help! help!

[dingo82]

Harlow, i'm a newbie at planted fish tanks.. Just went to Teo's Aquatic plants to start my 1.5 ft tank... But my fishes have been dying one by one for the last 3 weeks! what should i do?!? (some of the fishes seems ot have some dark patches on them...)

This is the information that i have at the moment...

Tank Dimensions (LxWxH): 1.5 x 0.8 x 1.0
Tank Volume (litres or gallons): ???
Lighting Intensity(No of Watts) : 11 Watts
Type of Lighting (FL/PL/MH) : FL
No. of Hours your light is on : Not consistant.(Tank is located next to the window)
CO2 Injection Rate (bps) : Not sure, the bottled 'Bio-CO2 100'
Type of CO2 (DIY/Liquid/Tank) : DIY
Method of Injection (e.g. Diffusor/Reactor): Diffusor
Substrate Used : Soil
How Thick is your base fert : 2 In
How thick is your gravel : Nil
Liquid Fertilizers Used : Nil
Frequency of fertilization : Not at the moment
Tank Temperature : 28 Degrees
Type of Filter (overhead/internal/canister) : Overhead
Filter media used : sponge (mechanical)
How long has your tank been set up : 3 weeks
Other equipment :


Bioload (Your Fish and Plants)
------------------------------

Cardinal Tetras
Black Tetras
Yamoto Shrimp


I would really appreciate some advice from anyone who can help... Really quite new at this! I had a snail problem about 1 week back, so i added a small puffer fish in... but when the fishes continued to die, i took it out! Pls help... Thanks!

[eddie]

I think you are putting the fish in too soon ????

Normally would be safer to introduce fish after one months time for the complete cycle....

Don't put beffer fish unless U have lot's of snail inside the tanks.... I experience it's when I saw few snail in my tanks and later I found out that the buffer is attacking other fishs once he had finish the snails....

This is of what I know and I also new to this hobby ......

Maybe you should take out all the fishes first and than wait for another 1 to 2 wks for the water to stable first than intrroduce the fish again....

How's about the PH level ?????

[PeterGwee]

Possible cause of death in your case...(Due to lack of reading..read up pls)

1)NH3/NH4 spike
2)NO2 spike
3)CO2 overdose...(are you adding baking soda or KH-up stuff?)..Most taps have KH of less than 1...
4)pH crash due to lack of buffer..(KH less than 1 causing wild pH swing when CO2 is injected.

....Please do read up the FAQ section to gain more knowledge before embarking on a planted tank or a fish only tank..I sure don't like to see fish dying or newbies giving up...good luck. []

[dingo82]

Thanks Eddie and Peter,

I'll go read up more... Haven't tried to measure the PH Level yet... Thanks for the advice!