My new tank problems

[KenFromBG]

First, I want to say that I am by no means a tank expert. I have had tanks in the past and never had a problems but also never really needed to do anything besides regular maintenance. This new tank though has been a bit challenging. Heres whats going on:

I bought a 65 gallon tank back in the beginning of January. I started with an over the back filter because it was part of the package that I got. The person at the fist store assured me that the filter was more than good enough to maintain the tank. I have 2 bubble stones because bubbles and a power head for circulation. The power head is for a 55 gallon tank but with the over the back filter I figured it was good enough for circulation/aeration.

I added some plants, and some decorations. (a large ceramic "log" in the middle of the tank and some plastic plants) I added the water and the starter treatments and then let the tank do its magic for about a month. (my 6 year old was not happy because she wanted fishes in the tank immediately). I did regular water tests and everything was looking good.

After the month was over I took a water sample and went to the aquarium store. They tested the water and said everything looked good so I picked up 8 small community fish and a pleco. I let the kid pick and she wanted 4 Rasboras and 4 Gouramis. Two weeks later we also went and got a few fancy guppies because the kid wanted them.

Everyone was happy, the tank looked great, the fish seemed healthy and regular water checks were showing everything was good.

Then, the guppies died off one by one. Not sure why, water tests again showed everything was good. So I started weekly 25% water changes. Then one gourami died, and a week later the second one died. Then the pleco literally disappeared one night. Seriously. Its nowhere. Checked everywhere. Its just gone. It was bigger than all the other fish so there is no way they ate him in one night.

So I talked to one of the fish geeks at the pet store. He suggested maybe trying a better filter. The tank is a tall tank so maybe the over the back filter isnt doing a great job. So I picked up a canister filter and set it up. Other than it being loud (not the canister, but the water spraying from the output nozzle) it seemed to be working well. A few days later, another dead gourami.

I really dont know what im doing wrong. I feed them 3 times a day but sparingly as to not overfeed. I also give them 2 different kinds of food. (bug bites flake, and some dried worms)

Other than some sort of disease, I dont know what it could be that is killing the fish.

Any help would be appreciated.

[Slaphppy7]

Hello,
Unfortunately, this site has died down to almost no activity, try posting your questions here: https://www.fishforums.net/

[tinaharper95]

i myself is having some issues, especially my water plants are not sustaining long. i gotta find out what i am doing wrong

[mermaidwannabe]

I hope you will come back here, as I can give you some suggestions.

First, for aeration, the hang-on-back filter with a waterfall should have been enough. Adding an air stone for bubbles is really just for aesthetics because some people like the looks of bubbles moving in their tanks. A good HOB filter can create enough current to keep the water plenty aerated.

Since your parameters remained good and you kept up the maintenance, I would say the problem was one of two things: You either had too strong a current in that tank and it was affecting the fish, or there was predation due to incompatible tank mates.

As for the pleco disappearing, sometimes they hide in the decorations or may even bury themselves in the substrate. I'll bet he's still in there, somewhere.

What kind of lighting do you have on your tank? Is it on a timer? Maintaining regular day and night, light and dark hours maintains a more natural environment for the inhabitants.

Finally, did you keep a lid on your tank? Guppies have been known to jump out if there's no cover on the aquarium.

Hope this helps.

[SantaMonicaHelp]

Hope you got it figured out, and will let us know.