Restart To Planted Tank

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2Tanks4Ever

AC Members
Apr 25, 2017
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So, I have had a fish tank for about seven months now, and I had some fish die. It is a 20 gallon regular, and I have three fish remaining. A dwarf fire gourami, a platy, and a tuxedo guppy, which I got from my LFS.

I have no clue why the fish died all one after another (except for the three), but I believe, like the title says, it's time that I plant it too. This would require a HUGE restart, and I am wondering what to do with the fish. I want to give the three the new home, but I have no where else to put them (except for my 55 gallon aquarium that is just up and running, but I do not want to risk contamination to the few fish in it).

Any suggestions would be nice,

 
Unless you are seeing signs of a disease, I don't see a reason for restarting the whole tank. Have you tested your water (ammonia, nitrites and nitrates etc)? If so what were the readings?
 
The last fish before the three died about a week ago. So I don't know the contamination risk. He died very quickly, in about a day. My water also checks out fine
 
My water has little to no nitrates, no nitrites, and has a pH of 7-7.5. it is pretty hard, but that hasn't been the problem. I have had some die of dropsy (the bacteria that causes it), one with swim bladder disease, and two which I have no clue (Just timid, then dead).

As for the three, they all are currently looking healthy, and I know what to look for. They eat well, behave normally, and have been interacting like normal. They only foreseeable problem is with my tuxedo guppy, which has a dorsal that looks like it is bleached. This happened to both of the guppies I've got, though, and he has lived with it for a month and a half.

So, under normal conditions, I would have a pretty good tank, but that doesn't seem to be the case with the tank.
 
What is your maintenance schedule like? How often & how much water do you change? Do you vacuum every time?

Easy plants like java fern & anubias can grow in pretty much any tank or lighting & can only help, both for fish health & aesthetics.

I'd wait until there are no more fish deaths for many weeks before adding more.
 
If you're water is good, tank is cycled, and there are no signs of disease then I do not see a point in starting over. If what you mean by starting over is killing off the biofilter, cleaning everything and re-cycling from fresh.

If you know what to look for then wait til you don't see it for a month and then I'd say you're good to go. But I would recommend QTing new fish.
 
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