any aquarists here? I need some help...

[Bolisnide]

No no, don't be sorry.
It's late here...
So funny how folks at the fish store told me 40 ppm was acceptable, and not to do weekly water changes because water changes stress the fish :/
I'll try and return a snail, check my tap nitrates (never done that!), and do as you've advised. I really appreciate all who've helped me with such a relatively unexciting aquarium, thank you!
By the way, I also rinsed my filter out (oops?) this last water change.
Thanks again!


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[deranged chipmunk]

By the way, I also rinsed my filter out (oops?) this last water change.
Thanks again!


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There's your huckleberry. Did you use tank water or tap water? If you used tap, you probably killed off all the bacterial in the cartridge, essentially rebooting the nitrogen cycle.

I agree, that snails are huge waste machines, but 2 mystery snails causing that much death in 2 days? That's a bit unlikely. I've added more snails into smaller tanks and never had any issues. But then again, anything is possible.




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[Bolisnide]

Hey Bill!
I rinsed the filter in well water, from my tap - no chlorine in my water, but definitely heavy metals (I do use API tap conditioner with my water changes though).
I rinsed the filter after the fish died, but didn't experience the cloudy water until after I rinsed the filter, so perhaps the fish death and this now messed up biological filter are unrelated issues?
Also, those little snails managed to eat a lot of my plants over the course of the weekend, little brats, so now I am left with sword plants that are now half devoured too.
I did a 25% water change this morning, still have cloudy water.... Checked the water chemistry, and now my nitrates are somewhere between 40 ppm and 80 ppm (I use those little strips, so couldn't quite tell if the nitrates have lowered much).
My nitrites are still at zero, but my ammonia is looking like a 5? Ugh, so annoyed with myself.
I also added some of the aquarium bacteria stuff, I usually add it when I do a water change anyway...
ho hum.