I have recently set up a new community tank, but I keep losing fish. Whats going wrong?
It could be that you’ve stocked too many fish too soon, leading to a problem called New Tank Syndrome. To work effectively, a filter needs to have a large population of friendly bacteria present. These bacteria consume toxins in the water, such as ammonia, that arise from the waste produced by the fish, uneaten food etc. and turn them into less harmful nitrite and finally nitrate. It takes at least a month for these bacteria to multiply to a level where they can consume all the wastes in the water. This is often called ‘the maturation period’ and it’s vital that you don’t add too many fish at this stage, or overfeed, for if the pollution levels get too high, your fish may become sick, or even die. Test your tank water for the presence of ammonia and nitrite (or take a sample to your shop for them to test for you). Both levels should be zero – if not then you need to carry out a water change and monitor the conditions closely, carrying out a water change if the levels begin to rise. Don
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