12 fish died in less than 2 weeks!!! Please help! :(

One possibility is that the chloramine in the water killed off your good bacteria and maybe some of the first fish that died. Then once you got rid of the chloramine, you didn't have enough bacteria left to process the ammonia the fish were producing, so then ammonia levels shot up and killed some more fish.

If all you keep in there is the single cory, 3 water changes a week should be sufficient. You don't really have to hold back feedings that much, I'd at least feed him before each water change. If you feed lightly, you shouldn't have any issues with feeding him daily though.

Do remember, when things level out and you start to add fish again, do it slowly. One or two at a time. That way you won't have more huge ammonia and nitrite spikes. A test kit is a good idea too. It's really best to be able to monitor ammonia and nitrites so you can do more water changes if necessary.
 
WinterWind said:
Ok, thanks for your help. I will be getting a test kit hopefully today, but maybe this weekend. Do test kits that test PH also can tell you what your CO2 levels are?
Well that one I linked to earlier does contain a pH test, but you'd also have to purchase a KH test kit (their kit has a KH and GH test in the same kit) if you want to determine your CO2 level.

If you are planning on having a planted tank (and from what I understand you probably are with that 2.8wpg thread) then having that kit is probably a good idea anyway.

Test the pH and KH and then take those two readings and reference the chart on the bottom of this page LINK.

The intersection of those two readings will be your CO2.
 
Ok, thanks. I will be getting a test kit tomorrow, perhaps at walmart or petco.

How long do you guys think it will be before I can start to slowly restock my tank?
 
WinterWind said:
Ok, thanks. I will be getting a test kit tomorrow, perhaps at walmart or petco.

How long do you guys think it will be before I can start to slowly restock my tank?
all depends... If chloramines killed all of your bacteria, it'll be an entire cycle which could be around 5 weeks.

If not, as soon as you are experiencing no ammonia or nitrite spikes between water changes then you should be able add another fish or two.

Anymore than that and it'll cause another ammonia spike and the results will be the same.
 
I'm going to Petco today and find I test kit and buy it and will test my water today. I only have 1 skunk cory cat now. It seems to be less active now, lying around for the most part instead of digging around for food. Hopefully it will recover.
 
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