I'm having an awful week fish-wise. An ich outbreak in my 45, and now my embers dying for no reason that I can tell. 
A couple days ago, I switched most of my substrate in my 20 gallon from gravel to Flourite, moving the fish out while I did this. While I was doing this, I discovered an ember tetra dead under a plant. I didn't think too much of it, after all, everybody loses a fish once in a while, right? I continued with the substrate change and added some new plants, then put my fish back in the tank, allowing them to float to get the temperatures right for them.
Then, tonight while I was feeding, I found an ember floating. I looked at the fish swimming and counted three ember tetras out of what should've been eight. I started searching and found three more dead ones and a fourth live one. This fourth one I don't think is going to make it. He's not schooling with the rest, is mostly hiding, and has white, stringy poop (which I know means something and I cannot for the life of me remember what). Of the four remaining ones, only one has bright colour. I can see no visible symptoms, and didn't notice any in the ones that died, other than paled colour, which I assumed was from being stressed while I was doing stuff to the tank the other day.
I tested the water using an API test kit. Ammonia is at .25, nitrite is at .25, nitrate is at 20, pH is at 7.6. I've had this tank set up for about a month, and before then it was a ten gallon that had been set up for several months. The ammonia and nitrite spikes could be caused by the substrate move and replacing the filter a week ago. When I put the new substrate in, I kept most of the old gravel in the tank in mesh bags. When I switched filters, I moved what filter media I could to the new filter. The ammonia has spiked in this tank before for other reasons (such as when I moved from a ten gallon to a 20), never with any adverse effects. I've never seen a nitrite spike in it though. I assume that the ammonia spike could also be from the dead fish being in the tank; I don't know how long they were dead in there today as I've not been home much today.
Also in the tank are nine pygmy cories and a sparkling gourami. This tank has its own net, so no cross-contamination with the ich-ridden tank. I added three embers last week after they were quarantined and two pygmy cories (no QT on these because I had no reason to doubt their health and still don't).
Anybody have any ideas of what's wrong with my embers? These are my favourite fish and the ones that really got me into this hobby. It's really hard seeing them go. Any help would be greatly appreciated. :help:
A couple days ago, I switched most of my substrate in my 20 gallon from gravel to Flourite, moving the fish out while I did this. While I was doing this, I discovered an ember tetra dead under a plant. I didn't think too much of it, after all, everybody loses a fish once in a while, right? I continued with the substrate change and added some new plants, then put my fish back in the tank, allowing them to float to get the temperatures right for them.
Then, tonight while I was feeding, I found an ember floating. I looked at the fish swimming and counted three ember tetras out of what should've been eight. I started searching and found three more dead ones and a fourth live one. This fourth one I don't think is going to make it. He's not schooling with the rest, is mostly hiding, and has white, stringy poop (which I know means something and I cannot for the life of me remember what). Of the four remaining ones, only one has bright colour. I can see no visible symptoms, and didn't notice any in the ones that died, other than paled colour, which I assumed was from being stressed while I was doing stuff to the tank the other day.
I tested the water using an API test kit. Ammonia is at .25, nitrite is at .25, nitrate is at 20, pH is at 7.6. I've had this tank set up for about a month, and before then it was a ten gallon that had been set up for several months. The ammonia and nitrite spikes could be caused by the substrate move and replacing the filter a week ago. When I put the new substrate in, I kept most of the old gravel in the tank in mesh bags. When I switched filters, I moved what filter media I could to the new filter. The ammonia has spiked in this tank before for other reasons (such as when I moved from a ten gallon to a 20), never with any adverse effects. I've never seen a nitrite spike in it though. I assume that the ammonia spike could also be from the dead fish being in the tank; I don't know how long they were dead in there today as I've not been home much today.
Also in the tank are nine pygmy cories and a sparkling gourami. This tank has its own net, so no cross-contamination with the ich-ridden tank. I added three embers last week after they were quarantined and two pygmy cories (no QT on these because I had no reason to doubt their health and still don't).
Anybody have any ideas of what's wrong with my embers? These are my favourite fish and the ones that really got me into this hobby. It's really hard seeing them go. Any help would be greatly appreciated. :help:
