queijoman

Hi, I am the proud owner of the thread
Neons almost all died

I switched my tank over to El Natural probably 3 months ago or more. Since then everything has been good except lots of BBA and that I have been unable to add any new fish w/o them dying. The existing fish seem pretty happy. I am starting this new thread because I originally lost neons that I added but have since tried other fish and have had the same result. All the new neons, Angelfish, and Guppies have died. Maybe my BBA problem and new fish dying are two symptoms of the same cause?

I thought that I might add that the Miracle Grow potting soil has a large wood particle content, as does all potting soil available in las vegas. I don't know if that detail might shed light on anything.

Specs on my tank.
Substrate: Miracle Grow Organic Potting soil 3/4" + 3/4" gravel.
Fish: 2 Rainbows, 1 giant danio, 1 dwarf frog, 3 khuli loaches, 3 cories, ~3 ottos.
Lighting: 55w cf, + ~2 hours of window lighting. In all 12 hours per day including a 3 hour break in the middle
Size: 30g
Water: Las Vegas tap water w/ declorinator. Very hard, high PH 8.2+. Change of 50% water every other week. (at least until my algae goes away)
Filtration: 1 HOB filter w/ sponge media only
Dosing: I have been lightly dosing by adding a fertilizer tablet 1x per week to try and combat algae. (The instructions say 6x per week for my tank size)
C02: I have a hagen ladder w/ DIY co2 that has been running to add C02 until the soil kicks in, but I haven't changed my co2 brew in over 2 months so I don't think that it is affecting CO2 levels much. I plan on taking it out soon.