread I read today, it doesn't seem that the ph is a big problem.

Thanks for any help you can provide. I'd like to help this fish if I can, and protect the others.

[gnahc79]

7.6 isn't that high (http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/ph.htm). The test that you are using probably has two pH tests, one that goes up to 7.6 and another that starts a 7.6. My AP freshwater test is like this.

what is the temp of your tank and your nitrite level?

[moboe]

Hi Gnahc,

I don't have a nitrite test kit. I haven't noticed anything in my Ph test kit (Deluxe PH by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals) other than the one freshwater chart. Glad to know that my ph isn't that high, though.

Any ideas?

[gnahc79]

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/wchem.htm :D

for the cloudy water, type cloudy in the search field and do 'titles only'...lots and lots of info.

I recommend getting a nitrite test kit since it's lethal at very small concentrations.

From the thetropicaltank website, a Nitrate level of 5.0ppm is ok.

For the ammonia, this is what I've found (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=24341) so far. I haven't bought the seachem ammonia test to verify my findings, though.

what kind of filter do you have?

[moboe]

Thanks for the info. I must admit that I'm a bit confused at this point! I'll go over the posts you've referenced again tonight when I can spend more time with them.

In the meantime, I have a Whisper 20 filter. I'm not really happy with it, and would rather some vehicle for biological filtration, do have ordered a Penguin BioWheel 170. Could this be causing trouble? I will get a Nitrite test kit asap.

Re: clouding...I will read the posts. I've read them before (and had read about your ammonia mis-readings too!) but of course, when one needs the information, one can't drudge it all back up!

Thanks for your help. I really appreciate it. My poor leopard has been idling near the back of the tank all day!

[moboe]

Gnahc,

I purchased a Nitrite test kit last night, and this morning the tank tested at .25. The ammonia was still .5. The sick fish is acting better, and I noticed the same at the end of the day yesterday!

Per your ammonia testing experiences, which I went over again last night, what have you ended up doing to know if your ammonia test results are accurate? I haven't added anything to the tank to remove the ammonia...I'm just letting the biological filtration develop and take care of it itself. It has only been just over a week. But I'm wondering if the .5 ammonia reading I'm getting is as low as I'm going to get. I'll test plain tap water later today and see what that reads, but I'm curious about what you've worked out for yourself.

Thanks for all your input!

Margaret