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Comment by coty on April 9, 2013 at 2:27pm

So i took some of my water to be tested at petsmart and they said it was ok. My ph level was good and my amonia was a little high but not high enough to hurt anything. I am using an ibc system and i try to keep it filled between 150-200 gallons. What i think happened is, when i topped off my tank the chlorine killed my bacteria. All my plants were doing good before i topped it off.

Comment by TCLynx on April 3, 2013 at 6:35pm

Coty, it is really hard to know what is wrong without being able to figure out to an extent what is going on with your water quality.

How long has your system been running?  2-3 weeks?  months or years?

How big is your system?  How much water flows around in it (gallons per hour?)  How much aeration?  How many fish?  Is the bio-filter cycled up?

My first guess is that your fish are dieing from new tank syndrome (basically ammonia poisoning) and your bio-filter isn't cycled up yet so your plants are not getting much in the way of nutrients yet.  But since you don't have a test kit we have no way of knowing where that whole process is or what your pH is and about the best advice anyone might give (other than telling you to get a test kit) is to do lots of regular small water changes with dechlorinated water which might save your fish but it is hard to tell how far gone they may already be.

Comment by Linda Logan on April 2, 2013 at 11:19am

I just took in a baggie of my tank water.  They ran it through all the tests.  Since I test at home this was a way to verify my own results.  They matched.  Coty, since you need to know more than pH I would call around to aquarium stores, not Petsmarts, Wallmarts, etc.  This is their trade and they are happy to do it.

Comment by Jim Fisk on April 2, 2013 at 11:10am

That is cool on the fish store. I might have to try that. Do you let them know it is an AP system or would that cause brain overload? Better to say it is a "really big aquarium" perhaps?

Comment by Linda Logan on April 2, 2013 at 11:02am

I concur on the take water to the fish store.  They will test everything including kH and gH.

Comment by coty on April 2, 2013 at 10:45am

Thanks for the info guys. I have seen a ph test kit at my local wally world. Ill go pick it up today!

Comment by Jim Fisk on April 2, 2013 at 7:56am

Coty, also check Walmart. Some stores carry a bunch of aquarium stuff including API test kits (and great air stones BTW). Like Lowes, not all branches are created equal. I have only 1 out of 5 Lowes around here that carry the plumbing parts I need for my siphons for example, so go to one Wally World (as we call Walmart) and ask which is the really big branch near you and support that one for their good purchasing choices

Comment by Debra Colvin on April 2, 2013 at 12:19am

You can also take a water sample to a pet store, they usually test it for free here.

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on April 1, 2013 at 9:41pm

Coty, Matt's right, you need to find out what's going on with your water. A test kit does just that. You can also tell a lot by the visual condition of the water (is it clear or murkey, yellow, and/or green?) and by the behavior of the fish. Usually those change before the plants respond to poor water conditions. But the best way to find out what's going on is to get an API kit that tests for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and PH. And if money is a problem, the kits are a lot less expensive when ordered online than purchased in a pet shop.

Comment by coty on April 1, 2013 at 5:17pm

Thanks for the good info randy!!! I havnt tested my water so far and i would like to stay away from putting anything that is not natural in my system. i might just have start testing it if i want it to keep growing. Thanks for not posting smart comment. Your expination will help me a bunch.

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