I have a 6 gal freshwater tank, it had 8 fish in it for 7 months. One small neon died. Some were showing stress with blood spots. I thought they were nipping at each other b/c I was underfeeding them (feeding once a day, sometimes twice). Frequently added salt. I did a 20% water change and bought 3 more fish, then all of a sudden my fish started dying. Nitrates were high and I lost all but 3 fish. My dealer (Petco) said I shouldn’t feed flakes, I should feed blood worms and brine shrimp or something. Tried that and fish didn’t eat it. I did another water change to get the nitrates normal. Then I lost the last 3. This all happened within a week. I tested the water with strips after they died. Nitrates were safe but pH and ammonia was too low. Where did I go wrong? I feel like I get mixed information from Petco all the time!! Now that my tank doesn’t have any more fish what should I do? The water is still flowing. Should I do a 80% change, wait 4-6 days, add 2-3 fish & start again?
Yes do the 80% water change and start over… Ask petco for a care sheet, never ask the people who work there, there have probably no Idea what a tropical from a marine fish is.
http://www.markspetfish.com/category/guppy-care/
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do a 60% water change. you are adding fish way too fast. seperate the diseased fish.
fish die of stress from overcrowding and other fish being added too fast
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A six gallon aquarium is just not large enough for 8 fish although capacity is more about inches of fish than number of fish. Salt should only be needed if you are using reverse osmosis (RO) water or distilled water to fill the tank. Even at that you add it once per water change and you are done since it does not evaporate.
You will get mixed info from Petco or any other LFS because different people have different experience and knowledge levels. Do your own research with good books.
Start over and realize that you are only going to have room for probably two fish in a six gallon aquarium. Unless you stick to tetras and then perhaps you could have five.
Set up the tank with no fish. Wait at least one week, test your water. Then add one fish. Test your water daily until your aquarium has cycled. Then add another fish. With a six gallon tank you have space for maybe 4-5 inches of fish.
fish die of stress from overcrowding and other fish being added too fast
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first never add salt to fresh water tank and flakes are OK but pallets are better and do the 80% but this time wait like 2 wks than add fish but only like 5 not anymore cause they grow an inch or more and you was probably overcrowding them well hope this help.
me
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What kind of fish? 6 gal is very small. I’m hoping you only had small fish like the neons, otherwise fish waste is the cause for your high nitrate levels, not the flakes. Good quality fish flakes are fine, and if the fish are very small it is unlikely that they would eat brine shrimp. If they were showing signs of stress and nipping at each other, it is possible that the tank was overcrowded. A 6 gal tank would be fine for a small school of neons or guppies, a pair of mollies, a betta, or something else small, but if you were putting a larger fish in with a bunch of neons they would likely feel a little crowded. And how much salt were you using? Neons shouldn’t need salt, or if you are using it to neutralize a bit of the ammonia, only maybe 1-2 teaspoons per water change would be necessary. I use “Waste Control” and “Cycle” to do the same job and only add just a tiny amount of salt (1 teaspoon for 10 gallons) to keep my mollies happy. I would take your own advice however and start again with an 80% change, wait a few days and add a few fish along with some cycle. Good luck.
me
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