Update...
I did do another water test last night. It was exactly the same as previous night. Ph - 7.6, Ammonia - 0ppm, Nitrite - 0ppm, and Nitrate 10 - 20ppm. This morning one of the rainbowfish had died. Again, they were all perfectly fine last night. I spent an hour photographing them and there were no signs of disease or struggle with any of them. Rainbowfish had no signs of injury and had not been touched by the other fish.
Could it be the plants? They all are getting a thin coat of algae. I worked on them last week. I pulled them all out. Removed unhealthy looking portions. Split many of them that had healthy root systems and spread them out to continue healthy growth. I do not use any kind of fertilizer or anything like that. What made me think about the plants in the first place is that the fish pick at them and eat them like crazy. I asked the guys at the LFS if this could be a sign that I am not feeding the fish enough. And he took a pinch of flakes to determine if I was feeding enough. We decided that I am and that it was just due to the fishes natural tendency to pick and nibble constantly.
However, again, I have not introduced any new plants into the aquarium. And did not have this problem with the fish dying until I introduced the algae eaters and rams 3 weeks ago. Since then I have been losing fish at the rate of about 1 every other day. The number of fish has remained stable though because I increased some and lost some and replaced some, etc.
I am including some aquarium pics I took last night.
Thanks,
Mary.
P.S. The tetras picture looks like there is crud on the bottom, but this is just algae on the acrylic at the gravel line on the front of the tank. I do partial water changes of 5 - 10 gallons twice a week using a gravel vacuum and the gravel and bottom of the tank is quite clean.
I did do another water test last night. It was exactly the same as previous night. Ph - 7.6, Ammonia - 0ppm, Nitrite - 0ppm, and Nitrate 10 - 20ppm. This morning one of the rainbowfish had died. Again, they were all perfectly fine last night. I spent an hour photographing them and there were no signs of disease or struggle with any of them. Rainbowfish had no signs of injury and had not been touched by the other fish.
Could it be the plants? They all are getting a thin coat of algae. I worked on them last week. I pulled them all out. Removed unhealthy looking portions. Split many of them that had healthy root systems and spread them out to continue healthy growth. I do not use any kind of fertilizer or anything like that. What made me think about the plants in the first place is that the fish pick at them and eat them like crazy. I asked the guys at the LFS if this could be a sign that I am not feeding the fish enough. And he took a pinch of flakes to determine if I was feeding enough. We decided that I am and that it was just due to the fishes natural tendency to pick and nibble constantly.
However, again, I have not introduced any new plants into the aquarium. And did not have this problem with the fish dying until I introduced the algae eaters and rams 3 weeks ago. Since then I have been losing fish at the rate of about 1 every other day. The number of fish has remained stable though because I increased some and lost some and replaced some, etc.
I am including some aquarium pics I took last night.
Thanks,
Mary.
P.S. The tetras picture looks like there is crud on the bottom, but this is just algae on the acrylic at the gravel line on the front of the tank. I do partial water changes of 5 - 10 gallons twice a week using a gravel vacuum and the gravel and bottom of the tank is quite clean.
I completely understand how you feel! Besides my beloved fish, I have 7 cats that I love dearly and I wish I could keep them with me forever. I just try to be thankful for the gift of time that we have together and make the most of it!