r/Aquariums • u/Arcangel100 • 9h ago
Bacteria keeps dying. Help/Advice
Background info I cycled the empty 23 gallon tank for a month before seeing Nitrates and added fish gradually. 10 Cherry shrimp, 13 neone tetras, one Beta and two Sword tails. I feed the fish twice a day. AMOSIJOY 172GPH Canister Filter, with a floss pad, carbon sponge, ceramic filter rings, and Bio balls.
My problem is that my bacteria seems to die every 2 weeks or so. I see my Nitrates fall to zero, then the ammonia starts to go up slowly. I was told that maybe my filter is doing too good of a job and starving the bacteria. Is that possible? I keep having to add bacteria to the tank and I am wondering if I should just add more fish to creat more waist. I think the ammonia spike caused the beta to get a touch of fin rot, I am currently treating him for it and he is doing well. Adding the Nitrate/Nitrite readings for this tank (left) and a shrimp tank (right)
TLDR: Bacteria dies off (I think it's being starved), should I add more bio load or change the filter to something else. Also, is there something that may be killing the bacteria?
4
u/Arcangel100 8h ago
I top off the tank daily and water change about 10% every week. The canister filter gets cleaned every three weeks or when I notice shrimp have disappeared (they like to jump in from the skimmer but they are always unharmed). Hmm maybe I am killing the bacteria somehow. I try to not rinse off the ceramic or bio balls. I just set them aside while I wipe the canister and change the floss pad. The only reason I am asking is because my Betta got a touch of fin rot and I correlated it to a spike in ammonia of .20ish.