Good evening all.
I've been running fishtanks for about a month now. Started with a 10-gallon, then a 30-gallon, and have settled on a 55-gallon freshwater tank.
1) I used an established 30-60 gallon Whisper filter on my 55-gallon tank.
2) My ammonia and nitrite levels are at 0.
3) Also own a SunSun HW-302 canister filter, and have been using it for over three weeks.
4) I had 9 tiger barbs. They kept dying and then stopped. Once I put the SunSun into the 55-gallon tank, four more died in two days. Also owned 4 green emerald cory catfish, and one went belly up.
5) Did an emergency water check. NitrAte was at 40 ppm. I'm thinking 'Holy , how did this skyrocket so quickly?'
6) I have been doing 40% water changes every week. Just now I did a 70% water change: testing the NitrAte level and it HAS been going down.
7) The SunSun canister filter from China has filter media. White and blue filters, bioballs, charcoal pellets, and these porcelain tube things. I don't know in what order this stuff should be placed in the three racks.
8) When I set up the SunSun filter onto the 55-gallon tank, I then plugged it in and it started running. All of this nasty-looking filmy came pouring out of the branch tube and into the water. Then my fish started dying. Where did I go wrong and what should I do?
9) I'm assuming since my ammonia and nitrite are at 0ppm, and my NitrAte was at 40ppm, that my tank is currently filtered.
10) My fish had been dying at an alarming rate, and now I'm watching to see if any more die. I am sick and tired of my tiger barbs dying and some people saying they're very hardy. BS! I just watched two sputter, flounder, and die right before my eyes.
11) I have about 14 different plants. Turns out some of their roots/stems are rotting. I keep hearing stuff about C02 injections. I only use aquarium sand from Petco.
12) Right now I have 5 tiger barbs, 3 green emerald catfish, and 4 skittish minnows. I want to get a pair of German Blue Rams but I DON'T want to endanger them until I know what the heck is happening.
13) I also have a bubble curtain. My pH balance is around 7.0. I know about the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH levels. I don't know about hardness, softness, oxygen/C02, or anything else like this.
14) Should I but expensive equipment? A protein skimmer or a UV sterilizer or...? I don't even know what that stuff is but I'm at my wit's end here.
Please help!
I've been running fishtanks for about a month now. Started with a 10-gallon, then a 30-gallon, and have settled on a 55-gallon freshwater tank.
1) I used an established 30-60 gallon Whisper filter on my 55-gallon tank.
2) My ammonia and nitrite levels are at 0.
3) Also own a SunSun HW-302 canister filter, and have been using it for over three weeks.
4) I had 9 tiger barbs. They kept dying and then stopped. Once I put the SunSun into the 55-gallon tank, four more died in two days. Also owned 4 green emerald cory catfish, and one went belly up.
5) Did an emergency water check. NitrAte was at 40 ppm. I'm thinking 'Holy , how did this skyrocket so quickly?'
6) I have been doing 40% water changes every week. Just now I did a 70% water change: testing the NitrAte level and it HAS been going down.
7) The SunSun canister filter from China has filter media. White and blue filters, bioballs, charcoal pellets, and these porcelain tube things. I don't know in what order this stuff should be placed in the three racks.
8) When I set up the SunSun filter onto the 55-gallon tank, I then plugged it in and it started running. All of this nasty-looking filmy came pouring out of the branch tube and into the water. Then my fish started dying. Where did I go wrong and what should I do?
9) I'm assuming since my ammonia and nitrite are at 0ppm, and my NitrAte was at 40ppm, that my tank is currently filtered.
10) My fish had been dying at an alarming rate, and now I'm watching to see if any more die. I am sick and tired of my tiger barbs dying and some people saying they're very hardy. BS! I just watched two sputter, flounder, and die right before my eyes.
11) I have about 14 different plants. Turns out some of their roots/stems are rotting. I keep hearing stuff about C02 injections. I only use aquarium sand from Petco.
12) Right now I have 5 tiger barbs, 3 green emerald catfish, and 4 skittish minnows. I want to get a pair of German Blue Rams but I DON'T want to endanger them until I know what the heck is happening.
13) I also have a bubble curtain. My pH balance is around 7.0. I know about the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and pH levels. I don't know about hardness, softness, oxygen/C02, or anything else like this.
14) Should I but expensive equipment? A protein skimmer or a UV sterilizer or...? I don't even know what that stuff is but I'm at my wit's end here.
Please help!
