Member

Posts: 158
From:Marysville, CA
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 11-26-2003 03:33 PM         

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Recently my fish began randomly dying off, the first to go were two dwarf gouramis, next was my chinese algae eaters, then three threadfin rainbows. They all died within two weeks. None of these were "new" fish and the tank has been established for a while. However, I had started feeding my plants some commercial plant food about 2 months before, could this have had some effect? Also, when I went to put new fish in a week ago I noticed all four of them were looking nearly dead within hours. I quickly switched them to a different tank and they are now okay. Could something have polluted my water? Thanks for any help. Also, my gold gourami, female swordtail, silvertip tetras, pristella tetras, and harlequin rasboras,male betta and pictus cat are still fine. Thanks again.

[This message has been edited by tina1 (edited 11-26-2003).]

[This message has been edited by tina1 (edited 11-26-2003).]

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Member

Posts: 83
From:APG, MA, USA
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 11-26-2003 05:35 PM         

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It might be the plant food like you said.

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Posts: 806
From:
Registered: Jan 2003

posted 11-28-2003 12:38 AM         

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Hello tina1, Most likely your problem is the plant food. If you look the plant foods contain nitrogen which will definately affect your nitrate cycle. Depending on the time of the year when you purchased the plant food it can contain other toxic chemicals. Example: If purchased in the fall it probably contains iron a heavy metal. The reason fertilizer put out in the fall contain iron, is that plants in the fall tend to suffer from chlorosis an iron deficency. If you are going to keep live plants it is best to get plant foods that are designed for aquarium of pond use. The nitrogen content of those type fertilizers is designed not to upset the nitrogen (nitrite/nitrate) balance in your tank.

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Member

Posts: 158
From:Marysville, CA
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 11-28-2003 02:57 PM         

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I did purchase the food in September and it does have iron in it, but it specifically says on the label that it is for aquarium plants and doesn't say to remove the fish so I had assumed it was safe. I bought it in a pet store! I stopped using it about 2 or 3 weeks ago, how long do you think it will take to get out of the system? Thanks for your help!

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Member

Posts: 19
From:Grand rapids mi us
Registered: Nov 2003

posted 11-29-2003 03:57 PM         

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It will get out of the system faster if you change a few gallons of your water a week.

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Posts: 806
From:
Registered: Jan 2003

posted 11-29-2003 11:36 PM         

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If the fertilizer was designed for aquarium use it should have been safe. Unfortunately some companies overestimate their product. I'm guessing you were probably using the fertilizer once a week or once every two weeks. Only doing a 20% water change once a week is going to allow the fertilizer to build up in the tank. You might try going to feeding your plants once a month and doing a 30% weekly water change. This should help keep the fertilizer from building up in the tank.

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